Interview: Jessica Vinluan of Redefine Twenty
Jessica Vinluan is a Filipina-Canadian, born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario. She is a recent Brock University Concurrent Education graduate with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) and a Bachelor of Education. She is an Ontario Certified Teacher and has completed the English Language Learners Additional Qualification. She is also the founder of Redefine Twenty and was nominated for the YWCA Young Women of Distinction Award 2020. She enjoys travelling, painting, drawing, movement, and rock climbing.
Tell us about Redefine Twenty—its founding, mission, values, and the role it plays in the BIPOC youth community.
“The greatest of community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members” — Coretta Scott King. Redefine Twenty focuses on centering and sharing voices that are often marginalized. By working alongside individuals and organizations doing the groundwork, we hope to build a sustainable community focused on compassion, humility, and the desire to learn, unlearn, and grow.
“You cannot dismantle what we cannot name” — Liz Kleinrock. Redefine Twenty’s practices and stances are rooted in anti-bias, anti-racist stances and practices. Our role is committed to sharing BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour) voices in our community and our greater community through education, sharing stories, workshops, events, and resources and/or tools. We have a community segment dedicated to sharing the stories of those in our community such as A Call To Celebrate and Community Contributors. We have held various workshops and events, working alongside our community members such as SACHA, YWCA Hamilton, Lydia Collins, Covenant and Community, Reaching For Power, and Feeding Canada and Community.
Redefine Twenty is fuelled by our volunteers. We are currently a team of five: Jessica Vinluan, Chand Bhangal, Puneet Sekhon, Sydney Hussett, Saphera Peters, and Adriana De La Parra. Along with sharing the voices in our community, we also share our stories, our knowledge, and our experiences. Together, Redefine Twenty is a collective dedicated to education and community for youth and young BIPOC womxn.
The Redefine Twenty team from left-to-right: Saphera Peters, Sydney Hussett, Chand Bhangal, Puneet Sekhon, and Jessica Vinluan.
What motivates you to do what you do?
I was raised by immigrant parents from the Philippines. Growing up, I didn’t realize the challenges I faced when navigating being a child of immigrants in white-dominated spaces. From my academics in elementary to post-secondary school, to my work environment, I didn’t see myself or people that looked like me. When I was in elementary school, I remember bringing a traditional Filipino lunch to class and my peers told me, “Ew, that smells weird, why are you eating that?” I remember feeling so ashamed and embarrassed that I threw away my lunch, and as soon as I got home I begged my mom to buy me lunchables instead. The next day, my classmates didn’t say anything and instantly, I felt like I belonged, or at least, normal. However, at the time, I didn’t have the language or the tools to reflect or acknowledge why I felt so upset and angry at myself, my parents, or my culture until my fourth-year Women and Gender Studies course. My last assignment was to critically analyze my life with a gender studies lens; looking at my race, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, religious beliefs, etc. and the world around me. This was the first time that I critically reflected, using language and tools to make sense of my identity.
When I was in Teachers College, it was mandatory to take the Diversity and Inclusion course. This was the first class that discussed education with an equity lens and for the first time, I had a teacher that was a non-white male. His teaching and classes were rooted in anti-bias and anti-racist stances and practices that empowered me to speak up. I volunteered for the Brock University Anti-Racism Conference that he was leading for high school students in the GTA, and I facilitated a mini-workshop. For the first time, I was engaging in education and critical discussions around anti-bias and anti-racist stances in my teaching practices. Around this time, I wanted to share my experiences and started blogging about navigating my dual-identity. I started interviewing my friends and sharing their stories and that’s how Redefine Twenty started.
Learning and unlearning in terms of allyship and anti-racism is a lifetime journey, what ways do you keep yourself informed and in-check?
In terms of allyship and anti-racism work, I’ve learned that I am constantly learning and unlearning. What grounds me is continuing to educate myself, working alongside community members that are doing the groundwork, and acknowledging anti-racism and anti-bias stances and practices as a lifetime journey.
Here are some ways I keep myself informed:
> Community, Movement, Mindfulness
Currently, what has been helping me reflect and check-in with myself is the movement classes at GoodBodyFeel. GoodBodyFeel, founded by Robin Lacambra, focuses on building self-awareness, strength and community through accessible and inclusive movement classes. Angela Davis is quoted in this article, where she spoke about practicing Hatha yoga and how the practice gave her a sense of peace after her 1970 arrest, “I have never used yoga as an end in itself but merely as a means for preparing myself for a more effective struggle. As a result of yoga I am more energetic… I am able to appeal to people and to organize them to do the kinds of things that are vital to our freedom.” (Resource: How Black Women Have Historically Used Yoga As a Tool for Healing by Yannise Jean).
> Educate, Politics
Another tool in my toolbox to help keep myself informed is, Foreign Policy Interrupted Newsletter by CEO Elmira Bayrasli. Foreign Policy sends out a monthly newsletter covering politics around the world and shares good stuff on gender.
