Scene 1: Men are like wolves, they enjoy the night and prey on the weak The moon begs them to stop howling at it, feels a false praise  As it tries to light the way home for people like me  For gentle people, who forget stars are dead Who live in the moment, and try to forget the ones that …

When someone asks me how I identify myself I may say Canadian.This will always lead them to ask, “But where are you really from?” If I go to the generation before me, I would once again say that my mother was also born and raised in Canada.  Deeper.  I would finally explain that my grandparents are from Jamaica.  Jamaica explains …

You hop off the hover-monorail and onto the misty platform with shoulders slumped and eyes downcast. The doors slide closed behind you and the hover-monorail starts up again, floating along its path and into the distance. You are alone. Your face finally meets the sunlight. Your silver earrings shimmer in one of autumn’s first sunrises and you breathe in the …

I was five years old when I visited Ghana for the first time. I don’t remember much, but the few memories I have are strong. The smell was the first thing I remember noticing when we came off the plane. It’s a warm, tropical, almost smoky smell that’s hard to describe, but it smells like home. I remember seeing myself …

Wáwòyí had been defeated. They say that Life is mysterious and that she chooses to bless and curse on a whim. For the entirety of Wáwòyí’s life, he had only experienced curses. From birth he had been unfortunate; to bring him into this world, his mother had sacrificed her life. If Life was kind, she would have made him a …

Dear Vabereke (Elders), I am certain that I do not have to introduce myself, but I feel some formalities may be in order. I am you, all together in one form, I am Zimbabwe, but I was known by other names in your time and the time before. I must acknowledge our family ancestors, tribal ancestors, and national ancestors of …

This grief is limitless. She sees it extending endlessly into her future, she recognises it in her past. There’s a sadness she used to find impossible to explain, but now she recognizes it as this very grief. It is out of her control, a force from within that has formed into a partner she finds herself in some sick marriage …

Enter any Muslim household regardless of nationality, and you are bound to come across some representation of Islamic art. Maybe Turkish biomorphic motifs inspired by flowers on a Turkish vase in a kitchen, Moorish tessellations on ceramics varied in geometric patterns and colors in a washroom, or South and Southeast Asian symmetrical wooden Jali carvings on furniture or window screens …

In the beginning, God made Adam, then from his rib Eve, and after a couple of sins, humanity arrived at the ineffable truth that 1+1 = 2, that there is such thing as “zero”, and we no longer needed God, for we had Math, the absolute authority on “fact” and correspondingly, our reality. To my mother’s great dismay, however, I …

In stacks of one-dirham notebooks with plastic covers, Haboba keeps track of things. Accompanied by a classic CASIO calculator, scrap paper from knitting print-outs and a pen, she documents anything that can be quantified. She has kept track of her life as our family expanded in numbers and scattered across countries. At some point, the calculator became redundant. She says …

For centuries, Africans have used patterns, discovering and manipulating geometric concepts to make them symbolic systems. So, mathematics wasn’t far from being a language. They transformed abstractions into knowledge. Ideas from their human minds were then communicated in a highly artistic manner. The significant geometric patterns are visible on decorations covering architectural styles: buildings, traditional monuments, and temples.

It’s 2016, and I’ve been swindled into a math competition. I’ve always been “good” at math. The monotony of it suited me; the rote memorization of formulae and obvious pattern recognition, while anxiety- inducing in others, came to me instantly. It also meant that, once I understood something, I also didn’t care to spend an hour and a half doing …

I wonder. What purpose would I serve if I had a different religion, and if I wasn’t forced to practice the one I do? Right about now, you’re wondering too: which religion is he talking about? Is it mine? Am I forced too?! Or maybe you’re not anxious, and you’re just going to keep on reading to find out. Go …

in the beginning: there is water; the world is without form, an empty void; a hen scatters sand poured from a snail’s shell as a god watches on; life is breathed into clay figurines; the sun emerges from a mound; order unravels from chaos; a great flood recedes from the land; matter coalesces from a big bang; there comes a …

1100 years ago, a mask was created to bind Earth and the underworld together. The humans of earth and the demons of the underworld formed an agreement that the mask would be kept safe by the Sato family. Generations later, the humans and demons are at war, and a new child of the Sato family must end the war. “Hey, …

“Woah—what are you doing?! Amara, this is insane!” Kenny yells. I shush him. There’s rustling behind one of the trees, but I can’t tell which one.  It’s been following us the whole time.  It shifts behind a shrub, as if it’s trying to get a better angle. I catch the sounds it makes as it hastens itself across from us. …

