WHO IS AMY? 5
the newspaper University of Toronto’s Independent Weekly
April 1, 2011
Vol. XXXIII N0. 22
Protesters really want Munk Out of UofT BrainFit
lab puts thinking cap on for head injury prevention
President Naylor’s lecture interrupted by anti-corporate banner drop LESLIE CHEN
HELEN STOLTE
BODI BOLD
Members from the Peter Munk Out of U of T initiative were present for U of T President David Naylor’s guest lecture on Monday to spread the word on their stance against the gold mining giant. Naylor was at Con Hall to lecture for the first-year political science class and was interrupted as a banner dropped from behind him, hanging off a third floor balcony reading “Munk OUT of U of T.” Peter Munk is the founder and chairman of Barrick Gold, the largest gold mining company in the world. The company has been under a lot of scrutiny following reports of abusing human rights laws and harming the environment in countries where they mine. Munk is also the benefactor behind the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs, established through his recent $35 million donation, which has lead to implications of the company’s influence and vested interest on academics and global
policy curriculum. Protesters from the initiative chose this lecture to make their point against Munk because the president was responsible,
in part, for the approval of the school’s contract with the benefactor. Monday’s banner drop was led by first year political science
student Juan, who asked not to have his last name published. The protesters were originally Continued on page 3
U of T panel opens up discussion on the situation in Palestine “No Health in Occupation” looks at public health issues faced by the Palestinian people “In total darkness, even a candle makes a difference.” Such were the the words of Dr. Atif Kubursi, Professor of Economics at McMaster University and guest speaker at the panel discussion “No Health in Occupation.” The event, organized by the grad student group Public Health Social Justice Collective, gave insight into the declining living standards of the Palestinian people based on the testimonies of a panel of experts. The panelists included Dr. Ruchama Marton, founder
and president of Physicians for Human Rights-, and Dr. Abdel Rahman Lawendy, who, in 2008, was part of an international medical team to Gaza during the Israeli military effort “Operation Cast Lead.” The PHSJC, a group of politically active graduate students at U of T, organized this dialogue with the aim of conducting an “open and honest discussion of the public health responses to the Israel-Palestinian responses.” Andrea Albagli, serving as moderator, opened up dialogue Continued on page 3
BODI BOLD
ANIMESH ROY
Ruchama Marton, founder and President of Physician for Human Rights and keynote speaker of the lecture.
Hockey without fighting and body checking…would just be figure skating. Yet, receiving a hard blow to the head or being pressed into the boards can cause severe head injuries. PhD student and occupational therapist Nicolas Reed and Michelle Keightley, an assistant professor and clinician, of U of T’s BrainFit laboratory are measuring head impacts in hockey players aged 8-14 in order to determine how to better prevent and treat concussions. Reed and Keightley equipped players’ helmets with six sensor pads, each about the size of a pager, to measure the magnitude of acceleration and the location of head impact during games. Data was wirelessly transmitted to laptops operated by grad students Michelle Mohan and Monica Lau sitting in the stands. The BrainFit study, now in its fourth and final year, is “an initial step towards a greater understanding of head impacts in minor ice hockey,” Keightley says. “The most important thing regarding concussions is education about signs and symptoms. People must realize that even if it seems mild, parents and coaches must exercise caution when a child has a concussion. Most importantly, the child should not continue playing the game after obtaining such an injury”. Recovery time from concusContinued on page 2
the letter
2
April 1, 2011
Letter to the editor
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HART HOUSE HAIR PLACE Finest Cutting and Style Colour and Highlights
