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Table of Contents
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3 INTRODUCTION
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MARCH 2
4 NEWS BHM: Adwa and Beyond
SSION MI
SE
Palais des congrès de Montréal
MTL Sans Profilage AUS Elections Results Protest in Solidarity with Haiti Outremont By-Election: Demographics Powershift: Young and Rising
R
S
SATURDAY
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ASTROLOGY!
10 ARCHIVES On Being Black at McGill Bared Breasts
12 COMMENTARY A Solidarity Shackled by History !
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CULTURE 14 “The Echoes Can Be Heard Today”
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INTRODUCTION
Volume 108 Issue 19
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Introduction
ebruary 1 marked the beginning of Black History Month in Canada, the US, and the UK. It is important to remember, however, that organizations both within and beyond McGill are constantly celebrating and highlighting Black voices. Organizations including the Black Students’ Network (BSN), McGill African Students’ Society (MASS), Caribbean Students’ Society (CSS), and the Black Law Students’ Association of McGill (BLSAM) aim to foster Black communities and Black culture on campus. More importantly, they work tirelessly to combat the systemic discrimination that Black students face. These organizations create spaces for Black students of diverse backgrounds on a largely non-Black campus. The work they do is extremely important, and also highlights the McGill administration’s lack of resources for Black students. Black histories are consistently erased in our white supremacist society; we must therefore work to create spaces for them to be told. Non-Black students must remember that they are complicit in this erasure and racism when they remain silent against violence and oppression. This issue of The McGill Daily aims to highlight Black experiences on campus. We must, however, commemorate Black histories not just this month, but every month.
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News
February 25, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
McGill Nabeela Jivraj The McGill Daily
BHM: Adwa & Beyond
Panel Discusses Community Activism in Montreal
O
n February 19, as part of Black History Month (BHM) at McGill, Rap Battles for Social Justice presented “Adwa & Beyond: The Panel.” With the goal of “inform[ing] and inspir[ing] the empowerment of the Black community in Montreal,” Adwa & Beyond featured a panel of community organizers and activists. The panel was an intimate conversation around experiences of the Black community in Montreal, and the future of community endeavours in the city.
“[BHM] is just one month, and, at that, the shortest month of the year [...] this is to open the conversation.” — Shanice Nicole, Educator and Panel Facilitator
Rap Battles for Social Justice “aims to forge community ties through consciousness raising in the form of art and entertainment,” mainly through
hosting events to build awareness and education around social justice issues. The “Adwa & Beyond” series, held throughout BHM, has carried the spirit of afrofuturism — a communal envisioning of future narratives “in defiance of the future that was robbed from you.” The series will culminate with a show featuring artists from across the city on February 28. The panel, facilitated by educator Shanice Nicole, brought together individuals each working in important areas of advocacy and action in Montreal. “[BHM] is just one month, and, at that, the shortest month of the year,” Nicole remarked, “this is to open the conversation.” Neil Guilding aka “Zibz Black Currant,” who runs Jeunesse 2000 (J2K), a dropin music studio space for youth in Montreal, spoke about the role of belonging, Indigeneity, and prioritizing youth spaces. Walther Guillaume, a young researcher and activist with the participatory research project MTLSansProfilage, spoke about his work with the organization and the effects of racial profiling. Guillaume’s work centres on understanding youth experiences with the police in Saint Michel. Marlihan Lopez, a Black feminist activist and community organizer, spoke on her work to eliminate sexual violence and to raise awareness about its intersectionality. Lopez
also discussed the ways in which Black lives are policed beyond formal law enforcement, leading into a discussion around abolition and justice. Lopez stated, “we need to talk about other forms of justice, like transformative justice — to overcome these institutional levels of violence.”
“We need to talk about other forms of justice, like transformative justice - to overcome these institutional levels of violence.”
— Marlihan Lopez, Activist and Community Organizer
Organized by the Social Equity and Diversity Education Office (SEDE) and the Black Students’ Network of McGill (BSN), Black History Month at McGill runs until February 28. Events this week include a Cannabis Legalization Teach-In (February 25), Managing Microaggressions at Work (February 27), and SPEAK B(L)ACK, a Spoken Word Show being held February 28. More information on BHM events at McGill can be found online.
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MTL Sans Profilage
Research Documents Racial Profiling in Saint-Michel Nabeela Jivraj The McGill Daily cw: anti-black racism TL Sans Profilage is a research and action collective, made up of several volunteers from Montreal. Recently, the team conducted a qualitative study in the neighborhood of SaintMichel on the viewpoints and experiences of racialized youth with the police. The study began in 2015, and was led by researchers Dr. Anne-Marie Livingstone, Ted Rutland, and Stéphane Alix, as well as Saint-Michel residents, Zakarya Youness Abidou, Walther Guillaume, Rhita Harim, Marc-Kendy Milien, and Larry Rémél. The Daily spoke with Walther Guillaume and Dr. Anne-Marie Livingstone. The researchers shared their motivations for undertaking the project, explaining what the results mean for relationships between youth in Montreal and the Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM). AnneMarie Livingstone is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs (Canada Program) at Harvard University, and Walther Guillaume is an engineering student and member of Forum Jeunesse de Saint-Michel (FJSM). The McGill Daily (MD): Can you tell us a bit about your research and how this project came to be? Anne-Marie Livingstone (AML): I had a long history of working on racism, inequality, and the Black community in Montreal. Part of the reason I went back to do [a] doctorate was because I saw a large gap in the literature on how institutions perpetuate racial inequalities in Canada. My initial field research was on anti-poverty policies in Montreal and Toronto, not specifically on policing. With the rise of neoliberalism in Canada and elsewhere, we’ve witnessed a decrease in social welfare and an increase in policing. This is seen in Montreal, where there has been a certain criminalization of social problems, such as with the crackdown on so-called youth gangs. My colleague Ted Rutland, from Concordia, met some young activists in Saint-Michel who expressed concerns about police violence in the neighborhood. I had previously done some participatory research with Black high school students in Montreal and knew the power of the methodology, so we decided to collaborate. A large part of this project was self-financed, but we did have some support in the form
M
Maylee Keo & LOKI| Illustrators of a grant from l’Observatoire sur les Profilages at Université de Montréal. The young people were at the heart of everything. We decided everything together: outlining the research questions, creating the interview guide, and carrying out the interviews. We completed 48 interviews and spent nine months analyzing the data as a team, reading
“We’ve witnessed a decrease in social welfare and an increase in policing. This is seen in Montreal where there has been a certain criminalization of social problems such as with the crackdown on so-called youth gangs.” — Anne-Marie Livingstone
the transcripts line by line. Walther Guillaume (WG): I was a part of Forum Jeunesse de Saint-Michel, and was looking for work at the time. I met AnneMarie, and was interested in working with the project. In the summer of 2015 I got involved as a researcher. MD: Can you give us a brief overview of the project and what has come out of it? WG: The research was organized with a group of youth that AnneMarie Livingstone met, and at the time there wasn’t any qualitative research on the subject. The goal was to get an idea of the relationship between police and the youth. We engaged with a group of young people in 2015, with whom we conducted 48 interviews. We asked them questions, and had them elaborate on their answers. We then spent a good amount of time analyzing the data to make the report, which was finished this past year after two years of work. We found common themes, and identified potential interventions with respect to surveillance and interrogations. We’ve done several presentations so far, and are going to continue to do so.
