My mother does not do anything stereotypically Canadian. “Why should I pay Tim Hortons to carry around their logo? They should be paying me to advertise them!” she will exclaim, and then proceed to calculate how many cups of coffee she can make from the large can on sale at Superstore versus the cost of […]
We the North: Black lives only matter when they are shooting a basketball
In Ottawa, one of the legal advocates for the Elizabeth Fry Society tells me that the Human Rights Commission refused to speak with Black gay women in prison. E. Fry filed a complaint that argues that Correctional Services of Canada (CSC) discriminates on the grounds of sex, race, ethnicity, and mental disability in its programming […]
It is my mother’s strength that gives me my backbone
Mummy demanded obedience, insisted that her children stand on our own feet, and taught us how to survive.
In my favourite entry in my baby book, my mother writes: El is very stubborn. If you say the sky is blue, she will tell you it’s green. But she’s very sensitive, really. She can’t bear to hear stories where anyone gets hurt. When the witch gets put in the oven, she cries. I smile […]
Ramadan in jail: prisoners in Burnside are being denied the right to practice their religion
Malik is calling from the jail asking for the numbers of any Muslims he can contact just to talk to, maybe hear some Quran from. The last time he prayed with community was during Ramadan last year, and since then, his requests for spiritual services have been denied. Last year, Muslim prisoners at Burnside (Central […]
In praise of First Girls
Labelled sluts, throwaways, trouble makers, and trash, First Girls paved the way for sheltered girls; First Girls needed to be heard, but no one knew how to listen.
Cassie joined our French class in Grade 9. She sat in front of me. I was drawn to her because of how proudly rude she was to the teacher. “What is that in French?” the teacher asked her, and she shot back, “Shouldn’t you know? You’re the teacher.” I was a child from a strict […]
The redemption of Johnny Mac
The Cape Breton fighter, Canada's first openly gay boxer, is training for his first pro bout
A few months ago, Johnny Mac was driving around the city, thinking about ending his life. Johnny didn’t know if he could get up one more time. Growing up in Inverness, Cape Breton, he had to be tough. Bullied as a child, he began boxing in his teens, hoping to lose some weight and learn […]
Hanna Garson: a young lawyer dedicated to the long, slow fight for prison justice
It’s a Tuesday morning, and I’m sitting in courtroom 302 of the Halifax Supreme Court watching two prisoners, Geevan Nagendran and Tyquan Downey, face the lawyer for the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility (Burnside). I text Hanna Garson, “I’m watching the most upsetting habeas in court right now.” She texts back, “what courtroom?” Two minutes […]
All-white Donner Prize jury shortlists book by white man defending blackface
Peter MacKinnon’s book, University Commons Divided: Exploring Debate and Dissent on Campus, has been shortlisted for the Donner Prize. The selection criteria for the prize identifies three areas of scrutiny: The importance of the subject; The soundness and originality of the analysis in terms of identifying and defining the issues in question and presenting authoritative analysis […]
Let’s read the street check report together
I don't know if there's a German word for that feeling when you're so horrified that it becomes entertaining, but if there isn't, someone should probably coin it for Black people reading the police comments in the report.
It’s been a week since the street check report was released. Despite all the politicians and police board members and police leaders being so “shocked and saddened” by the statistics, unsurprisingly, here we are a week later with politicians derailing action by talking about ending quotas that never formally existed and the police don’t admit […]
El Jones reads her poem “Stop Street Checks”
Saturday, young people in Halifax’s Black community led a conversation at the North Library about Scot Wortley’s report on street checks and the effects of street checks on them. After the conversation, there was a march from the library to the police station (and then on to Province House) demanding an end to street checks. […]
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