February 5, 2019

theconcordian

CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY’S WEEKLY, INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER

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VOLUME 36, ISSUE 18 | TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019

Spitting fire over ice Music p. 13

Mick Jenkins fights to keep the crowd alive at L'Astral

feature Part-time faculty profile: Florence Figols

news

life

arts

sports

p.10

opinions

Discussions under Mosque shooting How to cultivate Indigenous Art From Lebanon two years later p. 2 year-round p. 7 and identity p. 8 to Loyola locs and key p. 18 p. 15

news

NEWS EDITORS /// news@theconcordian.com IAN DOWN & MIA ANHOURY ( @IanDown1996 @mia_anhoury)

COMMEMORATION

Using light to combat hate

CITY IN BRIEF MIA ANHOURY NEWS EDITOR Montreal’s Venezuelan community protested the presidency of Nicolas Maduro and showed support for Interim President J u a n G u a i d ó o n S at u rd ay, according to CTV. With support from the Nicaraguan community, protestors denounced Maduro’s human rights violations.

Photo by Mia Anhoury.

Interfaith commemoration for the victims of the Quebec City mosque shooting MIA ANHOURY NEWS EDITOR “Six muslim men were killed and 19 others were injured. It was the single most deadliest Islamophobic attack in Canadian history,” said Sarah Abou-Bakr, Concordia student and a staff worker for the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM). On Jan. 29, Abou-Bakr led the interfaith commemoration of the Quebec City mosque shooting that happened on the event's two year anniversary.

The commemoration was organized by the Concordia Student Union’s (CSU) Legal Clinic, NCCM and the Center for ResearchAction on Race Relations (CRARR), and took place in the Hall building.

“First and foremost we stand in solidarity with the families of these six men whose lives were taken from them, as well as with those who were injured during or witnessed this attack,” Abou-Bakr said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with you as you continue to heal.”

Elder Vicky Boldo from the Aboriginal Student Resource Centre dedicated a women’s healing song to those affected by the shooting, following Abou-Bakr’s speech.

Camille Thompson, external affairs and mobilization coordinator at the CSU, said that as someone from Quebec City, she was ashamed that such violence took place in her hometown. Thompson hopes the government will address the city’s systemic Islamophobia to work toward a world without hate.

After a reading from the Quran, Rev. Ellie Hummel, coordinator of Concordia’s Multi-faith and Spirituality Centre took the microphone. “How long, oh god, must you people suffer in vain?” Hummel asked. “How many more commemorations do we need to attend, for mosque shootings, or synagogue shootings, or shootings of black churches, or violence based on race or gender, or religion, or whatever else? How many more?”

The 30 some crowd members were in awe throughout the ceremony; even students lining up to eat at Concordia’s People’s Potato listened intently.

“Just three months ago we were here [...] to remember those who were killed in a synagogue in the United States and unfortunately,

A Montreal woman in her 70s was found dead in HochelagaMaisonneuve, marking the s e co n d h o m i c i d e of 2019, according to The Montreal Gazette. Police found the woman wounded early on Friday by what seemed to be a sharp object. A 74-year-old man found at the scene was arrested.

this [hate] has continued to grow,” said Imam The Globe and Mail also reported that asking Salam Elmenyawi, president of the Conseil how many teachers wear religious items violates musulman de Montréal. He spoke about the provincial and federal laws against religious importance of words: “Good words matter,” discrimination, according to legal advice given to and “Bad words matter,” he said. representatives of the school boards.

Rabbi Yisroel Bernath, associate Chaplain Niemi related the commemoration of Despite the low temperatures, at Concordia, said that as a community, it’s the mosque shooting to the current political parents have been camping not simply about commemorating. “One of climate in Quebec. “After today, with all the outside Royal Vale School and the great ethical questions of our time is a tears, with all the emotions, I sincerely hope Edinburgh Elementary ahead question that’s been asked over and over that the CSU, all of you, and all of the student of the official registration to again: ‘Is darkness a creation of its own? Or associations on this campus and beyond enrol their children, according is it the absence of light?’” Bernath asked. will come together to overcome the kind to CBC. The English Montreal “What’s beautiful about light is that if you of things that often keep us apart, so that School Board is aware overcrowding take one light and you light another, nothing we can come together and say it loudly to in these schools is a problem, and gets extinguished from yourself. You only governments,” Niemi said. “We must create parents said this is not the first add more light into the world.” and promote a legacy of peace, and equality, time they’ve lined up.

Bernath believes that darkness is the and respect of diversity, because this is what absence of light. “Today is not just about the declaration of human rights is all about.”

A giant bear was drawn in the remembering, but to live it and to say At the end of the ceremony, Gospel snow on the Lachine Canal last ‘what am I going to do today, to add my Singer Amanda Ben sang, “Will the circle Tuesday and had Montrealers light into the world,’” he said. be unbroken,” and speakers went up one questioning how the belly button “It’s so ironic that two days after the by one to light a candle for each of the six was drawn, as reported by CBC. international remembrance day we have men who were killed.

It turns out, the bear creators to hold this event to think about one of the According to CBC, Aymen Derbali, a threw five snowballs to create the most violent, hateful Islamophobic crimes survivor who was left paralyzed after being belly but ton without leaving in this province,” said Fo Niemi, executive shot seven times, and Azzedine Soufiane, footprints between the outline of director of CRARR. a victim who managed to take down the the bear and its navel.

Niemi also mentioned how just the day gunman for several seconds, were both before, the Quebec government asked awarded medals of honour yesterday, for Graphic by @spooky_soda school boards in Montreal how many their acts of courage. of their teachers wear “We are stronger when we stand together,” said Abou-Bakr. Photo by Mia Anhoury. religious symbols or garments. The Globe and Mail reported that school boards received a call from a deputy education minister asking them for those numbers. They replied they do not have such records.

“We need a government that will be on our side,” said Niemi. “For our rights, for our fundamental human rights, for our fundamental human values, and not a government that tolerates discrimination, that promotes discrimination or that legislates discrimination.”

FEBRUARY 5, 2019

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NATION The human side of conflict IN BRIEF

JOURNALISM

Journalist Kareem Shaheen spoke about his coverage of the Middle East

MIA ANHOURY NEWS EDITOR Canada’s Auditor General, Michael Ferguson, died of cancer on Saturday at 60 years old, according to Global News. He had been working as the federal auditor for the last seven years.

Almost 12,000 Eritrean refugees were quietly welcomed to Canada in December, according to The Star. Their applications had been pending for four years, after fleeing Eritrea's oppressive military regime and finding refuge in Sudan, where they were once again exposed to violence.

“It hits you how cruel the conflict can be and sometimes how senseless the killing can be,” Shaheen said. “It reminds you how fragile everything is.” Photo by Gabe Chevalier.

MINA MAZUMDER ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR Former Middle East correspondent Kareem Shaheen from The Guardian stopped by the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (MIGS) on Jan. 30. Shaheen spoke about his experience covering the aftermath of a gas attack in a small Syrian town called Khan Sheikhun in 2017. He was the first Western journalist to reach the area after the attack.

The event was moderated by Kyle Matthews, the executive director of MIGS. About 30 people attended.

“The most overwhelming thing to me was realizing how much of a ghost town [the gas attack] has turned the city into,” Shaheen said, adding that one of the most memorable moments was seeing the graveyard where many bodies were buried, including one family that lost 20 members. “It was very sombre and sad.

You can really absorb how many lives have been destroyed when you see all the tombstones and fresh earth,” he said.

Originally from Egypt, Shaheen reported

for The Guardian from February 2015 to August 2018. He covered a wide range of topics from politics to security in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, and other regions in the Middle East.

“It hits you how cruel the conflict can be and sometimes how senseless the killing can be,” Shaheen said. “It reminds you how fragile everything is.”

Shaheen said it is important to be a human before being a journalist, while being able to understand that people opening up about hardship is an act of generosity.

It’s important “to recognize they have had some extremely tough experiences and that there’s no way you could fully convey the extent of their trauma and their suffering,” he said. “At the same time, [it’s important] to be grateful that they’re telling you their stories because they don’t owe you anything as a journalist.”

While sharing the stories he encountered in Syria, Shaheen said that the ability to show your readers what is happening around you is not an easy task but one that comes with practice. “It’s this ability to paint a portrait of what’s going on and what the scene was like,” he said. Shaheen worked on this

skill when he was in Lebanon, reporting on the suicide bombings that spilled over from the Syrian war.

Shaheen is grateful to have met many different people in the Middle East, as he found them to be resilient.

“It’s just a matter of having to suffer through so much,” he said. “People in Lebanon endured 15 years of civil war [...] and yet, you still see people doing hopeful things, you still see people who are fighting to build a better Syria, a better Lebanon.”

Shaheen never identified with the term ‘war correspondent’ because he was never covering the frontlines of the attacks but rather the aftermath. “When we call ourselves war correspondents, it detracts from the overall reporting mission that we have which is to tell the story as it is,” he said.

In a world awash with misinformation, Shaheen strongly suppor ts the idea of paying for news. “It’s becoming so difficult now, to determine what truth is and for that to really matter,” he said.

“For journalists, it’s an opportunity to be more transparent about the work that

The event was hosted by the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies. Photo by Gabe Chevalier.

RCMP divers recovered the remains of two men who vanished after their float plane crashed on a Saskatchewan lake 60 years ago, according to The Globe and Mail . They found the wreckage last summer, however, weather conditions made a dive too dangerous until last week.

A two-year-old boy and a fiveyear-old boy were taken to a Manitoba hospital on Saturday after eating a cannabis chocolate bar, according to CTV. Police said that Child and Family Services were contacted and no charges are expected. Edible cannabis products are still illegal in Canada.

Graphic by @spooky_soda

we do and how we gather information.”

When Shaheen was covering events in Lebanon, he wrote about Maameltein, an area where human traffickers would trick Syrian women to come to Lebanon, steal their passports, kidnap them and force them into prostitution. “It was difficult to get a hold of any of the women, because they were under police custody or they were taken to shelters,” he said. “It’s probably the only time that I actually cried in an interview [...] while talking to that woman.”

For student journalists who want to cover issues in Middle Eastern countries, Shaheen advises three things. First, learn the language.

“I don’t think you could be a good reporter anywhere if you don’t learn the language,” he said. “It’s the only way to delve deeper into cultural and religious contexts of those societies.” The second piece of advice was to be curious and humble. “Wherever you go, people will have great stories,” he said. “Try to listen to what people have to say.” Lastly, Shaheem advises students to be empathetic towards others. “People are allowing you into their lives for a brief moment to experience something really special,” he said.

Shaheen added there is no such thing as over-verifying when it comes to journalism. “Always triple-check everything,” said Shaheen. “It’s like when your mother tells you that you’re handsome, you need to have it checked by three other sources,” he said as he laughed.

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FEBRUARY 5, 2019

CAMPUS LIFE

Media production panel by the pros

Sharing ressources and teaching students how to succeed as filmmakers

ARIANNA RANDJBAR VIDEO ASSISTANT Non-profit group Community.

Empowerment. Education. Development.

(CEED) invited Concordia students to connect with award-winning filmmakers for a series of screenings, talks and workshops at the John Molson School of Business, on Tuesday Jan. 29. The panel of filmmakers was composed of Concordia students, video artists and a National Film Board (NFB) alumni.

She’s a Woman , the first screening of the evening, filled the room with the steady rhymes of Gulu-based rapper and music educator MC Twitch. Directed

by Concordia student filmmakers Sandra

Photo by Annie Yeo.

Hercegova, Jane Lakes and colleague Karane Tuhirirwe, She’s a Woman highlights music as a means of empowerment for Ugandan youth. The film was produced during their summer internship with CEED, which partners Ugandan and Concordiabased videographers with youth in Gulu to produce community-driven projects.

Martine Chartrand, who said she is not a filmmaker but rather an animator, was the second panelist of the evening.

