Byline: Jim Rankin Toronto Star

One afternoon in late February, Shadya Yasin was busy doing what she does: bringing people together who really ought to talk to each other more often.

In this case, she'd helped convene a meeting in the Weston-Mount Dennis neighbourhood, which involved politicians from three levels of government, city of Toronto staff, youth workers and youth program providers. They were there to talk about youth and funding issues in a priority area that is rich with people and ideas, but left wanting for so much more.

Talk they did, in a candid, thoughtful dialogue that is often missing these days in discussions about difficult issues, particularly when it comes to racial politics.

When the issue of Toronto police documenting young men of colour bubbled up into a city-wide concern this past year, it was Yasin who helped bring police and the community together, again in Weston-Mount Dennis, where she lives and works as a co-ordinator with York Youth Coalition, an umbrella group for 20 youth agencies.

When it comes to grassroots community...