Ocean is a 10yr old francophone performance artist who is a young human rights activist. Along with Black liberation she is a disability advocate for children like her younger sister who is both deaf and disabled. At age 9 she gave her 1st deputation to the Mayor, Chief of Police and police services board to end the SRO programme which had police in schools. She is an older mentor to younger kids in Black Lives Matter Freedom School program and has been awarded local and international awards for her leadership and courage. www.emilieruel.com
Akio Maroon is a dedicated single mother, a Community Organiser and Educator, a Board Member of Pride Toronto and a Human Rights Advocate who speaks on the topics of Black Liberation, Equality & Diversity, Consent Culture and Gender-based Violence. Akio currently sits on Ontario’s Provincial Roundtable on Violence Against Women. www.akiomaroon.com
10-year-old performance artist and human rights advocate, Ocean wrote the first few drafts of this article. She then asked her mom, activist and community organizer Akio Maroon, to add their thoughts and make a few edits. In their first published piece together, the pair honours Winnie Mandela.