Her NFB-produced film, Âme Noir is a painting come to life; purple and blue paint swirl in abstract configurations until they finally settle into the shape of a woman and her grandson. Calling Âme Noir “a film about childhood,” Chartrand paints black history through time, tenderness

and hardship. Her brushstrokes conjure scenes of slave ships, the underground railroad and speakeasies playing jazz. As a Haitian adopted by Québecois parents, the artist found it important to deconstruct her dual identity and explore the theme of otherness in her work.

T h e p an el con clude d w it h A nna Grigorian’s video art; juxtaposing elaborately constructed sets of toilet paper and glittering word art alongside the political speeches of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, Grigorian obscures the boundary between reality and the absurd. When asked how to get your work out in the world, Grigorian recommended FilmFreeway, a hub for film festival submissions worldwide.

Following the panel, workshops were

hosted by Amber Jackson from CUTV and Shanice Bernicky from Concordia’s Feminist Media Studio. Jackson focused on developing a voice as a creator, whereas Bernicky facilitated a discussion on representation and marginalized identities in the mediascape.

Both CUTV and the Feminist Media Studio are excellent resources for filmmakers. CUTV offers production workshops for Concordia students, lends out recording equipment, and possesses an iMac-equipped atelier outfitted with editing software.

The Feminist Media Studio is a network of graduate and PhD students offering a community space for cross-platform creation, generative discussion, and also lends camera equipment to members.

From left: Camina Harrison Chéry and Josie Fomé from CEED Concordia. Photo by Annie Yeo.

FACULTY

Inclusive teaching workshops offered to professors Concordia faculty is learning new techniques for teaching diverse classrooms EITHNE LYNCH ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR Concordia’s Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) is offering inclusivity workshops to professors to teach them to create a more respectful atmosphere in their classrooms.

The goal of these workshops is to help instructors understand “the kinds of challenges, including microaggressions, racism, bias, dimensions of power and privilege that are experienced by a diverse group of students, and apply inclusive strategies in the design of their courses, classroom teaching and interactions with students,” said Fiona Downey, deputy spokesperson for Concordia.

Alicia Cundell, the teaching consultant with CTL said, “we want faculty to become aware of and, at some point, be able to change those behaviours that students find marginalizing, offensive and exclusionary.”

CTL is hosting its annual four-week WinterFest, an event dedicated to workshops on creating an inclusive space in the classroom. The kick-off event was

held on Jan. 24 in the Black Box venue in therapist who lectures in Concordia’s the EV building. It “allowed participants to Department of Creative Arts Therapies. intervene in scenarios and try different She hoped that professors would gain ways of handling the situations,” said a more “empathetic understanding of Downey. “These scenarios were authentic experiences from Concordia students that were anonymized and dramatized by professional actors.” She added, “other sessions will offer concrete strategies for the classroom, course design and having challenging discussions in the classroom.”

The kick-off event was an interactive theatrical experience.

Actors presented classroom scenarios that were inspired by real experiences Concordia students have dealt with. Audience members, which consisted of faculty and administration, were allowed to suggest changes and interact with the performers as the scenarios unfolded.

The piece was directed by Jessica Bleuer, a cultural equity consultant and registered drama Archive graphic by Zeze Le Lin.

their minority students and an idea of the things that make classrooms unsafe.”

Weekly workshops are being held every Friday from Jan. 25 to Feb. 15.

FEBRUARY 5, 2019

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WORLD Provincial student federation dissolves IN BRIEF STUDENT POLITICS

AVEQ had just two members left, including the Concordia Student Union

IAN DOWN NEWS EDITOR The United States officially filed charges against Chinese telecom giant Huawei on Jan. 29, according to the BBC. The U.S. alleges the company stole technology from an American rival and defied sanctions to conduct business in Iran, among other things. The United States previously took action against Huawei by having CEO Meng Wanzhou arrested in Vancouver in December.

The world’s largest free-trade zone was created when an agreement between the European Union (EU) and Japan came into effect on Feb. 1, according to Deutsche Welle. Once the deal is fully implemented, 97 per cent of EU goods sold in Japan, and 99 per cent of Japanese goods sold in the EU, will be duty-free.

Teachers across France demonstrated on Saturday for better wages and improved working conditions, according to France 24. More than 67,000 people have joined the “Stylos Rouges” (Red Pens) protest movement, which opposes economic hardships that have hit the country’s teachers.

Graphic by @spooky_soda

IAN DOWN NEWS EDITOR The Association for the Voice of Education in Quebec (AVEQ), the federation of student unions that has fought for the rights of Concordia students since 2015, will soon cease to exist.

On Jan. 26, the AVEQ announced that it had begun the process of dissolving that same afternoon.

The federation said the decision was motivated by “several administrative and financial challenges that contributed towards an overall lack of trust between the association and its members. As a result, over the past three years, the association no longer had the capacity to expand its mandate, and failed to increase its membership.”

The AVEQ said its dissolution “will mark the start of a new opportunity for better, more effective provincial representation for all students across Quebec.”

“In the beginning, when the AVEQ was created, the goal was to be able to represent student associations that have less visibility on the political scene, meaning religion students’ associations and student associations of Anglophone universities,” said Laura Daigneault, a member of the AVEQ’s administrative council. “These two groups, despite their differences, could align themselves on issues that concern all students at the university level across Quebec. These include the remuneration of internships and the decreasing student populations in the regions.”

Daigneault said the union advocated for its students by working with government organizations and other youth groups across Quebec. It also spearheaded campaigns against sexual violence, tuition hikes and unpaid internships, according to its website.

At the time of its disbandment, the AVEQ represented about 38,000 students: 35,000 in the Concordia Student Union (CSU), and about 3,000 in the Association générale étudiante de l’Université de Rimouski (AGECAR). Until last fall, the Mouvement des associations générales étudiantes de l’université de Québec à Chicoutimi (MAGE-UQAC) was also a member, comprising 7,000 students.

However, the union voted on Oct. 23, 2018 to disband from the AVEQ. U Q A C ’s s t u d e n t n e w s p a p e r, L e Griffonnier, reported at the time that the administrative council, executive council and central council of the union all recommended the move, and that when the union’s members voted on the motion, it faced “little opposition.

The AVEQ’s management practices and its internal climate seemed to be at the heart of the problem.”

The article further states that in the meeting, members criticized the AVEQ for failing to publish meeting minutes on its website, with the last documents dating to July 2017. Daigneault declined to comment on the issue.

Daigneault said it was in late November 2018, about a month after MAGE-UQAC’s departure, that the AVEQ’s administrative council began to discuss its possible dis-

solution. At the time, the council included members of the CSU and AGECAR. “The announcement of AVEQ’s disbandment was not a surprise but it certainly saddens us,” MAGE-UQAC’s VP of Internal Affairs, Hélène Villeneuve, told The Concordian in a written statement. “Despite our disaffiliation from this organization in October, the fact remains that AVEQ’s demise creates an impact on the student political landscape and that, even if it wasn’t meeting our needs anymore, AVEQ contributed to improve Quebec’s students’ condition in its own way.”

“Our intention of leaving AVEQ was to respect the will of our members and to ensure their representation, but not to induce its disbandment,” Villeneuve explained.

Villeneuve said the union is not currently looking to join another provincial federation.

“In general, the AVEQ did a good job in creating itself a place in the provincial political sphere,” said the CSU’s External Affairs and Mobilization Coordinator, Camille Thompson. However, “a provincial association cannot only function with two or three student associations. It has to create wider solidarity.”

Thompson said this inability to attract new members created distrust between the CSU and the AVEQ. After MAGE-UQAC left the federation in October, AGECAR announced that it would also leave by early February, had the federation not dissolved by that time. “Therefore, last December, council took the decision to vote in favour of the dissolution of AVEQ if the motion was brought up in Congress

Mariah Carey performed in Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah Economic City, defying women’s rights activists who urged the American R&B singer to cancel, a cco rdin g to CN N . Eleven women’s rights activists have been imprisoned in the kingdom since May, with many of them allegedly being tor tured and sexually abused.

Graphic by @spooky_soda

by AGECAR,” said Thompson. This vote never happened, but Thompson said the CSU supported the AVEQ in its decision to dissolve.

Thompson said Concordia students will be most immediately affected by no longer having to pay their AVEQ fees.

However, “when fighting for better and [more] accessible education, the effects are felt more in the long run than in the day-to-day.”

The AVEQ’s most recent publicly available financial report, for the fiscal year ending in April 2017, shows that the federation had a year-end surplus of about $63,600. However, the report said the figures had not been audited.

Daigneault declined to answer questions about the union’s finances, except to say that they had been audited last year in accordance with the law.

Daigneault said the federation will hire a team of lawyers to assist in the dissolution and to ensure that t h e fe d e r at i o n d o e s n’ t h ave a ny hidden debt.

life

LIFE EDITOR /// life@theconcordian.com ALEX HUTCHINS ( @alexhutchinns96)

THEATRE

The rebranding of history Blackout questions how much has changed since 1969

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Walking through life in limbo Reconciling identity as a Cameroonian-Canadian in Uganda JOSIE FOME CONTRIBUTOR

The performing cast of Blackout came out for a second time to bow in front of a standing ovation on opening night. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

ALEX HUTCHINS LIFE EDITOR Between Jan. 29 and Feb. 11 1969, about 200 students occupied the ninth floor computer centre of then Sir George Williams University to protest the administration's mishandling of racism complaints. In nearly all media coverage of the occupation and its aftermath, you’ll read about the $2 million of damage and a mysterious fire, which was all blamed on the students. But you’ll have to do a bit of digging before you come across any information about the nine months these students spent trying to get various professors, student representatives and the administration to legitimately consider their complaints.

Blackout: the Concordia Computer Riots interweaves the coming together of six students who only wanted to be graded justly, the administration’s inexcusable negligence towards their complaints, and how a simple bureaucratic request revealed multiple layers of systemic prejudice. “Whenever there is a question of authority, everyone is involved, and the response [to that scrutiny] can reveal a lot about their motives,” said Tamara Brown, assistant director and part of the writing unit.

“An adequate response would have been, ‘Let’s examine this fairly,’ but that didn’t happen, which says a lot.”

About 14 months ago Mathieu Murphy-Perron, owner of the production company Tableau D’Hote Theatre, gathered a handful of talented artists and performers to begin researching and writing what became Blackout.

Through the perfect marriage of music, spoken word and creative lighting, Blackout creates a critically immersive, yet unapologetically political view of one of the largest student occupations in Canadian history.

The initial six students—played

by Briauna James, Gita Miller, Shauna

Thompson, Kym Dominique-Ferguson, Michelle Rambharose, and SophieThérèse Stone-Richards—are all introduced while sitting together, sharing stories of frustration over the grades they’re receiving in a biology class. Exploring the months that led up to the occupation is extremely important, considering that most media coverage downplays the more than a dozen complaints against this one biology professor.

As their frustration grows, the six students ask their white friend, played

by Lucinda Davis, to swap papers with one of them, played by Thompson, to see if the grades changed. Davis received a 90 on her paper, while Thompson received a 68, and this process was repeated with about six different students, garnering the same result each time.

Blackout shines a light on the story’s details, such as those mentioned above, that are predominantly left out of mainstream coverage of the protest.

What makes Blackout particularly unique is the interaction between the audience and performers in real time. By switching from dark, artistic lighting to completely illuminating the stage, the cast breaks the fourth wall throughout the play, occasionally speaking directly to the audience and asking them to further critically engage with the information they’ve presented.

“Can we take a moment to talk about this fire?” said Davis to the audience. “The fact that, even now, 50 years later, history would have it that it was the students who started it?” A mixture of approval-snapping and mhmm’s rose from the audience in response. “Yeah, that is some serious retcon-ing [retroactive continuity] shit right there,” said Dakota Jamal Wellman, one of the performers.

The pair go on to logically unpack the students’ precarious situation of being barricaded inside the location

where the fire was started, asking the rhetorical question of why anyone would start a fire in a place they cannot escape efficiently. Wellman continues by telling the audience how students had to use an axe to chop down a door in order to escape the flames; a door that was locked from the outside. “And they would have you believe that it was the students who started a motherfucking fire?” said Davis.