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On Thursday, March 31st from 6-9pm in room 2175 of the Bahen Centre (140 St. George St.), Student-Worker Solidarity will be hosting an event called “Building Solidarity: Campus Labour Struggles and the Student Connection.” StudentWorker Solidarity (SWS) is a working group of the U of T General Assembly (UTGA), and is organizing this forum to discuss and unite worker and student struggles on this campus. Speakers will include members from CUPE 3902, representing teaching assistants and stipend lectures; USW 1998, representing U of T staff; UniteHERE 75, representing cafeteria workers, the U of T Faculty Association (UTFA) and students from the U of T General Assembly. A brief overview of the working conditions at the University of Toronto shows that something is just not right: most contract faculty members have virtually no job security; largely immigrant and racialized food-service workers are paid less than a living wage; post-doctoral fellows have zero input in the drafting of their contracts; female administrative staff members
receive less pay than their male counterparts; and non-tenured professors fear termination for voicing opinions on contentious political issues. Meanwhile, students at the U of T are also engaged in pitched battles to keep post-secondary education accessible and equitable. Campaigns to eliminate ever-increasing tuition fees, to defend equity-based programs under threat of extinction, to challenge autocratic room booking policies, and to overturn unrepresentative and unaccountable governing bodies are just some of the issues that they organize around every day. What’s more, many of them must protect their diminishing right to education while taking up part-time employment, forcing them to endure similar kinds of abuses as do full-time workers. In short, there is a whole host of injustices that plague both workers and students on this campus. As a working group of the newly-formed U of T General Assembly, StudentWorker Solidarity (SWS) seeks to change this state of affairs by bringing different campus workers together to speak with
students about their issues, while also providing students with an opportunity to relay their concerns to workers. We believe that conversation is the precondition to building sustained and effective solidarity; by informing each other about our goals, both workers and students stand a better chance of developing strategies to achieve them. With this forum, SWS hopes to begin the conversation in order to create new ways of thinking about and participating in the struggles of those who make our University what it is. So come out on March 31st to take part in the discussion! Food will be provided and child care is available upon request. Endorsed by OPIRG-Toronto, CUPE 3902 and the Greater Toronto Workers Assembly. For further information, check out our website at http:// utgeneralassembly.wordpress. com/issues/labour/ or email sws.utoronto@gmail.com.
Kaveh Boveiriv Student-Worker Solidarity, UT General Assembly member
EXCELLENT WORK & REASONABLE RATES
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the news
April 1, 2011
3
MUNK OUT
OCCUPATION
Continued from page 1
BODI BOLD
Continued from page 1
going to drop anti-Munk leaflets from the balconies of Convocation Hall, where the lecture took place. Juan says that among the many reasons he organized the protest, it was mainly due to his disagreement with Barrick Gold’s unethical practices around the globe. He finds it
“disgusting to know that an educational body is receiving blood money from a company with such a vast record of human rights abuses.” As one protester puts it, the school’s connection with Munk “is problematic on a lot of fronts because there are a lot of strings attached to the contract.” The
research and reports done by the school has to be looked over by Munk, which Juan says, “really makes you wonder what the integrity of the research being done is if you know that it’s so strongly influenced by Peter Munk and his global mining company.” The main concern of the protesters is that they don’t think “a notorious human rights violator should have any place in our school. They also do not believe that “corporate interest should have any influence on deciding what kind of research is done here.” For his lecture, president Naylor spoke of the 2003 SARS outbreak in Toronto and how it was largely due to the poor coordination of the public health care system. Following his lecture, Naylor refused to comment on the protest, simply stating “I’m here to talk about SARS and I have no comment on the protest.” Juan is also concerned with the influence corporations like this one can have on institutions like U of T. “Our institution will be affected by the politics of this company by giving it a say in institutional programs,” thereby letting them “push their perspectives down our throats,” says Carlos. Most students are unaware of the relationship U of T has with Barrick Gold. Juan says, “It’s about time that we build a radical and responsive student body in order to keep institutions, whether they be academic or corporate, accountable.”
