Carpool
The streets were eternal back thenback when back seat was a canopy of armsstretched out like the solsticethe thump of tire on chewed cementjolting the deviance from feeble bodiesMomma was no pilot, bu... Read more
Moose
From the fourteenth floor, you can see how much has changed down at King and Victoria. The skyline is filled with condos. But also, along the plateau of the train tracks: a patch of hill, a shopping c... Read more
Culture
The first time I saw Apo Tudo, The Ilocano rain deity, I swear, he sent mist to that mountain Outside of Baguio Kissing the Filipino soil with sweet promises and tearful memories My grandmother share... Read more
Duality
“Where are you from?” Usually, people don’t believe that I’m Jamaican, on account of me not having an accent, not speaking patwa—and also not being Black. They don’t generally have a probl... Read more
Grieving a Stranger
My parents came to Canada as refugees in the late ’80s for better opportunities and to escape Ethiopia’s hellish dictatorship. Though I cannot know the extent of their struggles, I can speak of th... Read more
Treatment
It’s six am, I didn’t sleep, I got a dozen phone calls on my cell. She’s ready for treatment. “I’ll meet you at eight,” she said. So I made the phone calls. I fo... Read more
Two Movements
I From the terrace before six I see a train crossing, Three cars long—“That’s it?” Passing in no time at all. I linger for the evening commuter; longer, heavier, humi... Read more
The Boat
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A Plate Away
Listen to Tyra read from her piece: Textile · Tyra Forde - A Plate AwayMy grandparents have lived in the same three-bedroom house in Cambridge since they immigrated to Canada from Bridgetown, Barbado... Read more
Enigma
Listen to Seemab read her poem: Textile · Enigma - Seemab ZahraWhat mystery do you hide in your inability to endure a dream that is empty of my existence? Now I am in disbelief; For you have become t... Read more
The Tower
Looking down to the ground below, wind whips around my body. The gravity allures me, asking me to take the step forward, asking me to throw it all away. I am reassured; my heart gives way to apathy. T... 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
The Screen is a Portal
Especially while in self-isolation, screens—whether windows or devices —have become a portal for connecting us with the world beyond our domestic walls. The screen that we choose determines how we... Read more
Windows
I view space as something positive and negative. A space is something we can connect and grow in, but too much space, or space applied in the wrong way, becomes isolating. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to find my space, people who looked and thought like me, and it wasn’t until I did that I got an idea of who I was. These portraits show that spaces can be scary, isolating, and confusing, but they can be a space to grow and become, too 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
Year 2020
I see metal falling from the sky.I see metal soaring up high,and monsters rising from the ground,sucking up humans.You say 2020 has awakened all the sleeping monsters.I say these monsters were busy in... Read more
When I First Stepped on the Moon (Digital Storytelling Workshop)
Man first stepped on the moon in 1969. I heard this when I was a child, barely seven or eight years. I started searching for more about it, but there was no internet in Pakistan... Read more
Grieving a Stranger (Digital Storytelling Workshop)
My parents came to Canada as refugees in the late ’80s for better opportunities and to escape Ethiopia’s dictatorship. Though I cannot know the extent of their struggles, I can speak of their consequences... Read more