In the lead up to the public relations event Tuesday with president Trump, Sidney Crosby kept digging a hole and doubling down on the idea that visiting the office of an elected official was somehow an act totally devoid of politics. More than that, he made the puzzling claim to the Associated Press that he […]
History
Posted inNews + Opinion
Wade Smith’s Afrocentric legacy
Andre Fenton barely made it to class in his first two years of high school. But the poet and activist eventually graduated with honours after finding inspiration in an Afrocentric literature course he took his senior year. “If it wasn’t for that class, I would not be doing spoken word poetry,” says Fenton. “It influenced […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Old schools on campus
On the wall in NSCAD president Dianne Taylor-Gearing’s office, a scrawled font with steep pitches and valleys repeats, “I will not make boring art.” As the school’s 130th anniversary looms closer than the oversized text, the scene feels rife with accidental symbolism: How can such a venerable institution ensure it doesn’t lose its edge? “We’re […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Welcome to Mi’kma’ki
The Indigenous people of this land call ourselves Mi’kmaq (from ni’kmaq, “my kin;” originally L’nu, “the people”). While some celebrate Canada 150, the Algonquian-speaking Mi’kmaq people have been on this land for over 13,000 years. Although pre-colonial Mi’kmaq had no written language, evidence of their history is found in petroglyphs. These petroglyphs, called Komqwejwi’kasikl (“sucker-fish […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
A Creation Story
Today I’m going to tell you a creation story. Many of you have heard them before, or at the very least have heard of them. We tell stories to pass on our knowledge, teach lessons and morals. This story is going to be a bit different than any story you might have heard before. It’s […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Dalhousie takes another swing at replacing ceremonial mace
After its first effort fell short, Dalhousie University is once again asking the public to design a replacement for its ceremonial mace. The school is hoping to swap out its oak-carved graduation horcrux for a symbol that better reflects Dal’s diversity and values. A request for proposals issued this week is seeking submissions from the […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Joseph Laroche and the Titanic
As the final resting place for about 150 people who perished in the April 15, 1912, sinking of the Titanic, Halifax draws a steady stream of tourists to the local cemeteries where the dead were interred: Mount Olivet Catholic, Baron de Hirsch and Fairview Lawn. The three graveyards comprise the largest burial ground for Titanic […]
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Ted Upshaw’s dedication
Ted Upshaw is gigantic. At six-foot-six, the 60-year-old towers over the average person. But his sunny disposition is more reminiscent of the Big Friendly Giant than the “fee-fi-fo-fum” variety. Robert Graham (Ted) Upshaw became the first African-Canadian to be a commissioned inspector by the RCMP in 1999. Now working as a public safety advisor with […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Canada didn’t start 150 years ago
[Image-1] Being First Nations, I am very conflicted in how to participate in the celebration of Canada’s 150th birthday—a year long celebration that is costing Canadians over half a billion dollars. On one side, I am a proud Canadian, eager to participate in the celebration of our great nation; a nation that was founded on […]
Posted inArts + Music
Titanic’s song of fire and ice
New Year’s Day brought the world a fresh look at the sinking of the Titanic, and it has nothing to do with the claim the boat that sank off Newfoundland was actually Titanic’s sister ship, the Olympic. In Titanic: The New Evidence, a documentary aired January 1 on England’s Channel 4, modern animation techniques are […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Halifax and Gaetan Dugas
[Image-1] “More than one comma.” Delivered with an impish grin, that’s the reply I received from author Randy Shilts when I asked, over a bowl of chowder, if he’d scored a decent advance for his new book project. It was 1991 and we were both in the Boston area, on leave from our jobs as […]
Posted inArts + Music
Before the parade
[Image-1] It was spring of 1972 when Anne Fulton stumbled upon a poster that read It’s Time for Gay Liberation. That rallying cry appealed to the budding lesbian activist—Fulton was 20 then, maybe 21—and she went to the meeting the poster advertised. This gathering would turn out to be vital, for both Fulton and, more […]