by stating the bias of the group toward the Palestinian people as being in the interests of “the health of all people, especially those that have been marginalized.” Each of the panelists gave the audience an insight into the bleak standard of living of Palestinians from the perspective of their respective disciplines. Kubursi spoke with fervor as he addressed the issue from an economic standpoint. Being a member of the United Nations Economic Commission for Western Asia, he spoke of his recent visit to Beirut, where he was part of a team that conducted a study on the “Israeli occupation and its impact on the people.” Having stated the dismal findings of this survey, he ended on a positive note, airing his belief that peace in the region was possible through the “will, commitment and effort” of the people. His ending statement, “give the Palestinians a chance- end the occupation,” was greeted with rousing applause from the audience. Adding to the discussion, Dr. Rahman recounted his experiences as an orthopedic surgeon as part of a relief team during the conflict three years ago. Although born and raised in Canada, he attributed his bias toward the Palestinian people to his Arab heritage and his role as a health service provider. His presentation, which included graphic images of casualties, outlined the grim reality faced by civilians during the conflict and elicited strong reactions from the audience. Dr. Rahman alluded to Dr. Kubursi’s survey, which determined that Palestinians are one of the “most water-stressed” people in the world, an issue that is on everyone’s minds as U of T holds its annual Water Week. Dr. Kubursi’s study determined that the average Palestinian has access to a tenth of the minimum water requirements defined by the World Bank. Emphasizing the importance of clean water, Dr Rahman stated that he would “take clean water over all the hospitals in Toronto in order to maintain a city’s health.” Paying tribute to the spirit of the people he met in the Gaza Strip, he professed his admiration of the humility and civility of the people in an environment he deemed to be “complete chaos.” Being the last of the panelists to speak, Dr Marton added a wealth of experience to the dialogue. Dr. Marton has been credited with introducing the concept of “human rights” into Israeli society, and in 2005 was collectively nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize along with a group of 1000 women. She outlined the role played by Physicians for Human Rights- Israel in the conflict, emphasizing that as a political organization, PHRI strived for solidarity amongst the Palestinian people, saying “If you neglect even one, the effort is useful for nothing.” Dr. Marton ended
her segment with the powerful call to “prevent, protect and protest” against human rights violations. A message shared by the panelists was one of hope. Dr. Marton, while noting the “need to combine understanding with action,” acknowledged a change in Israeli society, one that was more aware of the injustices meted out to the Palestinian people. Dr. Rahman echoed this belief. Tying his optimism to the dramatic political shift that is currently sweeping the Middle East, he eagerly commented that Israel was not “living in the same neighborhood as it was a few months ago.”
HELMETS Continued from page 1 sions is very important according to Keightley. A return to activity should be gradual and cautious. “The brain needs to rest and recover after an injury, just like any other part of the body.” “This advice,” Keightley added, “goes for all people. Often, people seek the wrong treatment because they don’t recognize it’s a concussion.” The BrainFit team is focusing on youth, she says, “because the age demographic has been overlooked in research until now.” The youth sport population, especially female, has not been studied in as much detail as professional and universityaged athletes. Research similar to that conducted by BrainFit has been carried out in the United States to measure the rate and severity of concussions in college football players. The U of T study, Keightley says, “is taking those paradigms and applying them to youth,” focusing on concussions because “they are the most common type of injury” in Canada’s Game. Keightley has a “twofold connection” to the project, professional and personal. She specializes in traumatic brain injuries in children and disorders, such as learning disability and fetal alcohol syndrome. She also has a passion for sport. As a graduate student at U of T, she played for the Varsity Blues basketball team. Keightley was keen to stress that the BrainFit study is still in the research phase. Before conclusions can be drawn, it is necessary to collect more data by replicating the study. The BrainFit team has encountered a number of difficulties over the course of their research. Tracking injuries, Keightley says, is like “a game of Russian roulette in terms of whether we will catch an event of a concussion or not.” “We don’t want them to get a concussion,” she added, “but we need those results.”
the inside
4
April 1, 2011
Loveliness on the road again Canadian female group the Good Lovelies go on tour in support of their new album, Let the Rain Fall SUZANNA BALABUCH
in university through a mutual friend, and started doing open mics with her. As a one-off, we decided a few years ago to do this show at the Gladstone Hotel at the Art Bar, through a song writers’ circle and collaborated on a few tunes. The Good Lovelies were born, like, immediately.
