Korean Canadian wins anti-discrimination award

A Korean-Canadian female student from Toronto has received the Lincoln Alexander Award from the provincial government of Ontario for fighting against discrimination.

Christie Park, a freshman majoring in business administration at Western University in London, Ontario, was presented with the award and $5,000 in prize money in a ceremony in Queen’s Park on Friday.

The 17-year-old organized an Anti-Bullying Assembly at William Lyon Mackenzie Collegiate Institute, a high school in North York, Toronto. The assembly educated students about bullying, discrimination and homophobia. She also created the Students Uniting for Peace Arts Night, an event to raise awareness of violence and bullying in schools across Toronto, according to the website of the provincial government.

Ontario, Canada’s second largest province, created the award in 1993 to celebrate the late Lincoln Alexander, the province’s first black lieutenant governor and Canada’s first black member of parliament. He was well-known for helping young people overcome social barrirs.

The award recognizes young people who are leading the fight to end racial discrimination in schools and their communities.

Park is the first Canadian of Korean descent to receive the award.

By Chun Sung-woo (swchun@heraldcorp.com)