'Working where the sun don't shine'

by Peter Johnson

This could be called, 'The Joys of Aging'. As the grandchild of a grandparent who had tuberculosis, I was watched closely and tested often during my early years of schooling. Having a father who had his first heart attack at the age of 49, I followed in his footsteps and copied his medical history—almost to the day. My infarction was a bit more spectacular, in front of 2 classes at the rink while skating as part of the school's Winter Carnival Week. And now, my grammatically-inclined doctor wants to have my colons checked out to see if they are aligned properly. I have diligently avoided this procedure. The first such invasion took place well over 25 years ago. My doctor...the one I trusted to be looking after my well-being, insisted that it was a 'right of passage'. After he explained what was involved, I told him, 'That orifice should come with a sign: 'One Way--Do Not Enter'. He thought I was being facetious. I thought he was playing deaf. In the end--another back-sided pun, he got his way and I was booked for the procedure.

On that delightful day, with my posterior tightly clenched, I made my way to the day surgery area, only to be greeted by a familiar sight...my neighbour who would be my nurse that day. 'Oh lovely', I thought. 'We'll have no secrets now!' She was very kind, and ohso professional but I am sure that to this day, she smiles when she remembers how my visage paled when she greeted and prepped me.

Her smiling face was there to greet me as I was slapped awake; they felt I had taken up enough of their time and space. See that punctuation that I just used there? That's a semicolon. If they find one inside as they go spelunking, that apparently will not do. You can only have colons--no semi-colons—in your colon. Why? Perhaps the 'semis' stop things up---and they will have no truck with that.

As fate would have it, I was driven home by another wonderful neighbour, the husband of the nurse. Being a considerate fella, he took me home via the most ancient, pre-eighteenth century road in the entire Municipality. This road has never seen surfacing

Prominent Figures in Activism

of any kind. It is in the same pre-confederation condition as it was when the McGoverns came here-shortly after Charles II was de-coronated. This road is much worse than the worst of the roads in town. Indeed, it is stretching the term to label it a 'road'. It is dirt and stones and stones and rocks---and lots more dirt. Rain transforms it into mud. In the winter, it is surfaced with compacted snow with the frictional coefficient of a hockey rink. The dust from it in the dry summer months makes it almost impossible to see as you try to make your way safely to town. The ditches are so deep that the remains of delivery trucks and Canada Post vehicles litter their depths. Children are warned to 'stay out of the ditches' because neither mountaineers nor spelunkers can easily retrieve them. Such is the road upon which Mr. Married-to-the-Nurse took me home. He had to... we both live on this piece of aboriginal tract that has never heard of John Loudon McAdam. And he is? The inventor of pavement, or Macadam.

Born in Ayr, in 1756, presumably, before the century was out, he was already paving roads in the highlands of Scotland. And here, in this blessed Scots-infested region, 266 years later, we are still less 'civilized' than those lucky/ hearty highland Scots. According to the Municipality's Roads and Thoroughfares Department, it will likely be another 266 years before we meet their criteria to qualify for a surfaced road.

And thus we come to the end of my humiliating tale. I am wading through the lengthy 6 page document on how to prepare for my next anal invasion. I will once again be the butt of jokes. Lord, I hope I have all my colons and semicolons lined up in their appropriate places.

My 'modern thoroughfare' remains neither 'thorough' nor 'fare/fair'. And Mr. Married-to-the Nurse? He will be replaced by my eldest daughter who has an all-wheel drive vehicle. It should be able to safely navigate my road... unless, of course, the road is blocked by mountaineers and spelunkers with their rescue equipment, searching for lost children in the depths of the dastardly, deep, devilish ditches.

by Zara Zrudlo

A big part of activism is learning and helping other people learn. In this article, I’m going to feature a few people in marginalized communities who have done and are doing amazing things and deserve some recognition!

Sam Smith is a nonbinary singer songwriter! They’ve written multiple songs that have hit number one on the charts in the UK. They’ve also won four Grammies and an Oscar! Being a famous 2SLGBTQ2IA+ person, they’ve faced some adversity and a lot of negative comments about their gender expression. However, they continue to write, sing and perform and they are an inspiration to young 2SLGBTQIA+ folks!

Tracey Deer is a Mohawk director, mentor, writer, producer, speaker and leader. She was raised in the Kahnawake community and has dreamed of filmmaking since she was twelve. She is pas- sionate about inspiring youth, social issues and empowering women, youth and Indigenous peoples to pursue their dreams. “My work is my effort to bridge the gap between two worlds, native and non-native.” She is an advocate for making sure that TV shows and movies do not show harmful stereotypes! She won the John Dunning award for Best Feature Film in 2021 and the Gemini Award for Best Writing in a Documentary Program.

Ayqa Kahn Is a Pakistani American artist. Whether she's using henna, paint, or a camera, Ayqa Khan makes enrapturing art that honours her roots. Apart from her personal work, Ayqa helps run an Instagram account dedicated to uplifting South Asian artists. She focusses on helping women of colour feel comfortable with their body hair and in their skin.

Nicola Yoon is a Jamaican American author. She has written four books and co-authored two more. She is an activist through writing and believes that all people should be able to see themselves in books, no matter their religion, sexuality, gender, ability, ethnicity or race. Two of her books (Everything,

Everything and The Sun is Also A Star) have been turned into major motion pictures.

Melati and Isabel Wijsen are sisters from Bali whose passions are ocean protection and youth empowerment! Together they started advocating for a ban on plastic bags and other single use plastics by organizing beach cleanups, protests, petitions and more. Their work eventually paid off when the Governor of Bali announced an official ban. Since then, they have taken their mission to students who are looking to accomplish similar goals worldwide. They have also launched Mountain Mamas, an organization that teaches women in Bali to handmake reusable bags from recycled or donated materials.

Mari Copeny is a clean water activist who started when she was eight years old! She made the headlines after she wrote a letter to the President, Barack Obama, about the overlooked Flint Water Crisis in her area (Flint). Her letter convinced the President to visit, which immediately put the water crisis in the public eye. Her frustration and passion fueled into action gained her community safe access to clean water, something that many communities around the world need. Since then, she has become known as ‘Little Miss Flint’ and has spent her teen years raising over 500,000 dollars to support access to clean, drinkable water in Flint, and other resources to support health and wellbeing.

Reading about these amazing people who advocate, inspire and perform inspires me to think about what more I can be doing for my community and the people around me. These amazing folks above weren’t born any different than you or I, their determination and passion just fueled them on to become who they are today.

Zara Zrudlo is a homeschooled, fourteenyear-old resident of Kemtpville. They love writing, art, acting, reading and anything to do with music. Ever since they were little, they’ve cared a lot about activism and social justice, and hoped to make a difference in the world. Zara has written two and a half novels and ran a newspaper for their friends and family for three years. They love hanging out with their dogs and chickens and spending time imagining having dinner with various book characters.