The seamless oscillation between engaging the audience as performers and as the students they played allows viewers to both humanize the students and their experiences, while also reminding audiences that they will never truly understand the alienation the students must have felt. While now, the protest is largely praised for resisting top-down power dynamics, at the time, “[the students] didn’t have support from the population, or from the media or from society,” said Lydia Dubuisson, part of the writing unit for Blackout.

The politically charged play raises many important questions: whose side of history are you on? Why did it take so much to ask for so little? Why was property valued over humanity?

After almost two hours of highlighting how much history was rebranded by the university’s administration, attendees leave already knowing the answer to these questions.

About 14 months after the protests-turned-riot, the very theatre Blackout performed in was named after the university's president throughout the occupation: D.B. Clarke. In 1974, only 5 years after the occupation, Sir George Williams University and Loyola College merged to become Concordia University.

Blackout will have shows every evening until Feb. 9th at 8 p.m. with the final show at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 10th.

It’s 2014. My excitement is so tangible, the man beside me can sense it with every fidget.

I haven’t set foot in Cameroon for 15 years; the country from which my parents came of age, the country that holds my earliest memories, the country I’ve been told to refer to as home. In that moment, in the backseat of my uncle’s jeep, for the first time in my life, I felt at home.

Now, it’s 2018 and I am excited to be returning to the motherland for an internship. I’m a bit wary of engaging in a “going abroad” endeavour, but I’m confident that the organization I’ve partnered with is different from your typical non-profit. As the plane descends, my nerves betray me: there's a dryness in my throat, my body is stiff, and my heart is thumping.

My head is full of thoughts, hopes and expectations. Front and center is the anticipation of that feeling of home filling me once more as it did four years earlier. Although I realized it wasn’t my home country, I was expecting to feel more at home than I did in Canada. Finally, the plane lands, I step out, and as I try to make my way through the crowd, I can feel my body searching for that ‘home’ feeling and failing to grasp it. I push those feelings (or lack thereof) aside and reunite with my fellow Canadians.

One day, I went out with a friend, a white Canadian girl. We were hungry and wanted to try this cafe, which was filled with white people—foreigners. I noticed eyes on me, but wasn’t fazed. My friend places her order; her friendly disposition leads to a chat with the cashier long after having ordered. I am not greeted with the same energy extended to my friend just seconds before. Though my accent throws the cashier’s guard off, it is not enough to affect him the same way my friend did.

Back in Canada, I am a visible minority constantly fighting for the space to be seen, heard and validated unashamedly. I never thought I would have to fight for that same space in a country where most, if not all, of the population looks like me. I felt as if I had to fight even harder than I do back home, because the attention automatically went to my white counterparts.

Should we continue trying to assimilate within the community we most identify with while negating all other parts of ourselves, or should we just create new spaces for people who are in this limbo? This isn’t the first time a black person will have questions about their identity, nor is it the last.

READ THE FULL VERSION OF JOSIE’S STORY ON THE CONCORDIAN’S WEBSITE. Graphic by @spooky_soda

FEBRUARY 5, 2019

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COMMUNITY EVENT

Grabbing your mental health by the horns Girl, Let's Talk tips and tricks for recognizing signs of interpersonal distress

JAMEE MCRAE CONTRIBUTOR The Female Department, a Montreal-based women’s collective, hosted the first edition of their event, Girl, Let’s Talk, last Thursday, Jan. 31. The goal of the event was to open up a conversation on mental health led by two experts in the field, and to create an environment where women can speak freely about their mental health struggles with other women.

The founders of the Female Department, Danièle-Jocelyne Otou and Stephanie Arthur, timed the 10th edition of their series Cocktails n Confessions ju s t ah e ad of P s yc h o log y Month, and the day after Bell Let’s Talk Day. According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, one in five Canadians experiences mental health issues or mental illness each year. Kristin Horsley, a PhD candidate in Clinical Psychology at McGill University, offered simple tactics to keep mental health in check. “ Track it,” said Horsley. “Write it down. It doesn’t get more sophisticated than that. [...]This is important to do b e c au s e yo u n e e d to k n ow w h ere

Graphic by @spooky_soda

you are to know where you can go.

If you’re hungr y, not sleeping , not getting enough exercise, not seeing enough people, you can expect your mental health to suffer,” said Horsley.

“Basic self-care is ever y thing . It is the foundation of our mental health.”

Therein lies the struggle: keeping that foundation sound.

We live in a society where we measure ourselves based on those around us.

However, you will never be anyone but yourself. “We're constantly trying to see [how we take care of ourselves] […] as a form of progression," said Em Tardif-Bennett, an event attendee. "We're constantly trying to strive to perfection while also giving the illusion that we're perfect."

The attendees agree that, like any thing else, mental health has an ebb and flow.

It’s constantly in a state of flux, and determining when your mental health is under threat is onerous. “Once we let go of that expectation,” Tardif-Bennett said, “We can finally just be present in our lives, acknowledging how far we’ve come and how much work we’ve done for ourselves.”

But how do you recognize the signs of transitioning from being stable, to in a slump, to e x hibit ing det r im ent al behaviour? “When it affects your social function, your function at work and your interpersonal relationships, that’s when you know it’s time to seek help,” Horsley said. It is also essential to understand that emotions are our bodies’ response to change, and they indicate which areas of ourselves and our lives need more tender love and care.

Above all, Horsley explained, know that your emotions are entirely valid. “ When you feel your anxiety and fear, lean into them because they’re telling you something,” Horsley said.

“Lean into your fear and help yourself understand what it is telling you.”

HORTICULTURE

Go green in urban areas year-round

F i n d t h e res o urces t o start a smal l garden and opti mize your grow in g s p a ce ABEGAIL RANAUDO CONTRIBUTOR Gardening is tough manual work, especially when you are living within the cityscape of Montreal. Surrounded by concrete and limited green-space, attempting to plant vegetables can be restraining. Last Wednesday, the Concordia Greenhouse offered a compromise for those who live the city life but still crave natural produce.

On Jan. 30, the “Grow Your Own Food Year-Round” event, led by Urban Homestead Montreal, gave a presentation about public resources and areas to harvest edible greens. Sheena Swirlz, coordinator for the organization, taught various tips and tricks to approach interior and exterior food cultivation.

On the 13th floor of the Hall building, Concordia students and Montreal residents were invited to discuss various methods to start their own small-space indoor and outdoor, year-round gardens. Surrounded by hanging foliage within the glass structure, Swirlz spoke about seasonal harvesting and explained the beneficial outcomes of gardening, when done effectively.

Swirlz delved into sprouting and microgreens, hydroponics, window farming, and more. While adapting to the seasons,

gardening in the city can seem daunting: "I think people think that it’s simple […] but, in the beginning, there’s a lot of set-ups, a lot of research to optimize your growing systems,” Swirlz explained.

Swirlz highlighted that a garden can be personalized. “In my garden, I almost exclusively grow things that you can’t generally find. So, I’ll grow things like cucamelons, which are these little things that look like miniature watermelons, but they taste like cucumbers. They look like little mouth-watermelons. So adorable!”

When planting in the spring, whether

indoors or outdoors, Swirlz recommends Swiss chard and kale or hearty herbs like parsley, oregano, and mint, all of which regrow every year. For Swirlz, Swiss chard and kale are the go-to vegetables “because they are super easy to grow, they’re not prone to pests as much as other things, [and] they’re extremely nutrient rich.”

Swirlz mentioned that during the spring season, people can be introduced to wild harvesting by getting involved with various Montreal organizations and plant shops that will take you on foraging walks. Neumark Design, Naughty Nettles Medicinals and

Urban Homestead Montreal hosted their event in the Concordia Greenhouse on the 13th floor of the Hall building. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

Myco Boutique all offer plant-identifying workshops and activities. During these walks, you can forage for edibles like fiddleheads, morel mushrooms, dandelions and stinging nettles.

According to Swirlz, gardening can bring communities together, all while offering a self-reliant lifestyle. “It’s like knitting and baking. It’s to make people feel better. It does feel good to do things with our hands,” she said. “Gardening really connects us with plants, makes us feel like we’re part of nature again, and it makes people feel better.”

During the winter, growing mushrooms or germinating your own sprouts indoors are some of the most exciting and cost-effective ways to cultivate during the cold months.

Martha Martinez, a Concordia student and event attendee, thought the topic of mushrooms was the most interesting of Swirlz's presentation. “It’s something that we eat a lot where I live with my family.

We don’t buy shiitake every week. That is an expensive kind of mushroom.”

Swirlz enjoys planting indoors during her free time and prefers this cheap alternative compared to always shopping at grocery stores. “It is a way of saying, ‘No more capitalizing on food.’ Being able to feed your family and being able to have food on your table should not be a business,” she said.

arts

ARTS EDITOR /// arts@theconcordian.com CHLOË LALONDE

EXHIBITION

"There is no such thing as 'not Indigenous enough'" Indigenous artists explore their Indigeneity and navigate colonialism in Braiding Our Stories CHLOË LALONDE ARTS EDITOR The Cree are storytellers, like many other First Nations. Their worldview is lived through wahkohtowin (kinship) with the Land. “We continue to tell our stories, as best we can, as beacons for our relations to find their way home, so they too can live miyo pimâtisiwin—the good life,” wrote Melanie Lefebvre for her oral history class, which culminated in her short film, I Will Return.

A Cree/Métis mother, Lefebvre is a Masters student in the individualised graduate program focusing on Indigenous studies and is among the 12 artists navigating Indigeneity in Braiding Our Stories, an exhibition at the VAV gallery.

In these many stories, Lefebvre’s short film I Will Return explores aspects of the Plains Cree worldview through her relationship with her daughter, Anne. Narrating Cree teachings, Anne exchanges and shares ideas of kinship relations within time and place.

In conjunction with First Voices Week and the VAV Gallery, the exhibition is curated by a graduate and undergraduate duo, Juliet Mackie (Métis, Cree, Dene and Gwichin from Fort Chipewayan, Alberta) and Alexandra Nordstrom (Plains Cree, Euro-Canadian, member of the Poundmaker Cree Nation, Treaty Six Territory, Saskatchewan). Selected by the Indigenous Art Research Group and guided by Dr. Heather Igloliorte, Mackie and Nordstrom have been braiding artists’ stories since November 2018.

The name, Braiding Our Stories, alludes to the curators’ own experiences navigating their identities and resonates with the experiences of the artists they’ve chosen to support.

Craig Commanda comes to terms with their heritage though playing the guitar, juxtaposing contemporary and traditional Indigenous music.

Dion Smith-Dokkie creates utopic spaces by drawing on cartography, mapmaking and satellite imaging technologies to talk

about their perceptions of space and place in northeast British Columbia. As a member of West Moberly First Nations, a community located in the Peace Region of British Columbia, their experience with traditional land use studies forms the basis of these works.

The exhibition welcomes Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples into the space with Creation, a large, six-by-four-foot painting by art education student from Akwesasne, ON, Destiny Thomas. Creation illustrates the Mohawk Creation Story of Turtle Island (North America) and the birth of Mother Earth.

After Sky Woman landed on Turtle Island, she gave birth to a daughter.

She was warned to never walk West, but she ignored her mother. The daughter walked West and saw a man figure. Due to shock, she fainted. When she woke, she had two arrows resting in an ‘X’ on her belly and was pregnant with twins.

While in the womb, these twins would argue. When it came time to giving birth, the Right-twin was born the proper way, while the Left-twin was born through his mothers armpit, killing her. Sky Woman became the Grandmother to the twins and raised them herself. Together, they buried the daughter and from her soil came corn, beans and squash, these are known as the Three Sisters. From her heart, grew tobacco and from her feet, grew strawberries. Along with her burial, came the daughters name, Mother Earth. With time, the brothers would create humans and other beings.

They were never in agreement, so when one created something good, the other would spite his creation. Predator and prey, sickness and medicine, night and day... This is recognized as the perfect balance of good and evil.

