Like most people, last week I watched Dave Chappelle’s new special The Closer on Netflix to see what everyone was talking about. As someone who is considered Black Excellence, when Chappelle releases a special, Black folk will clear their day to see what this legend is making jokes about now. I was disappointed and confused as I watched the special and listened to Chappelle go on and on about his feelings toward the LGBTQ+ community, and how he felt they had a deep dislike for him. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I had no idea there had ever…

In two posts that came up recently in my Facebook “memories”, I talk about my Blackness. In one, I discussed being asked, "how do I like Canada?" When I informed this person of the fact I am Canadian and have been so my whole life, they replied, they “didn’t know I was."

When I was two years old, my mom brought me to Highfield Square Mall on Main Street in Moncton, New Brunswick to get my first pair of big girl panties.

We’re tired.  Tired of having to be twice as good, for half the recognition. Soon Trudeau will put together his third Cabinet, and this time he needs to put a Black woman in that Cabinet. There are a couple to choose from, but he really should consider Arielle Kayabaga, MP for London West.

This nation sets Black women on fire. They do it for the common offence of demanding the freedom to live an autonomous existence. Born into a world that questions their right to unshackle themselves after the indignities of transatlantic slavery. Dragged across an ocean. Falling asleep to a lullaby of lapping waves and human sorrow. Landfall in a place as remote and foreign as it was cold and unwelcoming. Marie-Joseph Angelique is sold to a merchant’s family in Montreal to make a home more livable for them. 

Let me start by saying I don't ever want to experience that again. Honestly, it doesn’t even bother me that the election cost $600 million; elections are part of our democratic process and I see no benefit in complaining about the cost of one if we have the funds necessary to exercise our fundamental right to vote, which we do. However, not only was this an unnecessary election, it was an election that put crucial pieces of legislation to the Black community at risk. 

As some places in Canada enter their fourth wave, we have some provinces finally taking up “Vaccine Passports” (Immunization Records) to prove you have been vaccinated to gain access to non-essential places and services like the gym, the movies, bars and restaurants. Throughout the pandemic, there has been a very definite divide between those who were willing to wear masks and not, then those who wanted to be vaccinated and those who refused. Obviously making vaccines mandatory to enter some locations has further split communities on where they stand during this pandemic.

Over the last fourty days, Justin Trudeau faced a lot of scrutiny for calling an election during a pandemic when it was wholly unnecessary. Many people felt it was a waste of money, time, and resources on top of putting the health of Canadians at a blatant disregard by asking them to go out and vote while also encouraging distancing and safety. As someone who works in Community Health, I was not only shocked that an election was being held during a pandemic, but also what this would mean for the racialized, underprivileged, poorer communities already struggling much more deeply…

The New Year has always been a time for new hope and Ethiopians get them twice a year - the first one is on January 1st (Gregorian Calendar) and the other falls on either September 11 or 12 (the Ethiopian New Year). We'll be celebrating the Ethiopian New Year (2014) on September 11, 2021. I don’t want to be a pessimist, but I'm not sure if we can make the occasion feel special while Ethiopia goes through war and atrocities.

We were still teenagers when my pregnant girlfriend’s water broke. It was almost noon and we were both excited, nervous, and a little panicked. I was especially concerned because even though we lived only ten minutes away from the hospital, we couldn’t afford to take a cab to get there. Instead, we jumped on the bus and endured the looks of judgement from strangers. Even on the day my daughter was born, I felt like a failure.