Our 50th event!!! November 2017

Reclaim Your Voice received the 2021 Mayor’s Community Safety Award for the work we have been doing in the community since 2012. It is an honour to create safe spaces in the city now known as Toronto.

October 2017

Photo from our My Healing Rights event. September 2017

We are so happy to announce that Reclaim Your Voice founder and program director Reesee has been awarded the 2016 Roger Fisher Scholarship which will further her work within our organization. She is pictured here with the scholarship committee (L to R) Hon. Justice Leon, Commercial Court Judge of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, Kathleen J. Kelly, FCIArb, C.Arb., C.Med, David McCutcheon, senior commercial litigator and ADR specialist, and Sumeet Dhanju-Dhillon (Torkin Manes).

Some of the amazing people who attended our Haiku poetry event in collaboration with Broken Heals. August 2017

Writing positive messages on the sidewalk at our A Walk in the Park event in June 2017!

from our event The Captain of My Ship

Saturday, May 27th, 2017

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Taking the Stand pt II

from our event Taking the Stand pt 2

Saturday, April 29th, 2017

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Celebrated 5 years today by doing outreach on the trains in Toronto, as we have done over the past couple of years. Thank you for sharing the journey with us!

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Click here to see images from our amazing Weapon of Voice event in 2016!

R.I.S.E. and Reclaim Your Voice

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This is the exercise we did at our September 26th, 2015 Abuse: Survival Stories event, inspired by the Japanese exercise of Kintsugi (pictured on the bottom right).
First everyone was given crayons, markers and a sheet of paper. They were instructed to draw a self portrait of themselves during a period of 20 minutes of silence. When the time was up, they were told to rip up their drawings. When I tell you people seemed horrified and deeply saddened by this request...! I was so surprised by that reaction and so happy; I saw it as self love. But made them do it anyways lol. The tearing of the self portraits signified the abuse and/or trauma we have experienced in our lives.
Then I read them the following:

"Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. As a philosophy it treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise.
As a philosophy kintsugi can be seen to have similarities to the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi, an embracing of the flawed or imperfect. Japanese æsthetics values marks of wear by the use of an object. This can be seen as a rationale for keeping an object around even after it has broken and as a justification of kintsugi itself, highlighting the cracks and repairs as simply an event in the life of an object rather than allowing its service to end at the time of its damage or breakage.
Kintsugi can relate to the Japanese philosophy of "no mind" which encompasses the concepts of non-attachment, acceptance of change and fate as aspects of human life. “Not only is there no attempt to hide the damage, but the repair is literally illuminated.." "

The participants were then given pieces of gold tape with which to tape their self portraits back together. On the pieces of tape they were asked to write the words that they wanted to piece "themselves" back together with. The participants chose words like hope, faith, perseverance, self worth, strength, courage, etc.

We then debriefed to see how everyone felt during this activity.

Please feel free to use this exercise for yourself, with friends or with your group

Art by Jega Delisca.

On April 12th, 2014, Reclaim Your Voice was featured on In The Loop, an empowering and informative television show hosted by the incredible Nina Dixon.

On April 22nd, 2014, Reclaim Your Voice was interviewed on CHRY 105.5 radio and shared insight into the event series and life as a survivor.

Reesee, founder of Reclaim Your Voice, was a panelist at the Survivors' Cafe held by the Peel Committee on Sexual Assault (PCSA) and Peel Committee Against Women Abuse (PCAWA) on April 17th, 2014.

Our program director Reesee had the opportunity to share her story at the 3 Little Birds Pop Up Shop on October 24th, 2013, where free clothing was provided to more than 50 survivors who were experiencing financial hardship.

Young artists create promotional posters for our second event on October 6th, 2012.

It's not uncommon for spontaneous group hugs to break out at our events.

After a few months off to regroup, the third Reclaim Your Voice was organized with a new format to include guided meditation, motivational speakers, spoken word artists, and a group exercise.

Haiku poems written during the sharing circle exercise at our 'Haiku: Forgiveness & Rebuilding Trust' event. Creative expression plays an important role at our gatherings.

Haiku poems written during the sharing circle exercise at our 'Haiku: Forgiveness & Rebuilding Trust' event. Creative expression plays an important role at our gatherings.

Promotional poster for our 'Discovering & Harnessing Your Power' event.

Reclaim Your Voice founder Reesee was invited to be part of the of 'Bullying - Battered & Bruised' television series. She is pictured here, performing a spoken word piece for the show at the Rogers TV studio in Peel.

Aiesha Murray, founder of 3 Little Birds (a clothing drive for survivors of abuse) shared her story at our November 16th, 2013 event Reclaim Your Voice meets WomenatthecentrE. It was so inspiring to witness women of all ages who have survived abuse cry together, laugh together, and inspire hope in one another.

For our August 11th, 2013 event at the Children's Peace Theatre, our sharing circle was conducted under the trees, making for a beautiful and peaceful experience.

November 30th 2013's Reclaim Your Voice event seamlessly brought together people from all walks of life. Thank you to all who made the day such a special and powerful one! So many new faces in attendance and so many asked to share their stories of abuse at our next event. This was such a positive sign and a great way to end our year. Looking forward to 2014!

Reclaim Your Voice founder Reesee speaks about the event series at R.I.S.E. Poetry. and performs her first spoken word piece, 'Firefly'.

Reclaim Your Voice founder Reesee along with Randell Adjei, Charmie Deller, and Renée Ashanta Henry represented Reclaim Your Voice at University of Toronto Scarborough's Build. Act. Change. program. They opened for the brilliant poet and author Carlos Andres Gomez by telling their stories and performing spoken word pieces and songs for the students in the program.

Reclaim Your Voice founder Reesee performed her second spoken word piece, 'I tie my hair with a White Ribbon' at What Makes a Man - White Ribbon 2013 Conference. The piece focused on toxic gender roles and unhealthy ideas of masculinity. She had the honor of opening for documentary-maker Byron Hurt.

Reclaim Your Voice team members Reesee and poet Denyce Watkis perform spoken word pieces at Centre Square during the October 11th, 2013 International Day of the Girl event in Mississauga.

The signs from our peaceful protest now decorate the walls at our events, helping to create a positive, supportive and encouraging atmosphere.

A photo from our August 11th, 2013 event at the Childrens Peace Theatre.
 

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