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What did Cicely Belle Blain can teach Anti-Racism in their Living Room

Oct 21, 2023

The writer, activist and leader in thought Cicely Belle Blain (they/them) is in the business of driving powerful conversations that result in modifications. They accomplish this through their anti-racism and anti-oppressive activities through Bakau Consulting Inc.--and the online courses that they designed under their umbrella.

Alongside providing essential DEI (diversity equality, diversity, and inclusion) training to organizations through workshops that are live or online, as well as educational opportunities, Blain is noted for founding the Vancouver Chapter of Black Lives Matter and was named one of Vancouver's fifty most influential individuals according to Vancouver Magazine as well as BC Business"30 under 30" and one of Refinery29's Powerhouses of 2020. They're also the author of the first collection of poems, Burning Sugar (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2020) which helps the reader understand the connections between their past and oppression system-wide.

Being a descendent of an extensive generation of feminist educators and activists, they discovered a love for social justice early on during their life. Following their graduation from University of British Columbia in 2016, they joined a group that supported queer, trans and Two Spirit youth across the province of BC. "I have a passion for making inclusive spaces specifically designed for those who are 2SLGBTQ+," Blain says. Blain.

Their favorite part of the task was the facilitation of workshops. "I believed that it was something I was looking at in more detail," they continue. "And I was also trying to include an anti-racism, as well as anti-oppression lens into that research ."

They decided to establish their own consulting business, eventually becoming Bakau Consulting. Bakau Consulting is a full-service equity integration, anti-racism and inclusive consulting firm based in Vancouver, BC. Since its inception at the end of 2018 the company has assisted many clients from various sectors including non-profit organizations, corporations, and universities. "Lots of different types of businesses seek out our guidance and consultation on creating more inclusive, fair, and inclusive working environments," the company says.

Today, the business provides four courses online--with further coming soon to assist in liberating all people. In June of this year, Blain launched a fourth course--Living Room--which offers a transformative journey for practitioners of DEI and anti-oppression-centered work in a small, intimate setting. Here's how:

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     Then they shifted towards online learning    

Additionally, it was the year in which covid-19 was adversity across the world However, it was the year that innocent Black people such as George Floyd, Breonna Taylor along with Ahmaud Arbery were murdered, bringing movement for freedom and fighting oppression to the forefront. It also resulted in DEI work was a greater importance in a lot of workplaces. "2020 was a significant moment of awakening for a lot of individuals," says Blain. "Since, DEI is an sector that has witnessed an enormous increase in ."

After the outbreak, the Bakau team immediately shifted its focus to virtual education. The Bakau team members worked together to create four self-paced and recorded classes on Disrupting the Culture of Appropriation, fighting Anti-Asian Racism, Locating Patriarchy as well as RISE: Exposing Racism and Sexism. Intersections that are Racism and Sexism.

The courses serve as a fundamental learning experience for clients of Bakau. "They help to reduce the workload of Bakau's personnel; we advise our customers to take part in these courses and allow us to do more," says Blain.

Blain decided to offer classes instead of other platforms due to of how user-friendly it is.

"I enjoyed my experience with the platform as student because it was simple to use," they say. "We had a student from the department of social justice at Adler University conduct a study of the various e-learning platforms as part of an internship we had with them that allowed for the most flexible customization and simplicity when uploading content. We realized that uploading material would be more complicated to us as there's no an IT team. This was what we thought would be our best option. ."

     They created a welcoming group-based community    

Blain wanted to develop a course that would allow individuals to develop closer relationships than their own. Therefore, the group-oriented Living Room course was introduced in the year 2000 to allow people get together, talk about the things they're going through and also form the community of support. "The idea of Living Room had been percolating in my mind for a long time," they explain.

"There's plenty of information out there specific to certain categories, such as discrimination against people of colour, disability justice or 2SLGBTQ+ inclusion," continues Blain. "For me personally, Living Room is more concerned with the "how" of doing this job. For instance, how do you manage the needs of your family? What do you do to simplify your daily life using the use of a particular method? How can you manage your power or control which you don't? What do you have to do to manage the emotional aspect of talking about issues that might be personally important to you and the viewers respond with emotions also? ?"

