By Daniela Onyewuenyi MSYP and Shafa Waqas MSYP
How ARC Began
Daniela: In March 2024, SYP’s Anti-Racist Champions (ARC) were born. This group consisted of 5 – 10 MSYPs from ethnic minority backgrounds who are passionate about anti-racism work. The aim of the group was to develop an Anti-Racism Development Programme, consisting of an anti-racism training series that was then delivered to all SYP Staff, Support workers and MSYPS. This group was formed based on recommendations made to the SYP Board by The Movement, SYPs anti-racism working group.
The ARC Experience
Shafa: Daniela and I (Shafa) are both trustees on the SYP Board and we are both members of ARC since it first began. Since March, we have seen and been part of the amazing journey that is ARC. From the first CEMVO training where everyone was too scared to turn their cameras on, to the residential where we witnessed the exact moment the ARC name was chosen, to the sitting where we saw all our hard work come to life and be celebrated by our peers. Daniela and I feel incredibly proud of how far ARC has come and we look forward to watching how the training given will be used in the future. We wanted to share this blog to show our personal experience of SYPs anti-racism work and why it is so significant now and going ahead into the future.
Daniela: My journey with anti-racism within SYP differed from Shafa’s and it began with one simple message to one of the leaders and co-founders of The Movement – Cris – who was also an SYP trustee at the time. The Movement was created to create and make SYP cultivate an anti-racist culture within its organisation and implement a safe space for ethnic minority MSYPs to share their experiences. I was intrigued by the work he posted on X and wanted to know how I could be involved, as I was a by-elect.
Daniela: Moments like those are why I firmly believe “if you don’t ask, you don’t receive” and that’s where my journey began. The rest of The Movement’s working group warmly welcomed me, and our hard work kickstarted from then. We created surveys to go to the rest of the Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament (MSYPs) to gauge how different demographics felt about their knowledge of racism, their experiences and what they wanted to learn more generally about said subjects which helped us create a recommendation to the Board. I think I can speak for the rest of The Movement about how grateful we are that our recommendations have been taken seriously and taken the organisation to the next level.
Daniela: This is where CEMVO came in. SYP received funding from The Scottish Government’s Workforce Development Fund which allowed us, The Anti-Racism Champions, to receive training on anti-racism and how to facilitate it to a group.
Shafa: Whilst for me, ARC was one of the first pieces of anti-racism work I have taken part in since joining SYP, and I have loved every second of it. From working with the other ARC members to develop the training, to actually going to the membership to deliver it, every step on the journey has been incredibly rewarding.
Shafa: In developing the anti-racism training, I was able to further increase my knowledge of things like anti-racist terminology and human rights approaches to anti-racism work. While delivering the training, I really enjoyed engaging with the membership and hearing about the varying levels of experience different MSYPS have had with anti-racism work before.
Shafa: As the programme was created by MSYPs, it was filled with powerful topics such as intersectionality and the historical contexts of racism. There was also the added benefit of specific examples of situations where racism might occur in the role of an MSYP. This helped bring together all the concepts and make people realise that racism is far too common, and therefore anti-racism practises should be widely used.
The Legacy of ARC
Shafa: Now that this round of training is coming to end, my hope is that with the resources ARC has created, SYP will continue to encourage anti-racism within the organisation and perhaps even to other organisations in Scotland. Anti-racist resources are important, but anti-racism resources created by young people are powerful tools to sending a message that racism in not tolerated in Scotland, and that everyone must do their part to combat their prejudices and biases.
Daniela: We must remember that all ages are affected, thus age should not be used as an excuse for ignorance.
Shafa: Young people being at the heart of anti-racism work, sets up a foundation of unity and inclusion for the years to come and brings about a light of hope for the future however now it is the responsibility of the decision makers to make sure they are listening to young people’s voices and acting on their concerns. Racism has no age restriction, and the amazing young people of ARC have proven that advocating for an inclusive and supportive society has no age barriers either! In our success, we cannot ignore the fact that racism still is very rampant in Scotland, and it is not enough to simply not be racist.
Shafa: To truly support victims of racism and people from ethnic minority backgrounds it is not enough to not be racist, you must be actively anti-racist.
