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. […]
“We Gon Be Alright”: On Activism, Death, and Survival
We’ve been talking a lot about our deaths lately. If I die before you, I instruct the people I love, don’t let my name be used for wack shit. I’m counting on you. I follow with instructions for various scenarios. If I die violently, remember how I felt about prisons. Don’t let one of the […]
“That Rude Girl”: organizing as a Black woman
This week, Jody Wilson-Raybould’s testimony about SNC-Lavalin dominated Canadian politics. My timeline is filled with articles praising her integrity, her courage, her honesty. And yet, only weeks ago, these same newspapers ran articles quoting colleagues calling her “difficult,” “not a team player,” “hard to work with” — in short, a bitch. In her testimony, Wilson-Raybould […]
Whatever happened to Justine Colley? Life After Basketball
Colley was the leading points scorer in Canadian women's university basketball history. And then she walked away from a potential career as an Olympian and WNBA star. Now Justine Colley-Leger is finding her political voice.
Justine Colley-Leger’s path seemed to be mapped out for her. She left Saint Mary’s University as the leading points scorer in Canadian university women’s basketball history. She was already an established national team member. Fans imagined her starring at the Olympics, playing for the WNBA or pursuing a career in Europe, years and years of […]
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