As we studied the websites Postsecret and Six-Word Memoir, in which people shared parts of their lives digitally, I thought of another online profile which I have been following for a few years: Humans of New York. What started as a facebook page where creator Brandon Stanton posted portraits he took of interesting people around New York City has become a movement, with the original page having over 1.6 million ‘likes’ and many branches around the globe. Recently, Stanton published the Humans of New York book, which showcased over 400 color portraits along with stories of the personalities photographed. Much like Postsecret and Six-Word Memoir, Humans of New York has quickly increased in popularity and attracted a large audience.

The difference between Postsecret, Six-Word Memoir, and Humans of New York is that HONY puts faces to the confessions. While Six-Word Memoir gives the option of making a profile and sharing your memoirs, Postsecret is completely anonymous. Oh HONY, one’s photo is posted on the Internet with a personal confession. When Stanton takes a photo of someone, he also asks them about their lives, about what they’re about to do or how they’re feeling. Common questions include “If you could give one piece of advice to a large group of people, what would it be?” and “What was the saddest moment of your life?” What is surprising, however, is the confession-like answers he so often receives. One man confesses to having been in prison for killing a man, another talks of how happy he is with his girlfriend, and many mention the injustices of the world. The people photographed by Stanton know that their photo and their story is going to be put on his website, yet they share deeply personal things.

There are certain portraits and captions that are also relatable to “God Grew Tired of Us” and What Is The What, such as this photo of a man who immigrated to the United States and compares it to “being born all over again. You are just like a baby. You can’t speak, you can’t move around, and you don’t know the culture.” This man explains immigration in a way that Daniel, Panther, and John would most likely agree with. Having to move to America with no knowledge of the culture or how things work must create a lapse in knowledge that makes one feel lost. As an immigrant from Canada to the United States, I skipped over this feeling because the cultures of Canada and the US are quite similar. Not speaking English, however, made it difficult to meet people at school and communicate my feelings to peers and teachers. The lack of common language also became a fueling force to learn and eventually improve my English, which then helped me assimilate to certain aspects of American culture.

In three years, Humans of New York has told the stories of hundreds of strangers living in New York City. Though the primary goal was to take their portraits and plot their photos on a map, along the way the man behind the lens found the personalities and confessions of these strangers much more appealing to those viewing his blog. HONY allows people from all over the world to connect with strangers and feel with them. Certain photos elicit “likes” because of their confessions, others because of their outlandishness (it is New York City, after all), and others simply because people can relate to them. Much like Postsecret and Six-Word Memoir, HONY allows people to share and connect over the Internet, something that is becoming more and more common as our lives and interactions change from face-to-face to phone-to-phone.

The indigenous people have been a native to the land known today as Canada since long before any Europeans arrived here, yet have been victimized ever since. Their culture was shut down and their children ripped from their families during the time of the residential schools. Much of their land has been taken away. And on Thursday October 17, members of the Mi’kmaq tribe had a standoff with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to protect their land from potential fracking.

The Mi-kmaq Warrior Society held a barricade in Rexton, New Brunswick for two weeks in order to prevent a Houston-based firm, Southwestern Energy, to enter their land and look for shale gas before the RCMP arrived to implement an injunction against the barricade. On one side stood officers of the police force, some in camouflage with assault weapons. On the other stood members of the Mi-kmaq Warrior Society, some playing the drums. The APTN reports that one RCMP officer shout to protesters that “crown land belongs to the government, not to f*cking natives.” After the police arrested several activists, residents from the Mi’kmaq community of Elsipogtog swarmed the protest site. According to the RCMP, at least 40 people were then arrested on various offences including firearms offences, threats, intimidation, mischief, and ignoring a court injunction.