(Text by Destiny Thomas)

Iris Atoll, one of Dion Smith-Dokkie’s utopic cartographic paintings exhibiting in Braiding Our Stories. Photo courtesy of the artist.

While painting, Thomas thought of how the universe has come to be. “Everyone has their own interpretations: aliens, god, some superior being,” she revealed. “I tried to pry away from the Creation Story that I was constantly told as a child. But as I thought about it, it became the Mohawk connection or interpretation to all creation stories.”

Next to it is To My Dearest Friend, a much smaller beaded work dedicated to Thomas’s childhood friend, who passed away in 2018.

In making this piece, Thomas found herself needing to take many breaks. “When doing beadwork, how you're feeling shows [...]

If you're tense and angry, the work will be tight and wavy. If you're happy. the work will be slightly loose. If you're content, the work almost always comes out perfectly,”

Creation illustrates the Mohawk Creation Story of Turtle Island (North America) and the birth of Mother Earth. Photo courtesy of Destiny Thomas.

explained the artist, “while beading the flowers, you can tell where the happy, sad, and content moments were in my work.”

To My Dearest Friend is meant to be looked at closely and from different angles—the artist’s process is parallel to that of art therapy. With fluid and controlled movements, she makes herself aware of her breathing throughout the entire process. The bead work allowed Thomas to grieve and come to terms with how she was feeling. To My Dearest Friend became the perfect vessel to symbolise the grieving process.

Mackie, Nordstrom, Lefebvre, Thomas, and all the artists exhibiting in Braiding Our Stories have one thing in common; they are Indigenous artists. To some, this may bring visions of “traditional” Indigenous ways of making, beading, basketry, braiding sweetgrass… but Indigenous Art is more than that; Indigenous Art, which is capitalized to express the significance of the genre, doesn’t have to look traditional. “Indigenous Art means that it was made by Indigenous people,” explained Mackie. “There is no such thing as ‘not Indigenous enough.’”

First Voices Week is celebrating its fifth edition with a week’s worth of lectures, workshops, panels and discussions. Visit their Facebook event page for more information.

Braiding Our Stories will be open at the VAV Gallery until Feb. 15, Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. For more information on how to be a true Indigenous ally, read the toolkit created by Dakota Swiftwolfe and Leilani Shaw of the Montreal Urban Aboriginal Community Strategy Network.

For more information on how to be a true Indigenous ally, read the toolkit created by Dakota Swiftwolfe and Leilani Shaw of the Montreal Urban Aboriginal Community Strategy Network.

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PROFILE

Finding intimacy and community through art Somewhere Shared challenges traditional art viewing spaces

DAISY DUNCAN ASSISTANT ARTS EDITOR How does physicality and space influence the way we view art? How can challenging traditional structures of art viewing, such as galleries, influence intimacy and community?

These are some of the questions that local art collective Somewhere Shared considered in creating their recent event, Somewhere Inside: A Cozy Wintertime Show.

Somewhere Shared is a Montreal based art collective, created by Concordia students and artists Rachelle Alexandra Fleury, Erica Hart, Olivia Deresti-Robinson, and Maggie Hope. Created in the summer of 2017, the collective has held several events that showcase work by local artists. The group focuses on creating spaces and opportunities for local artists, and transforming everyday environments into spaces for art sharing.

Somewhere Inside: A Cozy Wintertime Show took place on Feb. 2, at the Art Loft, in the Plateau. In organizing the event, the collective began with a thematic focus, which then influenced the space the show would take place in, and the art that would be featured. The show focused on ideas of intimacy, the home and the domestic space. The collective’s overarching themes of community building were also incorporated. Keeping this in mind, the collective searched for comfort in the Art Loft, which is both a home and an event location. While the venue serves as a living space for several, it also regularly turns into an event space for local music and comedy shows. The event's environment exemplified the focus on accessibility and community that the collective values—the live music and film screening further challenged traditional gallery spaces, and removed the seriousness that is regularly present

in more traditional gallery settings. It appeared that community connection was just as big a focus as the art was, as for most of the evening, everyone mingled, talked, and interacted with each other and the art.

While going through the submissions, it was important for the collective to try to feature as many different perspectives and interpretations of the themes as possible.

This was to make sure that, overall, the work being shown would be diverse and complex, adding to the overall concept and the viewer’s understandings and interactions with the show.

Somewhere Inside featured a variety of works, including sculpture, film and live music. Artists featured included Lindsey Lagemaat, a Concordia fibres student, who’s pink, textural, hanging sculpture considers the connection between capitalism and intimacy, or lack thereof. Artist Tiana Atheron, who studies fibres and crafts at Concordia, showcased an interactive work, titled How To B e A Good Hostess , w hic h questions traditional feminine gender ideals, through reimagined domestic objects, such as a broom and a duster, and having instructions for viewers for how to interact with the artwork. As the venue for the event was an apartment and living space, already decorated with art on the walls, the collective worked to find diverse pieces, many that weren’t to be simply hung on the wall, but instead be interacted with by the viewer.

The event also held a sit-down film screening and live musical performances from Sara Jarvie-Clark, Merival, and Yum! Jarvie-Clark is a Concordia theatre student, and a folk-americana-classical musician. Merival is the name of Toronto singer-songwriter Anna Horvath’s musical project, which draws inspiration from ideas of vulnerability. Yum! consists of

Lindsey Lagemaat's Earring considers the connection between capitalism and intimacy, or lack thereof. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

Concordia students Tyson Burger, Nathan Walsh and Eddy Jackson, who create music that draws from folk, house and punk genres.

In June 2017, Somewhere Shared held an event in an apartment shared by three of the creators, to showcase artwork, music and merchandise created by the collective and their friends. This event looked at generating revenue for the artists from their work, and led to the collective working on future art events.

These events continued to focus on their values of supporting local artists, and challenging traditional norms of how we view and interact with art. The collective also finds impor tance in communit y building, fostering both connection and intimacy through art.

In June of 2018, Somewhere Shared held its second event, Play. For Play, Somewhere Shared also collaborated with local collective Dress Up Montreal, whose mandate expresses their focus, in being; “an initiative aimed at encouraging self-expression through fashion.” The show took place in an artist’s apartment and rooftop, and featured many local artists, interactive pieces and live music. The event was centered around the concept of playing, or finding freedom, nostalgia and innocence through interacting with art.

Looking to the future, Somewhere Shared hopes to continue to curate dif ferent experiences, with a possibility of another show taking place this coming summer. Meanwhile, each of the members of the collective are continuing to practice and create their respective crafts and art practices.

You can find out more about the collective and their future events at: FACEBOOK: @SOMEWHERE SHAREDCOLLECTIVE

Merival performing at Art Loft for Somewhere Inside.

Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

How To Be A Good Hostess questions traditional feminine gender ideals, through reimagined domestic objects. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

INSTAGRA M: @SOMEWHERE SHARED

feature

PA RT-T I M E FAC U LT Y P R O F I L E

Exploring sensorial connections Concordia dance professor, Florence Figols, combines research with the art of choreography SANDRA HERCEGOVA VIDEO EDITOR A passionate, award-winning choreographer, Florence Figols has been fusing research with choreography to further explore body movement and its sensorial connections. She has been teaching at Concordia's Department of Contemporary Dance for the past 20 years. The main classes she teaches are Choreography and also the Creative Process.

“Dance was always present [in my life].

I was always choreographing in my living room,” said Figols. From her living room to an international audience, Figols’s choreographies and dance workshops have been presented in New York, Spain, Brazil, Puerto Rico and Argentina.

Figols is a first-generation Canadian. Her parents immigrated here to escape the civil war in Spain. Upon settling in Montreal, Figols’s mother wanted her and her sister to dance.

She took her daughters to a dance school in Little Burgundy, where Figols would attend ballet lessons every Saturday morning for the next five years. At 14 years old, Figols switched to ballet-jazz and then discovered contemporary dance.

“I don't know if it’s dance that chooses you or if you choose dance,” said Figols.

“At one point the power is so strong—so overwhelming; you feel so connected when you dance. You feel the soul, the brain, the heart, the spirit, the body, the world; you feel everything connecting together. It’s so powerful. For me, it’s food. I need it, you understand?” she said.

Although Figols’s first love was dance, when it was time to choose a field of study upon completing high school, Figols chose chemistry. She studied chemistry for three years at Collège Ahuntsic. According to Figols, at the time there were no dance degrees offered at universities. “Despite that, I always kept dancing,” she said.

Figols went to work in the Northern Quebec region of Port-Cartier. She worked there as a chemical technician in a laboratory. In Port-Cartier, a dance company had recently

Dancer Maria Kefirova during the Transparent Shift dance performance. Photo by Justine Ricard.

opened where Figols would attend rehearsals in the evenings and on weekends. “We would do dance shows and tour around cities in Northern Quebec such as Sept-Îles and Saint-Pierre—it was great,” she said. “I then realised that I cannot live without dance.” By then, dance was a degree option at universities so Figols applied to the Department of Contemporary Dance at Concordia University and was accepted.

What attracted Figols to choreography was the ability to creatively explore her background. “It was a way to search for a space within me that is empty. A space that is not filled up with information—a space that will remain a mystery,” she said.

“I think for my parents it wasn't a necessity for them to tell me about the things that happened on the other side of the Atlantic.

There are a lot of things about their life that I do not know because they were not saying it,” explained Figols. “Because of the absence of words [from my parents], the absence of my origin, my past, it gave me a territory to dive into, to explore—that notion of identity,

connection, empathy, memory [through choreography],” she said.

In 1995, Figols continued to pursue her education by attending the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) and working towards a master’s degree in dance. During her master’s, she explored the creative process of dance through sensorial relationships of the body and its surroundings. ”My son was three years old and my daughter was five months at the time. I did my master’s degree part-time and it was amazing. It was a beautiful and very rich period [of my life],” said Figols.

This was when Figols was first introduced to sensoriality.

According to Figols, it is believed that there are only five senses, but there are in fact many more. “It’s as if your body is an orchestration. The body is an instrument, you can dance anywhere, anytime—it’s freedom,” she said. “A poetic body will create connection through space and time with its environment, other dancers and music.”

It was during the completion of her master’s that Figols interest in science intersected

Documenting the dancers inner experiences of Choreo-Haptic Encounters during the Montreal Festival du temps et du silence. Photo courtesy of Florence Figols.

with her passion for dance, and she began studying proprioceptive movement. According to Figols, the receptors of movement are inside our bodies and just like our skin, they are distributed evenly everywhere. “I am moving, but I need to embody the distance that is between us,” explained Figols. “It’s all about connections—these connections are always changing. Nothing is fixed; everything is flux,” she said. “The way you train the attention is also moving in the body—even stillness is a movement.” Her main focus in research is sensory connections; Figols worked extensively on the haptic sense, which can be seen through a variety of her dance choreographies.

“I need to let my body speak during a performance. It’s a discipline to not own the movement but to let yourself be affected by the movement—that’s where we see the transformation,” said Figols. Stage presence, micro-politics of the dancing body and embodiment are also important elements which inspired her research and choreography.

“As soon as you say: ‘I am going to be present,’ it’s finished—you are already in the

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A glimpse of Figols’s dance workshop “Corpo sensivel, corpo relacional: composiçao sensorial” at the Instituto de Artes, University of Brasilia, Brazil in 2017. Photo courtesy of Florence Figols.

future, you are projecting a result,” explained Figols. “Being really in the present as much as you can, automatically will amplify your stage presence.”

In terms of micro-politics of the dancing body, Figols explored two questions: “Why isn’t there contemporary dance in totalitarian regimes? Why do communist countries like ballet so much?”

According to Figols, proprioception is the sense of self and that is why dances which inhibit this are not celebrated in certain regimes.

“Contemporary dance is about the sense of self [...]. It has no one traditional style that is transmitted from one generation to the next such as in ballet, salsa and tango,” she explained.

Figols believes that the body is the best technology ever created. “Our bodies are an infinite landscape. There are a lot of layers, a lot of processes in the body. It is not only muscle and skeleton,” she said. “When you discover everything that is happening right now; you are thinking, observing, your heart is beating, you are digesting, so many processes are occuring all at once.”

