Issues

In Issue 1: In Transit

Terre Chartrand Trisha Abe

Land acknowledgments are at risk of becoming quotidian; it’s now standard for Canadian litmags to include one on their inside cover. We wanted to be more intentional in our acknowledgment of the land by featuring a mural co-designed by Indigenous and Western artists. We wanted Indigenous youth to respond to the question: “how do you want settlers to acknowledge the land?” This mural was held on display at 220 King St West for a week, and now resides at the Pins and Needles Fabric Company on Fredrick Street. This collaboration is just the beginning: we will continue to stand in solidarity with Indigenous peoples on this land and internationally. While remaining open to critique so that we may continue to grow, we hope our mural provides a model for how truth and reconciliation can be realized through the arts. Read more

In Issue 1: In Transit

Jennifer Drews

(today) I cried, driving to the grocery store, for no reason, other than, I remembered (so when does it end?) When I am accomplished and successful, is that when I feel whole again? I desper... Read more

In Issue 2: Space(s)

Nicole Smith

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

In Issue 2: Space(s)

Niara van Gaalen Seemab Zahra Yasmeen Nematt Alla Tomi A. Ryan Antooa

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

In Issue 2: Space(s)

Niara van Gaalen

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