     They created a warm, inviting learning environment--virtually    

The Living Room is a popular place for people working in and around strategies to combat oppression and mobilization for social justice.

The content of Bakau is easy to understand, Living Room is presented in a casual and friendly manner. "As an individual who is introverted, I actually love working from home and I think that a lot of people do too," they continue. "I was wondering if it's possible to be a part of a community and feel as if you're part of the family as well as learning online ."

This is apparent in the words on the website and also in the content itself. The for instance, the About section on the Living Room landing page reflects the warm and welcoming vibe the program conveys.

They are able to write:

     "I want to invite you into my living room.

     I am a neurodivergent introvert and is somehow capable of performing an emotionally-tense front-facing task in my home, the living room has become my refuge.

     The walls are adorned by artwork that inspires me. An image of my mum's hands, cuddling my little baby fingers, a unique photo that I and my companion created by one of my most favorite local artists, a photo of one of my favorite friends' film photography, and a "no cops the pride" poster.

     Each corner is distinct and has its own vibe and a meaning. The window seat is adorned with a very soft pink blanket ideal for a quiet reading of your favorite YA novels with a candle. The other corner has the table in your dining area (because nobody has an extra dining space in these days?) and pretty yellow chairs. I often paint and design collages (dinner is almost always sitting on my lap. Isn't yours? )

     My favourite corner is to the right the right to the right. The memorial altar is dedicated to my beloved Nana, Jean. I honored her by giving her the sun's rays; a warm, yellow shelf decorated by her beloved glasses, her books, trinkets and other things that she took on her many adventures and even a gold vase."

The name of the room was picked in honor of "Living Room" because of it's dual signification. "It is a symbol of a warm and cozy space in addition to a room to be in; it is giving ourselves space to breathe and connect" Blain explains. Blain.

They disrupted the standard way of studying.

Furthermore, the method the information they present is a bit different than normal. "With Living Room, I wanted to challenge the standard ways we learn. It is more about the process of reflection and connection than on content," they say.

Their goal is to transpose their ideals into an inviting virtual reality, Blain recorded themselves talking on their mobile phones--much like the design of Instagram Live. They did not, however, have the option of uploading their videos using Powerpoint.

"I realized that in order to project a relaxed vibe, I needed to approach things in a different way," they say. "Sometimes I would speak while wearing makeup, or doing random stuff while reading the words. After that, I would put the video onto a slide. I'd then write notes as well as captions. ."

"This won't be a good idea for the classes we teach where we're pitching corporate clients" says Blan, "but in this instance, I felt it would be interesting for students to present something other than an ordinary PowerPoint presentation. It was a lot of fun designing the presentation ."

Further, when Blain wrote an instruction in text within the course, they treated the text as an article on blogs. "I believe that the student finds that easier and more enjoyable because it's different from reading a textbook," the authors add.

     They curated the content from other sources    

Alongside developing innovative concepts, which Blain believes is essential in the work as the creator of online courses - Blain also curate other content for learners.

"It's important to be able to think up new ideas," they say, "but it's also an excellent skill to be experts in curating sources as well. It's really exciting to go to the class of someone who can put all the information you need to know all in one location, even if they created it themselves. ."

Furthermore, curating content lets Blain to incorporate new perspectives and personal experiences into their classes. "I recommend that students benefit from other sources of information available in the world," continues Blain. "You do not have to come up every idea yourself; it is possible to credit somebody else with their work. ."

When making the content and then curating it, Blain created everything directly within Course Builder. "It was like it sucked out the process of doing lots of writing and formatting on the structure of an Google document and then simply copying and rewriting it," they say. "That's my personal choice, however I'm convinced it's decreased anxiety and provided me with more instant gratification ."

     They gave a wide range of delivery options    

The day that it was announced that the Living Room was launched, Living Room, Blain offered various options to deliver the class.

