Category Archives: Politics

Cheri DiNovo: “Every revolution seemed impossible until it happened”

Life, Politics, Spirituality, , , , , , , ,

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Cheri DiNovo is no stranger to revolution. At twenty, openly queer, DiNovo was the only woman to sign Canada’s first gay rights manifesto, “We Demand,” in 1971. Thirty years later, as a minister with the United Church of Canada, she would perform Canada’s first legalized same-sex marriage — risking her license in the process. As … Continue reading Cheri DiNovo: “Every revolution seemed impossible until it happened” →

Dr. Erynne Gilpin: “Knowledge is relational”

Environment, Health, Life, Nature, Politics, Sports, ,

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A co-founder of UATÊ // STORIED LEARNING, a vehicle for community-led knowledge mobilization through film and storytelling, Erynne Gilpin is a Victoria-based educator, birth doula, bead worker, and activist. The creator of Indigenous Womxn Climb, she is interested in Indigenous resurgence through “embodied governance, insurgent healing, and land/water-based wellness.” “Knowledge is really interconnected with everything … Continue reading Dr. Erynne Gilpin: “Knowledge is relational” →

Lamont ‘Tory’ Stapleton: “If we want to make a change, we’ve got to start with prisons”

Life, Politics, Sports, , , ,

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The co-founder of Between the Lines, a prison basketball program aimed at rehabilitation, Lamont ‘Tory’ Stapleton has always kept the game of basketball close. An Athletic Hall of Fame member at Gill St. Bernard’s School in New Jersey, Stapleton played for Southern New Hampshire University and finished with over 1,300 career points. A self-described “dot … Continue reading Lamont ‘Tory’ Stapleton: “If we want to make a change, we’ve got to start with prisons” →

Nathan Smith: “As long as there is racism in Canada, I want this project to keep going”

Arts, Life, Politics, , ,

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Nathan Smith is tired of being profiled. A Jamaican-Canadian photographer from Victoria, British Columbia, he figured he’d harness the racism he’s experienced as a person of colour in Canada and put it on full display. So began his latest creative work, Profiling Black Excellence, a photo project exploring the experiences of racial profiling felt by … Continue reading Nathan Smith: “As long as there is racism in Canada, I want this project to keep going” →

Shelma Jun: “Climbing is in such a different place now”

Politics, Sports, , ,

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Shelma Jun is, by most metrics, an unlikely face for the sport of climbing. A late arrival to the scene — she didn’t begin until her mid-twenties — she lives in New York City, about as far-removed a place from Yosemite and Joshua Tree as they come. Which is kind of the point. A Korean-American … Continue reading Shelma Jun: “Climbing is in such a different place now” →

Michel Chikwanine: “It’s a miracle that I’m here”

Life, Politics, World, ,

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Michel Chikwanine didn’t set out to tell his story. Memories of being held captive as a child soldier, witnessing his native Congo go through two civil wars in the late 1990s, and fleeing with his family to become refugees in Uganda were painful ones to revisit, much less retell. Some stories, however, are too powerful … Continue reading Michel Chikwanine: “It’s a miracle that I’m here” →

Robin Mazumder: “I’m really curious about how living in a city impacts your mental health”

Health, Life, Politics, Science, Urbanism, , , , , , ,

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What if urban planners started viewing themselves as part of a community’s health care team? That’s what Robin Mazumder, a Vanier Scholar and doctoral candidate in cognitive neuroscience at the University of Waterloo, would like to see. Mazumder, a former occupational therapist, started researching the psychological impacts of urban design after working in the mental … Continue reading Robin Mazumder: “I’m really curious about how living in a city impacts your mental health” →