“You know you could at least pretend to be happy for me?” I decide to leave my cousin’s comment unanswered. I look out her car window and watch as the large suburban houses begin to get smaller and the people in the streets get browner. “You should trust me when I say that this boy isn’t it!” I huff. We …

On January 27, 2020, I had a halting self-realization while watching the 62nd Grammy Awards. After watching an emotional Camila Cabello sing her new song, First Man, an understanding within me surfaced under years of longing. I do not consider myself a Camila Cabello fan, however, this song managed to wriggle through me as if I’d had written it. It …

Somewhere along our journey as children of the diaspora, we lost the importance of looking back. I have come to understand this concept of looking back as an expedition into our lived experiences. It is a journey that strives to discover knowledge that is often lost, stolen, or hidden

In May of 2019, a family filed  a $1-million lawsuit against the York Region District School Board (YRDSB), alleging that administrators failed to act on ongoing racial harassment and physical attacks against their child. The lawsuit arraigned the school board for not  reprimanding the student for lobing racist attacks on their family member.  The abuse started in October, but the …

For many centuries, Black people have shouldered the responsibility of self-advocacy to get the justice and equality we deserve. From individual efforts to community-based programs, advocacy has taken many forms—and with technological advancements, we continue to see advocacy evolve to this day. Black advocacy in the past Black self-advocacy can be seen as far back as the Black Panther Party …

When we look at domestic violence amongst women, we often look at blanketed statements that fail to encompass the intersectional experiences of women outside of their white counterparts. Even many studies lack data on the experiences of women of colour and the barriers or absence of resources for these women. Looking retrospectively at Black communities, domestic violence is reported at …

“We the people” ……………………… She sat quietly in front of her dilapidated house, with legs crossed and a face as expressionless as an envelope with no address on it. As we drove past her house, I couldn’t but help stop to say hello to a woman we fondly call “Mama Sunday”. As I got down from the car, I bellowed, …

Africa and its African queens are so unique and beautiful in all of their melanin. It is a land filled with beautiful people and beautiful resources. One who is in tune with nature is in tune with the practice of living, embracing Earth’s beauty. Our bodies are our most sacred spaces, and the vessel for our spirit. Using the body …

I distinctly remember the first comments ever made about my appearance. I must have been two-years-old when a relative asked my fair-skinned mother why it was that I was so much darker than both her and my siblings. Soon after, comments about my sparse, patchy hair and its relatively rougher texture began. As I grew older, many people would ask …

Show me your favourite childhood picture from the early 2000s, and I will show you an era trafficking almost exclusively in clumsiness, where everything is either oversized or ill-fitting, sometimes both. Like say, the trendy jean shorts and the fast-food combos, the haircuts given to unsuspecting Black boys – no ifs, ands, or buts. Back then we weren’t quite what …

Artist Statement  Shaza Tariq Elnour’s Happy Feet is a short retrospective that looks at her work capturing celebrations and events during her role as Marketing Director for the University of Waterloo’s Black Association. The aim of this series is to highlight how community events enabled the positive and joyous communion of Black, African, Afro-Caribbean, and Caribbean communities in Waterloo-Kitchener. The …

I often think of the elder Sudanese women around me when I think of their resilience to stand in beauty. I think of my mother, my haboba (grandmother), and of my aunts. I think of the way they have gracefully embraced tradition throughout generations—specifically the tradition of the Sudanese toub from its vibrant colours to the way it elegantly flows …

“At the time too, I was contemplating what justice could mean. Right? And not even just justice, honestly, it was what kindness meant on a deeper level, it was what patience meant on a deeper level. It was the beginning of me understanding forgiveness and how it heals you more than it heals the other person.

Because national trauma is hardly discussed in the context of its effects on diasporans, we often experience a dissonance between the distress we feel as we watch our motherland bleed, and the unspoken message that we should not be as affected because we are far away from home. The lack of validation and under recognition of the impact of national trauma on the wellbeing and mental health of members of the diaspora is a huge disservice and quite frankly harmful.”

We talk to Kabaka about the ideas behind his music, and how he uncovered an alternate curriculum of consciousness

A celebration of the food we love. The food that reminds us of home and awakens our senses of nostalgia.

I love ganja, herb, marijuana, cannabis, weed, trees… whatever name the plant goes by in your world. I love everything about it. The colour, the smell, the taste, the texture, what it represents, how useful it is in the world, how it makes me feel, the ceremonious way I encounter it within Rastafari, the space that it brings me to.  …