As Figols continued to explore the chemistry of the senses, she created mute / sense veu / en silence, which was named

Best Choreography of 2006 by Hour’s Best.

Within this piece, she used the map of her political origins as a metaphor to investigate methods of communication with her dancers.

According to Figols, the communication of this piece was expressed without a single word since ‘Sense Veu’ in Catalan means without voice. “It was a real relationship between two people, a relationship with tension. We saw many different relationships between the two dancers,” Figols said.

“There was a beautiful scene when one of the dancers was dancing on the back wall and the other dancer was throwing clementines at her. The audience was laughing at that scene—but for me [the inspiration] came from the civil war in Spain, where people were killed against walls,” said Figols.

In 2008, Figols created and presented a dance piece called Transparent Shift, which was inspired by a tragic accident that happened to her in 1996. “I was hit by a bus and it was terrible. I had to stay in bed not moving very much. I was looking at the ceiling and at one point I thought, ‘What if the ceiling was a stage?’” A few years later, Figols built a transparent stage with a table made of plexiglass, and a dancer would dance on top

of the table while the audience watched from beneath. Transparent Shift was also presented in 2017 at the event “L’art comme cognition incarnée” at UQAM. Since 2012, Figols has been a member of the Senses and Society conference, which she attends every two years. She is the session organizer for the art sector of the conference and has traveled to Japan, Austria and Toronto to present topics such as Performing Arts and the Senses, Artistic Practices and the Senses and Fluid Borders: Sensory Interactions in the Arts.

One of Figols’s most recent projects is called Choreo-Haptic Encounters, which she has been working on since 2015. Her research on the haptic sense has brought Figols the opportunity to travel to Puerto Rico, Brazil and Argentina where she linked resiliency with choreography.

“I went to Buenos Aires and I worked with sociologists who use movements and art to do their own research and I had the chance to share all my creative processes which was very interesting and all my choreography work as well,” Figols said. She led a workshop in Buenos Aires and in Brasilia, where she spoke about Choreo-Haptic Encounters. “The haptic is the touch and movement combined,” explained Figols. Through her Choreo-Haptic performances, the objective is to stop judgement, to create a scenario where there is no possibility of categorizing identity. “The goal is to encourage a physical sensation,” said Figols.

To represent her project, Figols decided to work with two dancers who had never met each other before. Each dancer had their faces completely covered and were not allowed to speak. “At first you don’t know the colour of their skin, their accent, their identity,” she said.

“I gave them different kinds of experiences such as sitting next to each other, pushing each other. Only through touch and feeling could they feel and deduce.”

Upon her return to Montreal, Figols spoke with her colleague, Melissa Raymond, an artist, urbanist, choreographer and Concordia alumna. Raymond assisted Figols during her dance presentation in Puerto Rico and is familiar with the Choreo-Haptic process.

“When I came back to Montreal we were having a coffee together and the idea of combining [a café experience] and the Haptic sense came together,” Figols said. According to her, the goal was to deliver this haptic experience to everyone, not only to dancers but to the general public.

Figols then realised that there was no longer a need for a participative installation.

“The participant is the performer and the audience at once,” she explained. “There is no spectator—people are not watching this performance because this would take away from the haptic experience. When people are watching you, you know that they are observing you and this can alter your performance.”

Figols and Raymond presented the first Haptic-Café experience in Montreal in September 2018 at an arts festival called Festival du temps et du silence. According to Figols, people came to participate, not knowing who was sitting in front of them and at the end of the event, they would reveal their identities and exchange their experiences. “Within a little book they left their testimony of the experience. This gave me the confidence to keep going. I might propose it here [at Concordia] at the sense lab,” said Figols.

Many of Figols projects were made possible with the help from the professional development at Concordia University Part-Time Faculty Association (CUPFA). According to Figols, CUPFA helped her obtain opportunities for further research on an international spectrum.

“The university promotes research, but to do research you need funds to pay the dancers, to go to different events around the world,” said Figols.

Figols emphasized the importance of trying to put herself in the shoes of her students when working on course material, teaching methods and activities. “I tell myself that I am a 22-year-old student in 2019, and I ask myself, ‘What is the world like today?

What do the students need, what will make them feel more equipped, more strong?’,” she said. “The goal is to give them tools for creation and for them to discover themselves.”

This article is part of a series of profiles on part-time faculty at Concordia. Our goal is to highlight some of the incredible work these professors do, while also shedding light on the difference in treatment between being part-time versus full-time faculty.

This series came to life with the help of Laurie Milner, the chair of communications A portrait of award-winning choreographer Florence Figols. “A poetic body will create connection through space and time with its environment, other dancers and music,” said Figols. Photo by Anne Kmetyko.

for the Concordia University Part-time Faculty Association (CUPFA), and Lorraine Oades, the vice-president of professional development at CUPFA.

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FEBRUARY 5, 2019

REVIEW

Punisher Season 2: Netflix’s redemption Frank Castle returns in all his grim and violent splendor

DAVID SAMI CONTRIBUTOR To fans of the Marvel Netflix shows, it came as a big surprise when Netflix announced that they would be cancelling Iron Fist, Luke Cage and Daredevil, due to a massive decrease in viewership last year, according to Screen Rant.

Many thought Marvel Netflix originals were coming to an end, which is why it was unexpected to most when Netflix released the second season of Punisher on Jan. 18. With this new addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, viewers are presented with 13 more episodes delving into the war-torn psyche of Frank Castle.

For those who need a ref resher, Frank Castle, or “ The Punisher,” is a former marine, as well as a member of the Cerberus Squad, a covert special operations task force created by William Rawlins, director of covert operations in the CIA, as part of a plan to smuggle

heroin from Kandahar to the United States. Due to problems with Rawlins’s leadership, Castle decided to take his leave and return to his family, only to lose them in a shooting orchestrated by Rawlins in order to prevent Castle from finding out the truth about his smuggling operation. Wanting nothing more then revenge, Castle takes on the mantle of a violent and ruthless vigilante in order to achieve it.

The season starts with the meeting of a new protagonist, Amy Bendix, a cunning grifter who’s caught in a fight that’s completely out of her depth, presenting Castle with a new conflict that demands his brand of violent justice.

Their paths cross with a hitman named John Pilgrim, an ex neo-nazi turned devout Christian who takes orders from powerful people, a nod to one of the Punisher MAX comics’ antagonists, The Mennonite, who was also a religious hitman hired to hunt Castle. His pursuit of the jarhead and Amy leads him to New

York, where, just like in The Mennonite, he is subjected to all sorts of temptation, which ultimately leads to his downfall.

And, of course, we see the return of Billy Russo, struggling with amnesia and psychosis following his traumatic disfigurement at the end of season one. In this season, he takes on his colder, darker “Jigsaw” persona from the comics to continue to taunt and toy with Castle.

As far as comparing it to the previous season, there were some major improvements. Firstly, there was the camerawork. In the first season, what bothered a lot of viewers was that there were awkwardly long 30 to 45 second bust shots of certain characters giving their lines in a monologue without anything interesting happening in the background.

In the second season, they seemed to have learned from their mistakes and varied the shots during those long monologues.

Secondly, there were major improvements in the story as a whole. The first season

can be boiled down to a continuation of Castle’s origin story, where he realizes that his mission is not yet complete and goes back to work with the help of Micro, a former NSA agent who shares enemies with our favourite vigilante.

However, the second season plays on the aftermath of said mission: what does Castle do now that he got his revenge?

Does he move on to live a normal life? Is that even possible for a man like him, so psychologically entrenched in war and violence? This entire season rests upon the fact that there is no Punisher-free life in his future, and he learns to accept it.

Overall, the second season was a successful redemption from the first, giving as much depth to Castle’s character as the villains’, making it a much more interesting tale. Even though it’s a Netflix Original that doesn’t have to stick to the canon story, they made references to both the movie and the comics that definitely did not go unnoticed, making the show richer as a whole.

Graphic by @spooky_soda

music

MUSIC EDITOR /// music@theconcordian.com SIMON NEW

COVER STORY

Water on ice

Mick Jenkins spits truth for a cold crowd in his sister city SIMON NEW MUSIC EDITOR Mick Jenkins had L’Astral’s crowd chant the motto that epitomized his come-up.

“Drink more...” “Water!!” It is the central theme of The Water[s], the 2014 mixtape that put rap fans on notice regarding Jenkins. The project was acclaimed for its thick, sub-marine production and Jenkins’s thoughtful, pithy lyrics. Held together by the concept of water as a metaphor for truth, it explained that both were equally necessary. The “drink more water” line that punctuated The Water[s] urged listeners to learn more and to seek more truth. Jenkins’s confident, astute delivery made for a gripping listen, promoting water while many other rappers pushed lean. “I pray it's never too preachy but I'm preaching,” admitted Jenkins on “Martyrs.” The mixtape remains his most popular body of work.

Jenkins rose with what is now recognized as a new-school wave of Chicago rap. His friends and collaborators include Chance the Rapper, Noname, Saba, Smino and Joey Purp.

The Water[s] was significant for Montreal as well. At the time, Jenkins’s manager lived in the city, and Jenkins would make trips every few months. “I think it’s very similar to Chicago, at least on the creative spectrum,” he said in his 2015 Montreality interview.

He collaborated with Montreal hip-hop veterans Da-P and High Klassified on the title track of the mixtape. Jenkins also made an anthem for the city, “514,” that became iconic for his Quebecois fans, rapping “I've been in the 514, my French getting too clean / Customs is routine, eating hella poutine, I think I'ma buy one more.”

Since then, he has released albums and mixtapes that stay true to his standard of quality and pensive, quotable style, but failed to capture the cohesive nature of The Water[s] that had internet rap fans

Jenkins pulled off insane flows without missing a syllable. Photo by Simon New.

in a frenzy five years ago. It seems then like there are two factions of Jenkins fans, those that discovered the The Water[s] and maintain it as his pinnacle, and fans that may have missed the wave but know him as an excellent MC for his newer work.

It was clear that both groups made it out to L’Astral last Monday the 28th, surely more of the latter than the former. When Jenkins came out after opening California R&B rapper Kari Faux, he was visibly frustrated in the face of the crowd’s applause; after having technical issues and fixing them with his DJ, he tore into some of his new material. Standing at a solid six foot five, he towered over the crowd while hitting the gas on the mic and never easing off.

Hearing his aggressive, labyrinthine flows thoroughly backed by his full, deep voice was truly impressive.

Watching his new Kaytranada-produced single, “What Am I To Do,” felt like watching his COLORS episode unfold in front of you. All of this was over live drums and bass. Jenkins was accompanied by his DJ, a drummer, a bassist and frequent collaborator theMIND, for vocals and a feature song.

The result sounded like butter, but it’s hard to rap in a vat of butter, and Jenkins often drowned in the instrumentals.

In a rap show that focuses on a vibe or on the crowd yelling the words, that wouldn’t be an issue, but Jenkins can be hard to keep up with on record. His potent lyrics were stunted by the venue’s sound. This caused a disconnect between Jenkins and the crowd.

He kept his movement to a simmer for most of the demanding set, putting energy into his voice over his body. His mid-tempo instrumentals don’t quite lend to dancing

Mick Jenkins ripped the mic for a crowd that wasn’t ready. Photo by Simon New.

either. Fans who know his material were awestruck, while less hardcore fans were low-key about lyrics that weren’t quite clear. The divide in the fandom was never more apparent than when “514” dropped.

The anthem by a Chicago rapper for a city that rarely gets mentioned in hip hop got a lukewarm enough reaction that Jenkins stopped in the middle of it to hype the crowd up. “Are you sure y’all know this?” he said, and motioned to cut the song to his DJ. He started it again and diehards rapped along, but couldn’t overpower the Monday-night energy that took over the casual listeners in the audience. It was gutting to watch the crowd go limp on the climax of the set: a song about their city. Near the end of the set, chants for “one more song” turned into “514.”

