Free School: Access to Education in Unfree Times
The premise of the Free School is rooted in the idea of learning through community, activism and collective inquiry. This is an ongoing exploration into the who, what, when, and how of the systems that shape us. In a time when access to education, information, democracy and free speech is increasingly threatened, this year’s Free School, "Access to Education in Unfree Times” invites us to connect and learn in a period where the conditions of access and freedom are fragile.
This year’s Free School is hosted in collaboration with Tangled Art + Disability and consists of two inter-related events that explore this theme.
Our first 2025 Free School is a presentation from stitched!, a live journalism studio at the Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University. Their recent show, Living with Drones, is an interactive, multi-sensorial performance about the sounds of war, in particular the use of drones, and their devastating, traumatic impact on the residents of Gaza. Living with Drones debuted at the Camden People’s Theatre in January 2025 and has continued to engage audiences at sold out performances in Toronto, Ottawa, and Washington, DC.
Featuring storytellers Christin El-Kholy, Sonya Fatah, and Laila Hashem with musician Mariam Shakaa, the stitched! team will share excerpts from Living With Drones, discuss the creation process and international reception of the show in precarious, geopolitical times, and share how their “story work” disrupts traditional journalistic practices. This Free School highlights how art can serve as both resistance and education.
Meet the Living With Drones Team
Sonya Fatah is a journalist who teaches at the School of Journalism at Toronto Metropolitan University. She founded the stitched! studio in 2019. Her teaching, research, and practice employ decolonial approaches to storytelling.
Laila Hashem is a Palestinian journalist and storyteller passionate about advocating and exploring displacement and colonialism's enduring effects.
Christin El-Kholy is a journalist and writer from Scarborough by way of Cairo whose work attempts to reclaim space for those who have been oppressed through policy choices and discourses of racial inferiority. She is an online editor at New Lines Magazine.
Diurnus is a journalist and producer with experience reporting on the ground in Canada and internationally in Israel & Palestine. Media criticism is an essential part of their work, which also involves producing engaging live journalism shows.
Mariam Shakaa is a Palestinian musician, Oud player, singer, and composer from the city of Nablus, Palestine known for her contributions to Arabic music. Mariam is a winner of several awards for Arabic music internationally and locally. One of them was second place in the Palestine youth competition affiliated to the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music in 2021. As well as a Winner of the Marcel Khalifa Prize in the International Oud Competition in Lebanon 2022.
Hania Noor is a storyteller who works in various formats, such as production, live journalism, documentary, and audio storytelling. She’s interested in bringing unique stories to life, from the page to the stage, in a way that fits them best.
Skye Celia Lee Anderson is a fourth year student in Toronto Metropolitan University's Performance: Production program (née Ryerson Theatre School) and is excited to be working on Living with Drones. Skye has had the privilege of working with artists across Dance, Drama and Beyond including Dancetheatre David Earle, Rick Miller, Kris Alexander and Côté Danse. When she's not in the theatre, Skye avidly watches the TTC vehicles that pass her by, hoping to someday add each and every cardboard model to her collection. You can see more of Skye's work at https://skyecelialee.myportfolio.com (external link) .
Kinza Zafar is an award-winning multimedia journalist living in downtown Toronto. A recent graduate of Toronto Metropolitan University’s Bachelor of Journalism program with an interest in long-form politics and arts reporting, she approaches her work through an anti-oppressive and decolonial lens, drawing on her intersectional lived experience to tell overlooked stories with depth and nuance.
Our second Free School event “From Turtle Island To Palestine: Cross Movement Solidarity in Action” is a conversation with two pairs of activists working together within and across labour and Indigenous solidarity movements towards liberation in the face of genocide.
Anishinaabe artist, activist, and educator Quill Christie-Peters and Maysam Ghani, a Palestinian educator, poet, and organizer, have a rich history of collaboration, building deep practices of joint struggle and responsibility between Anishinaabe and Palestinian communities. Palestinian Canadian social justice activist and professor Ala’ Qadi and Elizabeth Ha, a Chinese-Canadian labour and community activist are Vice-Chairs of OPSEU’s Coalition of Racialized Workers, organizing within the labour movement to dismantle systemic racism and highlight the Palestinian struggle. With facilitation by Dr. Lamya Amleh of Faculty for Palestine, this discussion will explore the power of collective resistance to restore hope and build resilience in the face of increased surveillance and state violence. Panelists and attendees are invited to reflect on the idea that landback and labour are both local and global movements.
