Podcast, Community, Social Justice
Voices of the Street: Without Prejudice
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Content Warning: The stories in this series deal with difficult and sometimes traumatic topics. Please practice self care, stop listening, and seek help if you need to. Scroll down to find links to available supports.
For the third installment of the Voices of the Street podcast, we have a candid and heartful conversation between host Yvonne Mark and Megaphone writer Dennis Gates in response to his piece 鈥淲ithout Prejudice,鈥� published in the 2021 Voices of the Street anthology.
In his piece, Dennis writes about his experiences of anti-Indigenous discrimination and injustice within the court system and the deep-felt impact of incarceration on his life. Yvonne and Dennis reflect on both their experiences with the criminal justice system, finding strength through writing, and the importance of sharing stories like theirs.
This episode was curated and hosted by poet, storyteller and Megaphone vendor, Yvonne Mark, an avid writer and advocate for ending stigma around substance use.
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Bio
Yvonne Mark
Yvonne Mark (Nisga鈥檃-Gitxsan) was born in Haida Gwaii.
Her parents had moved the family there so Yvonne wouldn鈥檛 have to go to residential school. She came to Vancouver when she was 16.
In addition to her volunteer work at Carnegie Community Centre, Yvonne is a Megaphone vendor and member of Megaphone鈥檚 Speakers Bureau, working to end stigma around substance use. She has taken part in Megaphone鈥檚 Community Journalism 101 writing workshop, held in partnership with SFU鈥檚 Vancity Office of Community Engagement, and is an outspoken advocate for the Downtown Eastside.
Dennis Gates
Dennis Gates (Haida), at 60 years old, has lived in the Downtown Eastside for 25 years. He says he is proud to still be learning new things about himself.
As a participant in Megaphone鈥檚 recent writing workshops for people with lived experience of incarceration 鈥� offered through a partnership with the UBC Transformative Health and Justice Research Cluster 鈥� Dennis was able to explore and express himself for the first time since being released from a federal institution in 1996, about what it was like to go to prison.
鈥淭he first thing you do when you finish a long bit in prison is sit down on the sidewalk and cry,鈥� Dennis says. 鈥淎 10-year sentence is frightening to remember, but these workshops, and all the people involved, have shown me a new confidence. And if this work can help someone inside not give up hope, then I am honoured.鈥�
Credits
Series Credits
Theme music by John Brennan
Extra music and sound effects by John Brennan and Helena Krobath
Sound engineering, editing, mixing and mastering by Paige Smith, Fiorella Pinillos and Kathy Feng
Show art by Kathy Feng & Paige Smith
Cite this Episode
Chicago Style
Mark, Yvonne. 鈥淰oices of the Street: Without Prejudice鈥� Below the Radar, SFU鈥檚 Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, March 1, 2022. /vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/series/voices-of-the-street/162-yvonne-mark-dennis-gates.html.
About the Series
The 2021 Voices of the Street anthology, 鈥淚NSIDE we are all the same,鈥� jumps from the page in this special podcast series. For four Megaphone storytellers, poetry and prose from last year鈥檚 special literary edition are a starting point for exploring the themes that moved them 鈥� in a whole new form: audio storytelling.
Featuring interviews with writers and personal reflections on how their lived experiences merge with the themes of the text, this podcast series illuminates Voices of the Street in a new way.
The Voices of the Street podcast is a six-part series for Below the Radar, curated and hosted by participants of Megaphone鈥檚 Speakers Bureau.
More in This Series
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March 22, 2022
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March 15, 2022
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March 08, 2022