The results of the report included most notably the fact that in SaintMichel, the police often interrogate youth without cause. They used a variety of methods to justify the arrests, most frequently claiming they had received a call about an incident, and asking to see ID. The report also mentioned multiple types of abuse by police, such as beating, kicking, and calling Black youths names like “orangutans” and “macaques.” AML: What we learned is just how racial profiling operates in ways that are not generally understood, and that it is much more a function of the operations of policing than is normally perceived. We tend to think of racial profiling as the fault of police officers who are racist, but what we argue is that it is built into policies of the SPVM to police youth of colour at a higher rate. In our report, we name policies like identity checks, the surveillance of youth gangs, and the control of incivilities as contributing to, and even enabling, racial profiling. MD: Why is this really important in Saint-Michel? WG: It’s participatory and so it involves the youth directly, and the results are really important; this type of research can improve the lives of
people in the neighborhood. The next thing to do is use the report to get people informed about what their rights are and what’s going on. I think it can lead to the police changing their rapport with youth. MD: In terms of social media, what is the campaign? WG: The social media campaign includes these educational vignettes, which show the experiences of youth with the police, and aim to help youth know their rights. Did we achieve our goals? In a sense yes, a lot of people have engaged with the page to see the vignettes, and some people are going to use them for education programs. In the next phase of the project, we will expand our efforts on education and outreach, putting more posters of the vignettes in school and in the community. With regard to Forum Jeunesse (FJSM), another organization I am part of, it is also led by and for youth. Youth decide what activities to focus on. Our next project has the goal of creating a space for people older than 18 to learn, meet new people, and create – we have a lot of artists in the community who dance, DJ, etc. It will be a drop-in space unique from the current youth café, which mostly serves those under 18. The final report of MTLSansProfilage calls for the following recommendations: 1) Requiring the SPVM to make race-based data publicly available; 2) Creating an independent police watchdog to analyze police data, produce reports, and conduct public consultations; 3) Eliminating all law enforcement policies and programs that target racial minority youth, including the war on street gangs and the penalties for harmless incivilities (i.e., hanging out in groups in public spaces); 4) Reducing the personnel and budget of the Poste de Quartier for Saint- Michel (Poste 30) by 20 per cent, and transferring those resources towards community-based programs for young people and families in the neighborhood. The full report of MTLSansProfilage, with the final recommendations, is available here. The vignettes can be viewed online on Facebook, and @mtlsansprofilage (Instagram). A full Op-Ed by Dr. Anne-Marie Livingstone in response to the SPVM’s new plan to address racial profiling was published in CBC in February 2019. This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
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News Analysis
February 25, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
McGill Yasna Khademian The McGill Daily
AUS Elections Analysis of the Results
O
n Thursday, February 21, the Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) released the results of the General Election, as well as the election for Arts Representative to SSMU and Arts Senator. Voter turnout for the former was 21.3 per cent, and 22.4 per cent for the latter. All the uncontested positions – President, VP Communications, VP External, VP Finance, VP Internal, and VP Social – won their respective elections. Contested Positions: VP Academic Ananya Nair won the election for VP Academic, beating Wing Wong by a margin of 662 votes. Nair’s platform focused on making academic opportunities more accessible for students in specific, concrete ways. Further, she has a wealth of experience with the Social Equity and Diversity Education office (SEDE) and as the Arts Community Engagement Commissioner at AUS. Arts Representative to SSMU Many candidates in this category did not have a great deal of experience to prepare them for this role, or provided misinformed or conflicting answers during debate period. Shreya Dandamudi won with the most votes (624), followed by Andrew Chase with 599 votes, and Adin Chan with 553 votes. All three will represent AUS on SSMU Legislative Council next year. Ariana Kaye came in fourth with 514 votes, then Gabriel Ahmad with 461 votes, and Ruofan Wang with 240 votes. Hopefully both Chase and Chan will provide more information on the projects proposed during their campaigns. Chase had conflicting proposals for student clubs: cutting staff needed to manage clubs while also suggesting the number of clubs be increased. Also, Chan’s proposition for computer science students to update the Minerva website for free must be addressed. Arts Senator The election for Arts Senator was very close. In first place was Henrique Mecabô with 557 votes, then Chloe Kemeni with 553 votes. The two of them will
Nelly Wat | The McGill Daily represent Arts students at the McGill Senate. Iyanu Soyege came in third place, just 12 votes behind Mecabô and eight behind Kemeni, followed by Lauren Jelinek with 317 votes, and Chlöe Shahinian with 175 votes. Kemeni brings a great deal of experience to the position, previously serving as AUS VP Academic, AUS Equity Commissioner, and SSMU AntiViolence Coordinator. Further, Kemeni has acted as voice for transparency and accountability during the AUS Executive’s undemocratic POLI 339 debacle. Kemeni also provided a comprehensive platform regarding plans to improve equity on campus and library renovations. During the debate, she noted which specific committees she aims to sit on to further advocate for students as a Senator. On the other hand, the election of Henrique Mecabô is concerning. During the debate, he admitted “[he does not] have […] specific work experience in student representation or government [...] [he has not] done [any] work on the equity front specifically.” The only subject his platform discussed was the upcoming assessment policy review at Senate next year. The policy, while extremely important, will not be the only thing the Senate discusses next year, and Mecabô has not demonstrated any knowledge of equity issues and student advocacy, which are essential to this position as an official student advocate. It is concerning to see someone elected with an admitted a lack of experience and a lacking platform.
