On February 7th, I attended the CEL talk on Refugee Supports. This CEL talk was also made possible by a joint effort of the AMS and CAP organizers so it wasn’t just CAP students that attended. Due to a larger audience, we also had this talk in a larger room (Great Hall in the Nest) which had a big open space. The speakers, Thariki, Loren Balisky, and Nathalie Lozano-Neira all provided insight on what refugees go through and what supports are available.
I found what Nathalie said about her own experience as a Columbian refugee to be the most thought provoking. She told us about the time she was interviewed as a refugee and her words were used not to tell her story, but to further a narrative of refugee representation in media. She expressed frustration that it was just a way to profit and make money. So, what she did to combat this narrative was to make films with her friends about her experiences. Nathalie wanted her experiences to be true to how she felt about them and her films were a way to take space and share her story the way she wanted it to be told.
Listening to Nathalie’s experience made me think about the other CEL talks I’ve attended. Her story really tied together not only the idea of learning from the community but also how connected all of the talks are to each other. In the Black Cultures in Vancouver talk, Maya mentioned the importance of talking space for yourself and how empowering that is. Also, in the Asian Representation in Media talk, Barbara spoke about the power of representation in film. Nathalie’s story brings ideas from the two talks together and made me think about connections in the CEL talks despite them all being about different topics. I’m looking foreword to attending the next talk and making more connections.
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