Micktriedtolevelwiththecrowd.Hedemanded silence and got a drunk yell from the back. He got ahold of the audience and closed with “Social Network,” which finally put the crowd in the kind of frenzy that had me scared for my camera.

It seems evident that a blasé crowd can keep a good show from being great. Indeed, the few hardcore fans that dotted the room bounced and yelled the words to “514” and were still unsuccessful at getting the room moving. But Jenkins was ultimately unable to crack the subdued atmosphere that started with his earlier tech frustrations. He chose his lyrical integrity over getting wild and animated, like we expect of rappers.

While we can’t know if Jenkins upping his energy could have won the crowd back earlier in the set, there was a certain pretension and expectation of reverence for his lyrics that, while justifiable, wasn’t elevating the mood. Bad crowds are plentiful, and it was hard to deal with one as divided as L’Astral’s, but in the face of divided attention, Mick powered through for a show that impressed but didn’t connect with the room. From a musical perspective, Jenkins put on a rock-solid set with a truly impressive performance, but the preaching tone held back what could have been a party in the 514.

14 theconcordian

FEBRUARY 5, 2019

SHOW REVIEW

XO takes 88 to MTL 88GLAM flexes their strengths to a packed crowd at Le National

88Camino raps to a sold out crowd at Le National. Photos by Jacob Carey.

JACOB CAREY ASSISTANT LIFE EDITOR Derek Wise and 88Camino, better known among attendees as hip hop duo 88GLAM, hit the stage of Le National last Sunday to a full house of screams and applause. Decked in black from head to toe, rocking a Chrome Hearts tee and Montreal-based Malice World cap, the Toronto natives felt at home as they performed their newest tracks to a familiar crowd.

The rap collaborative gained traction after the release of their first eponymous mixtape in 2017, which starred their breakout hit, “Bali” featuring Nav. Months later, their mixtape was re-released with four additional songs, along with the news that they had been signed to The Weeknd’s record label, XO. The duo have since released their second project, 88GLAM2, and are nearing

the end of their tour with the same name.

Following two opening sets by local Montreal rappers Hardbody Jones and Mike Shabb, the Glam boys hit the stage with their lead single, “Lil Boat,” that most recently peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100. 88Camino was first on the mic as he began to rap the chorus. The artist’s soft, auto-tuned, sing-song voice is complemented nicely by Wise’s deeper, darker verses. This applies not only to “Lil Boat” specifically, but to the duo’s sound as a whole—which is the core of their catchy and melodic tunes.

On stage, Wise and Camino frequently rotated between songs featured on their first mixtape and their latest one. Older fans sang along to tracks such as “Kyrie” and “Big Tymers,” while “Wet Dreams” and “It’s a Flex” were sung by those in attendance that may have witnessed 88GLAM at Le National for the first time, despite them

having frequented Montreal three times in the past year. “It’s a Flex,” another single featuring Nav, recently debuted a music video that led to the Weeknd posting a screenshot of the trio on Instagram and referring to them as “the future of the city.”

As is expected, a mosh pit was requested of the crowd half-way into the show. The performers waited on stage while the crowd opened up a pit that they would soon rush into. Having practiced their moshing skills hours before during Hardbody Jones’s set, the mob of eager, sweaty bodies readied up with a perfectly shaped circle. As the opening notes to “GPS” started playing, the crowd waited for the beat to drop and then unleashed their friendly fury. The performers were pleased with what they started.

At one moment during the night, 88Camino whipped out his phone to take a video of a fan on someone’s shoulders as she lifted up her shirt to show the “XO”

tattoo on her ribs.

As their set neared its end, Wise and some affiliates picked up a 24-case of water bottles tucked away behind a curtain to the left of the stage. They began to distribute them to the crowd. They requested that the water bottles remain unopened until the next song had begun.

Then, Wise rapped the familiar words, “Time to turn the heat up like it’s Bali.”

Within seconds, more mosh pits broke out, more screams were heard and more energy vibrated the building than any time before. And water. Lots of water. By the time 88Camino’s chorus had begun, the stage, the artists and the crowd were drenched in water. As they wiped a mix of sweat and water from their foreheads, Derek Wise and 88Camino walked off stage with smiles on their faces, knowing that 88GLAM had once again turned up the heat in Montreal.

Quickspins SHARON VAN ETTEN

this record, she traded in her guitar for gritty, screeching, clashing synths. In “Jupiter 4,” the slow rhythm of the trap set looms as the singer reminisces of a past love. The pounding hooks in “Comeback Kid” and “You Shadow” create an aggressive, yet infectious melody. Etten creates an emotionally-frazzled ensemble as she looks back at the mess she has made. Her tracks are as jumbled and disarrayed as her cover art for this nostalgia-filled vessel. Overall, her style has changed drastically since her reissue (It Was) Because I Was in Love in 2017.

NATE HUSSER

7.5/10 REMIND ME TOMORROW Jagjaguwar Alternative, Indie Sharon Van Etten released a shrouded, messy and eclectic album with Remind Me Tomorrow; it is a chaotic and fuzzy party anthem for those who have grown in the city. Enduring the length of Etten’s album means tasting urban life the way this artist has appreciated it. For

 TRIAL TRACK: No One’s Easy to Love

previous two, with Husser reflecting on his background and his bright future. The tape is thematically narrow and never ventures into deep lyrical waters, but Husser’s voice is infectious in its tonal diversity—moving from high pitched triplets, to auto-tuned crooning, to slow, deep flows. The focus here is on the big, catchy hooks and the slick production from Montreal EDM artist Heartfelt. This is the best sounding EP of the three and, clocking in at nine minutes, is not worth skipping.

7.5/10 23+ Cult Nation

 TRIAL TRACK: Tunnel Vision

Hip hop  STAR BAR: Downtown harks back / Halfway up the street / I used to be free / I used to be seventeen -Sharon Van Etten on “Seventeen” — ABEGAIL RANAUDO, CONTRIBUTOR

Montreal rap ambassador and Posterz graduate Nate Husser released the third installment of his three-song EP series. The series speaks on his relationship to the city and his come-up in an isolated scene. This installment is more introspective than the

 STAR BAR: I just thank god, my mom, myself / Came I saw I conquered / Heart like a rookie the soul of a vet” - Nate Husser on “Tunnel Vision” —SIMON NEW, MUSIC EDITOR

sports

SPORTS EDITOR /// sports@theconcordian.com NICHOLAS DI GIOVANNI ( @n_digiovanni)

PROFILE

Growing into a dominating force Sami Ghandour making an impact since returning from shoulder surgery

Sami Ghandour played his first game as a Stinger at 18 years old, while other players were in their 20s. Photo by Clare Redman.

ALEC BRIDEAU ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR In 2016, 18-year-old Sami Ghandour left Lebanon with the intention of playing basketball in Canada. Today, he is a member of the Concordia Stingers men's basketball team.

“It’s actually one of the best experiences ever,” Ghandour said. “Coming to Canada from Lebanon, basketball has always helped me out. It allowed me to make a lot of friends that I’m still very close with, and I’ll be close with them for the rest of my life.”

Ghandour was actually born in Fergus, Ont., but grew up in Phoenix, Arizona. He moved to Lebanon at 13 years old for high school.

At first, Ghandour had no clear idea of what it would be like to play basketball in Montreal. “My expectations at the beginning were that I thought I would come and play,” said Ghandour, now in his third year with the Stingers. “However, I didn’t realize that I never played basketball at the level played here before.”

Ghandour wears a brace on his shoulder post-surgery. Photo by Gabe Chevalier.

Another thing that marked the Stingers’s forward in his debut with the team is that he was younger than the other first-year players.

“A lot of the rookies were older than me because they went to Cégep,” Ghandour said.

“They were 20 or 21, and I was 18 years old in my first game. I was like the little kid on the team, so it was hard for me.”

Stingers head coach Rastko Popovic also noticed how Ghandour’s age difference had an effect. However, he said the forward’s progression over time has been impressive.

“He could rarely get on the floor in his first year here,” Popovic said. “[You could see that] physically, he was 18 years old with a bunch of 20-year-old players.

Yet, he never stopped working. Sami is one of our smartest players. He is a competitor, and he’s playing high level basketball. We don't need him to score, we need him to do a lot of little things.”

Ghandour explained that all he needed at the beginning was adaptation. He said it helped him a lot to get to where he is today, especially when he arrived in Canada uncertain about the future of his basketball career.

“I just came and played, but it actually turned out perfectly,” Ghandour said. “It's all a process. I went through it, and look where I am now. It helped me out a lot.”

Rebounds are something Ghandour excels at. Players are statistically awarded a rebound when they pick up a loose ball that rebounds on the hoop of a basket after a missed shot. Ghandour explained that the Stingers coaching staff put a lot of importance on them, especially in the position he plays.

“Our main goal is that, when they miss a shot, we don’t let them get a rebound and another shot,” Ghandour said. “One shot and it’s over.”

Ghandour missed the first two games of the season due to a shoulder injury, leading to his first-ever surgery, which was a scary experience for him. Ghandour came back on Nov. 22, 2018, when the Stingers played the McGill Redmen. For the occasion, the forward finished the game with a team-high nine rebounds.

“Going through surgery for the first time, in my head I was thinking ‘this could be it’,” Ghandour said. “It was possible I couldn't come back and play this game I love. It was hard physically and mentally. However, the trainers did a really good job. I came in three times a week, every week, to try getting back to it. I actually came back earlier [than expected]. I wasn't supposed to come back until after Christmas.”

Popovic added that Ghandour’s presence in the lineup makes a big difference on the team’s overall game.

“I feel like Sami can cover multiple positions at the same time,” Popovic said. “He talks a lot on defence, which is something we stress on. He’s really one of our most core guys. He wants to be a good player, and he wants to win. We’re really happy with that.”

With three games left in the regular season, Ghandour said the team is taking it one game at a time, with the goal of making it to the nationals. However, he admits that an all-star mention would be something to be proud of.

“We're trying to get this trend of going to the nationals and being that top-ranked team,” Ghandour said. “We want to be out there [and compete every year]. However, I would personally like to make the all-star [team]—that would be good. Coming from where I come from and from not really playing in my first year to now being a starter, it would be a great accomplishment for me.”

COLOUR COMMENTARY WITH NICHOLAS DI GIOVANNI Kendall Coyne Schofield became a trailblazer for women’s hockey with her skate at the NHL Skills Competition on Jan. 25 in San Jose.

She replaced Colorado Avalanche fo r wa rd N at h a n M a c K i n n o n i n the fastest skater competition because he was out with a foot injury, becoming the first woman to officially compete in the skills competition.

With a time of 14.346 seconds, Coyne Schofield finished seventh out of eight skaters, ahead of the Arizona Coyotes's Clayton Keller.

She f inished a second behind Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers, who’s won the event three years in a row.

The most impressive par t of her skate was how she kept her feet moving all the way around the rink, and didn’t glide at all. Coyne Schofield is 5’2”, so she doesn’t have the same stride length that the 6’1” McDavid has. Any youth hockey coach should show their players Coyne Schof ield’s skate to demonstrate what the perfect skating form looks like.

What Coyne Schof ield did was more than just compete in a skating competition. She pushed the growth of women’s professional hockey a step further. The women’s hockey Olympic final is one of the most-watched hockey games in a calendar year—over 3 . 7 million Americans watched last year’s final, more than most NHL playoff games in 2017. Yet, the sport is almost forgotten in the years between Olympics.

Now, hopefully that will change.

People are f inally talking about wo m e n’s h o ckey o ut sid e th e Olympics . Coyne Schof ield’s skate also inspired girls watching, including one f ive-year-old who told her dad she wanted to do that, according to the CBC. Having role models to look up to is so important for the growth of women’s hockey. We just don’t hear enough about these hockey players, so when a girl sees one on TV and becomes inspired, it can make a world of difference.