Uncontested Positions: President Jamal Tarrabain won the election with 86.4 per cent of the vote. He currently serves on the AUS executive as VP Communications. His platform discussed the upcoming renegotiation of AUS’ Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with McGill University, stating he would focus on improving the AUS Lounge, Bar des Arts (BdA), and advocating for other student issues. Tarrabain committed to finding the issues students care about the most through online surveys. During the debate, he mentioned how he has gone through equity training as a Floor Fellow and stated that the burden of labour should not be on marginalized groups to educate others. His actions during the AUS POLI 339 scandal have not been completely equitable. During a Legislative Council meeting on February 14, he remained largely silent, letting others, especially women of colour, respond and take responsibility for the issues raised. While Tarrabain has since apologized for being silent, he justified his silence as an effort to “not take up space.” Giving space to marginalized voices does not mean making them do more work than you. As per the official release of the AUS Executive’s meeting minutes, Tarrabain voted to abstain during the undemocratic executive vote, choosing to not uphold the democratic decision of the council. VP Communications Yoana Pehlyova won the election with 85.2 per cent of
the vote. Her platform focused on reanimating AUS’ Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook through frequent postings and networking opportunities. Previously, Pehlyova has worked with the McGill24 Ad Campaign and as VP External of Inter-Residence Council (IRC). While Pehlyova has adequate experience for the role, she did not express any clear ideas about making AUS communications more accessible. She stated that although she did not know much about accessible ways of communicating, she is willing to look into it. VP External Darshan Daryanani won the election with 87.7 per cent of the vote. He has experience working as the VP External of the Indian Students Association and VP Publications of the IDSSA. Daryanani’s platform focused on improving student opportunities, like Work Your BA. He also expressed a desire to have more Grad Fairs, Law Fairs, and Medicine Fairs, and to make them more engaging, inclusive, and accessible. He also wants to improve student engagement with these efforts as he believes the main issue with these events is getting students to attend. VP Finance Stefan Suvajac won the election with 91.7 per cent of the vote. His platform focused on improving consultations usage of the Arts Undergraduate Improvement Fund (AUIF). He suggests meeting with the leaders
of departmental associations to get their input on its use and developing ways to encourage more applications. Suvajac also wants to make the AUIF fee non opt outable, because everyone benefits from it, but it is not required to pay into it. When asked a question about the equity implications of making the fund non opt outable, Suvajac stated “by people paying in we can help increase opportunities which could perhaps balance out the fact that someone might have a difficult time paying the $17 or so fee [...] I think it’s a relatively small amount compared to what the collective benefits could be with respect to equity and student experience if it’s increased and used effectively.” However, Suvajac does not explain in his platform how this fund, that “supports improvements to the physical and capital resources that Arts students use,” would specifically improve equity on campus. VP Internal Maheen Akter won the election with 91.4 per cent of the vote. Previously, she has served as the AUS Equity Commissioner, sat on AUS Legislative Council, been a Residence Life Facilitator, and worked as VP Academic of FEARC, which she will now oversee as VP Internal of AUS. Her platform focused on greater support to academic associations, improving both room booking processes and equity in AUS hiring practices. VP Social Kim Yang, the current VP Social of AUS, won her re-election with 90.6 per cent of the vote. Yang hopes to improve the hiring system for Frosh leaders based on her experience this year. She also plans to do more events with the Event Planning and Implementation Committee (EPIC), such as a cafe crawl and frosh throwback. Additionally, she aims to aid the VP Internal in acquiring liquor permits, with Frosh and BdA. Looking towards the next academic year, we will continue to cover the actions of the AUS Executive, Representatives, and Senators to ensure the transparency and accountability of Arts student governance.
news
February 25, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
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Montreal
Protest in Solidarity with Haiti
Zoe Karkossa News Writer
Three Dozen Gather Outside Consulate General
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n February 16, three dozen people gathered outside the Consulate General of Haiti to protest against the current president, Jovenel Moïse, and ongoing corruption. Signs in French and Creole demanded justice and dignity for the Haitian people. Protestors included members of the Montreal Haitian community. The demonstrators aimed to express solidarity with Haiti during the current wave of protests in the nation’s capital city, Port-au-Prince. “We are here in solidarity with the Haitian people,” declared Jennie-Laure Sully, one of the organizers. “We are here to say that the demands of the people are fair; we are here to say that Canada must stop supporting corrupt governments in Haiti.” Since February 8, the Canadian government has postponed all deportations to Haiti due to ongoing conflict in Portau-Prince. According to the Canada Border Services Agency, deportations have been put on hold for an indeterminate amount of time. For 421 Haitian nationals,
this means waiting until officials deem the country stable enough for deportations to resume. The official protest statement, written by Frantz André, a representative of the comité d’action des personnes sans statut, refers to the election of Michel Martelly. Following a devastating earthquake in 2010, Martelly, a provocative popstarturned-politician, was elected as president. He was replaced by current president Moïse in 2017, who received the support of less than 10 per cent of the nation’s registered voters. Both administrations have been marked by claims of electoral fraud and corruption, and the Haitian community has been protesting against the current government and political system for months. The recent wave of protests comes on the heels of a general strike in November, a recent raise in gas prices, and a general sense of discontent with the current regime. However, corruption in Haiti runs much deeper than one controversial election. One of the most recent scandals dates back to Haiti joining the Petrocaribe oil alliance in 2006, inspiring the
Zoe Karkossa | Photographer slogan “Kot Kòb Petwo Karibe a” (Where is the Petrocaribe money?), a popular chant heard both at protests in Haiti and at the recent protest in Montreal. An agreement between Venezuela, the region’s biggest oil producer, and a number of Caribbean countries, Petrocaribe created a preferential payment plan in which Haiti could pay for 50 per cent of the oil purchased over the next 25 years
with only a one per cent interest rate. This system has led Haiti to invest in health, education, and sanitation. A 2017 probe by the Haitian senate revealed that millions of dollars meant for the people had been embezzled. “[In Haiti], [Haitians] are hungry [and] thirsty. It is very difficult to eat because the whole economy is paralyzed right now,” proclaimed Marie Dimanche, one of the protest
organizers. The recent unrest has brought violence to the front doors of many Haitians, who live in fear of the guns and fires that have overtaken the streets of Port-auPrince. In the last week, the protests have resulted in nine fatalities and dozens of injuries, according to Al Jazeera. Despite the violence and calls for resignation, Moïse vehemently refuses to step down from his position.
