At 45 years old, it is hard to believe that my breast cancer journey has already been a long one. It started when I had my first breast cyst removed from my right breast when I was only 14 years old. As a result of the lumpectomy, I had a raised scar on my areola. It was a constant reminder that something about my breasts was never quite right. Yet the scars were so much more than physical. I still have flashbacks of the experience. I painfully recall having to disrobe before older white male doctors and having them poke…

Black trans communities are full of joy, possibility, magic and….yes….laughter. We laugh together, deep belly laughs. We laugh fiercely in the face of transphobia, sure, but sometimes we just laugh at funny things- non-trans-related things- too! Imagine. I have sat with my other Black trans kin and have felt laughter so deeply. We laugh- when things are funny. 

The Canadian Race Relations Foundation (CRRF) and the Environics Institute for Survey Research have released a nationwide survey sponsored by Pfizer Canada, which confirms “the reality and scope of racism in Canada and its effects on Canada’s racialized population.” The researchers write that while most Canadians feel that “race relations both in the country and in their local community are generally good, they are less likely to believe this than two years ago. This worsening perspective is most significant for Black Canadians (49% of whom now say race relations are generally good, down 23% from 2019), and just over half…

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.