Silk Screening and Identity

Every year the Health and Racism Working Group chooses an art form to assist us in healing from racism and in creating awareness in the larger community on anti-racist issues.

In the past, we have used Body Mapping and PhotoVoice to channel our self-reflection and voices through.  Body Mapping allowed us to explore the impact of racism and sexism on our health as racialized women. PhotoVoice gave us the opportunity to create images that gave a visual of all the sources of anger in our lives, and to create awareness around the impact of anger on our health.

This year, the art of Silk Screening has helped us to move through characterization of our identities as people of colour working towards anti-racist change. Our fantastic facilitator Kenji Tokawa (see below for bio), led us through a 2 part workshop that began with exploring identity and reclamation as concepts, and naming racist characterizations that participants had experienced as people of colour.

In part 2 of the workshop, Kenji led us through the do-it-yourself art of silk screening so we could create tshirts to be used as a medium for anti-racist, ally, and reclamation messages.


Kenji Tokawa was born and raised on Mississaugas of the New Credit territory, now lives and studies in Toronto. He is a writer, t-shirt maker, and grandson who’s work has been published in CultureSHOCK! Queens University Anti-Racist Lit Review. Kenji is also program coordinator of the Toronto Asian Arts Freedom School, co-investigator with the Trans PULSE project, and workshop facilitator with the 519 Trans Access Project. He recently had his poetry featured at Pride Toronto’s 2009 Proud Voices Literary Stage. Visit his work online at http://www.myspace.com/kenjiandthetshirts