Assyrian Advocacy Series

The Assyrian Advocacy Series is made up of different events designed, curated and hosted by ACSSU. The aim of these events is to provide an intro into Assyrian heritage and history as well as resources and tools to encourage Assyrians, specifically youth, to get more involved in the community.

Unlock Your Heritage

The Unlock Your Heritage event - the first in our Assyrian Advocacy Series - takes us through an Assyrian History 101 lesson. Our guest speaker, Danno Sworesho, presented a timeline guiding us from ancient Assyrian roots to modern day Assyrians. The timeline was split into three phases; The ancient phase, including Sumerian city states, Akkadian empire, Babylonian empire, and Assyrian empire. The Christian phase, as Assyrians became one of the earliest Christians. Finally, the Pre-Modern/Modern phase, which is filled with mass persecution. After Danno’s presentation, the event was wrapped up with a question and answer session, followed by a short trivia game with a prize winner!

Get To Know Your Assyrian Organizations

The Get to Know Your Assyrian Organizations event - the second in our Assyrian Advocacy Series - showcases the wide variety of Assyrian organizations on both the local and global scale. Guest speakers discussed key points about their organizations such as their purpose, what they represent in terms of the ongoing projects, the future projects they hope to start, the resources each organization has for the Assyrian community in Canada, and the available jobs and volunteering positions for those interested.

Mental Health Workshop: Part 1

The Mental Health Awareness event - the third in our Assyrian Advocacy Series - highlights the importance of mental health. Our guest speaker - Haitham Graish - addressed what mental health actually is and the concept of minority stress. Haitham also shared a variety of coping strategies people can use to better their mental health in the short and long term, and highlighted the needs of the Assyrian community in Lebanon.

Youth Take Charge

The Youth Take Charge event - the fourth in our Assyrian Advocacy Series - highlights the importance of being aware of the events happening within our community and our nation. Our guest speakers - Eamama Daniyal and Berta Kaisr - discussed ideas surrounding Assyrian youth participation in our community and ways to spread awareness, with the hopes of keeping the message of a united Assyrian nation alive for the future.

Mental Health Workshop: Part 2

Part 2 of The Mental Health Awareness Event continues the conversation of mental wellbeing in our Assyrian community. Our guest speaker - Haitham Graish - addressed the concept of mental health for Assyrians living in the diaspora, and demonstrated some resilience and strength based models in the community. Haitham also introduced the concepts of generational trauma, and internalized oppression, to highlight their impacts in our community. Finally, we had a conversation on how to take action towards the betterment of our community.