Thank you for joining us at the youth event We are Unstoppable, on October 24, 2021.
- Keynote: Helen Knott, activist, poet, author, social worker, mother and more.
- Moderator: Elyse Brazel, Network Coordinator, Faith and the Common Good
- Responder: Juan Facundo, Research Assistant, Mount Allison University
In case you missed it, or want to watch it again, in English or Spanish.
Youth are in the streets, the chanting starts, just a few voices at first. “We are unstoppable, another world is possible” is building in a loud, ruckus crescendo. “WE ARE UNSTOPPABLE!”
That is the energy that was brought to this virtual moment of learning and action; building momentum as we joined together from coast to coast to coast to:
- hear from young justice leaders,
- dig deeper into the Indigenous and climate justice issues we care about,
- and act together in real time to show how very unstoppable we youth are.
We began from a place of gratitude for the gifts of mother earth, then heard from several experienced, trailblazing young activists in Canada and the Global South who have partnered with KAIROS along the way. This was an incredible way to mark KAIROS’ 20th anniversary.
Meeting the moment: Living with purpose and preparing for the call
Helen Knott is an activist, poet, social worker, mother and more. She is Dane Zaa and Nehiyawak from the Prophet River First Nation in British Columbia. A published author In My Own Moccasins: A Memoir of Resilience and gifted communicator, Helen’s involvement with KAIROS began as a youth in 2012. Her next book – Becoming a Matriarch- will be released in the Spring of 2023.
Photo: Helen Knott and Naty Atz Sunuc, Guatemala, 2013.
Helen has had a long history with KAIROS since she first participated in a youth delegation to the United Nations to advocate for the rights of First Nations children in 2012. Following a study tour, which highlighted the impacts of Canadian mining companies in Guatemala and El Salvador, she wrote,
“I asked another participant why she does things like this, this involvement in justice for others. Later, I reflected upon my own situation and realized why I do things like this. I am here because I used to believe I was powerless.…I now know that this is in fact a lie. The truth that I know is that I have power and I will not allow others to encroach upon it. Eventually the fallacy of power held by privilege will break and shatter.”
To learn more about Helen, visit her website.
