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Kielburger has had special access to Canadian media for years and years, writing on topics he knows not enough about, or feel good pieces about "being the change." His ties to media (and ever ready lawyers) have obscured criticism of the organization. THREAD https://twitter.com/NoLore/status/1276711990313062400">https://twitter.com/NoLore/st...
See the CBC doc that edited out footage of Me to We volountourism even though that footage was completely accurate, under threat from the Me to We lawyers: https://www.canadalandshow.com/cbc-documentary-edited-insurance-company/">https://www.canadalandshow.com/cbc-docum...
https://www.canadalandshow.com/heres-footage-got-cbc-doc-pulled-air/">https://www.canadalandshow.com/heres-foo...
https://www.canadalandshow.com/why-did-cbc-just-pull-expose-voluntourism/">https://www.canadalandshow.com/why-did-c...
But, this isn& #39;t the half of it! The so-called WE movement has near monopoly status over "social justice" initiatives in a great many school boards in Canada, and increasingly in the US and UK, providing what many teachers call a "kit" of easy feel-good white saviourism
Remember: Me to We is a "social enterprise", so it is for profit; what other for profit companies do we allow in public schools to provide curriculum and "leadership" training??
The humanitarian rhetoric is anti-Black; look at how they rep. Maasai people. Building schools (perpetually) "for" the Maasai becomes an exotic growth experience for Canadian kids; Maasai displacement and dispossession is naturalized as their "poverty" and "ignorance".
This article is now a bit dated, as WE is always "evolving" - from Free the Children to Me to We to We Charities and now the WE movement, a confusing blend of not-for-profit and for-profit "social enterprise" https://twitter.com/DavidJefferess/status/1276321864239902720?s=20">https://twitter.com/DavidJeff...
In it, though, I highlight the way the suffering of Indigenous peoples is naturalized as a failure of the Canadian state to do enough to help them. Since then, WE has styled itself as a provider of Indigenous education: https://www.we.org/en-CA/our-work/we-schools/indigenous-relations">https://www.we.org/en-CA/our...
I also highlight the way the Kielburgers are constructed in the tradition of masculine white civility in Canada (Coleman), produced as feeling, caring, heroic male sex symbols for the organization& #39;s target audience, middle and upper class middle school girls
The WE Day spectacle has always been more tied to consumerism, branding, happy talk, and celebrity culture than the "social justice" it claims, over the years partnering with chocolate companies, resource extraction companies, and the like. See @CANADALAND& #39;s work on this
I highlight a few more resources in a previous thread. There is an industry of grad student critiques of WE, sadly in relative obscurity https://twitter.com/DavidJefferess/status/1276319892824682496?s=20">https://twitter.com/DavidJeff...
https://twitter.com/danspeerin/status/1276599652347936769?s=20">https://twitter.com/danspeeri...
https://twitter.com/dgrdon/status/1276915791800270848?s=20">https://twitter.com/dgrdon/st...