Music has the power to change moods, unite people and open doors to new experiences. Nobody knows this better than the Good Lovelies, the Torontobased all female trio composed of Caroline Brooks, Kerri Ough and Sue Passmore. This dynamic group of instrument-switching musicians has charmed audiences all over with their pretty harmonies and whimsical lyrics. In an interview with the newspaper, Caroline Brooks (a former U of T student) talked inspiration, life on the road and crazy pre-show rituals. How did you ladies meet? There’s a bit of folklore about that question. We all have different stories. I think it was in a chess tournament, Kerri thinks it was in a bar fight, and sue thinks it was a t a limbo competition. The truth is that Kerri and Sue grew up together in Northumberland, in the Port Hope, Cobourg area. They met
each other in elementary school and sang on and off together
“
through high school and choirs and stuff like that. I met Sue
All of the Songs on Let the Rain Fall were written by the three of you. What does the writing process look like between the three of you? What happens is, there’s generally a lead person on each song, so we all contribute a chunk of song to the recording process. We never really feel like a song is done until the other two people have had their mitts in it. We’ll bring songs to the table and collaborate on finalizing the tunes, putting arragnemtns together vocally and instrumentally. We’ve always shared writing credits, so it was like a really important part of being a part of a team. The songs are never re-
the campus comment
ally Good Lovelies songs til all three of us are in it. It’s a really collaborative process, but also you have a chance to sort of be on your own. It’s not like we’re sitting in a boardroom, writing songs together. What was the inspiration behind your latest studio album? Our first full-length album has a lot of themes about quitting your day job, wanting to go on the road, which we all did; we all quit our day jobs.This new album has a lot to do with being on the road, the camaraderie, the way we get along. There’s lots of these sweet references of being buddies on the road. There’s also this theme of longing for home, and the obvious results of being on tour a lot. It’s a very happy record, with a bit of melancholy. As a band, who are some of the artists you look up to? That’s a great question, and if you asked anyone of us, it’d be a totally different answer. If Continued on page 6
”
the newspaper asked: what are some of your superstitions and pre-exam taking rituals?
JESSICA “Stressed Out”, 2nd year
LILY, 3rd year, Neuroscience
REANEL, 2nd year, Political Science
JOSEPH, 1st year, Political Science
NOOR, 4th year, Environmental Management
LINDSAY, 2nd year, International Relations
“I have to wear my blue cashmere sweater and hype up to Rage Against the Machine right before an exam.”
“Smoke a fat joint.”
BODI BOLD
“Before I write an exam, I have to get rid of all jewelery, nail polish and other bodily distractions. Then I show up early to the exam and walk one circle around the exam room.”
“In the morning I have to have two glasses of water placed on the corners of my food tray, then I eat three pieces of fruit and I don’t wear socks to the exam. No matter the weather.”
“I have to completely zone out before an exam. I can’t talk to any people or discuss the test material with anyone, in fear of miserably failing the exam.”