“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorns have roses.”-Alphonse Karr ＊ ＊ ＊ Somewhere is where dreamers are destined to end up, no matter how hard they try, once everything crumbles around them and they lose every single bit of hope they had left. Those dreamers are like Shawn Hastings from my grade nine math …

September 29th, 1988 – En Route to New York City “Name, Miss?”  “Alice Carlisle.” It was a beautiful train, I had to journal every detail for Amare. My brother would be expecting a spectacular story. I glanced at the old couple across from me, and imagined she was a baker, running a fabulous patisserie in New York. He was her …

“Hey, James?” Kiyoko whispered.  “Ya?” He answered.  “There’s no holiday or anything happening today right?” Kiyoko asked with confusion.  “I don’t think so… Why?” He asked.  “All the places and parking lots I passed were empty,” Kiyoko said. James was even more confused than Kiyoko hence he just woke up. He threw on his shoes to see for himself. The …

Chapter 1 I was washing  up before morning prayer when I heard, “Thirza, your kha-ver is here!” I dashed down a sleek set of stairs to find Ethan holding the door open for Tabitha. Imma and Abba were out with our handmaid to help her with the groceries. Our parents told us that when they were kids, it was a …

Part 1 Kamau & Njoroge It’s the hottest day of the summer in the east African traveller’s town of Panaka and the recent high school teacher retirees Kamau and Amani are loafing outside Mugiri’s Convenience in the scorching sun with a withered red umbrella as their only protection from its piercing rays. After their retirement at the young age of …

Tug of War is a remarkable directorial return by Amil Shivji and the first Tanzanian feature to be screened at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Based on the award-winning Swahili book by Shafi Adam Shafi, Tug of War follows a communist revolutionary, Denge (Gudrun Columbus Mwanyika), and a woman escaping a forced marriage, Yasmin (Ikhlas Gafur Vora), in 1950’s …

Plot: ‘The Gravedigger’s wife’ is a film that revolves around Guled, a man who has been earning money as a gravedigger in order to provide for his son, Mahad, and sick wife, Nasra. As Nasra’s health declines, Guled is seen to go through many difficulties to earn money and ensure his wife’s Kidney surgery and treatment.  Review:  In his debut …

“I think you’re trying to capture the audience. Not really trying to explain every bit of what’s going on in your mind, but to make them believe in that moment that you’re going through something. And that they went through that something with you, even without words or meaning. I think the purpose is to pass a message,” says Sheila, …

Plot Summary: Beba is a documentary autobiography that peels back the layers of filmmaker Rebeca Huntt’s life and exposes all, or most of its skeletons. Huntt’s debut film explores race, class, and her ancestry authentically. She dives deep into the story of how her family came to live in New York, the wounds and tensions between family members that span …

While some films have the potential to be unappealing, others have the power and capability to be influential. “Lingui: The Scared Bonds” is the latter, a film that sheds light on the experiences of resilient Chadian women and promotes social issues that women in many communities have been battling.  Directed by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, the film revolves around Amina (Achouackh Abakar …

PLOT:The film is the latest from Spanish director Juanjo Gimenez, whose filmography includes documentaries and short films (the idea for this film began as a short story idea). “Out of Sync” stars Marta Nieto in the lead role of an unnamed sound designer, who has to leave work after her hearing becomes out of sync. The condition starts with simple …

Plot Summary: Kamila Andini’s latest film, Yuni, is a coming-of-age story that follows the life of a teenage Indonesian girl trying to figure out who and what she wants to be. Yuni is an intelligent high-school girl with a loving family, a group of close friends, a rebellious personality and an obsession for the colour purple. Her dream to go …

Growing up, I often felt lost, endlessly searching for unfathomable answers and some kind of purpose. The question of “who am I?” would ring loudly in my head and sometimes, it still does. In my attempts to understand my own being, I would find myself stuck in cycles of denial and hesitancy, struggling to come to terms with my seemingly …

What does living a meaningful life mean? As humans, we tend to seek experiences that help determine whether we are living full and meaningful lives or not. For some, meaning can be found through professional success; for others, meaning parallels hard to define concepts such as happiness. I am in a period of my life where I am unravelling my …

The academic racial quota was a routine proceeding during my fundamental years at my all-girls high school in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. When our teacher asked students of each ethnic group to raise their hands, we obliged without a second thought.  The majority of students in each class were Malays, followed by Chinese and Indians. According to public school protocol, Eurasians …