Outremont By-Election: Demographics An Overview of the Riding
Emily Black Reporter
T
he Outremont district, which is holding a by-election this Monday, February 25, is unique in its size and diversity. The district encompasses six different boroughs: Outremont, the eastern part of Côte-des-Neiges, as well as the western parts of the Mile End and the Plateau. Each section of the Outremont district has its own community with their own needs and issues. Outremont’s population is over 102,000 people; approximately 71,300 are registered to vote as of 2015. Cultural and socioeconomic differences are also present in
the many areas of Outremont. The Outremont borough is one of Montreal’s richest neighborhoods, while Côte-des-Neiges has the second-highest concentration of working poor in Montreal and is home to recent immigrants and racialized communities. The Mile-End sees high volumes of students living alongside a large Hasidic community. Université de Montréal is situated in the centre of the riding, and some areas of Outremont have a high concentrations of students. However, levels of education in the district vary; percentages of those without a university diploma or degree range from 7.9 to 34.7, according to a 2011 national census.
The Outremont borough is one of Montreal’s richest neighborhoods, while Côte-des-Neiges has the second-highest concentration of working poor in Montreal and is home to recent immigrants and racialized communities. The 2011 census reports that the riding was the youngest in the province, with a median age of 34.3, and had the fourth lowest income, with a median income of $22,551. Since 2011, the median income for the riding has increased slightly, reaching
$27,236 in 2016, while the median age has remained constant at 34. Since Tom Mulcair’s election in 2007, Outremont was the only NDP riding in Quebec prior to the 2011 election’s “Orange Wave.” The riding has been shared between the two parties consistently over
the last few decades. Historically, Outremont is a Liberal riding. The Liberals are the only party who have enjoyed consistent success in the riding of Outremont since the district’s creation. A Conservative MP was elected by Outremont in 1988 and only served one term; the party has not won again since. February 17 polls show a slight rise in NDP support, but the party still remains far behind the Liberals, polling at 19.7 and 40.4 per cent, respectively. The Conservatives are polling at 15.4 per cent and the Green Party at 11 per cent. The Qc125 Project predicts that the Liberal Party has a 99 per cent chance of winning in Outremont on February 25.
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news
February 25, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
Beyond Powershift: Young and Rising Mobilizing Youth for Climate Justice
Courtesy of Powershift Kelsey McKeon The McGill Daily
P
owershift: Young and Rising, a youth conference on climate justice, took place in Ottawa from February 14 to 18. This event was the latest effort from the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition Powershift program. Powershift aims to bring youth together to mobilize and explore effective ways to take action against global climate change. The event attracted individuals from across North America. The weekend was filled with panels, workshops, music, and art. The workshops were categorized into six main streams: Non-Violent Direct Action, Organizing & Mobilizing,
Indigenous Perspectives, Art & Resistance, Intersectional Movement Building, and Storytelling. Workshops were led by activists, filmmakers, professors, community organizers, and political strategists, with a focus on Indigenous perspectives. Powershift aimed to provide youth with strategies to enact change in their own communities. Workshops taught concrete skills and engaged participants in topical discussions. Through workshops such as “resisting arrest,” “2019 Federal Election Strategy discussion,” “how to run for office,” and “climbing for resistance!” participants learned about aerial blockades, banner hangs, and the prusik climbing system. Other workshops taught
participants ways to conceptualize movements including, “niches not silos: thinking of movements as ecosystems” and “global decolonization: contextualizing climate change impacts.” The conference closed its first night with a panel on cross movement solidarities featuring keynote speakers Eriel Deranger, executive director of Indigenous Climate Action, film director Sean Devlin, and Manon Massé, co-spokesperson for Québec Solidaire and member of Quebec’s national assembly. Saturday night began with a panel on the role of art in resistance movements. Speakers included Isaac Murdoch, an Ojibwe visual artist and storyteller, Clayton Thomas-
Muller, an organizer and member of the Mathias Colomb Cree Nation in Manitoba, David Solnit, a puppeteer and arts organizer for 350.org, and Christi Belcourt, a Métis visual artist and 2015 Aboriginal Arts Laureate for Ontario. The night ended with performances from various artists, including El Jones performing her poem “Canada is so polite,” Silla and Rise, a group that fuses Inuit throat singing with dance floor beats, Socialist Hip Hop, and the Ottawa River Group. On Sunday, participants organized a banner drop on the Rideau canal and canvassed to spread awareness about the Green New Deal in regard to the upcoming federal election. This event was discreetly labeled on the
schedule as “action” and included the description, “participants should bring outerwear & skates if possible.” The weekend culminated with a march to Parliament Hill on Monday, accompanied by banners and paper maché puppets of Justin Trudeau and Donald Trump made over the weekend in the conference’s art space. Though Powershift occurred in an isolated time and space, movements like “La planète s’invite” in Quebec indicate broad continued pressure on governments to pursue climate-conscious policies. Students across Quebec plan to walkout on March 15 as part of “La planète s’invite à l’Université,” a provincewide strike that aims to highlight the urgency of climate change.
WRITE FOR our literary column ISTHMUs we are looking for creative short stories written by BIPOC authors to publish in Isthmus!
To submit work or discuss ideas, email us at isthmus@ mcgilldaily.com
Astrology!
February 25, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
9
HECK’in HOROSCOPES Aries
(Mar 21 - Apr 19) Check your privilege. Understand how you can be an ally to marginalized and racialized students on campus everyday. Not just this month. Always.
Cancer
(Jun 21 Jul 22) Check your privilege. Understand how you can be an ally to marginalized and racialized students on campus everyday. Not just this month. Always.
Libra
(Sept 23 Oct 22) Check your privilege. Understand how you can be an ally to marginalized and racialized students on campus everyday. Not just this month. Always.
Capricorn (Dec 22 Jan 19)
Check your privilege. Understand how you can be an ally to marginalized and racialized students on campus everyday. Not just this month. Always.
Taurus
(Apr 20 May 20) Check your privilege. Understand how you can be an ally to marginalized and racialized students on campus everyday. Not just this month. Always.
Leo (Jul 23
- Aug 22) Check your privilege. Understand how you can be an ally to marginalized and racialized students on campus everyday. Not just this month. Always.
Scorpio
(Oct 23 Nov 21) Check your privilege. Understand how you can be an ally to marginalized and racialized students on campus everyday. Not just this month. Always.
Aquarius (Jan 20 Feb 18)
Check your privilege. Understand how you can be an ally to marginalized and racialized students on campus everyday. Not just this month. Always.
Gemini
(May 21 Jun 20) Check your privilege. Understand how you can be an ally to marginalized and racialized students on campus everyday. Not just this month. Always.
Virgo
(Aug 23 Sept 22) Check your privilege. Understand how you can be an ally to marginalized and racialized students on campus everyday. Not just this month. Always.