“I need to wear my flashy, psychedelic t-shirt from West Africa when I take the exam”
the inside
April 1, 2011
5
Who is Amy now? The AMY Project lends an artistic hand on the search for identity “Who the hell is Amy?” are one of the first words I hear from Shellie Green, a script coordinator and mentor to the young girls of The AMY Project. She is recounting to me her initial response to the project, and between stifled laughter, I share that my own was not much different. The name itself is an acronym for Artists Mentoring Youth, but a certain young woman is rumored to have inspired the program. The AMY Project, or AMY for short, is an educational arts initiative designed to give marginalized and under-served young urban women the opportunity to get involved in a community and foster their creativity through writing and theatre. Each year, sixteen young women between 16 and 24 are chosen. They come together every week and share their experiences, with each other and with the project’s mentors, renowned Canadian artists who help them craft their narratives. Each of the girls chooses an issue that is dear to her heart, as well as the artistic direction she wishes to take with it, whether it be dub poetry, a monologue, a song or a rap. The project’s coordinators, along with the girls themselves, then quilt these individual performances into a cohesive production. Co-directed by Claire Calnan and Weyni Mengesha, the acclaimed director of da kink in my hair, AMY is now in its sixth year and rounding out its fourth cycle of performances at Theatre Passe Muraille. Since its modest beginnings in 2005, AMY has become one of the most widely celebrated arts initiatives in the GTA, even having been invited to perform a theatrical piece at the Luminato Festival at Soulpepper Theatre. For those without family, community and finances, exploring or even know the existence of various paths is a luxury. For many, choosing the right one is a miracle. Many of the young women belonging to AMY found themselves at such a crossroads, and were chosen by the program’s coordinators for this reason. AMY positions itself at this junction, a lighthouse of sorts for vulnerable women unsupported at the crossroads of life. Shellie, now having been involved with AMY for three years, first as a participant, then a youth liaison, and now
STEPHANIE KERVIN
EVANNA FOLKENFOLK
as a mentor, speaks of the impact the program had on her life. Having grown up in a rough neighborhood ridden with gang violence, Shellie became involved with a bad crowd and eventually found herself homeless. Though she was well aware of the danger that her lifestyle brought on, she confessed that her crew was her family and all that she knew. AMY gave her another home, another way to be. “It was a turning point in my life to make positive decisions, to keep on the positive path and discover myself.” Now a writer and photog-
rapher for Urbanology Magazine, Shellie is paving her own creative path and credits AMY with the confidence she now feels in her talent and her voice. “AMY enables young women to feel like they have a voice. A lot of girls feel like they have been silenced, but through this program they have found their voice, and have found how powerful their voice can be.” When I finally reach the theatre, I am struck by the fact that it looks more like a country cottage than a inner-city community space. Dutifully labeled The Children’s Peace Theatre,
this wood-and-stone structure serves as the weekly rehearsal space for AMY. I feel like I have left the city, its dirty buses and crowded herds of tired riders. Flanked on either side by two cheerful AMY girls that kindly adopted me on the walk to the theatre, I enter to the sounds of laughter and the aroma of a ginger-infused stir-fry. I have decided to spend the evening here, observing the program and sneaking a peek at a rehearsal for their upcoming performances in April. Before long, I am shuffled into the kitchen, empty plate in
hand, where I am given heaping portions of beef and vegetable stir-fry, and find myself at the middle of a long wooden table brimming with youth and excitement. The conversation at the dinner table is casual, at times boisterous, but remarkably diverse. As the topics weave seamlessly from health care to the struggles of education, from careers and relationships to travels and creative pursuits, I bask in the glory of the dozen and half young women whose unrestrained enthusiasm is pollinating the air around me. As dinner transitions into rehearsal, I sit and quietly observe these bubbling women take their places. In between playful banter and riotous laughter, the girls hush one by one. Their voices take on a more solemn note, as they slip back into the dark places that brought them to AMY in the first place. I listen to a monologue about falling deeper into depression, and when this young woman still slinking her way out of high school says: “And you can almost believe that falling is all you’ve ever known.” I feel the hairs on my arms raise in protest. She recedes and another replaces her, speaking in dub poetry of a love so big and blind, it can heal all the broken people of the world. A song is sang, then a rap. This year, the play is set in a mega-store that sells everything the soul may desire. You may find dollops of truth, or even great big containers of it, in the Aisle of Truth. Or flawless beauty, or the perfect father, but I forgot which aisles those belong to. Maybe they are in the Aisle of Escape. The women slip through the philosophically profound set, each exploring the themes that have plagued them in their own lives – sexuality, depression, discrimination, death. One of the wryer moments comes when Anna-Maria, playing a stock-girl, announces: “I don’t want to stock Truth anymore, it is too heavy.” The play, aptly titled Check Out (and with the adorably disturbing tagline: We Take Cash, Credit or Soul), will be showing at the Theatre Passe Muraille on April 8 and 9. Do yourself a favor and do indeed check it out – your soul will thank you. Check Out will be playing at the Theater Passe Muraille on April 8 and 9. For more informations on the AMY Project, visit their Facebook page.
the arts
6
April 1, 2011
The film
Win Win? What about Win Lose? Or maybe Tie Tie? Nothing says “renter” like the new Thomas McCarthy picture. But I recommend you rent it.
