A blackface effigy on a property outside Parrsboro has been removed after concerns were raised by African Nova Scotians and Cumberland-Colchester MP Lenore Zann. The figure referenced traditional minstrel show symbols including the white glove and painted features exaggerating the lips and staring eyes. These elements of blackface costuming were intended to exaggerate African features […]
Black people die; corporations get rich
New policing technologies like body cameras don't help Black people; they're just another way to enrich corporations and police departments preying on Black people
CBC reports that the Truro police have started wearing body cameras. Truro Police Chief Dave MacNeil suggests the cameras are “partially a response to the global Black Lives Matter protests and partially to take advantage of improving technology.” The Truro police have been supplied with WatchGuard cameras. WatchGuard is owned by Motorola Solutions. In 2019, […]
One day in the streets doesn’t stop injustice, but it does show how Black lives matter
I’m standing in front of the Black Lives Matter banner at the protest for Regis on Saturday when my phone starts ringing insistently. It’s the jail. I walk away from the crowd and answer. A young Black man is calling from segregation at Burnside. Along with other prisoners, he filed a habeas application challenging their […]
Letter from Black community to Premier and Chief Medical Officer has been vandalized with racist comments
The Halifax Examiner is providing all COVID-19 coverage for free. Organizers of an open letter from the Black community to Premier McNeil and Chief Medical Officer Robert Strang say that the letter has been vandalized with racist comments. The letter, which collected over 250 signatures in two days, calls for an apology for the […]
Halifax Mayor Mike Savage recognizes “Wrongful Conviction Day” but takes no action on the wrongful conviction his city is responsible for
Morning File, Monday, October 7, 2019
1. Boat Harbour “The day-by-day countdown to the closing of Boat Harbour happens on a large painting erected in front of the Pictou Landing First Nation band council office, reports Joan Baxter: The painting depicts Boat Harbour as it was before it was dammed (and damned) in 1966, transformed from a healthy tidal estuary to […]
Photos of Trudeau in Blackface don’t surprise Black people; we live this racist reality
When the furor over Trudeau's Blackface photos dies down, to be referred to as an "embarrassing incident" or "controversial," Black people like Abdilahi Elmi will still be facing deportation. Muslim Canadians will still be on the no-fly list. White nationalist editorials will still be commissioned by major newspapers under the guise of "debate." And immigration will still be referred to as a "crisis."
The closest I’ve been to Justin Trudeau was in January, 2017, when I stood beside former Somali child refugee Abdoul Abdi’s sister Fatouma as she asked the Prime Minister if he would deport his own children. Fatouma was seven months pregnant, and was supposed to be on bed rest. When she heard Trudeau would be at […]
Watching deer while Black: Lynn Jones says she was racially profiled for looking at wildlife
Morning File, Tuesday, September 3, 2019
News 1. Yarmouth ferry “Monty Python was funnier,” writes Stephen Kimber: No. Check that. Monty Python is funny. Lloyd Hines? Not so much. Still, one can understand Tory MLA Tom Halman’s description of the latest twists, turns, twirls and top-this folly from the ongoing, never-ending Yarmouth-to-somewhere-in-Maine ferry fandango as “like a skit out of Monty […]
Can I have $15,000? Or maybe just $15 an hour?
Morning File, Wednesday, October 3, 2018
Hi, Erica Butler here filling in for Tim on this drizzly old Halifax day. News 1. On Treaty Day, Nova Scotia archbishop apologizes for Shubenacadie Residential School Monday was Treaty Day, and Nova Scotia’s catholic leaders marked it with an apology and request for forgiveness at a special mass in Halifax, reports Nic Meloney of […]
Reporting While White: When “objectivity” and “neutrality” are inherently biased perspectives
Reading the News While Black: Two recent news stories raise questions about Black representation in the media.
I have never claimed to write “objectively.” That doesn’t mean I write things I believe to be untrue or that are factually wrong, but I am always openly writing from the standpoint of a Black woman. White people, however, believe and are taught that their practices are in fact objective, and that they neutrally present […]
Bearing Witness and Paying Tribute: Morning File, Saturday, November 18
1. What it’s like when someone dies in custody. An original report from prisoners Background. November 22nd will be 10 years since the death of Howard Hyde in custody. Hyde was tasered by correctional officers during a mental health crisis. His death also marks the last time there was a public inquiry in the province into […]