Great article on a tough subject. I think that deep inner rage and self hatred are at the root causes of mass shootings (which, as we know, are sadly carried out overwhelmingly by men.. have their been any woman mass shootings?).
Women are still in the echoes of being the weaker sex.. when did we get the vote in various countries, all less than a 100 years ago? And in some countries, just getting the right to drive, and to show our faces.. still recent examples of things like getting shot by a jealous boyfriend, in front of a crowd and no one says anything. Tons of small slights.. like any for long-term oppressed category, things are a bit messy in the getting more power phase. So, it is not surprising that men who are angry take that anger out on women, because it is still a rather safe place to deposit that anger, because they have less power and because the societal responses to curtail those actions and the threat of those actions need further development.
How can we help to show that this violence (toward anyone) is not okay? By taking it seriously when it is reported. GW was very very cruel and taunting to male and female neighbours. He was especially so to women.
So, gender aside, lets all take this kind of cries for help through cruelty that GW was neon sign flagging seriously in future.. so that we may "nip in the bud" signs of a person who is hurting others and hopefully, avoid mass shootings. Early warning signs for mass killing are are not always gendered, they are also things like hurting animals, hurting romantic partners (of any gender, but yes the stats show over-over-whelmingly still men towards women).
Also I want to note that anyone who saw GW's behaviour and didn't report it was totally valid for not.. because part of the danger was getting on his radar and he was extremely threatening towards several sets of neighbours who then had to move away in order to get their lives back.
Its a horrible time we will spend our lives digesting it all I feel. Please be gentle with everyone as we discuss these topics! Much love to all <3
apparently the 4M price tag for fixing it up is misleading.. I heard from members of Friends of the Khyber that in the 4M quote, 500K is set aside for a "consulting firm" and 500K of it is for upcoming fix-ups that might be needed (which could be fundraised for with these heritage building grants once the ownership piece is granted).
Then of the 3M left from that, a good amount of it is for the elevator. Which I def agree with putting in, but maybe that could be say, a 3 year goal once there's an active arts hub again, but immediately make the main floor accessible with a ramp.
So all that to say.. getting the Khyber up and running again could be done for way less $$ than this article implies.. and it is in lovely shape not crumbling. The whole point of artist-run spaces is that there is a freedom that comes with a building not being overly 'finished'. I remember well the feeling of getting ready for a performance there and realizing that I was actually allowed to put nails in the wall or tape things on or otherwise modify and create a magical environment that reflected and enhanced the music. The warm wood of the upstairs turret room is such good acoustics and made for probably the best show that band I was in at the time ever did and launched us into cross-Canada festival bookings.
In other words, the Khyber building as a specific, artist friendly heritage space is really really good for Halifax's creative economy. Lots of other musicians and visual artists attest to this over and over through the years.
Exciting that its being worked on in council at least... dear City, please re-offer the selling for a $1 that they wanted to do in 2014 now that there's a group of people working on getting the funding.
..you can do it! we believe in you! and artists in Halifax and across the country believe in this heritage building
p.s. obvs shout out to the Khyber Arts Society that is rocking out in their new NSCAD building location, they are in no way dependent on this building, but both (society and the building) are worth supporting
El's article is poetic, shocking and insightful. Think about it. Think about even ONE ship ever having been packed with a cargo like that. Stop defending your culture. Your culture is doing fine! Think about that human suffering, and feel compassion. You are safe, you can give that to the rest of humanity from your own inner grace. I'm speaking mainly to other light skinned people on this thread who've been posting really inflammatory rude things.
There needs to be education on this aspect of the story. Its not about defending the individual boats -- of course they are magnificent!
But this is the great paradox, that the creation of beautiful complex works of art (such as civilization as we know it) often requires a concentration of effort and value.. and that concentration most often relies on forced labour that humans (of various skin tones but most often lighter towards darker) impose on other humans. Its something that still happens all the time currently. Important to try and face.. in whatever way you can, through the arts, through gentle humour, through spirituality. Try and get yourself there. Catch your own small-mindedness and expand your consciousness a bit to care for years of and ongoing oppression.
