Red Dress Day Reflections: Conversations, Listening and Taking Action

Last week, I took part in Red Dress Day, a day dedicated to sparking conversation, creating change, and honouring the names and stories of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit people. Each dress told a story, each name a reminder, these are not just statistics or headlines, they are someone. Someone loved, someone missed, someone whose story deserves to be told, and whose life demands justice.

These aren’t distant stories from a forgotten past. They are lived realities, continuing today. The stories of families still waiting for justice, of women who never came home, of communities who have had to become investigators and advocates because the system refused to do it for them.

Someone reminded us that we are a village, responsible for changing our ways. She spoke honestly about colonization, how its systems have imprisoned and murdered Indigenous peoples. She challenged us to dismantle these structures and replace them with truth, anti-racist policies, and real decolonization. Which means facing the truths about our history, truths that we must not shy away from but understand deeply. Because, as someone said, “now that you know, you can’t unknow”

At another event, the words “The system is designed to kill us” echoed in the room, a reality we cannot ignore. How can we talk about reconciliation if we are unwilling to talk about the truth? The truth about systemic racism, inadequate funding, and the difference between performative gestures and real, actionable change. 

I heard calls to amplify First Nations voices, to listen closely, to create community spaces that hold and protect Indigenous knowledge. Real change requires conversations rooted in respect, truth and accountability.

Reflecting on these moments, I’m reminded that remembering alone is not enough. We must listen, learn, and make change happen in policies and in communities. If we carry this knowledge, we carry responsibility. It's easy to show up for one day. To wear red. To post something. But true change is putting anti-racist policies into action, not just talking about it.

Because they are someone. And they deserve more than just our remembrance. They deserve our action.

Written by: Bolade Afolabi