DAN CHRISTENSEN I know already that this review won’t really give you much to sink your teeth into, won’t describe the film in evocative terms or give you a vivid idea of what it’s like to watch it. But I suppose it’s because that’s just the nature of blandness. If Win Win was easy and interesting to write about, I couldn’t call it bland, could I? Oh, but I can. This is not to say that the movie is bad – in fact, I enjoyed the viewing experience itself very much. I might describe it as “agreeable,” the way a weekend breakfast or maybe an evening stroll might be - there’s nothing in their essence that makes them more than forgettable. Paul Giamatti plays Mike, a middle-aged family man attorney in need of more business, though he hides such financial woes from his wife, Jackie (Amy Ryan). However, he sees a golden opportunity in Mr. Leo Poplar (Burt Young), his aged client, in need of a guardian. Though he is troubled by having to lie to a judge who trusts him, he sees his acceptance of Leo’s guardianship (and consequent caretaking cash) while in fact admitting him to a care home as a victimless crime: Leo gets looked after as he enters dementia, and Mike gets the money he needs. This moral transgression, though focus on it is helped by Giamatti’s already put-upon and worried demeanour, is not given more than a moment of the running time, and though we don’t forget about it per se, we worry that perhaps its relevance to the story has come and gone. Meanwhile, Leo’s teenage grandson Kyle (Alex Shaffer), fleeing his drug-addicted mother (Melanie
Lynskey), arrives into town to visit and falls under the care of Mike and his family, as Leo’s guardian. These story components, along with Mike’s fostering of Kyle’s wrestling abilities (as he coaches the fledgling high school wrestling team alongside his co-coach Vigman (Jeffery Tambour), and his friend Terry (Bobby Cannavale),
take up the first two thirds of the film. This narrative lingering doesn’t seem problematic, but each plot event is displayed so smoothly and with so little conflict or dramatic tension that I began to check my watch. Director Tom McCarthy obviously does not have a bad eye and is
The album review
8-Bit Baby: A review of Explicit Pictures MILAN CEHO Explicit Pictures We Are Enfant Terrible Last Gang Records Explicit Pictures is the full-length debut from the French electronic trio, We Are Enfant Terrible. Prior to this release the trio enjoyed moderate success touring Europe and North America. The trio’s most recent trip to Toronto was in June 2010, where they played 4 shows including the NXNE Festival. Explicit Pictures is full of tracks
with grungy digital grooves, distorted rhythms and soaring vocals. We Are Enfant Terrible also utilize 8-bit digital tones to support their fast-paced tracks. Clocking in at just over 45 minutes, this album explores themes of love and addiction in tracks like Wild Child and Filthy Love. Songs like Lobster Quadrille and Flesh ‘n’ Blood Kids pay homage to New Wave artists of yore, with the familiar catchy synth melodies and the fast, driving rhythms. The dark track entitled Spade Attack is a frantically paced song that one might expect to appear in a Ninten-
do-inspired nightmare. Explicit Pictures is entertaining, if not a bit novel. Songs featuring 8-bit sounds have been gaining popularity over the last couple of years, this album will only serve to legitimize the use of 8-bit instrumentation. Explicit Pictures toes the line between fad and mainstream pop and rock, but is at times decidedly kitsch.
The album will be released on April 5th. Download a free track from the album at www.weareenfantterrible.com
not an irresponsible director generally (re: both the lovely The Station Agent and The Visitor), but one feels like perhaps one is watching a TV episode rather than a feature, that the next commercial is coming soon, and we hope the action will develop in the next episode, or this one will be jazzed up by a twist ending.
