Quidditch Canada in Solidarity with Black and Indigenous Communities

Quidditch Canada stands in solidarity with Indigenous and Black communities. In Canada, we remember the recent deaths of Chantel Moore, Regis Korchinski-Paquet, D’Andre Campbell, Eishia Hudson, Jason Collins, and Kevin Andrews. We acknowledge that the violence they experienced isn’t new, unusual, or unexpected. They, as well as countless others, both named and unnamed, died at the hands of a white supremacist and colonial state. 

We at Quidditch Canada believe that sports are political. We believe in their power to unify, inspire, and effect change. But we also recognize that systemic racism exists in sports. Quidditch is no exception. 

Quidditch was built to make room for queer, trans, and gender non-conforming athletes in an explicit way. The same cannot be said for racialized athletes. We recognize that our sport is inaccessible to Black and Indigenous communities, and that we have failed to centre the needs of our current Black and Indigenous members. We have a responsibility to address those failings for the wellbeing of our community. 

As part of our ongoing commitment to anti-oppression, Quidditch Canada will be engaged in the following activities:

(1) A commitment to anti-racism calls on us to allocate resources to the work of justice. We are hosting a community fundraiser to raise funds for 5 Black and Indigenous led organizations. Quidditch Canada will match $2500.00 of community donations. Learn more about this fundraiser here. 

(2) A commitment to anti-racism calls on us to build the necessary skills to actively combat racism and oppression. Beginning in Fall 2020, Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression training will be mandatory for all coaches, team administrators, and Quidditch Canada volunteers. This training is being built specifically for the Canadian quidditch context.

(3) A commitment to anti-racism calls on us to engage in lateral education and social transformation. We are making available a standing anti-racism/anti-oppression resource page on our website. This page contains resources specific to the Canadian context. You can access this page here. 

(4) A commitment to anti-racism calls on us to investigate and address the ways in which our organization has participated in anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism, and in oppressive practices more broadly. Quidditch Canada will be conducting a fulsome Safety, Culture, and Belonging Audit to better understand how our organization can recommit to the safety of its members and the broader quidditch community. 

This is not the end of our responsibility to anti-oppression and racial justice. To our community, we ask that you please continue to read, share, and be guided by the requests of Indigenous and Black communities to carry these conversations forward. Thank you for continuing to hold our organization accountable to the standard of equity and justice that our sport deserves.