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Regent Park youth discuss philosophical questions related to values, beliefs and ethics. The 4GetAboutIt! TV is a youth-led TV & Radio show produced by Regent Park youth involved in Regent Park TV and the Focus Media Arts Centre. In this third episode of their television studio show, the youth collective reflects on their own personal beliefs while musing on philosophical questions. “Would you rather?”….so begins the host, Saima Islam, asking the other members of the collective the first question. “Would you rather go into the past and meet your ancestors, or go into the future and meet your great grand children?” In answering this question, the youth panel engaged in an interesting conversation about the past, the present and the future. Some of the members of the collective choose to go into the past to influence an ancestor to make different choices or fix a problem that would impact on their present and/or change the outcome of their future. One youth felt that by go...

SDP Community Working Group announces the cut to Access to Sports Project and presents a revised plan to SDP Planning Table. The role of the SDP Planning Committee is to set the agenda for decision making items that have to be made at the SDP Stakeholders Table as well as deal with time sensitive issues related to the SDP. On Thursday October 6, 2021, the SDP Planning Committee met to deliberate on final issues related to this evening’s first Deep Dive Session. The Deep Dive is a unique consensus decision making model, designed by the SDP Planning Committee, to determine how $500,000.00 (five hundred thousand dollars) yearly of City funding allocated towards the Regent Park Social Development Plan will be spent. The SDP Planning Committee meeting of October 6, 2021, was hosted by Lindsay Jackson of the Social Development Table and a resident of Regent Park. The following is a report of this meeting. After a land acknowledgement led by Denise Soueidan-O’Leary and app...

In this episode #3 of the “4GetAboutIt!” Youth Collective, youth hosts get into “deep conversations” about relationships, love, romance and self-love. Samir, Daiem and Saima are youth residing in Regent Park. They are also members of the 4GetAboutIt! Youth Collective, a collective of young people involved in journalism activities at the Focus Media Arts Centre. When the collective was asked to identify issues pertaining to the interests of neighbourhood youth – among the concerns that came up were: the environment; youth unemployment; housing; and relationships! It should not be surprising that relationships came up. As social beings, the capacity to form and maintain relationships is essential to us and how we function within society. It is a key component to being mentally healthy, and having a positive sense of wellbeing. In reflecting upon this further the 4GetAboutIt! crew decided to make healthy relationships the subject of their next show. Whether it is navigati...

31 deaths from gun violence 31 funerals 31 grieving families Louis March, is the founder of the Zero Gun Violence Movement. The Zero Gun Violence Movement is an awareness and advocacy movement that works across the City to engage people and organizations that are genuinely committed to reducing gun violence and building safe and healthy communities, not for some, but for all. The Regent Park Youth Collective invited Louis March, to discuss the recent gun violence incident that occurred in Regent Park. On September 18, 2021, a 29 year old man sustained life-threatening injuries and a 27 year old adult male suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries, while Thane Murray was pronounced dead at the scene. Murray was well known and respected in the Regent Park community. He was a mentor and big brother to many and the community was shock by this horrendous act of violence. A Vigil was held at the spot of the shooting, which was attended by many youth and older community memb...

Three newcomers to Canada share their some of their experiences as newcomers and hopes for the future. Regent Park and the surrounding areas of the downtown east are home to many diverse communities with immigrants making up approximately 67% of the population. Integrating into Canadian society is a goal both for the newcomer and the community they find themselves in. RPTV News reporter Mahsa Alikhani, a recent newcomer to Canada herself, speaks with Abdullah, Liene, and Rashed about their experiences. Not only were these newcomers faced with the normal challenges of setting up their lives in a new surrounding, dealing with language, finding employment, housing, accessing services, getting around, learning the new culture and customs, but they had to manage all that while dealing with the restrictions imposed on them by the coronavirus safety protocols. Unanimously our newcomers Abdullah, Liene, and Rashed identified that learning the language, finding work, and connecting with...

A report of the Virtual Sunday in the Park Festival Sunday in the Park is an annual event that takes place usually in the month of August in Regent Park. Typically it is the biggest festival held in the community. Each year the Sunday in the Park festival features music, culture, food, raffles, games and fun activities, for all ages. This year, due to concerns about Covid -19 and consideration of social distancing, it was decided to hold the 30 Anniversary of Sunday In The Park... virtually....and in September. Lead by a steering committee comprised of community members, this year’s 30th Anniversary of Sunday in the Park took place on September 19, 2021, by Zoom. The online event featured information on COVID-19 from speakers from the Regent Park Health Centre which included Q&A about vaccination. Break-out rooms were also held for trivia games where residents could win prizes. The event included the playing of an RPTV videos about the the history of Sunday in the Par...