This event is free, hybrid, and open to the public. Attendees can participate in person or through Zoom. Food, ASL and interpretation will be provided. We ask that those coming in person wear a face mask. Surgical masks will be available.
Meet the Panelists
Elizabeth Ha is a labour and community activist and a mother of two amazing kids. She is OPSEU’s Vice-Chair of The Coalition of Racialized Workers, Member of Justicia for Migrant Workers, Member of the Executive to Windsor District Labour Council, a member of the Asian Canadian Labour Alliance (ACLA) and the Coalition of Black Trade Unionist (CBTU). Elizabeth is the first Chinese Canadian elected to sit on the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) Executive Board as a Vice President. Together with The Coalition of Racialized Workers, Elizabeth organized the first OPSEU Racialized Workers Conference. The conference focused on racialization, its impacts and how it manifests itself in society, the workplace and unions. Even though she is extremely active in the Labour Movement, she has no problem pointing out the work unions still need to do to protect and advocate for all workers and not just their own members. Elizabeth was recently given the King Charles III Coronation Medal in recognition of her significant contribution to Canada and her community.
Ala’ Qadi is Palestinian Canadian. He grew up in the West Bank under Israeli Occupation and lived through the first Intifada. Ala’ is a social justice activist and has been a vocal advocate for Palestinian Human Rights and the human rights of all oppressed and colonized people. Ala’ is the Vice Chair of OPSEU (Ontario Public Service Employee Union)’s Coalition of Racialized Workers, a union steward at Algonquin College Faculty Union, one of the coordinators for Labour For Palestine in The Ottawa Region. Ala’ is also involved with Amnesty International and Fair Vote Canada. Ala’ is the recipient of OPSEU’s 2025 Human Rights Award-Individual for his efforts in educating OPSEU members on the Palestinian cause and Palestinian people’s struggle.
Quill Christie-Peters is an Anishinaabe educator and self-taught visual artist from Lac des Mille Lacs First Nation located in Treaty 3 territory. She is the creator and director of the Indigenous Youth Residency Program, an artist residency for Indigenous youth that engages land-based creative practices through Anishinaabe artistic methodologies. She holds a master’s degree in Indigenous governance, focusing on Anishinaabe art-making as a process of falling in love. She has spoken at Stanford University, the University of Toronto, and California College of the Arts, and her written work can be found in GUTS magazine and Canadian Art. She is also a mother, beadwork artist, and traditional tattoo practitioner following the protocols of her community. Her first book, On Wholeness, was just published by House of Anansi Press. All of her work can be found at @raunchykwe.
Maysam Ghani is a Palestinian educator, grassroots organizer and poet based in Toronto. Currently, she supports the work of Anishinaabeg Palestine Alliance and is committed to joint struggle in practice and relationship. Her poetry has been featured in the Ghassan Kanafani Resistance Arts Anthology (2019; 2020) and the International Palestine Writes Festival on a panel entitled “Architects of Our Narrative” for emerging Palestinian writers. Maysam was the lead artist on a multi-media poetry project titled “Revolution Must Mean Life,” exploring the intersections of Palestine and the labour movement as part of the Mayworks Festival of Working People and the Arts. In her research, she is interested in the intersections of counterinsurgency, cultural resistance, popular poetry and popular education rooted in the long lineage of Palestinian resistance culture. As a secondary school teacher and workshop facilitator, Maysam is committed to radical and abolitionist approaches to teaching and co-creating critical learning communities with young people.
Dr. Lamya Amleh is a Professor of Structural Engineering at TMU and Director of the First-Year Engineering Office. Her work bridges engineering education, community empowerment, and sustainability. Dr. Amleh’s teaching and research focus on sustainable infrastructure and climate resilience, and she is committed to fostering dialogue that connects engineering, ethics, and global responsibility while advocating for equity and inclusion in higher education. Beyond academia, she is engaged in social justice initiatives and serves with F4P and other community-based movements that center solidarity, liberation, and collective resistance against oppression from Turtle Island to Palestine.