She Gets There
It took her fourteen years to get back to a city. It wasn’t a big city, but hey, it had a bus. Refreshing Google Maps every minute, she prays that all her transfers connect. And there’s no street ... Read more
The Boy Who Broke the GRT
I didn’t wake up one morning at the age of 14 and decide to become the architect of a payment avoidance scheme, defrauding our local transit commission of many thousands of dollars - it just sort of... Read more
Every Refugee is a Poem
(1) كلُّ لاجئٍ قصيدةٌ. (2) أنا القصيدةُ: كان كاتبي على عجلٍ، فلم يضع ليَ عنواناً. تركني على مكتبِه ثم غادرَ. ... Read more
In Search of Identity
البحث عن هوية لا وطن لي أُنتزعت منّي الهوّية وهمت في رحاب الأرض بلا مرجعيّة فهلاّ آويتني؟ هلاّ كنت لي أرضاً أز... Read more
True Blue
Elvis isn’t dead. He lives in Kitchener, Ontario, on a bench outside the grocery store. “One for the money!” I’m always tempted to say, as I dump a pathetic amount of change into his blistery ... Read more
Skin Color Pencil Crayon
As a kid who loved art time in elementary school, I’d get psyched and messy with vibrant colors, textures, and liquids. So much so that I barely noticed the glittery yellow, blue, and pink that stai... Read more
Policing the Pandemic
When the first wave of COVID-19 in March 2020 set off emergency orders in Ontario, police departments were given increased powers to enforce public health measures that called for self-isolation and physical distancing. Neighbours were also encouraged to police each other through the use of “snitch-lines”, and an expanded state of surveillance was assumed as a new normal. This deepened pre-existing police presence and control in neighbourhoods where more poor, Black, Indigenous, and immigrant communities live. KW Article Club, a reading group and art collective based in Waterloo Region, informed by work from local and international Black activists and organizers, sought to address these structural inequities in March 2020 through a zine titled #PolicingThePandemic. The following feature is an adapted version of that zine that adds two pieces that delve into the impact policing has on Black people, making a case for why we continue to strive towards a future where we prioritize care instead of enforcement. Read more
Sidewalk Courage
1 My sister is an athlete. She is also a Black teenager living in a townhouse complex. Not the kind where well-to-do young people pay condo fees, but the kind where the kitchen counters are laminate a... Read more