Travelling near Springhill recently, I thought about Stacey Abrams, the Georgia politician who, in a bitter gubernatorial race against a white male opponent, lost her bid to become the first African-American woman to lead a state. The annual dispatch of a Christmas tree from Nova Scotia to Boston commemorates the province’s ties to Massachusetts residents […]
CN wants to buy HalTerm, and what that means for other prospective megaports in Nova Scotia
Morning File, Friday, December 7, 2018
News 1. ServiCom ServiCom has closed its call centre in Sydney, and laid off all 600 workers. “ServiCom site director Todd Riley blasted the company’s executive team for misleading him and all employees at the centre,” reports Chris Shannon for the Cape Breton Post: “Any time would be hard, but Christmastime? To me, it’s a very […]
Halifax CFL team: the Richard Butts connection
Morning File, Friday, November 2, 2018
November subscription drive Today, I could write a long thing telling you about how important your subscription is, or you could read what I wrote yesterday and today I’ll just post a picture of a cute dog: Your dog can also wear a Halifax Examiner T-shirt, but only if your dog buys an annual subscription. […]
Africville in Black and White: “hybrid performative piece” about Africville premieres tonight
I was heartened to spend time this summer with Black scholar Chana Kai Lee who arrived in Halifax to conduct research on, among other topics, Africville. Now home, the associate professor of history and African American Studies at the University of Georgia recalled her experience at the Africville Museum. “My visit affirmed my appreciation for […]
“I Am Queen Mary”: a story of Black liberation, art, and dental intervention
As a Black woman who marks a dental visit in Denmark as a milestone in my life, I was thrilled to learn that the country now boasts a major public art work that honours a woman of African descent. Recently unveiled in Copenhagen, the “I Am Queen Mary” statue pays homage to Mary Thomas, a […]
The Rape of Recy Taylor
In her book Carnal Crimes: Sexual Assault Law in Canada, 1900-1975, acclaimed University of Ottawa Law professor Constance Backhouse examines (among other topics) the life of Rose Marie Roper, an Indigenous woman from British Columbia. In April 1967, Roper’s nude and brutally beaten body was discovered “lying face down … near a garbage dump,” Backhouse […]
“Hell to the no. We’re outta here.”
Fleeing Nova Scotia for Africa, Black Loyalists, in their “reverse migration,” had rendered themselves vulnerable to a still robust slave trade that was not abolished, within the British Empire, until 1834. Think about it.
There was no love lost between me and a bland fruit that routinely found its way into my childhood home in northwest Indiana. That sentiment changed when, at age 21, I nibbled the same fruit (between sips of palm wine) at a gathering in Ghana. “Who knew it tasted so good?” I marvelled while savouring […]
The Cornwallis statue and manufactured history: Morning File, Monday, January 29, 2018
News 1. Baillie resignation “While the Conservative response to the sexual harassment allegations against Jamie Baillie represents progress of a sort, there are still lessons we can learn from what the party did — and didn’t do — in this case,” writes Stephen Kimber. Click here to read “The PC party’s response to the Baillie […]
The price they paid
As Ellen Page and so many others tell their terrible truths, let's pause to remember those destroyed by sexual abuse.
Entertained and inspired by actor Ellen Page in Juno (2007), I was determined to pen a feature profile about the Halifax native when I moved to Nova Scotia from B.C., in 2012. My proposal green-lighted by an editor at a national magazine, I mailed a formal interview request and samples of my work to a […]
Mayor Mike Savage to shill for Shaw Communications: Morning File, Tuesday, October 3, 2017
News 1. Cornwallis panelists to be discussed in secret Halifax council will today appoint the “special advisory committee” to determine what to do with the Cornwallis statue. The panel will comprise: • Co-chairs from indigenous and non-indigenous community with leadership and chairing experience • An even number of members with experience and expertise in the […]