The first was the cohort tier which was the full access program. In this plan, a group comprising 15 students was gathered during five weeks, to go through live workshops on topics like navigating capitalism and intergenerational storytelling, as well as the series of guest speakers. Participants also received access to an audio class on intergenerational storytelling along with an online community called Slack. "We're still in the early stage of the program nevertheless, I'm really pleased with how the first group went, and am excited to discover its possibilities," shares Blain.

The following group was initially planned for January 2024, they're considering a rethink of the format for Living Room, and considering making it a membership program instead. "Five weeks was not enough," Blain says. Blain. "The connections created were so valuable. There is a possibility that this might be a more year-round offer that allows users to continue being connected to their community and can have such conversations, or, perhaps, the content online will increase also ."

The second level offered was the flex learning option. It allows students to join solely for the online course as well as participate in two lecture. "It's an alternative to having a more relaxed method of being a part of the course if you don't have as the time," says Blain.

The final level was an online video class that had been recorded and played in its own.

     They weren't overselling themselves.    

Blain could offer the cohort tier on the basis of a sliding scale. The standard price was $599CAD. In addition, there was an "generous rate" which was set at $899 CAD. "The generous rate applies to firms that give them the opportunity to receive scholarships," says Blain. "This permits me to offer various scholarship options for students, such as an all-inclusive scholarship along with a couple of 50percent scholarships. ."

The flexible learning option cost $199CAD. Online course itself was $99 CAD.

For pricing their classes, they looked at how much other institutions were charging, however they claimed that the pricing was "all all over the board."

"We were unable to come to a conclusion of the price that was typical," they say. "We were thinking of charging a lower price point in order to provide quick accessibility type of thing for the general public, however as we thought about how much effort we had spent on it, as well as the quality of the product and the quality of the product, we realized that it would be a more affordable decision ."

Be careful not to diminish the importance of DEI work. The DEI team decided that they could not be more pleased that DEI's Living Room wasn't priced too low. "We landed on a price that was roughly similar to that of participating in workshops with us," they say.

For collecting payment for processing payment, the company uses Stripe with .

     They depended on their email list to promote their programs    

Blain states that Living Room is a popular venue. Living Room attracts both individuals--like activists, community organizers, volunteers human rights activists, and people who want to learn about others' experiences, as well as groups that require help in these kinds of projects.

They spread the word regarding Living Room through their live workshop facilitators in partnership together with Bakau Consulting. They also market the course by advertising it via sessions that are held live through Bakau consulting, the Bakau monthly newsletter which has been received by over 2,000 users and Blain's own Instagram account. "When we promote the course through platforms such as Instagram it is usually a draw for participants who are enrolled in the course by themselves," they say.

The publication can be used to promote their courses in addition to speak about occasions like Pride Month or Black History Month.

"Our newsletter is one of the most efficient way to get users to visit our website," they say. "I consider that we have an extremely loyal and consistent following of folks there ."

If Blain could go back and modify anything, they'd become more systematic in their strategy to promote not just Living Room, but their other classes too. "We're working on looking at our strategy to market our courses," they say. "For many years, we've had great experiences, mostly based by word of mouth, however we've never put much of a budget for marketing. What we'll need to do is to maintain the sameness of our online products, to make sure that users will continue to come to our site. We must adapt to changing times, and making sure that the content we provide is useful and interesting. ."

The marketing plan will be at the forefront of their minds throughout the months ahead as they begin the next course, Processing Rage -- which will be hosted by and open to registration in advance.

     They were part of a team    

While Living Room was mainly created by Blain the rest of the classes within Bakau were collaborative and a group collaboration. Bakau has multiple team members, ranging from strategists, facilitators, to researchers. "We are working on them since in November, and basically went on a break for two weeks, met in person and conducted lots of brainstorming" they say.

If Blain thinks back about his process in creating Living Room and Living Room, they're excited for the future--and what positive impact can bring about for people. "In reflecting on my happiness with the initial cohort and the positive feedback I'm hoping it'll grow to be a bigger segment of Bakau's community," says Blain.

If you're looking to take the online course creator position, don't hesitate. The world is waiting to know more about you. Join today for no cost.

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