There’s a lot more that needs to be done to expand women’s p rofe ssio n a l h o c key to it s f u l l potential , such as merging the National Women’s Hockey League and Canadian Women’s Hockey League. Big TV companies also need to start broadcasting more games, or at least showing highlights on the morning spor ts shows , and there’s always the need to have more fans at games. NBC also had Coyne Schofield as an analyst during a broadcast on Jan. 30, which in itself could do wonders.

Women’s hockey still needs to get the recognition it deserves, but this is a start.

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theconcordian

FEBRUARY 5, 2019

BASEBALL

The late Roy Halladay enters Hall as role model

Former Blue Jay considered as one of the greatest in franchise history BEN FRASER STAFF WRITER The 2019 Baseball Hall of Fame class was announced on Jan. 22. Among the legendary names that will be inducted in Cooperstown, New York in July, one name stands out to Canadian baseball fans.

The late Roy “Doc” Halladay (1977-2017) spent 11 of his 15 full seasons as a Toronto Blue Jay, winning 148 games. He also won a Cy Young Award as the American League’s best pitcher in 2003. He made an impact whether he was playing or not.

Jackson Morgan, a pitcher for the Concordia Stingers baseball team, looked up to Halladay. “He was a huge role model for me growing up,” Morgan said. “What made him a role model wasn’t necessarily his performance, but his [behaviour] on and off the field.”

On the field, Halladay was known for an assortment of pitches, and his command of the strike zone was one of his most notable skills. Growing up playing baseball, Morgan learned how to create more movement on his pitches by watching Halladay play. “I can remember watching him dominate and thinking to myself: ‘If I was a batter, I’d be helpless as well,’” Morgan said.

Halladay’s impact on Canadian baseball fans is in the same scope as former Blue Jays Joe Carter, Jimmy Key and fellow Hall of Fame member Roberto Alomar, who were the Blue Jays’s first stars. Danny Gallagher, a former reporter who covered

the Montreal Expos, believes Halladay is one of the most successful Blue Jays of all-time.

Like Morgan, Gallagher also believes Halladay had an impact on youth players in the country.

The Blue Jays weren’t a good team from 1998 to 2009, when Halladay was pitching for them.

The Jays never made the playoffs, despite masterful performances from Halladay. Morgan wished that Halladay would have seen some better chances to win.

“I only wish they had a better supporting cast for Doc during his tenure with the Jays,” Morgan said. Halladay only played playoff baseball twice, in 2010 and in 2011, as a player for the Philadelphia Phillies. There, he continued to dominate, and in 2010 against the Cincinnati Reds, he became only the second pitcher after Don Larsen in 1956 to throw a no-hitter in the playoffs.

Players inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame choose which of their former team’s logos is inscribed on the cap of their plaque.

Halladay’s family requested to not have a

logo on his plaque. Despite this, Gallagher said he will be forever linked with Toronto baseball.

“The Blue Jays will always consider Doc one of the greats in franchise history,” Gallagher said. Even without the Blue Jays logo on Halladay’s plaque, his legacy as a Blue Jay will remain on the minds of all Canadian baseball fans.

The same was echoed by Morgan, as what he saw from Halladay’s play as a young baseball player will be forever remembered.

“His legacy will live on forever. I’m thankful he played for a Canadian team and young Canadian pitchers like myself had exposure to such an influential and important baseball figure,” Morgan said.

Graphic by @spooky_soda

SOCCER

Playing winter season with different mindsets Women’s team look for consistency while men’s team tries new formation NICHOLAS DI GIOVANNI SPORTS EDITOR The Concordia Stingers soccer teams have different objectives for the winter season. Head coach Greg Sutton wants to use the time as a way to prepare for next year and try new formations with his men’s team, while maintaining consistency on the women’s side.

WOMEN’S TEAM The women’s team finished the fall season sixth in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ), with a 4-9-1 record.

For this winter season, due to injuries and players graduating, they don’t have much depth.

“It’s going to be a challenge, so these girls just have to do the right thing and pass the right message along,” Sutton said. “Even though we might me a bit short-handed, it doesn’t mean they could take a day off.”

Sutton was named head coach of the women’s team last July, so this is his first full year of recruiting. He said there are players that will be joining the team in the fall, but aren’t playing with them this winter.

“We have to look at how we’re going to plan with those that are here currently and see how we’re going to

MEN’S TEAM After a one-win season, Sutton knew heading into next year, changes had to be made. “We’re a young team right now, but I think it’s something that will pay off,” Sutton said. “We have a group of good character guys, so it’s about developing some of the younger guys in the leadership roles they need to take forth.”

On the men’s side, a change of formation is a major priority for Sutton. They played with a four-man backline throughout the season, either in a 4-5-1 or 4-4-2 set-up, but this winter, he wants to try something different, with a 3-5-2 formation. It has become more popular in the soccer world after Antonio Conte used it when he was the manager with Juventus and Italy. By taking one defender away, it requires the centre backs to communicate well.

“We have some quality defenders where we could play three in the back,” Sutton added. “We’ve applied pressure up the field and it takes away a little bit of pressure off our back three. It’s a learning curve too in this formation.”

Sutton said he wanted to try the 3-5-2 because it allows his team to control possession and play with an extra attacker. In three games so far this winter season, the Stingers have The men’s team want to maintain more possession with their new formation. Photo by Hannah Ewen. two shutouts. integrate those coming in,” Sutton said. “We don’t have all the commitments quite yet, so it’s hard to tell [what] personnel we’re going to have in the fall.”

For the players, these games aren’t about getting results. “For us, our main focus is to just stay fit and keep playing,” said midfielder Alessia Di Sabato on CJLO Sports on Jan. 28. “I think it’s important for us to stick together as a team and keep working out and practising.”

On Jan. 27, the Stingers played the national champion Ottawa Gee-Gees, who don’t compete in their conference in the

regular season. They lost 3-0 but Sutton was happy with how the team played. “I thought we managed the game the right way, and I thought we did a pretty good job of that in the first half,” Sutton said. “But it caught up to us in the sense that our depth is not nearly as close to theirs.”

Di Sabato said it’s a challenge to play teams from other conferences because they don’t know what to expect. “All we had heard were that they were national champions,” Di Sabato said. “It’s also cool [to play other teams] because you get to see a different style of play.”

opinions

OPINIONS EDITOR /// opinions@theconcordian.com SANIA MALIK

EDITORIAL

Learning from the 1969 Computer Centre Occupation 50 years ago, a riot called the Sir George Williams Affair occurred at Concordia University. About 200 students occupied a computer centre here at Concordia for 14 days to protest institutional racism.

What resulted was the largest student occupation in Canadian history and two million dollars in property damage.

Rodney John, one of the eight students who raised the initial complaint of racism against the university's administration, said of the event’s survival in public consciousness: "The only thing people know is that there was an occupation, that the computers were destroyed,” in an article by CTV. We at The Concordian think that it is important to revisit the overlooked details in order to remember the event in its entirety, as the specifics may hold relevance to some of our own campus initiatives today.

Here is a brief timeline of the protest according to an essay titled “The Georgian Spirit in Crisis: the causes of the Computer Centre Riot,” written by Keith Pruden in 2004.

On Apr. 29, 1968, a cohort of eight students approached the Dean of Students, Magnus Flynn, with the claim that a lecturer in the biology department, Perry Anderson, was influenced by racial bias. The Dean promised to look into the matter, and students apparently “trusted the university to deal with the situation fairly.” On June 14, the university declared that “there is no substance to the charges of discrimination and racism leveled against Mr. Anderson,” and in the fall semester Anderson was promoted

MINIMALISM

Graphic by Ana Bilokin.

from lecturer to assistant professor.

On Dec. 5, the students approached the school principal, Dr. Rae, to find out why Anderson had been cleared. Dr. Rae knew little of the situation and agreed to set up an investigative committee. On Dec. 6, there was an emergency meeting in the Faculty of Science, and another on Dec. 12, both of which were unproductive and the students’ faith in the institution was diminishing. That day, Dr. Rae resigned from his position as principal. After several more meetings, the university set a hearing committee with the first meeting on Jan. 26. Students refused to comply with this procedure, however, since the committee was entirely chosen by the administration, and thus was obviously biased.

Only after all this— nine months of unresolved complaints—did the students’ frustration culminate into their occupation of the computer centre. The

occupation was intended to get the university to agree to five specific demands concerning the judicial process around the Anderson matter. According to CTV, it remained peaceful until the police were summoned to remove protestors, which triggered a fire. It is disputed whether the fire was started by the police or by the students, but it had the immediate effect of smoking protesters out of the building.

Also, this led to the physical destruction of the computer centre and the arrest of 97 students, according to the same source.

It is troubling that what is remembered most about this event, as Rodney John notes, is the occupation and destruction of property. Modern retellings fail to recognize that the university initiated the violence by sending in the police (who are no doubt responsible for some—perhaps all—of the property destruction in the centre). Instead, the media paints protes-

ters as impulsive and destructive, when in reality, several attempts over almost a year’s time were made to negotiate with the university administration on their terms prior to the occupation.

This event can teach us about a strategy that seems to be used all too often—either intentionally or unintentionally—by the university, which is to lose people in the paperwork. Often, when bureaucratic issues like this are raised, the process is drawn for so long that complainants either forget, lose interest, or feel too helpless and move on from the issue. The 1969 protesters didn’t allow the university to get away with this strategy, and it resulted in them gaining coverage from every major news source in Canada, and being remembered 50 years later.

Students like the ones who took part in the Computer Centre Occupation have gradually helped to establish Concordia as a progressive school—or at least one with politically-conscious students. This can work in favour of current student-activist groups, since the student body’s potential for disruptive protests is well known, which gives certain bargaining power to campus groups. The computer occupation and similar protests serve as reminders to the administration that students are willing to persist and even put themselves in danger for issues that they feel strongly about. We feel that this reminder can only be effective, however, if we commit to remembering these events in their entirety.

A plea to keep the old books

Why minimalism shouldn’t challenge the notion of keeping your bookshelf full KATHERINE VEHAR CONTRIBUTOR Minimalism is the latest trend sweeping us by storm. There are documentaries, podcasts and books all about the art of decluttering. For the most part, I wholeheartedly agree with the minimalist agenda.

We live in a society in which our worth is based on what we own. We are constantly being pushed to consume and buy things

that we absolutely do not need. So, any trend that challenges this perniciousness is one that I can get behind.

However, one thing that I will never minimize is the number of books I own. If I haven’t worn an article of clothing in the past six months, I will happily get rid of it. However, I won’t do the same with a book, even if it’s been six years since I last touched it. I am not deterred by the space they take up or the dust they collect. I see this as a small price to pay for all that they provide.

Recently, Marie Kondo, a Japanese organising consultant and author, released her Netflix special, Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, and it took the internet by storm.

Kondo inspired many to get rid of of anything that doesn’t spark joy. However, she received criticism after a rumour circulated that she believed Graphic by Ana Bilokin. in keeping only 30

books. Kondo has since dismissed these rumours, but this nevertheless got me thinking about the benefits of holding onto old books.

The books that line my bookshelf are more than a bunch of ink-blotted pages held together by glue. They are sources of boundless knowledge and adventure. They don’t go out of style or lose their value. Hence, I do not treat them as single use objects. I keep books that I loved, hated, and never finished and I encourage you to do the same.

Aside from that, I have other, more concrete reasons, as to why I keep all my books. Firstly, I firmly believe that you cannot claim to love a book until you have read it multiple times. It’s impossible to grasp every element of a book after just one reading. However, once you’ve revisited it a few times, you begin to understand the complexity and the multitude of nuances every literary work offers.

I also keep the books that I didn’t like or never finished. Not to sound like an insufferable hippy, but I believe that sometimes the reason for not liking a book is less a content problem and more so a problem of time.

There are certain books that will appeal to

you less depending on where you are in your life. So, the reason you “hated” a book could be because you read it at the wrong time.

This has proven to be true multiple times with books that I have revisited. When I first tried to read Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, I had a hard time grappling with the heart-breaking stories that were being told and was never able to finish it. At the time, I was too immature to understand the plight of the women in this book. However, when I returned to it a few years later, I was able to appreciate all it had to offer.