Sagittarius (Nov 22 Dec 21)
Check your privilege. Understand how you can be an ally to marginalized and racialized students on campus everyday. Not just this month. Always.
Pisces
(Feb 19 Mar 20)
You get the message, right?
10
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commentary
February 25, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
A Solidarity Shackled by History How Black-Arab Relations Can Be Maintained
McGill SPHR & Sarah Shamy Commentary Writers content warning: anti-Blackness, racism, sexual violence, slavery, police brutality, racial slurs
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utrage emerged in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014, when white police officer Darren Wilson shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year old Black boy. The grand jury’s later decision not to indict Wilson for his crimes served as a reminder that the American state does not care for and will not protect Black lives. “From Ferguson to Palestine,” shouted protestors carrying the rage and desperation of a failing system, “resistance is not a crime.” In the greater St-Louis area, Palestinians immediately took action and protested alongside their Black siblings. At the international level, Palestinians in Gaza also shared many tips and advice with Black protestors on how to cope with tear gas during protests. Stephen Tamari, a Palestinian residing in St-Louis, writes that on his way to the march against police brutality in Ferguson on August 30, 2014, he saw a Black protestor waving a Palestinian flag stating, “this is our intifada.” The solidarity between Palestinian and Black communities is concrete and powerful. However, even as they chant in unison, there is no way to deny that they are one beat off from one another. The longstanding relationships of solidarity between Palestinians and Black folks cannot and will not ever erase the long history of anti-Blackness in Arab communities. In order to promote and maintain positive, long-standing, and genuine solidarities with Black people, we must, as Arabs, dedicate ourselves to Black struggles and resistances. It is not enough to show up at the protests with a sign declaring solidarity; Arabs must further commit to each and every campaign by ensuring their actions abide by their politics of solidarity and support. This piece is dedicated to outlining the ways in which Arabs have contributed, profited from, and promoted anti-Blackness, as well as the ways in which such harm can be repaired. Much too often, the discourse on Black-Arab relations has been saturated with denial, defensiveness, and obfuscation. While Arab racism against Black people is rooted in a violent colonial racial hierarchy within MiddleEastern, North African, and subSaharan African societies, we must
Nelly Wat | The McGill Daily not ignore the ways in which current Arab communities perpetuate antiBlackness. It is also important to note that the broad categorizations of “Black” and ‘“Arab” are extremely reductive to the intersecting identities of both. There are many Black Arabs and dark-skinned Arabs who do not have access to the same privileges that lighter skinned Arabs do. Afro-Arabs are often excluded from conversations on Black-Arab solidarity, which ignores the many Black Arabs residing in Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Yemen, Iraq, Jordan, Bahrain, Sudan, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and more. This article is mainly focused on the ways in which light-skinned and self-identified Arabs have contributed to an ongoing history of anti-Blackness against both Arab and non-Arab Black folks. Hence, for the sake of this article when invoking the identity of Arabness, it refers to non-Black Arab folk and when invoking the identity of Blackness, it refers to Arab and nonArab Black folk. Historical Context: Arabian Trade of Slavery The transatlantic slave trade started in the Mediterranean world, specifically in the Middle East. According to Duncan Clarke, whose book explores the history of slavery,
Bosnia was the intersectional point wherein “Slavs [which refers to the inhabitants of the Eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea] were shipped as slaves by Venetian merchants, to supply new markets in the Islamic World.” The conquest of the Islamic World by Ottoman Turks in 1463 halted the exploitation of slaves originating from the European continent and coincided with the Portuguese colonization and exploitation of the West African coast, creating an entirely new channel of slavery.
In order to promote and maintain positive, long-standing, and genuine solidarities with Black people, we must, as Arabs, dedicate ourselves to Black struggles and resistances.
This piece will take for granted Arab complicity in the slave trade, as it is has been widely researched
and well-documented. There are many reasons why most scholarship on slavery has focused on the transatlantic slave trade as opposed to the “Islamic African” slave trade – primarily, the fact that the systems of slavery in Europe and the Americas transformed into an economic superstructure wherein the development of capitalism relied on slavery and plantations. On the other hand, the growth and flourishment of the Islamic World was not contingent on the structures of slavery – their economic development did not rely on the exploitation of slaves and was not practiced in a widespread fashion as it was in the West. In short, in the West, slavery was part of an external trade necessary for the development of the region, whereas in the Islamic World, it was part of a historical exploitation that does not constitute the heart of their economy. These nuances, while important, do not erase the acts of violence perpetrated by Arabs, as well as the way in which they profited off of forced and deadly slave labour. Before going further into this discussion, it is important to make a few sidenotes: the use of the term “Islamic Africa” refers primarily to North African countries such as Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt. While Islam is
practiced throughout the entire continent, the use of this term is part of a larger discussion of North African countries benefiting from a dual identity (Arab and North African) while also having access to a particular type of privilege that will be discussed later in the article. According to Paul Lovejoy, a scholar of African and African diaspora histories, the Arabian slave trade culminated during the 19th century, and an estimated 9.85 million Africans were shipped out as slaves to the Islamic world between 650 AD and the 19th century. It is important to note that it was primarily women and girls who were abducted into the Arabian slave trade, to then be turned into concubines. The slave trade, while not as central to Arab economies as it was to Western economies, contributed to the long racist history that defines ArabBlack relations today. Contemporary Anti-Blackness: Politics and Language The existence and promotion of an Arabian slave trade are more than just historical facts. Its geographical and intergenerational effects cannot be ignored; the slave trade necessitated the forced displacement and dispossession of African peoples in the Arab peninsula and created a
commentary structural legacy allowing for antiBlackness and the remnants of slavery to persist within Arab communities. Though the Arabian slave trade has its origins within Islamic Africa, more contemporarily, anti-Blackness can be found within most Arab communities. In 2017, it was discovered that Libya is profiting from a modern African slave trade. An estimated 400,000 to almost a million people were apprehended by the Libyan Coast Guard while trying to go to Europe and were put in “[overrun detention centers with] mounting reports of robbery, rape, and murder among migrants, according to a September [2017] report by the UN human rights agency.” Most of the detention centers detain refugees from Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and other West African nations. These African refugees are then being illegally sold off as labourers in open markets. The victims of such cruel human trafficking endure brutal physical and mental torture. Moreover, some of these refugees are also forced into prostitution and sexual exploitation, while others are murdered by their smugglers. Though the complicit Libyan government is launching a formal investigation with the aim of repatriating refugees and migrants (mostly Black Africans) who are facing such abuse and exploitation within detention centers, this is not an anomalous tragedy – it simply falls in line with much of Arab and NorthAfrican anti-Black history.