Recently, some First Nations of British Columbia are raising concerns over fracking and what it would do to the land. France has also recently passed an “ultimate fracking ban” to limit fossil fuels and carbon emissions. A website supporting the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act of the United States states that the problem with fracking, the process in which the ground is drilled and liquid is injected into it at a high pressure to fracture shale rocks and release the natural gas inside, is that it uses 1 to 8 million gallons of water and 40 thousand gallons of chemicals per fracturing job, contaminating nearby groundwater. This is a serious concern for not only the Mi’kmaq tribe but also the Acadian and Anglophone residents of the area, who are worried that if the company find shale gas their water sources will be contaminated. In a letter sent to Southwestern Energy, the Mi’kwaq people stated, “These attacks to our people’s water source infringe on the integrity of our cultural resources and heritage in our region. Allowing further development violates our treaty rights to not only hunt, fish and gather…but our treaty right, Aboriginal right and title right to the land and water itself.” Fracking the area would produce negative consequences for all of the residents who live there, and the company does not even have the right to do so- it isn’t their land.

This scandal has received a great deal of media attention since it occurred and outraged many Canadians. In only 12 hours, over sixteen thousand people signed a petition that called on the RCMP to refrain from using violence or excessive force against peaceful First Nations protests. In addition, 48 solidarity actions such as marches and sit-ins have been organized across the country to support the Mi’kwaq people. Along with many other First Nations tribes, they have been oppressed for far too long. Canadians are now gathering to supporting them and their rights.

When our Global Citizens group walked around the Vancouver Public Library towards the Queen Elizabeth stage on Sunday morning, a feeling of awe struck me. Despite the cold and rainy conditions, an estimated tens of thousands of survivors and witnesses had come to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Walk for Reconciliation downtown. It was as I looked over the sea of umbrellas toward the stage that the grandeur and importance of this walk hit me. All of these citizens were coming together to begin looking forward towards a better future for all Canadians.

The most moving and influential part of the opening ceremonies was easily the speech by Dr. Bernice King, the daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr. She spoke of oppression, hatred, and injustice felt not only by the Aboriginal people of Canada, but also by African Americans. The influence of her parents on herself, on America, and on the world was also talked about, and Dr. King encouraged all Canadians to do what her late father had mandated of American citizens: to utilize the weapon of your mind, your soul, and your spirit to enact social change. One of Dr. King’s most powerful statement was “the way forward in Canada and through this world is gonna be through choosing nonviolence… The choice today is no longer between nonviolence or violence. It is between nonviolence or nonexistence.” Violence has long been used as a form of oppression and still is today in many countries. We cannot let it happen in this one.

The Indigenous Foundations of UBC reported on the residential schools and their influence on how Aboriginal families live today, saying that they disrupted the life of indigenous people all across Canada and ripped families apart. The Manitoba Justice Institute concluded that residential schools paved the path for the violence that occurs today against Aboriginal women and children, since whole generations of Aboriginal children grew up without a nurturing family life. The lack of knowledge about parenting and of the knowledge of abuse, many parents turn to abuse against their children and family members. The cycle of domestic violence in Aboriginal homes has been hard to break.

Abuse by Aboriginal people has not only been inflicted on others, but on themselves as well. The Indigenous Foundations of UBC report that many people have argued that because of the feeling of worthlessness instilled in the children of residential schools, there is a strong lack of self-esteem in Aboriginal people which in turn leads to self-abuse and high rates in alcoholism, drug abuse, and suicide. This unfortunate turn of events can be attributed to the terrors that happened to generations of Indigenous children.

It is clear that the residential schools had an immense negative impact on the Aboriginal people of Canada, stripping them of their identity and causing conflicts that are still apparent in their lives today. As I stood in the pouring rain on Sunday with survivors, families of survivors, and other witnesses around me, I overheard someone say, “It’s perfect weather for this walk. Metaphorically, it’s perfect.” Although I was at first confused, it became clear to me by the end of the walk, after seeing many Aboriginal people smiling and cheering at the sight of everyone supporting reconciliation, that he was right. It has been metaphorically been raining on the Aboriginal people for over a century, and it is now time to reconciliate and to create a new society that acknowledges all people as equal.