> Educate, Books
I also love to read and have just finished reading Jose Antonio Vargas’ “Dear America, Notes of an Undocumented Citizen,” and am currently diving into Desmond Cole’s “The Skin We Are In.” I would also recommend “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison, “21 Things You Didn’t Know About The Indian Act” by Bob Joseph, and “Born A Crime” by Trevor Noah.
> Educate, Podcasts
Here are some podcasts I recommend: “All My Relations” by Matika Wilbur (Swinomish and Tulalip) and Adrienne Keene (Cherokee Nation), “GirlTrek’s Black History Bootcamp” by Morgan Dixon and Vanessa Garrison, “Empowered Embodiment” by Robin Lacambra, “No Man’s Land” by The Wing, and “The Daily” by The New York Times.
> Instagram, Media
I believe who you follow on social media is what you choose to surround yourself with on a daily basis. Some Instagram accounts that I follow to help educate myself: Alyssa Gray-Tyghter (@alyssagtyghter), Constanza Eliana Chinea (@eliana.chinea), Brown Girl Therapy (@browngirltherapy), Rachel Cargle (@rachel.cargle), Liz Kleinrock (@teachandtransform), and Dr. Thema (@dr.thema).
Lately I’ve been recognizing that who and what I surround myself with and the conversations I engage in determines and shapes the world around me. That’s why I’ve been learning to set up boundaries for myself and reflect on where I choose to share or emit my energy.
Redefine Twenty prioritizes itself on education and provides a safe community, are there any current and upcoming programs and initiatives? How can readers get involved with, or support, Redefine Twenty?
> Feeding Canada and Community, organized by Chand Bhangal
Currently, we are working alongside Nanook Gordon to collect donations to send to remote Northern Indigenous communities. Due to their remote locations, food costs have always been very expensive. The goal is to send as many donations as possible to families with children, food banks, hunters, and elders.
What is on the donation list? Pencils, markers, crayons, erasers, diapers, notebooks, pencil cases, baby clothes, baby formula, toys (small and light,) and vitamins (unexpired). We will be collecting donations until December 11, 2020 and our donation box locations are Omnes in Hamilton, Common Sort and SOL Kensington in Toronto. If you would still love to help but cannot physically donate, we have a GoFund me page set up for monetary donations. Nanook is committed to supporting and uplifting their community and the Redefine Twenty community is here to help.
> Mental Health and wellness workshop for BIPOC, organized by Sydney Hussett
The Redefine Twenty Health and Wellness workshop will breakdown how race influences the overall health and wellness of BIPOC women, and methods to access health and wellness resources despite this. In order to cover the vast category of health and wellness, this will be a series broken down with the following: Race and Long-Term Health: Why Starting Young Matters + Movement Session and Race, Culture, and Mental Health + Q&A session + Mindfulness Session. The tentative date for this workshop is January 2021 or March 2021.
> Tote Bags
RD20’s totes are eco-friendly and made locally with love.
Redefine Twenty is fuelled by volunteers and funded by the team members. We are working towards finding funding to compensate our team members, community contributors, events, and workshops. In the meantime, we have tote bags that are designed by Michelle Dao, one of our former team members, and are locally printed by Witly. Currently, these tote bags are eco-friendly and help us compensate facilitators, events, and workshops. We thank you for your love and support!
You are a woman who does it all—tell us about your other projects such as with Filipinas of Hamilton Ontario. And how do you handle it all?
I am currently working on Filipinas of HamOnt, a passion project with Anabelle Ragsag that was fuelled by YWCA’s Reaching For Power workshop series. Our intention for this project is to start progressive discussions, share lived experiences and stories around empowerment, living in-between cultures, and community leadership. If you identify as Filipino/a/x and are living, working, and passing by or in-between, we would love to hear from you. We have a survey on our website, we will be uploading ten interviews we have had with members in the Hamilton community, and we also have a Facebook page.
A woman that does it all—that’s definitely my mother. I believe I get this drive from her. But in all honesty, there are some days when I don’t get anything done and that’s okay. I used to get overwhelmed and anxious about this, but I’ve learned to recognize when I need rest and what rest looks like for me. Rest looks like going for a walk in the forest or making dinner and watching a TV show. Right now, I’m watching The Legend of Korra. However, in terms of work, what works for me is using an agenda and listing out the top three things I will focus on for the day. For my personal to-do list, I use sticky notes to write out things that make me feel good that I wish to complete that day such as, “Meditate in the morning for 10 minutes, stretch for 10 minutes, a GoodBodyFeel class, and paint or draw for 1 hour.” Once I complete a sticky note, I move it to my mirror so at the end of the day, I can see what I’ve completed. I’ve kept a journal with me since I was 11-years-old and every year, I get a new journal. I try my best to write in the morning and before bed by reflecting on how I can better prepare for the day or tomorrow. I then record my experiences, emotions, and ideas that I have for that day, and overall this helps me see how far I’ve come.
—
You can find more of Jessica on her personal Instagram @artbyjessicamae, or email her at jvinluan@hotmail.com. You can find all of Redefine Twenty’s links here.