Though the Arabian slave trade has its origins within Islamic Africa; more contemporarily, anti-Blackness can be found within most Arab communities. Today, many Arab nations have a high percentage of migrant workers who are are mostly African or Southeast Asian. The labour laws (or lack thereof ) in Arab nations work against these migrant workers and allow for extended discrimination and exploitation to take place. Mostly, as Al Jazeera reports, “they have little to no protection under the law and are particularly vulnerable to exploitation, including extraordinarily long working hours, withholding of salaries, sexual, mental, and physical abuse, and denial of travel.” The exploitation of Black people by Arab countries cannot be thought of separately from said nation’s profiting off of the historical dispossession of
Africans. According to a 2008 Human Rights Watch report, “at least one domestic migrant worker in Lebanon was dying each week as a result of ‘unnatural causes,’ such as alleged suicide or after suspiciously falling from tall buildings.” Moreover, these widespread practices of subjecting African migrant workers to slave-like labour are largely ignored by complicit North African governments. Anti-Blackness in predominantly Arab communities also manifests itself through perceptions and conceptualizations of beauty. Susan Abulhawa, a Palestinian scholar and activist, argues that much of the Arab conceptions of beauty are rooted in anti-Blackness. She further explains that these beauty standards are essentially “[an aspiration to be what is] powerful and rich, and the images of that power and wealth have light skin, straight hair, small noses, ruddy cheeks, and tall, skinny bodies.” On a more concrete level, these aesthetic standards translate into dangerous skin bleaching and hair straightening practices, which have become widely popular. More importantly, these practices set the foundation for a social structure in Arab countries rooted in colourism and anti-Blackness. AfroArabs’ identities are systematically denied in such societies; further, the ways in which the nation’s channels of economy are tied to these colourist privileges further exploit Black Arabs. The toxic standards of beauty are not just racist ideologies – they permeate the very social and economic structures of the nation. In fact, rough estimation states that the value of the global market of skin bleaching is at around $10 billion annually. The systemic discrimination of Black folks is deeply embedded within Arab countries, as seen through the current slave trade occuring in Libya. Anti-Blackness takes on many forms – from the horrendous human trafficking of African migrants and refugees, to the expansion of colourism through the promotion of white beauty standards and the practice of skin bleaching. In addition, such violence can also be found within the Arabic language itself, as seen through the use of the word ab**d. The root of the word – abd translates to “slave” and is usually accompanied by one of the ninety nine names of God to reference worshipping Allah. The usage of the word is not harmful in common names such as Abdel-Hakim or Abdallah, which literally translate into worshipper of the Sage One (referring to God) or worshipper of God. However, its plural form has been used to refer to Black people in derogatory ways, as denounced online by Black activists, some of whom started the “Drop the A-word” campaign. The slur emerges from the conflation of Black identities with “slaves,” transforming its original meaning into a derogatory one. The usage of this word persists
February 25, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
today and is part of a much larger anti-Black racism perpetuated by Arab communities. How to Move Forward? Margari Hill, a Black educator based in Southern California, has spoken publicly about racial microaggressions that she has witnessed or experienced within Arab communities. She argues that the main factor prohibiting genuine solidarity between the two communities is “the lack of vision, cultural sensitivity and anti-racist training within our national and local organizations.” Anti-Blackness has been instilled institutionally into Arab culture, first by colonial powers, and later by local Arab leaders who profit off colourism and racism. Much of the harm is also passed down through informal channels of socialization. Once Arab communities commit themselves to unlearning the harmful behaviors that have been maintained and perpetuated by their systems of governance, they can start producing meaningful and genuine bonds of solidarity with Black communities, both locally and worldwide.
Anti-Blackness takes on many forms – from the horrendous human trafficking of African migrants and refugees to the expansion of colourism through the promotion of white beauty standards and the practice of skin bleaching. Arabs’ commitment to real allyship in Black struggle and resistance is not something that necessitates direct reciprocity. Much of our understanding of solidarity is transactional, and demands an exchange of support; however, if meaningful and long-standing relations of solidarity are to be strengthened, Arab communities must first show genuine support of Black communities that address and unpack the anti-Black histories in their own communities. When Black folks dedicate themselves to Arab struggles such as the Palestinian liberation struggle, they do so at great peril. While both Arab and Black people are marginalized under the same overarching structure of whiteness, Arabs, unlike Black folks,
have profited off of such a structure, both historically and contemporarily. The dynamics of Black people supporting Arabs are radically different from Arabs supporting Black folks, as Arabs also have a long history of co-opting Black struggles and history for their own marginalization. While it is always beneficial to put two distinct histories in dialogue with one another or to draw on Black histories in order to develop narratives of solidarity, we must be careful not to reduce Black histories to binaries in order to fit a particular argument. Choosing to focus exclusively on the history of solidarity between Black and Arab communities ignores the decades of past and present antiBlackness and is not the path through which solidarity is paved. In fact, it actively marginalizes Black folks in Arab communities. This does not mean that Black-Arab solidarity is impossible, but simply that Arabs cannot continue to engage with a discourse on solidarity without unpacking the racial prejudices that they have been socialized to perpetuate. It is equally important not to navigate this topic with what could be considered the Arab version of “white guilt” – while we should feel both guilt and shame about these histories and realities, they should not be at the forefront of solidarity-based discussions, at the risk of engaging in performative and selfish, rather than useful, solidarity. Instead, it is much more useful to dedicate ourselves to campaigns that fight anti-Blackness, to unlearn our own harmful behaviors, and to establish systems of accountability amongst ourselves. Not only has history proved that such solidarity is possible between the two communities, it has also shown its strength. Black-Palestinian solidarity, for example, has expressed itself through the politics, discourse, and activism of Malcolm X, the Black Panther Party, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Patrice Lumumba Coalition, Muhammad Ali, and the Black Lives Matter movement. The mass incarceration, systematic state violence, military occupation combined with a(n) (inter)national silence on their suffering established a natural solidarity between Black and Palestinian communities throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. To clarify, the use of “natural solidarity,” Palestinian scholar and activist Rabab Abdulhadi argues that commitment to the Palestinian liberation movement is “[a struggle] against racism, Zionism, Orientalism, Islamophobia, and all forms of structural inequalities, based on gender, sexuality, class, age, ability, citizenships, etc.” This commitment naturally entails a solidarity with Black radical politics as it overlaps with Black liberation movements. The history of Black writers, scholars, and activists supporting and dedicating much of their activism to Palestine
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and vice versa is a historical reminder of where and how Arabs should move forward with their solidarity.