When Kyle joins the wrestling team, he seems poised to have a fresh start, and possibly even get a wrestling scholarship, until his mother arrives looking for her son, and her father’s money. The story as a whole is rather complex, methodical, and wellthought-out, to be sure. The stakes are technically quite high, there is just enough intricacy that we can follow happily, and the characters are pretty much universally likable, if a little flatly drawn. However, even when (spoiler alert) Mike’s earlier indiscretion concerning old man Poplar are revealed by Kyle’s mother, though there is a moment of incredulity from all parties, it resolves so swiftly and soundlessly that we wish to call the realism of the characters and their reactions into question, especially that of his wife. Meanwhile, Kyle’s mother, demonized by both Mike’s wife and Kyle as an unseen figure until her late-game appearance into the action, a character marked only by deplorable doings, is miscast with the sweet forgivable Lynskey, who we find it near impossible to rally against, though the action of the story seems to demand it. None of this is helped by the score and soundtrack, which punctuate all of the wrong moments, and are woefully ignorant of the finer points of the drama of scenes in which they appear, often flattening their emotional impact and any possible tension, despite help from a closing song from The National. Again, each scene is executed with care, and the actors are always entertaining, yet I failed to invest in the heart of the story. The film as a whole simply doesn’t pack enough punch.
the arts
April 1, 2011
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R-E-S-P-E-C-T Professor of African American studies Dwight McBride of Northwestern U discusses the politics of respectability at UC NORDIA BROWN Dwight A. McBride, professor of African American studies at Northwestern University and guest speaker at this year’s W.J. Alexander lecture series being held at University College from March 29 to April 1 focuses on the “politics of respectability.” McBride describes respectability as one of the many strategies blacks developed to resist racism and “to demonstrate their humanity to whites, to demonstrate that they were prepared to be full citizens alongside whites.” Respectability became the main method of combating racism. African Americans, he says, tried to prove their worth by “showing how morally upright and how intelligent” they were, and by becoming more “like [their] oppressors.” He emphasizes that there are both positive and negative aspects to this strategy. While it may alleviate racism, “respectability” excludes “people that may not be the smartest, the people that might not be normative in every conceivable way, including those that may
GOOD LOVELIES
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you wanted to take a snapshot of our ipods, you’d be hearing our peers, so people like Elliot Brood, musicians that are in the community with us. When we started singing in three-part harmony, a natural sound emerged of a 1940s, 50s swing sound. Because we sounded like that, we started going back and listening to some stuff like, the obvious one, the Andrews Sisters. The less obvious ones are the Mills Brothers, Hank Williams, a little bit of old country, the Boswell Sisters; we do a Boswell Sisters song. But we also listen to hip hop too. We do a cover of k-os’ “Crabbuckit” on our record. We’re big fans of him. Canadian music in general, it fills our ipods. What are your hopes for this upcoming tour? We’re just going to keep soldering on. The last 5 dates in Canada are pretty exciting for us because they mark the end of our CD release tour. Australia and UK is all brand
not be heterosexual. And so respectability as an anti-racism strategy, does a lot of good but at an enormous price to huge swaths of the so-called ‘black community’.” McBride is known for his award-winning book, Why I Hate Abercrombie & Fitch: Essays on Race and Sexuality. He recalls being interested in what he believes is the way Abercrombie celebrates “a certain kind of elite, young whiteness.” This made him curious about what it was in this elite, young, heterosexual, yet “homoerotic” representation that was so attractive. Abercrombie, he says, embodies “a perfect example of creating a kind of ideology out of almost nothing.” It isn’t about their generic clothes, but rather “the label and what people thought they were buying when they bought this brand, what they thought they were becoming apart of in some way.” Abercrombie ads depict “a lifestyle and a kind of fantasy of upper class racial whiteness and youth and a kind of carefree and sexual innocence of sorts that people thought they were consuming when they consumed it.“
McBride became interested in African American and queer studies (more specifically, “the intersection of race and sexuality in American culture and society”) through a “series of happy accidents.” When McBride entered the field, very little had been written about queer identity, and race and sexuality. It was only after one of his colleagues invited him to write an essay on “racial essentialism” - the acclaimed Can the Queen Speak: racial essen-
tialism, sexuality, and the problem of authority- that McBride turned his attention to race and sexuality studies. McBride describes James Baldwin, the African American novelist and civil rights activist, as an inspiration and “central figure” in his work. Baldwin’s writing challenged him to think about the intersection between race and sexuality, and what it means in terms of the kind of knowledge that gets produced under the rubric of African
new to us. We’ve been touring with an upright bassist for the last few months. We’ll be going back to just the three of us for the big tour abroad. For us, it’s just a matter of bringing our sound to a new place and just experiencing it in a new setting.
