It’s no secret that the words we choose matter, and this is precisely what E3 and the Collingwood Public Library wanted to explore through the Choosing Words of Inclusion event held on March 19th.

This event was created as partner of the #ItStarts campaign; a Simcoe-wide anti-discrimination initiative that began a decade ago. #ItStarts began as an anti-racism movement, but quickly expanded to include other marginalized groups and vulnerable sectors, including people living with developmental and intellectual disabilities. E3 and the library have been longstanding community partners, and continuing to amplify #ItStarts through events like Choosing Words of Inclusion is just one expression of their strong relationship.

The event featured nine speakers who tackled topics like wisdom, ability, age, and ethnicity all filtered through the lens of why words matter, and the goal of the event was to help people understand the true impact of their words; particularly harmful or discriminatory language, on people living with disabilities. There were also performances from the E3 Community Choir.

The language we hear shapes our entire world view, and choosing to use inclusive language while actively extinguishing discriminatory language is one tangible effort every person can make to wards bettering their own world, and the word around them.

To learn more about E3, visit https://e3.ca/
To learn more about #ItStarts, visit https://simcoe.ca/residents/lip/itstarts/