“Do you deny institutional racism exists!?” shouts a man, rising to his feet, to cheers and rumblings in a crowd of more than 70 people. There’s a pause. Then Halifax Regional Police chief Jean-Michel Blais responds: “What do you mean by institutional racism?” This is just one of many charged exchanges that broke out during […]
Race
Posted inNews + Opinion
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 […]
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Street checks and balances
Do you trust the police? The Board of Police Commissioners would like to know. “You have to be open,” says BPC chair and deputy mayor Steve Craig. “You have to hear what’s being said and take that all in, whether you like what’s being said or not.” The Halifax police department’s civilian overseers are quietly […]
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Reading for the revolution with Black Lives Matter
“Knowledge is power and I hope it gives them courage to speak up and really understand what solidarity means,” says Shaya Ishaq. Ishaq and Jade Byard Peek are behind Halifax’s first Black Lives Matter reading group. The weekly gathering is free and meets every Wednesday evening at the Khyber Centre for the Arts. “We have […]
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Jalana Lewis cares about her community
[Image-1] His victory confirmed, Lindell Smith thanked a cheering crowd that had gathered last October at Alteregos. Beaming, he then offered praise for the woman who’d managed the campaign that saw him become the first African Nova Scotian to win a Halifax city council seat in nearly 20 years. “Like me, Jalana is embedded in […]
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Questions linger over Halifax police’s street check data
Nzingha Millar says recent statistics released by Halifax Regional Police makes her question the progress made when it comes to racial profiling the community. “This is anti-black racism specifically–not just non-white people being checked.” Millar is currently a student in the one-year journalism program at King’s. She’s one of four panelists scheduled to participate in […]
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Street checks by Halifax police are unacceptable says privacy lawyer
[Image-1] David Fraser doesn’t remember the last time he was stopped by police. But he knows it happens disproportionately to other people, and that’s a problem. “I’m a middle-aged white guy,” says Fraser, a privacy lawyer with McInnes Cooper. “If I get stopped by the cops at night, I have way more confidence that I’m […]
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Halifax police will keep using street checks
[Image-1] With no research on its effectiveness, and facing strong evidence that black people are overwhelmingly targeted, Halifax Regional Police still aren’t interested in suspending the practice of “street checks.” The idea for a moratorium on the controversial tactic was made by Sylvia Parris—the lone African-Nova Scotian representative on Halifax’s Board of Police Commissioners—during a […]
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Consider the saga of James Robinson Johnston
[Image-1] The recent spate of north-end homicides last month evokes reflections on the haunting Leonard Cohen tune “There For You.” “Death is old, but it’s always new,” the late musician sang. “…And I was there for you.” Along with the mayhem at the Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children, the jailing of Viola Desmond, […]
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School closure leaves the most vulnerable at greatest risk
[Image-1] On Monday morning a recalled Nova Scotia legislature will begin the first steps to forcing a new collective agreement on teachers and taking away their right to strike. At the same time, outside Province House, angry crowds will join in a protest against the Liberal government’s battle with the Nova Scotia Teachers Union (NSTU). […]
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On the question of “Where are you really from?”
[Image-1] When I came to Nova Scotia 26 years ago, I always welcomed the seemingly innocent and simple question “where are you from?” as an opportunity to tell people about my beautiful country, its cultures and its painful history. As the years went by I started to see Canada as my home and began to […]
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When your race is a passport to all the best freedoms
I’m a member of the school board and during a recent debate I used a word that angered members of the audience. The word was privilege. In particular I was referring to white privilege. What the anger made clear is that the word requires explaining. Some still think privilege refers exclusively to material advantage. It’s […]