By Jamelia Parnell
(Jamelia is a journalist with the Focus Media Arts Centre)

 On August 20, 2021, a grassroot organization named ‘People’s Elite’ held a Peace and Unity in the Community event on the Regent Park’s Athletic Field. The four-day community event used basketball to engage youth in life skills, business and entrepreneurship and mental health. The activities included yoga, speakers and journaling. Co-founders, Foad Karimian and Duane Spencer, decided to hold this event so they could cater to the youth of Regent Park who have had a difficult year and a half due to the Coronavirus and spread unity since there has been some discordance among youth in the community.

The organizers decided to use basketball as their teaching tool due to its inexpensive nature and its ability to integrate other learning lessons such as life and entrepreneurship skills. According to Karimian, youth in Regent Park don’t have opportunities to engage with professionals, “these youth have more opportunities to mingle than (professional) network.” Networking, according to Karimian, could lead to potential employment issues, as many Regent Park youth may not know how to code switch to speak in a professional manner. Karimian also mentioned that “network equals net worth,” without the skills to build a professional network it is extremely difficult to gain a strong net worth.  

Noah Berhane, a participant in the program spoke about the importance of the event on youth in the community. This event made him feel as if there are genuine adults in the community that look out for youth. In addition, he mentioned that the event promotes peace and happiness between youth. In closing, Karimian passionately reminded us that “there is no community without unity.”