Two years ago this week, George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer. He wasn’t the first person of colour to be killed by police, and he wasn’t the last. But something about Floyd’s death was different—it gave a visible push to the efforts of the Black Lives Matter movement, one that made waves […]
Black Lives Matter (BLM)
Posted inNews + Opinion
NSLC starts selling Fumes papers in historic deal for a Black-owned business
A year ago, Fumes Rolling Papers were selling in about 30 convenience stores around Halifax. Not bad for a local start-up, but co-owners Josh Creighton and his brothers Treno and Tyler Morton had even bigger ambitions. Their sights were set on the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation and its $86-million legal-cannabis business. “We very much saw […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
The Braiding Lounge aims to share the natural hair love on Gottingen Street
There’s a colossal beauty connected to natural hair that Tara Taylor wants people to rediscover. It’s not that she has a grievance for treatments that change hair chemically, but rather a penchant for helping others feel unique and special in their own beauty. “Our hair really is our crowning glory,” says the Halifax stylist. In […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Black women entrepreneurs are sharing their stories through this 28-day series
It was the middle of the night around 1am when Tia Upshaw came up with a new idea to help showcase local Black women entrepreneurs. As the founder and president of the Blk Women in Excellence mentorship program, Upshaw has always valued educating, uplifting and creating platforms for Black women—and that’s exactly what she’s aiming […]
Posted inArts + Music
#BlackInSchool book details high school experiences of racism
When Habiba Diallo reflects on her high school experience in Halifax, she realizes not much has changed in terms of anti-Black racism. Now in her mid-20s, she’s noticed how institutions like the educational system have failed to improve the negative experiences that several Black students face daily—and it’s a change she believes many institutions are […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Halifax repainting BLM mural without community involvement
Last summer, in the wake of George Floyd’s violent and public murder by a Minneapolis police officer (and the pent-up anger from many, many similar events over the years) Black Lives Matter became a continent-wide movement. Here in Halifax, after rallies held on Spring Garden Road, in front of the police station and elsewhere, city […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Pilot Picasso reflects on a tough year after Portapique
On Sunday, April 19, 2020, Dimitri Neonakis was at home with his girlfriend, stunned, as news from Portapique slowly made its way to the public. By the end of the day, he was exhausted. The pandemic was still fresh—shutdowns had begun in Nova Scotia just one month prior—and now the province was dealing with the […]
Posted inBest of Halifax
We love that Halifax knows Black Lives Matter
Kate Macdonald remembers the peculiar quiet of 6,000 Haligonians trying their best to hear the words being spoken out of a PA system that was not expecting such a huge turnout. The crowd, assembled along Spring Garden Road on the first Monday in June, was there to take a knee for eight minutes and 46 […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
The Black Lives Matter sign on Gottingen Street is a form of resistance
On the east side of Gottingen Street, between Uniacke Street and the Halifax North Memorial Library, an eight-by-16-foot Black Lives Matter banner was hung at the beginning of August. It was put there after a string of gatherings, protests and vigils took place in Halifax on the heels of the killing of George Floyd by […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
My Black hair matters
Around the world, people have been awakened to the police’s unnecessary and incessant violence against Black people. It is inspiring seeing white and brown folks hold up placards and protest systemic racism alongside Black people. But while we’re protesting systemic racism, let’s remember something that’s often discriminated against yet often overlooked. Something so tiny, yet […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Resources to start learning about racism in Halifax and beyond
S tep one in addressing racism and white supremacy is learning. Here’s a non-exhaustive list of local, national and international resources to watch, read, listen to and follow. Watch Ingrid Waldron’s book-turned-documentary, There’s Something in the Water, is required watching for any Nova Scotian or Canadian who thinks Canada “isn’t as bad as the US.” […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Hundreds protest Regis Korchinski-Paquet’s death in Halifax
Hundreds of people gathered at Victoria Park in Halifax on May 30 to protest and mourn the death of Afro-Indigenous woman, Regis Korchinski-Paquet who died on May 27 in Toronto. The protesters practiced COVID-19 safety guidelines as they marched from Victoria Park to the HRM Police headquarters with placards and banners as they chanted “No […]