We cannot compensate those whose ancestors worked on the plantations, but we can make sure that the generations reap benefits they were denied long ago.

To be Eritrean is to have a direct link with war and its psychological undoing. Intergenerational trauma caused by war and displacement has become etched into the very meaning of our national identity. We not only inherited our parents’ genetic traits, but their memories of orphaned newborns latching onto their dead mothers

This idea of justice has always been central to Sikhism, the principle of being fair and righteous. Sikhism’s teachings and philosophy preach equality, unity, and truthful living, ultimately implementing moral equity among all individuals of society, regardless of their race or social class.

“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 …

You can find bleaching products in Nigeria in just about any beauty store. In 2011, the World Health Organization (WHO) cited that approximately 77 per cent of women in Nigeria bleach their skin. I was one of them. This is how I got there and, eventually, how I quit for good. Skin bleaching entails using creams, oral supplements, or injections …

Black women should abandon racial activism, to attain their dreams – it is not my job to go into this space, it is not my job to revolutionize this space, it is my job to enjoy it.   I am sitting on my couch in my flat in Berlin retelling the events of my day to my wife Deidre while our …

For the longest time, I would stare at my bare pierced ear lobe in the mirror after stacking necklaces around my neck. I was nonchalant about wearing earrings as I couldn’t find any reason to wear them; I had not felt any sentimental value or sense of connection towards any earrings.. Our outer appearance – the clothing and the adornments …

To the Rudasumbwa—Dusabimana Matriarch: Thank you for teaching me—in subtlety—to embrace the beauty of the little moments.  I remember Saturday mornings with you, as we got ready for church. The weekends that we the cousins would spend with our grandmother. You’d wake us up early to bathe (bucket and water style), have breakfast, and then the dreaded hair combing fiasco …

The moment a woman becomes aware of herself and begins understanding the world, she goes to war to gain freedom and autonomy over the vessel she walks the earth in. From the images we see on television and in magazines to our society’s cultural practices and beliefs, women are consistently told what they should define as beauty. In some African …

Ages 0-10: “Nappy” Phase All of the Disney princesses that I obsessed over had long, flowing and silky hair. My hair was always in braids, little pony tails, Bantu knots, puffs, or whatever elaborate hairstyle my mom decided to style that week. Every two weeks was “wash day:” a full-day event that consisted of shampoo, conditioner, deep conditioner, and squirming …

What does it mean when a woman keeps her last name in marriage? Is this a protest against patriarchy? A radical act of self love and self preservation? Is it normal?

The city of Timbuktu became the centre of knowledge in the region, its prolific libraries contained literary works that focused on the study of medicine, mathematics, astrology, grammar and geography, not to mention the most expansive accounts of African history, in a mixture of Arabic and African languages.

As an Igbo woman living in Canada, I have experienced a fusion of cultures. This means that while I do understand the values held within Igbo marriages, I have also come to see what marriages in this part of the world look like. This piece will contrast Igbo and Candian marriages to explore how power works within them.

Muslim African women, lead by example. They rally the troops, cultivate awareness and inspire generations. They do not need to declare their presence and showcase their battle scars to command authority. In fact, most often, their sole objective isn’t to become warriors of a cause or the face of a movement.

The act of removing the monument universally stands for the refusal to accept that colonial forces shall continue to define our present and future. The perpetuation of racism and oppression is no longer an option. By keeping these monuments in public parks or in front of government buildings, they validate and normalize the atrocities these generals, emperors and governors inflicted on human lives.

All women on the hustle are worthy of praise and recognition, and Ghana’s market women are no exception. Let’s admire them for the way they have empowered themselves, and endeavor to appreciate the importance of the traditional structures they have maintained.

“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.

