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Applied Pedagogy: How the AHRC Directive Revealed Systemic Refusal

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A living case study by Shawn Raven This is the first public analysis applying my book’s framework to a real conflict with a Canadian institution. What I teach is not theory. It is lived law. It is applied pedagogy. It is survival turned into methodology. This is what it looks like in practice. --- The Context I submitted a human rights complaint. I cited my rights under the Charter, UNDRIP, TRC, and multiple sections of human rights legislation. I identified disability barriers, Indigenous rights, and systemic discrimination. Their response: A directive accusing my communication of being “rude,” “aggressive,” or “inappropriate.” The usual coded language used against autistic, Indigenous, trauma-surviving people who assert their rights clearly and without apology. This is what systems do when you step outside their preferred communication frame. They do not rebut the law. They attack tone. They pivot from substance to discipline. It is refusal disguised as “procedure.” This is the exact...
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My New Ebook Drops in 72 Hours

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My New Ebook Drops in 72 Hours I’m excited to announce that my new ebook, Pedagogy of Canada’s Systems: Fire, Law, and the Method of Refusal, will be available on Kindle in just 72 hours. This project grew out of lived experience,  not theory. I wrote this book because of the systemic rot that runs through institutions and organizations across Canada. These are systems that claim to uphold the Charter, the TRC Calls to Action, UNDRIP, and human rights… yet too often hide behind internal policy instead of standing on law, truth, and responsibility. That contradiction is not abstract. It affects real people every day. This book is my refusal to accept that gap as “normal.” It is a challenge to the narratives that protect institutions instead of the individuals they claim to serve. Why This Book Matters Because rights without enforcement are meaningless. Because systems cannot heal themselves without pressure, truth, and fire. Because lived experience is evidence and often the only ki...
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The Weaponization of “Don’t Be Rude”

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I n Canada, a familiar pattern appears whenever an Indigenous person or any marginalized person asserts their rights. The moment law, clarity, or sovereignty enters the conversation, institutions reach for a scripted warning: “Please don’t be rude.” This phrase is presented as professional and neutral. It is neither. For Indigenous peoples, it functions as a control mechanism rooted in power imbalance. TRC, UNDRIP, Section 35, and every major rights framework already affirm this imbalance as real and ongoing. Tone policing is not harmless. It is structural. Policy is not law and institutions rely on that confusion When rights are asserted, institutions often respond with policy instead of law. This is intentional. You cite UNDRIP and they cite internal procedure. You cite the Charter and they cite communication rules. You cite Treaty obligations and they cite workplace guidelines. This is the colonial bait and switch. Rights are replaced with policy and presented as if they...
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They Ticketed Her for Existing

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They Ticketed Her for Existing Yesterday, I witnessed something that stayed with me long after I left the train station. A woman who was clearly unhoused was standing quietly at the platform. She was not bothering anyone. She was not causing a disturbance. She was simply trying to exist. Law enforcement approached her. And they ticketed her. A fine she cannot pay. A punishment for being poor. A system that refuses to see the truth of her situation. She needs support, not a citation. I took a photo without showing her face, because she deserves dignity and privacy. She is a human being, not an object for public spectacle. But what happened to her cannot be ignored. Moments like this happen every day in our cities, and we have grown far too used to seeing them. This is not an isolated event. It is part of a pattern that is built into policy and procedure. It is often framed as public safety, yet it targets the most vulnerable people and adds more pain to lives already filled with struggl...
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About Shawn Raven

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I am Shawn Raven,   I am a writer, storyteller, and fire-carrier. My work is rooted in truth, healing, and the remembering of what it means to be fully human. I write about the world we have inherited. I write about the world we have forgotten. And I write about the world we are becoming. My voice comes from lived experience;  trauma, survival, identity, leadership, and the long path home to myself. My writing blends Indigenous worldview, philosophy, and fire: the kind that burns away illusion and awakens something real in the reader. This space, I AM THE FIRE, is where I share reflections, teachings, and pieces of my journey. It is where I speak on humanity, decolonization, culture, spirit, and the sacred connection to the Earth that modern society has tried to erase. If my words reach you, I hope they remind you of something older than fear. Something deeper than shame. Something true. We are already enough. We already belong. And it is time for all of us t...
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Civilized Man

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Modern man calls himself civilized. But this “civilized” man looks, yet cannot see. He hears, yet does not listen. He takes, but never puts back. He removes the earth from one place and piles it into towering stacks he calls a city. He says cities are for “civilized people.” He says forests, rivers, and meadows are wild — and only the uncivilized would live there. Civilized man believes he is brave, yet he is afraid of the earth. He sees everything as something to dominate, control, consume, and use. He kills anything he wants. He holds nothing sacred. He cuts down a tree to make paper money that can burn in an instant. He does not see that the tree was alive. A tree that would have given him shade when the sun grew too hot. A tree that would have stood between him and the storm. A tree that would have let him sleep beneath its branches. A tree that offers medicine freely. A tree that would even give its body to build a home for his family. What would civilized man ever give back to th...
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Being Human Is Already Enough

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Humans carry a shame we were never meant to hold. Somewhere along the way, we were taught that our worth depends on achievement. That we must earn our place in this world. That life only matters if we impress others, accomplish something extraordinary, or meet someone else’s definition of success. But being born is already the birthright to being alive. You do not need permission to exist. You do not need a reason to deserve breath. Does a bird ask why it was born? Does a wolf question its purpose? Does a bear feel unworthy for not achieving greatness? Life simply lives. And in living, it is already enough. Before the world was reshaped by greed, hierarchy, and conquest, Indigenous cultures around the world understood this truth deeply. Value was not measured in titles, money, productivity, or perfection. Value came from being human, being connected, being part of the land and the circle of life. A poet was honored. A carver was honored. A hunter, a healer, a knowledge keep...
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