This does not mean that BlackArab solidarity is impossible, but simply that Arabs cannot continue to engage with a discourse on solidarity without unpacking the racial prejudices that they have been socialized to perpetuate. Some of the most moving examples of such solidarity could be seen through the life of Angela Davis, who has publicly supported Palestinians and has stated that “Palestine has always occupied a pivotal place [in her own political history].” June Jordan, a Black poet and activist very famously wrote, “I was born a Black woman and now I am become a Palestinian,” in 1989. In doing so, she irreversibly revolutionized the paradigms of Black-Arab solidarity by transcending toward an ontological solidarity. Muhammad Ali, a famous boxer who converted to Islam in 1964, dedicated his entire life to fighting not only in the ring, but also against imperialist interests behind the Vietnam War, for Islam, and for Palestine. Ali became a symbol and inspiration for the Muslim community through, as Al Jazeera reports, “his ongoing struggle, [which] was one of the reasons why many Black Muslims used Ali’s passing as an opportunity to not only celebrate and promote the importance of racial equality, but also to criticise the lack of racial equity in the form of anti-Blackness, colourism, and otherness.” Ali was one of the few and first famous Americans who very vocally opposed the settler-colonial project in Palestine. Though his support for Palestine is often erased, Arabs, Muslims, Palestinians and their allies have not forgotten. As such, he soon became a staple representing that which we all wish to fight for or against. Arab-Black solidarity is quite simply the ink with which Palestinians penned their letter to political prisoner and Black political activist Angela Davis in the 1970s, it is the desperation that plagued June Jordan as she beautifully wrote that she has become a Palestinian, it is the rage behind Muhammad Ali’s punches as he fought for Palestine, and it is the solidarity that Arabs must commit to every day.
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culture
February 25, 2 019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
“The Echoes Can Be Heard Today” Interviewing Blackout’s Kym Dominique-Ferguson
Yasna Khademian & Nadia El-Sherif The McGill Daily content warning: racial slurs, antiBlack racism, police violence
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his week, The McGill Daily spoke with Kym DominiqueFerguson, a member of the Blackout writing team. Blackout, presented by Tableau D’Hôte Theatre, tells the story of the 1968 Sir George Williams (SGW) Affair, where Black students held a peaceful sit-in against discriminatory grading policies at Sir George Williams University – now known as Concordia University. The acting principal of the university, D.B. Clarke, called the police, who raided the sit-ins. They enacted violence against the protesters, arrested 97 students, and killed one student, Coralee Hutchison, through battery. The media depicted the protesters as the cause of the violence and of the damage done to the computer lab during the police raid. Blackout critically examined this false narrative and created a space for Black voices to tell their own stories, in their own words. The McGill Daily (MD): The Sir George Williams Affair has largely been remembered as a “student riot,” and Blackout aims to tell the story differently from the mainstream narrative that the media portrayed at
the time. What led you to want to tell this story, and why specifically on the 50th anniversary of the events? Kym Dominique-Ferguson (KDF): Black voices are often vilified once they do not conform to white standards. The misnomer of “computer riots” or “student riots” of the Sir George Williams Affair was a deliberate move by the media to elicit a specific response from their viewers and readers at the time. If they named it the “Peaceful Computer Sit-In Protest” the public would react differently; perhaps more folks would have been empathetic to the students, rather than chanting “let the n****** burn.” Once Mathieu Murphy-Perron approached me to be a part of
The misnomer of “computer riots” or “student riots” of the Sir George Williams Affair was a deliberate move by the media to elicit a specific response from their viewers and readers at the time.
the writers of this project, I was immediately connected to it, and the answer was clear that I needed to be a part of this project. I was a member and am the former president of the Caribbean Students’ Union, the first student union in Canada, created to represent Caribbean and West Indian students following the ‘69 SGW Affair. Why tell this story on its 50th anniversary? The climate demands it. Things have barely changed in the world, but Black, Indigenous, and people of colour are sick and we are tired. It’s time for the truth to shine and for our stories to be told in our voices. MD: Why did you choose the medium of a play, specifically, to tell this story, and how do you feel its impact would’ve been different through another medium? KDF: Art knows very few boundaries. We were blessed with the very beautiful documentary, Ninth Floor, directed by Mina Shum and produced by the National Film Board in 2015. Four years later, there are people who still haven’t heard about this moment in Canadian or Montreal history. Stories must be told in different forms, because we are not all monolithic in the way we absorb information. Some people prefer documentaries, some folks like a play, others would rather look at art in a museum, and even rarer, there are folks who will take in all types of mediums
Blackness is not monolithic, and this play makes the audience acutely aware of it. and more. It’s been documented in David Austin’s Fear of a Black Nation and was reexamined in Ninth Floor, so the stage was the most natural progression after books and movies. MD: The roles of activist women and POC are often pushed to the back, even in their own stories. Can you speak to the decision to have an all-Black and largely female cast?
KDF: Black women have always had a large role in activism. However, we lived, and still live, in a patriarchal society. So the natural tendency has always been to push forward the men of the groups. With this production, we wrote our characters as gender neutral as possible throughout the play, and the casting ended up with many powerful leading ladies. In the future, the cast may be vastly different if the play is given new life with an entirely new roster. Not only that, but we wanted to twist the narrative, allowing women’s voices, who weren’t always present, to be given a platform. After the show, some elders, many of them women, expressed joy and gratitude from seeing their story told onstage.
culture
February 25, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily mosques, people in the streets telling protestors like myself to “protest in French,” or that our protest is not the “right way,” without looking at the bigger picture. Our government tells people, “we welcome you with open arms as you are,” and when people arrive that’s when we see the fine print that says: “so long as you conform to our rules and regulations and don’t you dare make me uncomfortable by speaking a different language, dressing differently, or having a different shade of skin.”
