Many of you are likely familiar with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s quote: “There comes a time when silence becomes betrayal.” I would argue that time has nothing to do with it. Silence equals betrayal anytime – whether we realize it or not, whether we are alone or in a group – because it equals …
Diversity & Inclusion
The Oscars – not so White?
After the public spotlight on race in the last two years, it’s nice to see some melanin in the Oscar winner lineup in 2017. Just to be clear, I didn’t watch, but I see that Moonlight won Best Picture, Viola Davis won for Best Supporting actress and Mahershala Ali won for Best Supporting Actor …
Black History Month. So…?
I am not a fan of Black History Month. For one, it becomes a month crammed with everything Black/African/Caribbean and then we don’t see much of it the rest of the year. You can read other musings here. But this year, I have another angle that adds to my disdain. I recently had a conversation …
Marching for Change
Women's Marches This past weekend, thousands of women around the world took to the streets to show their protest against the new President of the USA, their commitment to each other, and their solidarity towards the other groups also targeted by him during his campaign. It gave me pause to …
What Happens When Black Lives Matter
This past Tuesday, at the Pride Toronto AGM, members voted to uphold the demands of Black Lives Matter made last summer at the Pride parade. One of those demands was the removal of police floats from the Parade. Police spokesperson Mark Pugash expressed disappointment, and is quoted in the …
Emojis and Skin Tone
A Story: Picture this (a true story): A Person of Colour and a White person are texting (you pick who you want to be in this scenario). They are discussing plans, and at the end of the exchange the Person of Colour sends their White friend a brown “thumbs up” to indicate that they agree. The White …
Visual Representation
Lack of Diversity One of the things that irks me is the lack of diverse representation in images. If you take a look at the images that are used on websites, in ads, on posters, on billboards, the majority of the people used are white, thin, depicting heterosexual relationships, able bodied, and …
Happy New Year!
2017 has started, but it’s not the beginning of a New Year for everyone – just those of us who go by the Gregorian calendar (the internationally accepted civil calendar - also known as the Western or Christian calendar. It's only been in use for a few hundred years - read more here.) This is …
It’s Holiday Time!
If you live in North America, it’s hard to not know that this coming weekend is Christmas. Many of us have been bombarded with decorations, commercials, Santas in shopping malls, and Christmas carols on the radio and in stores for the last month – sometimes more! If you’re Christian, or if you’re …
Canadian Dolls
It’s fitting, on the heels of last week’s blog, that I have been introduced to The Maplelea Girls – a group of Canadian dolls. Conversations about race can be difficult. Yes, we are making progress, but there are still issues to raise and improvements to make – and unless we talk about these, …