MISSION
WAYF aims to build capacity for marginalized and racialized Queer and Trans people, as well as connecting diasporic racialized queer and trans communities in order to create intentional dialogue that disrupts the heteronormative status quo. We aim is to celebrate racialized Queer and Trans identities, creative expressions, endeavours, and achievements.
vision
WAYF Collective members come together from diverse and interdisciplinary fields allowing our skills to complement one another, while maintaining a vision to programming for racialized and marginalized LGBTQI+ people out of shared experiences of intersections of racism, transphobia, and homophobia. We want to empower BIPOC artists, and prioritize racialized Queer and Trans artists regarding our multilayered intersecting identities and history. We want to increase capacity for artistic expressions & activism. We are here to carve out a sustainable community space that legitimizes and celebrates our artistic achievements in the face of constant erasure. We strive to create a platform of self-representation and self-validation.
We continue the work in strengthening solidarity with various marginalized and racialized groups. WAYF aims to serve communities that are most vulnerable within the diaspora of BIPOC groups. This includes those living within the intersections of marginalization—Queer and Trans people of colour, Black and Indigenous communities, People of Colour, Racialized people with disabilities, newcomers and refugees.
We continue the work in strengthening solidarity with various marginalized and racialized groups. WAYF aims to serve communities that are most vulnerable within the diaspora of BIPOC groups. This includes those living within the intersections of marginalization—Queer and Trans people of colour, Black and Indigenous communities, People of Colour, Racialized people with disabilities, newcomers and refugees.
HISTORY
Founded in 2016, WAYF Collective began as an art-based and activism program with the intention to address issues of agency that Asians (including, but not limited to Southeast Asian, South Asian, East Asians, Asian-Pacific Islander), living on Turtle Island. The experiences in defining our identities, visibility, and representation. We do this by offering workshops, events, and creating online platform for self-representation.
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
One Spoon, One Dish Wampum Belt. The belt is attributed to the Royal Ontario Museum. Reproduction: Richard D. Hamell 10/03/2010
We want to honour and express gratitude to the First Nations, Inuit and Métis people living on Turtle Island whose sacred land we are on right now. This has been the site of human activity for 15000 years. WAYF is situated on the sacred traditional territory of Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples. Tkaranto (aka Toronto) is covered by Treaty 13 signed with the Mississaugas of the Credit, and the Williams Treaties signed with multiple Mississaugas and Chippewa bands.
We are on the territory of the Dish With One Spoon Treaty, this treaty was made between the Anishinaabe, Mississaugas and Haudenosaunee that bound them to share the territory and protect the land. All newcomers were invited into this treaty over the years. This is an agreement to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes.
The “Dish” or sometimes called the “bowl” represents the Great Lakes. We all eat out of the dish with one spoon. That means we need to share the responsibility of ensuring the dish is never empty. That includes taking care of the land and creatures we share.
Today, the land that we are standing on is still the home to many the First Nations, Inuit and Métis people from across Turtle Island.
We invite others to think about the past and present-day realities of these communities, and to continue to holistically question colonial practices that disrupt connections to families, homes, and the Earth. It is our collective responsibility to recognize our colonial histories and present-day implications, to honour, protect and sustain this land. We are grateful to have the opportunity to be on this territory.
We are on the territory of the Dish With One Spoon Treaty, this treaty was made between the Anishinaabe, Mississaugas and Haudenosaunee that bound them to share the territory and protect the land. All newcomers were invited into this treaty over the years. This is an agreement to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes.
The “Dish” or sometimes called the “bowl” represents the Great Lakes. We all eat out of the dish with one spoon. That means we need to share the responsibility of ensuring the dish is never empty. That includes taking care of the land and creatures we share.
Today, the land that we are standing on is still the home to many the First Nations, Inuit and Métis people from across Turtle Island.
We invite others to think about the past and present-day realities of these communities, and to continue to holistically question colonial practices that disrupt connections to families, homes, and the Earth. It is our collective responsibility to recognize our colonial histories and present-day implications, to honour, protect and sustain this land. We are grateful to have the opportunity to be on this territory.
