Windsor high school student honoured at national public speaking contest

A Windsor, Ont., high school student has been honoured in a national speaking competition for her speech on racism and the importance of creating positive change. 

Each year, the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre holds a speech competition called Speakers Idol, and this year Windsor's Faith Aborode won third place. 

Faith said she jumped at the chance to share her story and opinions with people who wanted to hear. 

"Growing up, I've always been someone whose had, like I said before, all of these big ideas and big thoughts and at the time I was nine-years-old and didn't have many people to talk about racism," she said. 

"So as I grew older I, you know, got all these friends that had the same ideas and thoughts as me, and it was really enlightening to see what your words can do even if it feels like your words are insignificant sometimes."

WATCH | Watch an excerpt from Faith Aborode's speech: 

Grade 9 student delivers powerful speech about racism and change in national competition

3 years ago

Duration 1:00

Windsor, Ont.'s Faith Aborode shared her words in the Speakers Idol 2022 national competition. She ended up winning third place. Here's a snippet of what she said.

The Grade 9 student at Assumption College Catholic High School won over the judges with her speech. 

"This was Oscar worthy, this was inaugural poetry like the poet in Washington who has become famous for her delivery on Capitol Hill," said judge Ellin Bessner, a journalist and author who complimented Faith on her words as well. 

"Everyone needs to see this." 

Faith shared her life experiences of being born in Nigeria and moving to Canada at five years old.

"I wouldn't say I was ashamed of my culture, but I didn't quite understand it," she said. "The first few years I came to Canada I didn't talk, I had an accent and I didn't want people to hear it. 

The young writer said she started to understand those feelings and how systemic racism contributed to those feelings.

"I don't want other kids growing up and not wanting to talk about their culture, I don't want them to feel as if they don't matter," she said. 

"That's why I like to talk about these things, to show them that yes, we do matter, our culture is important and you should never be ashamed because of what other people think."

Apart from bragging rights, Faith took home an iPad as a prize. 

"I'm very happy that I did it and I'm very, very excited."

You can watch her full speech here. 

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.