Thus, I will hold on to Virginia Woolf’s To The Lighthouse, no matter how much I claim to despise it, so that I can reread it at a later point in my life. Maybe by then, Woolf’s stream of consciousness technique might actually stir joy inside of me instead of irrational rage.

I know that there is the possibility that I may never return to the books I so vehemently hold on to. It is possible that I will never do anything more than dust or rearrange them, but this doesn’t change my stance. I’d rather have the opportunities that keeping old books provides than the peace of mind minimalism claims to produce.

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theconcordian

FEBRUARY 5, 2019

CULTURAL APPROPRIATION

Don't touch my hair, don't speak on my behalf Why we must avoid generalizing and include specific people in discussions about race SACHA OBAS CONTRIBUTOR “Can I touch your hair?”

I don’t think I’ve ever asked anyone that question in my life, and I have a very hard time imagining a situation where I would.

I’ve never walked up to a total stranger or someone I barely knew in a bar, at school, or at the water cooler at work, and asked them if I could touch the hair on their head, with my fingers eagerly stretched outwards.

It sounds absolutely disgusting to me, yet it is a question I am asked a minimum of once a week, and that’s just because I wear a toque most of the time.

Yes, as you must have guessed, I am black, with long, beautiful, natural hair.

Locs to be exact (not dreadlocks, because there is nothing dreadful about them), and yes, the people requesting to touch them are typically white. After politely saying no, I am usually asked insulting, but amusing questions like: “So you don’t wash your hair to get it like that, right?” Or, “Do you have any weed?”

Black people’s hair has always seemed to be a fascination for some white people.

Some seem amused, and others puzzled by it: wanting to touch it, asking questions about it, and even sometimes attempting to emulate it. And some seem to fear it: wanting us to shave it off, cover it, or straighten it, wanting it to mimic theirs so that they feel more comfortable when we’re around.

Luckily, in Canada, we don’t seem to hear as many stories of discrimination against natural black hairstyles like in the United States, where their justice system found it legal for Catastrophe Management Solutions to rescind Chastity Jones’s job offer because she didn’t comply to their grooming policy, which is supposedly “unrelated to race,” by having locs. Or, where recently, Andrew Johnson, a high school varsity athlete, was forced to cut off his locs or forfeit a wrestling match.

Last month, a comedian was told he couldn’t perform at a comedy bar ironically titled “Snowflake Comedy Club.” He also couldn’t perform at another event held at the Coop Les Récoltes, a bar and solidarity co-operative operated by Université du Québec à Montréal’s Group de Rechercher d’Intérêt Public, because he has locs.

Well, actually because he’s white, and has locs.

In an extremely long message posted on their Facebook page, the Coop defended their decision to ban Zach Poitras from performing at their establishment. Essentially, they explained that they operate what they call a safe space exempt of oppression, in which no discrimination or harassment of any kind will be tolerated. They stated that they consider a white person with locs to be a form of cultural appropriation, which they describe on their post as: “the fact that a person from a dominant culture appropriates symbols, clothes or hairstyles of people from historically dominated cultures.”

They continued by saying that: “It is a privilege to be able to wear dreads as a white person and to be seen as fashionable, or as being edgy, while a black person will be denied access to job opportunities or spaces (housing, schools, parties, sports

Graphic by Ana Bilokin.

competitions, etc.).” Are white people with locs, like Poitras, racist, cultural appropriators? I don’t know—the few interactions I’ve had with them, I usually just sign for my package, and they ride off on their bicycles.

I’ve never felt oppressed.

The incident and the message posted by the Coop has sparked a nationwide conversation on cultural appropriation and racism over the last few weeks. Well, a conversation that’s had mostly among white people, in my opinion.

Journal de Montréal columnist, Richard Martineau, ridiculed the matter, stating that this situation has opened his eyes, and he will no longer use numbers because they were invented by Arabs, and the fact that lithium batteries were created by a Moroccan man will cause him to stop using his cellphone, because he now realizes that would also be a form of cultural appropriation.

On Twitter, many debated the matter, like user @LavenderBlume who posed the question: “Why is #CulturalAppropriation so hard for people to understand?” Alongside a meme asking: “What if America loved black people as much as black culture?”

This was then answered by user @thurnuz, who claims Poitras is innocent of what he is accused of, stating that locs “have been found depicted in frescoes from Mioa over 3,500 years ago, and were worn in ancient Greece and Sparta.” Therefore, a white person wearing locs is not appropriating black culture, the user argued.

Yes, I do believe a conversation should be had on the matter, but as Poitras himself said in a statement obtained by Radio Canada, “I do not think it’s up to whites to decide what is racist, or cultural appropriation.” This is not a conversation white people should be having alone. Not only should minorities be involved in the

discussion being had about their cultures, I believe they should be leading them.

In a second message, posted to Facebook a few days later, the Coop attempted to further explain their decision not to let Poitras perform. They stated that they wished to clarify that they didn’t speak on behalf of all “marginalized” populations, and they never intended to suggest that the comedian was racist. But they reiterated their belief that his presence would not have been in accordance with their “inclusivity” policy. A policy, which along with their previous post, they now claim was written by “racialized” people.

The word “racialize” is defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as the act of giving racial character to something, or someone. I know what “racialized” means, but I looked it up because I would like to know exactly what the Coop meant by “racialized.” I may be reading too much into it, but it sounds a little condescending to me. It appears to me as if they are speaking of defenseless victims, or fragile creatures who have been made victims of their own race.

I hope the Coop is referring to particular people, in their particular group, because as a black person, I only speak for myself. I would feel pretty insulted if they are insinuating that Poitras wasn’t allowed to perform in their space on my behalf, as well as by being called “racialized.”

Personally, my concerns when it comes to cultural appropriation are less about whether or not Poitras can have locs, but whether or not the “genuine” red, gold, and green Rasta hat he might hold them in was bought from real Rastafarians, or from an American company that also sells sombreros, dashikis and chopsticks.

It’s the context of the hairstyle that might hurt, or anger me, not the hairstyle itself. If we are going to accuse him of appropriating Rastafarian culture, examples of real issues for me would be if his comedy routine consisted of him being a caricature of that culture; if he was claiming ownership of its rituals and practices; if he was trying to rewrite its history. If he was trying to commercialize it, presenting a whitened, watered down, or cartoonish version of it to consumers, or if he was trying to profit off of it by misrepresenting it as a dangerous culture of violence and drugs—then, I’d be upset.

Although the social justice warriors at the Coop may have had good intentions, I believe they should consult more sources than just the “racialized” people in their social justice circles. They should consult people other than Greg Robinson, the UQAM professor specializing in black immigration in Canada, who appears to have been quoted in all the articles I’ve read on the matter, and seems to claim that white people with locs equates to white people wearing blackface, or using the n-word.

I’m hoping he was misquoted, because I don’t feel like going on to explain how those are completely different things.

In my opinion, the Coop’s actions created an opportunity for detractors of real racial oppression to downplay the notion of cultural appropriation, and for those unaware of it until this situation, to believe it is a topic of no merit. Again, they might have had the right idea, but they must be wary of the battles they pick, and on whose behalf they are supposedly fighting them. Because, as philosopher and writer J.P. Satre said, “When the rich wage war, it’s the poor who die.” Or, in this case, the “racialized,” I guess.

FEBRUARY 5, 2019

the art of being single W/ KAYLA-MARIE TURRICIANO

Just do it— just shoot your shot Shooting a shot, in the context of any type of relationship, according to Urban Dictionary, is “to let go of your pride and pursue someone you are interested in.”

Shooting your shot can happen in many different ways: sliding into someone’s DMs, directly tweeting them, commenting on their selfie or, you know, in the real world, going up to them and saying, “Hi.” I know it’s easier said than done. You’re probably going to overthink the possible outcomes of shooting your shot and weigh the pros and cons, more than actually going through with it. I know it’s hard. You’re probably going to freak out about actually doing it.

Well, I’m here to be Nike. I’m here to be Shia Labeouf in that video. I’m here to tell you to stop all that and just do it . It’s not that scary, I promise. Ever since I can remember, probably way back in elementary school, I would always tell the boy I liked that I liked him. Ever since I can remember, I’m almost sure I got shut down every time.

While it might be scary to put your feelings out into the open and admit it to the person—and to yourself—it’s really not that big of a deal. Whether it’s that cute mutual follower on Instagram, the person in your class that keeps looking over at you, the friend that you might be falling for— just do it.

While it’s best to not keep your hopes up, it’s good to share and communicate your feelings. Not only is it healthier than keeping everything bottled up, or being left with that feeling of “what if,” but it might also work out.

It’s also worth mentioning that I ’m not telling you to keep shooting your shot once someone gives you a clear indication that they’re not interested. Make sure you're not making someone feel unsafe or uncomfortable by how and when you shoot your shot.

While I’ve not yet successfully shot my shot, every single time I try, I’m glad I did because I’m left feeling accomplished and st rong having overcome my fear of going through with it.

While I’ve not yet successfully shot my shot, it won’t stop me from continuing to try and do so when I’m into someone—it shouldn’t stop you either.

theconcordian

19

SOCIETY

Western political discourse needs to evolve The debate surrounding the hijab should be seen as more than just conservative versus liberal

TAREQ SHAHWAN STAFF WRITER As the debate about the place of hijab rages in Western nations, Arab feminists and scholars are still rarely consulted or referenced whe n analy zing this impor t ant issue, especially in Western public spheres. As a highly political Arab i n C a n a d a , eve r y si n g l e ti m e I participate in a debate about the hijab, I feel that I’m sorted into one of the camps that dominate Western political discourse: liberal vs. conservative.

When I tirelessly try to convince the debaters that Arab intellectuals and feminists have dealt with the issue of the hijab from ever y standpoint possible, long before it started gaining momentum in the West, and that their intellectual endeavor was neither liberal nor conservative, the reaction I get is shock, and most commonly, disbelief.

The question is how can Western people believe that there are other theories, which can extend beyond the fruitless debate between “people should wear whatever they wish to” versus “the state and public spaces should be religion-neutral”? Meanwhile, the media is using these lines of thought

to provide a Western framework for cultural translation of a non-Western issue.

Yes, I am writing this article because I refuse to be “Westernly” dichotomized, with all the preconceptions that are attached to each camp. The issue is deeper than this though, and it is very layered and nuanced. One can infer from this forced dichotomy that Arabic intellectuals are not sophisticated enough to empirically and scientifically analyze a social phenomena like this.

Or, at least, analyze it to the level of complexity needed to relax the political anxiety that people in the West have.

The focus on complexity is perhaps connected to the focus on academia as a source of intellectual authority in the West.

When I was able to get over the dispiriting part of this feeling of intellectual inferiority, I started looking for ways to further analyze this Western belief, and then professor and literary critic Edward Said came to my aid. His famous concept of Orientalism teaches us that Western colonialists planted the idea that the East is primitive and needs rescuing, but not in the traditional sense; they need to be rescued intellectually.

Therefore, Orientalism can explain

to us why Western media rarely quote famous Arab feminists, such as Nawal El Saadawi, who adamantly argues against wearing the hijab and supports the French ban on religious garments.

Nawal gives a nuanced and complex analysis of the idea of choice, and how religion, with all its pressures, can prevent Muslim women from taking an independent choice. Be it political, economic, spiritual, or even the societal and state pressures, which she faces on a daily basis in Egypt—she was imprisoned multiple times for being a radical feminist.

Nawal has been dubbed the Simone de Beauvoir of the Arabic/Islamic world due to the sheer amount of research and work that she has done on the topic of women’s rights. In spite of this, she among other Muslim/Arab feminists, will continue to be excluded at worst and marginalized at best from the Western political discourse. This will continue as long as the political climate and discourse does not go beyond the subtle Orientalist thought, which prevents Westerners from achieving a successful cultural translation. It is about time to start thinking outside the box of liberal vs. conservative. This is where change happens.

Graphic by @spooky_soda

20 theconcordian

FEBRUARY 5, 2019

Graphic by @spooky_soda

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