I would like you to meet my grandfather, Dr. Elijah Emezie. He was a loved physician and Senator in Nigeria. He started a hospital and rural practice for his relatively poor community, and worked there as Chief Medical Director at St. Luke’s Hospital in Orlu, Imo State. In 1989, my grandfather gave a valedictory address to the graduating class of …

As long as racism exists in our society, racism will impact health. And as long as racism impacts health, race must be acknowledged within the healthcare setting.

The last day at my childhood church—after many years of youth camps, prayer groups and participation in outreach programmes—I meet with my pastor at the end of the service to tell her I am leaving.

I can imagine a world with no pilots, with no TV producers, with no presidents or prime ministers. But I can not imagine a world without doctors, without healers. Healing has to be one of those things that humans had to figure out very early in our evolution. So when I think about medicine, and being a doctor, I am in awe, that I am on the path to practicing a profession that is as old as humans. Am I even worthy to aspire to this vocation?

Although machine learning algorithms offer exciting possibilities for our health care systems, these advancements are raising valid concerns about how data scientists and physicians can ensure fairness in these algorithms.

The thing about the Negro solstice is that it was never about unlocking new superpowers. It was about cultivating the powers we always had.

You may have heard the phrase “turning blue”. In the case of a heroin overdose, some people’s skin and lips turn blue-purple due to a lack of oxygen in the blood. The medical term for this is called cyanosis. As I read an article on cyanosis recently, my hand fixed on my textbook, it dawned on me that my brown …

Whether in Mafikeng or in Hamilton, recovery is never easy. For South Africans it means facing national trauma, acknowledging the hurt, and forgiving others, including themselves. In order to build up the next generation and stop the cycle of trauma, the journey to recovery is one we must all take.

African scholars, such as Dr. Nwoye, have described grieving in African societies as a community process, where there is just as much emphasis placed on the deceased’s role within the community as there is on supporting their loved ones.

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.”

Our heart beats an average of 2.5 billion times during our lifetime! It pumps blood up to our scalp and right down to our pinky toes. We should learn how to take care of it.

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

I smell something burning. At the same time, fresh new snow falls, replacing the rainfall promised by man. There is an ineffable relief that Time keeps going and seasons reign in their spotlight when they are due. You’ll know where you are in time. Time locates the self in a myriad of revolutions tugging back and forth between day and …

The concept of Orí, and its significance to human destiny, within the context of Yorùbá mythology and beliefs, has received attention from African Philosophers and Yorùbá Literary Scholars such as Chief Wande Abimbola, Kola Abimbola, Ebunoluwa O. Oduwole, Oladele Balogun and many others. As Yoruba has expanded past the shores of Ife, expanded into neighboring regions, traveled around the world, …

I try very hard not to think of deconstruction. Like my eyes see more than what is not white, what is not Western or what is not material. Though it is necessary to shed what is not useful because, despite what we might think, by the time we’re aware of the world we already have solid notions of it. Life …

I often wonder what it is that limits us from remembering who we were before this time; before we entered this realm and Babylon told us who to be. When we were just souls and consciousness waiting to choose the right vehicle to manifest. The elders say that all things will be revealed with time. And so we wait, and …

Yasin Dwyer is a Jamaican-Canadian imam who is known for his insightful and inspiring Islamic reminders and lessons at Muslim community events. As these events often begin later than advertised, I’ve often heard Imam Dwyer quoting a mood-lightening but very thought-provoking Jamaican saying (in his Jamaican accent): “White man have clock, but Black man have time.” It would take many …

“Two patties please.” I tell myself I’ll avoid grabbing any this time, but it is a tradition now. I get my haircut at the spot three stores down, then stop in here before getting the bus home. “2.50,” the clerk says. His face says he is in his fifties, but the hunched back makes him seem older. His movements are …

From little date seeds, great things are born. Everything’s gone as planned. As per custom. Away from baby’s father for all nine months. Stayed with parents. The whole room’s been polished with cow dung, right? Yeah. Been alone since just now because I started to feel it. It’s coming. Mother, grandmother, and little sister. I wish he was here but …