A lot of what we do is really super Canadian. If you listen to the record, there are lots of references to Canadian places, about being on the road in Canada. It’ll be interesting to see how that goes over. In the States, it’s been going re-
ally well, we just started touring down there last yearl. I guess for us the next few tours are really about exploring new places and getting to know different cultures and figuring out how we fit in that big picture.
American studies. McBride describes the reasoning behind his frequent exploration of issues of race and sexuality from a literary standpoint. He states, the work in literary analysis has allowed him the opportunity to look at other forms of cultural production and finds rewarding, the ability to interact with scholars who approach similar issues form different forms of culture. McBride has three major research projects in the works. He is currently writing a sequel Why I Hate Abercrombie, a piece called White Lies in The Republic, which looks at race, sexuality and the law. He will also continue writing his book on the legendary African American poet, Phillis Wheatley. Finally, McBride is co-editing a volume called Critical Terms for African American studies, a volume of essays by established writers as well as new voices in the field. Today at 4:30PM in UC, McBride will be discussing the work of Toni Morisson. Tomorrow at the same time, he will be covering Race, Faith, Sexuality - one the “most provocative” of the four lectures in the series. Do you ladies have a preshow ritual, like a prayer circle or something? Yes! We do. We jump at each other and hit our bellies together. It’s really weird. I don’t even know what to call that. We just jump at each other and hit each other. It’s weird. What does the future hold for the Good Lovelies? We are really excited to put out this record. We’re already writing songs for a new album. We have big picture ideas for some cool, media related stuff that’s sort of in the works. We have a lot of ideas about how to grow musically, but also media-wise. We’re going to be putting out a new record in the next year and a half to two years, and then going from there, and building on what we’ve got, and of course touring. We tour about 150 shows a year, and that’s what we are. We’re a touring band, and we’re just going to keep at that for a while while we can, while we’re all young and don’t have babies. The Good Lovelies will be in Toronto on April 2nd, at the Great Hall. For more info, visit www. goodlovelies.com vv
ANDREW WALT
Across 8. MP3 alternative 9. Ice hut 10. Imperial measurement 11. Hereditary unit 12. Troops 13. Deception 16. Packs 18. Songs 19. Kasparov's game 20. "___ facto" 21. Roster 22. Contribution 24. Halloween and Christmas 28. Danger 30. Dramatic jump 31. Book 32. Eras
ATTEND OUR OPEN MEETINGS! HELD MONDAYS AT 12:30 AT THE NEWSPAPER OFFICE: 1 SPADINA CRESCENT, SUITE 245.
April 1, 2011 Down 1. Deep __ (Kasparov's opponent) 2. Biology, Chemistry, and Physics 3. ___ Smalls (rapper) 4. Add 5. Victoria, New, Trinity, etc. 6. Wireless networks 7. Injury reminder 14. Halves of Diameters 15. Triangular road sign 17. Basil and pine sauce 19. Barbosa and Jack Sparrow 20. Some think it's a series of tubes 23. Syringe 25. Nabisco favourite 26. Little devils 27. Rescue 29. Kitchen basin
MIKE WINTERS
the backpage
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