Videos and photos taken by Richmond youth are highlighting the beauty of diversity and are being shared on social media.
The collection, called the Diversity Development Project, has taken Richmondite Teresa Hanul-Seo, a UBC psychology student, and 17 other young talents nearly a month to shine the spotlight on multiculturalism.
In light of recent anti-racism movements such as Black Lives Matter and Stop Asian Hate, this year has been a hard one to swallow for Hanul-Seo, a half-Korean, half-African woman.
"For myself, as an ethnic minority, as well as a woman, the social climate seemed cold, ruthless, discriminatory, and I felt as if (all the odds were) against me,” said Hanul-Seo.
She also feared that she and her family could also become potential targets of racism, despite being integrated into the community.
However, Hanul-Seo said she still believes that she is fortunate to have a platform to create a project such as this one, which appreciates the city's various colors and cultures.
"Although human beings go through different experiences, we are growing relatively in the same way. So sometimes we just need to put aside the prejudice and differences we see in others and focus on the fact that we are one," said Hanul-Seo.
Another beauty of the project is that it has connected people from various communities, age groups, cultural and career backgrounds to share their journeys of being accepted and talk about their struggles with prejudice and racism, said Hanul-Seo, adding that they also volunteered their time to make the project happen.
"A lot of people didn't know each other from the beginning and it was amazing and rewarding to see them accept each other and get along so well at the end of the project. That also highlights the purpose of the project - we are different, but we are also the same," said Hanul-Seo.
If you want to check out the photo gallery, along with videos and other resources, visit diversitydevelopment.org.