Cory Bowles' reply on here is really helpful for contextualizing why El Jones needed to write an article like this and have it published in The Coast. Good on the Coast for protecting free speech btw.
My reaction was that El incites us towards trying to begin to come to terms with the paradoxes inherent to privilege and beauty.. and to when we gaze, see the full picture of what those creations represent.
It's about accepting the full story. Some commentators on this thread have pointed out that other parts of the world embrace depictions of the past that take more aspects into account. Are more real about it.
I really honour this work of seeking justice and peace. I know its an ongoing process.
I'm really interested in internet crowdfunding, since its such a new social economic format, so its great to watch people's reactions on this. I see people who are against it in this thread are into the "one time to launch something" idea, maybe that will emerge as an etiquette or norm in the business world.
I'm also interested in where business and social enterprise and charity intersect, an emerging set of concepts around the world. I just started a non-profit with my husband last year, but there will be a portion of the non-profit that is supporting the next generation of young creatives to become "artist entrepreneurs", i.e. helping them build stable careers, which requires a lot of coaching and support (including donated money, even though the eventual aim is profitability for these youth) at first. So I'm into actively exploring how non-profit and profit can actually overlap in new ways.
Supporting "artist entrepreneurs" is an idea brought forward by Mme. Michaelle Jean, our former Governor General in her new foundation. I'm inspired by her vision of how art literally changes lives for youth. I was drawn to Brooklyn Warehouse's story when I became aware that the head chef is so unusually young, i.e. not completely established yet. In any case, whether you like the pacing of this particular business in their usage of crowdfunding and/or the narrative they brought forward to ask for that funding or not, for me these disagreements point to how its a bit confusing at the moment because a strict divide between for and non-profit is becoming outdated. That segmenting into biz and charity categories may be part of what leads to some of our economic turmoil because corporations are not grounded enough in social purpose and our non-profits are not economically savvy enough.
Since I havn't yet done my own crowdfunding, but hope to do many many campaigns for various distinct projects over the course of the existence of the non-profit that I run, I am interested in the ideas and comments of Coast readers regarding the awesomests ways to do such things!!!
I love the Brooklyn Warehouse. The food there is so freakin' good and their marketing and connection to patrons innovative and fun. I have a friend who works at another of the gourmet restaurants in town, and I was shocked to learn that chefs make way less an hour than most professions because they work such incredibly long hours in order to keep a resto going. Great cookery is a labour of love, and like any great art form (Opera, theatre, etc..) it is way more work to conceive of, create and deliver to table than the average restaurant goer may realize. Its all incredibly expensive to create. My sense is that bringing BW to the next level of culinary abilities will help to put Halifax on the map for its restaurant culture and be good for the economy overall. I wish them well in this crowdfunding and look forward to getting a t-shirt or some such!! (p.s. and no, I do not know them personally, I just felt moved to write this after the catty comment I saw posted above)
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Women are still in the echoes of being the weaker sex.. when did we get the vote in various countries, all less than a 100 years ago? And in some countries, just getting the right to drive, and to show our faces.. still recent examples of things like getting shot by a jealous boyfriend, in front of a crowd and no one says anything. Tons of small slights.. like any for long-term oppressed category, things are a bit messy in the getting more power phase. So, it is not surprising that men who are angry take that anger out on women, because it is still a rather safe place to deposit that anger, because they have less power and because the societal responses to curtail those actions and the threat of those actions need further development.
How can we help to show that this violence (toward anyone) is not okay? By taking it seriously when it is reported. GW was very very cruel and taunting to male and female neighbours. He was especially so to women.
So, gender aside, lets all take this kind of cries for help through cruelty that GW was neon sign flagging seriously in future.. so that we may "nip in the bud" signs of a person who is hurting others and hopefully, avoid mass shootings. Early warning signs for mass killing are are not always gendered, they are also things like hurting animals, hurting romantic partners (of any gender, but yes the stats show over-over-whelmingly still men towards women).
Also I want to note that anyone who saw GW's behaviour and didn't report it was totally valid for not.. because part of the danger was getting on his radar and he was extremely threatening towards several sets of neighbours who then had to move away in order to get their lives back.