I feel Canadian racism is extremely insidious today, especially because we like to believe that “we’re not as bad as the US.” MD: Students of colour are often blamed for the SGW Affair, rather than the institutional abuse of power and racism, specifically antiBlack racism, that led the students’ occupation to what it became. Many forget that the events started after the university failed to properly address students’ racism complaints. How does Blackout point out what is so often forgotten – the university’s institutional racism and lack of accountability? KDF: I can say this without giving an official spoiler alert, since there is no telling when Blackout will be given life onstage again. The penultimate scene, an adaptation of the Three Witches Scene from Shakespeare’s Macbeth, demonstrated our satirical interpretation of the cover-up that happened: the renaming of Sir George Williams to Concordia. Blackout ripped the band-aid off the old wound and bared the truth – the voices of the unheard – for all to see and experience. MD: The physical damages, the computer centre, and the
fire are often remembered as among the most important “consequences” of the Affair – but many students were arrested, assaulted, some were deported, and of course Coralee Hutchison died as a result of the police riot squad. How does Blackout shift the focus of the narrative back to the lives altered or lost rather than the secondary events that often take the spotlight? KDF: Blackout puts the students front and centre at all times. We show their differences and similarities, their ups and downs, and we see their evolution throughout the play. Blackness is not monolithic, and this play makes the audience acutely aware of it. We incorporate breakout scenes to give the actors a moment to breathe because shit is intense, but also to provide the audience with pertinent information that cannot always be acted out onstage for fear of extending the play into three or four hours. Another way that we shift the focus back is through the projections, showing the faces of the people who were present at the time, so you never forget the faces that were visible. Finally, we say their names, over and over and over, from the opening scene until the closing one. MD: Why did you make the decision to “modernize” the events in the play, such as by bringing in Black Lives Matter, and what effect do you think it had on the play overall?
We scream “BLACK GRADES THEY MATTER HERE” every night in this production, so that the echoes can be heard today, only a few stories above the theatre, for the students whose voices were barely heard then.
KDF: We didn’t “modernize” much. The intentions are exactly the same today as they were back in the 1960s. The only difference is that the taglines of today, such as Black Lives Matter, are very catchy and succinct. Personally, I find people can put a block in their mind and say, “oh this was happening ‘back then,’” and refuse to draw the lines that connect the past to the present. We needed folks to wake up. Police brutality, racial segregation and systemic racism are things we, as people of colour, deal with regularly. I feel Canadian racism is extremely insidious today, especially because we like to believe that “we’re not as bad as the US.” Not overtly, but we do have extremist groups bombing
MD: What did it mean to perform the play in the same building as the occupation took place, in terms of how much or how little you see has changed in the past 50 years? KDF: It was surreal. Many of the cast and crew kept wondering if the play would get shut down. I think back a few years when the Caribbean Students’ Union brought in Senator Anne Cools, the first Black Senator in Canada, who was present at the computer centre in 1969 and was arrested at the time, for a talk at Concordia. The university effectively muzzled Senator Cools, letting the Union know that she could not speak about the SGW Affair. This was only about five or six years ago. There was a cheeky feeling to presenting this play as well; the acting principal at the time of the Affair was D.B. Clarke, and the theatre was named after him. For the most part I experienced a deep, yet mischievous joy at being able to scream at the top of my lungs, “BLACK GRADES THEY MATTER HERE” every
The intentions are exactly the same today as they were back in the 1960s. The only difference is that the taglines of today, such as Black Lives Matter, are very catchy and succinct.
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Black students held a peaceful sit-in against discriminatory grading policies at Concordia University – formerly known as Sir George Williams University. The acting principal of the university, D.B. Clarke, called the police, who raided the sit-ins. night in this production, so that the echoes can be heard today, only a few stories above the theatre, for the students whose voices were barely heard then. It was an honour to come into the building where a history I unknowingly became a part of and took part in took place, and to be able to retell the story in our own voices. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. You can read more about the Sir George Williams Affair at m c g i l l d a i l y. c o m / 2 0 1 9/ 0 2 / m e m o r i e s - o f - t h e - s i r- g e o r g e williams-affair/.
Images courtesy of Jaclyn Turner/Tableau D’Hôte.
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poetry!
February 25, 2019 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
Fix Your Hair
Lies, half-truths, and shooting yourself in the knee before a marathon.
Kathleen Charles Poet
Kinky coils finally flourishing from my scalp. A flawless kind of disorder. A wild kind of miracle. A new kind of freedom To be wearing my God-given crown with pride A joyful relief to be accepting these coils as mine. I model for myself. Strut my stuff showin’ the mirror how much I adore myself. This is me feelin’ myself Weave free. All new growth No lye See how the curls roll and tumble around one another Twist and turn and fold all up on each other, see how they tell my history in their dancing How they curve out maps to my freedom They rise like I rise Bouncin’ back like I do from setbacks. More than a mane, an ordainment on my history But blind mothers will tell the story a bit differently Blind eyes land on precious coils claiming to see flaw-filled disorder, a wild kind of mistake. Another flashback to slave days “Fix your hair!” she’ll say. Never mind how long you’ve spent conditioning your hair to shine and be soft like the finest of maidens. Never mind the potions you’ve made mixing essential oils like the mambo priestesses who came before you Never mind how much money and time you’ve spent sifting through the aisles, through products for women who don’t look like you, eventually starting a revolution of products that are now made for you “Fix your hair!” she says…
It is always wise to examine the choice of words of those who know not their power Fix (\‘fiks\ ) – English verb of many interesting meanings To make firm, stable, stationary; to set or place definitely; to hold or direct steadily; to set in order; to repair or mend what has been set out of place, broken or damaged Now see… How master’s influence still lingers in our minds Stand up straight negro! Let me examine your jaw line Be firm young negro! A tool you are to be mine Don’t move little negro lest I whip scars down your back serpentine Are we a broken people to be mended and put back in place to fit in the box of white normalcy? Am I broken? Or am I black? Let these words not be bound by pact I am not out of place, broken, or damaged! My hair needs no fixing. Grooming? Yes. Care? Assuredly. Deep conditioning? All day, everyday. Fixing? Miss me with that brainwashed type shit If it means I embrace myself, I’ll gladly embody this slave type shit This be who I be type shit See the beauty in me type shit So, you can tell a blind mother to hush with that ignorant type shit “Fix your hair!” she chimes. I replied “There’s nothing to fix.”
Perspective Kathleen Charles Poet
Nelly Wat| The McGill Daily
When your skin color finally stops looking like a never-ending stain Instead It’ll look like the finest chocolate The colour born after water makes love to the earth Decadent soil Fertile & warm That’s what you’ll see Right now, your kinks may resemble the tangled chains of abandoned slave ships Hair unworthy of praise Hair that dares fight back To stay true to its form “Bad hair” you’ll call it… But when you finally learn your worth Learn to appreciate how She coloured you earth You’ll see instead a shining crown made of winding strands All tracing an upward path Reaching for the sun This mane is worthy This mane is holy This mane is more than good It’s your glory I promise you you’ll see beauty in yourself one day I promise It’s already there