The pandemic exhausted me mentally, physically and emotionally. There were and, in many ways, continue to be no breaks from trauma on personal, societal and ecological levels. I’d never in my life looked for peace and comfort as much as I did and continue to. At a critical moment in life, when there was so much loss and unknown, all …

Nelson Mandela’s book Conversations With Myself has been my version of a frayed blanket that travels through life with me. Like a gift endowed at birth, this book met my fresh hope at 10 years old to teach me an abundance of lessons. I remember how my heart felt on that day after school; the book displayed on the news, …

For my entire life, I have felt like an outsider looking in. Growing up, there were a lot of ways I knew I was different that would crop up at different ages. Obscure and obsessive interests, and touch aversion immediately come to mind, but some of my earliest and most distinct memories surround my preoccupation with patterns. I see them …

Tuesdays are for the Ocean. Sundays are for the universe. Mondays are for peace. Wednesdays are for the spider. Thursdays are for the earth. Fridays are for fertility. Saturdays are for God. When we look to Ghanaian naming traditions, a name marks a person’s place and signifies belonging to a spirit, to a history, to a circumstance. You may find …

Ghana made headlines at the end of July when the draft of an anti-gay legislation bill was submitted to its Parliament, proposing up to 10 years in jail for anyone identifying as gay or even advocating for LGBTQ rights. This bill seeks to legalize conversion therapy and force intersex people to undergo “gender realignment” surgery and emerges after a year …

Amani Omar is a 19 year old artist, writer, and spoken word poet based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Her work is rooted in black and Muslim representation, social issues, self love and Somali culture. Her goal is to create and inspire young creatives to explore their voices and bring about more diversity in the media through her artistic content. The …

Boycotts, protests, towns burned to the ground. Hundreds of deaths, and hundreds of thousands displaced. Separatists, militia, and journalists impinged by an authoritarian presidency. The struggle for power in Cameroon is one of majority and minority, French-speaking and English. President Biya’s 38th year in office is marked by another year of infighting prompted by the marginalization of the English-speaking population …

Jaylah is a multifaceted artist who engages the world through poetry, design, and performance. A teen boss, and co CEO of Honey Cosmetics, she visualizes and represents possibility through her work. Her signature style features characters with sharp edges, bold looks and swagger to boot. “I’m sooo blessed to be a part of the design team at @trad_magazine . We …

When Uncle Sunny asked Ogbonna to come home for Easter, it was not a request, and there was no talk about human sacrifice. Now he is kneeling here, in the middle of a forest, beside his family house, with a sharp cutlass piercing through his chest, a gallon of blood gushing through his veins, and he cannot help but know, this is exactly where he is supposed to be.

“Memory sifts. Memory lifts. Memory makes due with what it is given. Memory is not about facts. Memory is an inconsistent measurement of the pain in one’s life.” – Brandon Taylor ————————————————————————— One of the most painful things that no one talks about growing up is coming to face the humanity and mortality of your parents. As a first-generation Canadian …

I started therapy to help me with the anxiety I had playing varsity basketball, and I gradually realized how many more areas of my life I needed to unpack continually.

It might be too personal to ask a friend if they had a decent childhood, but I am often curious to hear about the childhood experience of my peers and how their society impacted their upbringing. Unfortunately, for some societies, including my country, upbringings and childhood are complicated subjects and exceedingly difficult to explain.

I often find myself speaking and envisioning a point in my life when I will return to Zimbabwe and settle. However, there seems to be a gap between my vision of returning to the motherland and my parents’ vision of returning. I do not want to dismiss my parents’ sacrifices to give me better opportunities in North America. Still, I believe all the knowledge I have acquired can be re-invested into Zimbabwe or the continent at large.

As the world begins to transcend to a new kind of normal, many people in the western world feel as if it is safe enough to connect to our roots once again. However, the question of whether we should be travelling during a pandemic, which is not truly over, is on my mind.

The Year of Return was a collaboration between the Ghanaian Tourism Authorities, the Panafest Foundation and the Adinkra group in the U.S. The mission was to “celebrate the victims of the Trans-Atlantic slave Trade who were scattered and displaced throughout the world in North America, South America, the Caribbean, Europe and Asia.” The Year of Return took place in Ghana, …

In 1993 my grandfather, Kasenda Mpinga, stood up at the National Assembly in the United Nations and quoted this parable “When our neighbour’s house is on fire, we must not ignore the flames, we must go and waft them out to avoid the flames coming to our own house.” A mere year later, he was killed in a plane crash …

My relationship with my culture can be compared to a healthy body being infected with cancer cells. As with most illnesses, through help and support, this relationship has returned to its original state and continues to thrive.