IRL feature: Mikela Jay

At PowerED™ by Athabasca University, we embrace innovation. We provide online, on-demand learning that helps organizations and individual learners build new skills, advance their learning objectives, and drive results. 

Embracing Allyship & Inclusion is a self-directed microcourse designed to help individual learners and organizations explore the impacts and legacies of systemic discrimination, evaluate their privileges and biases, and develop effective strategies to practice meaningful allyship. 

In 1997, a friend of mine who was a fine art photographer decided we should collaborate and express my story through an audio-visual exhibit. Entitled “FIERCE,” it was made up of 21 large-format black and white images in various stages of ‘male,’ ‘female,’ and ‘other/alien.’ The show was a very successful process of self-discovery. It opened the floodgates for casting directors pitching me diverse film and television character roles. It was a welcome relief from modelling and representing a reflection of standard feminine beauty. At the same time, however, many of the people who sought me out also insisted that I stop talking about myself because they were afraid of the limits I might face as a result. Once again, I was faced with the limits others anticipated because of my identity.  

These mixed messages surfaced in my personal life as well. Many people have pursued me because they are attracted to my uniqueness, but as soon as I open up about my truth, it shattered their desire for me as a potential partner, wife, or baby-mama. Sometimes, it led to extremely violent reactions, ranging from verbal assaults to physical, emotional, and psychological abuse.

A world without labels.

I was born into a family of extremely gifted artists. My mother, an exceptionally talented hyper-realist painter, would often use National Geographic magazines as a reference for her work, and I would devour them, consuming all the details of different places and cultures. It gave me a sense of belonging to a vast global village beyond the small, narrow-minded town we lived in. When I began travelling for work, it gave me access to a depth of lived experience that I was never taught in school. Living in big cities like Toronto, Montreal, Amsterdam, London, Paris, New York, Tokyo, and Berlin provided incredible opportunities to experience a range of humanity many people rarely get to discover firsthand. The best, most creative environments I have worked in have been those with the most diverse casts and crews. The worst were those where the power dynamics were entrenched. 

What originally felt like a burden or curse has transformed over the years into deep acceptance. The younger generations have become more vocal and clear about their own identities, and civil rights have been brought to the forefront of past and present societal structures. I have a lot of love for and faith in these strong eclectic voices who are helping to redefine what it means to truly be oneself and who are aligned with others in exhibiting their own self-awareness. 

We live in challenging times. There are so many profound examples of people finding community through shared life experiences and identities. But for every step forward, we’re also faced with bigotry, discrimination, and outdated opinions. It has become almost like a surreal dance, with the momentum of people’s truth becoming a beacon for light, with the fear and ignorance of others attempts to keep us all in the dark. I sincerely hope that we, as a global society, will learn to embrace the many variations of people in our shared world in the years to come.