Its a horrible time we will spend our lives digesting it all I feel. Please be gentle with everyone as we discuss these topics! Much love to all <3
apparently the 4M price tag for fixing it up is misleading.. I heard from members of Friends of the Khyber that in the 4M quote, 500K is set aside for a "consulting firm" and 500K of it is for upcoming fix-ups that might be needed (which could be fundraised for with these heritage building grants once the ownership piece is granted).
Then of the 3M left from that, a good amount of it is for the elevator. Which I def agree with putting in, but maybe that could be say, a 3 year goal once there's an active arts hub again, but immediately make the main floor accessible with a ramp.
So all that to say.. getting the Khyber up and running again could be done for way less $$ than this article implies.. and it is in lovely shape not crumbling. The whole point of artist-run spaces is that there is a freedom that comes with a building not being overly 'finished'. I remember well the feeling of getting ready for a performance there and realizing that I was actually allowed to put nails in the wall or tape things on or otherwise modify and create a magical environment that reflected and enhanced the music. The warm wood of the upstairs turret room is such good acoustics and made for probably the best show that band I was in at the time ever did and launched us into cross-Canada festival bookings.
In other words, the Khyber building as a specific, artist friendly heritage space is really really good for Halifax's creative economy. Lots of other musicians and visual artists attest to this over and over through the years.
Exciting that its being worked on in council at least... dear City, please re-offer the selling for a $1 that they wanted to do in 2014 now that there's a group of people working on getting the funding.
..you can do it! we believe in you! and artists in Halifax and across the country believe in this heritage building
p.s. obvs shout out to the Khyber Arts Society that is rocking out in their new NSCAD building location, they are in no way dependent on this building, but both (society and the building) are worth supporting
There needs to be education on this aspect of the story. Its not about defending the individual boats -- of course they are magnificent!
But this is the great paradox, that the creation of beautiful complex works of art (such as civilization as we know it) often requires a concentration of effort and value.. and that concentration most often relies on forced labour that humans (of various skin tones but most often lighter towards darker) impose on other humans. Its something that still happens all the time currently. Important to try and face.. in whatever way you can, through the arts, through gentle humour, through spirituality. Try and get yourself there. Catch your own small-mindedness and expand your consciousness a bit to care for years of and ongoing oppression.
Cory Bowles' reply on here is really helpful for contextualizing why El Jones needed to write an article like this and have it published in The Coast. Good on the Coast for protecting free speech btw.
My reaction was that El incites us towards trying to begin to come to terms with the paradoxes inherent to privilege and beauty.. and to when we gaze, see the full picture of what those creations represent.
It's about accepting the full story. Some commentators on this thread have pointed out that other parts of the world embrace depictions of the past that take more aspects into account. Are more real about it.
I really honour this work of seeking justice and peace. I know its an ongoing process.
I'm also interested in where business and social enterprise and charity intersect, an emerging set of concepts around the world. I just started a non-profit with my husband last year, but there will be a portion of the non-profit that is supporting the next generation of young creatives to become "artist entrepreneurs", i.e. helping them build stable careers, which requires a lot of coaching and support (including donated money, even though the eventual aim is profitability for these youth) at first. So I'm into actively exploring how non-profit and profit can actually overlap in new ways.
Supporting "artist entrepreneurs" is an idea brought forward by Mme. Michaelle Jean, our former Governor General in her new foundation. I'm inspired by her vision of how art literally changes lives for youth. I was drawn to Brooklyn Warehouse's story when I became aware that the head chef is so unusually young, i.e. not completely established yet. In any case, whether you like the pacing of this particular business in their usage of crowdfunding and/or the narrative they brought forward to ask for that funding or not, for me these disagreements point to how its a bit confusing at the moment because a strict divide between for and non-profit is becoming outdated. That segmenting into biz and charity categories may be part of what leads to some of our economic turmoil because corporations are not grounded enough in social purpose and our non-profits are not economically savvy enough.
Since I havn't yet done my own crowdfunding, but hope to do many many campaigns for various distinct projects over the course of the existence of the non-profit that I run, I am interested in the ideas and comments of Coast readers regarding the awesomests ways to do such things!!!