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The Peabody and International Emmy Award-winning host of Hip-Hop Evolution, Canadian rapper Shad is something of a hip-hop polymath. Born in Kenya to Rwandan parents and raised in London, Ontario, he holds a master’s degree in liberal studies from Simon Fraser University, is the former host of CBC Radio’s Q, and once beat Drake for … Continue reading Shad: “We really need each other”
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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”
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Across Latin America, from the plains of Mexico to the jungle of Paraguay, live a cloistered Germanic people. In Menno Moto, a memoir of an eight-month, 45,000 kilometre motorcycle journey across the Americas, Mennonite writer Cameron Dueck searches for common ground within his cultural diaspora. From issues of drug smuggling and water rights in Mexico, to … Continue reading Cameron Dueck: “Mennonite has a lot of definitions”
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In photographer Kiliii Yüyan’s work, he has drawn on both wilderness survival skills and empathy — qualities he deems “critical” for the projects he embarks on in extreme environments and cultures outside his own. “Human cultures are the most complicated things to understand,” he says. “Human culture is so rich. There’s so much to it.” … Continue reading Kiliii Yüyan (Part 2): “Let reality unfold before you”
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Carla Funk grew up in a place of logging trucks and God, pellet guns and parables. Every Sunday, she sat with her mother and brother in the same pew at the Mennonite church while her dad stayed home with his cigarettes and a fridge full of whiskey. Part ode to childhood, part love letter to … Continue reading Carla Funk: “Small towns do something to the imagination”
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On a damp Wednesday morning in Toronto, Shad is standing barefoot in the driveway of his stacked townhouse complex, decked out in shorts and his ubiquitous Manifesto hoodie. He is doing so because an interviewer is lost, having already knocked on the wrong door once. Upon meeting, he smiles and apologizes that first, he need … Continue reading Shad: “I’m always looking for hope”
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Matt Falk was born to do comedy. A stand-up coming from Niverville, Manitoba, Falk has been performing on stages ever since the first high school talent shows where he was handed a microphone. “I was that kid in school who was constantly trying to get attention. I was the class clown, but the annoying class … Continue reading Matt Falk: “No healthy person is seeking the affirmation of strangers night after night”
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Chali 2na is a born storyteller. Gifted with one of the most iconic voices in the history of hip-hop — a deep, rich baritone that rides over the groove and pulls you in with gravitational force — the Jurassic 5 and Ozomatli emcee breaks into a smile as he begins to tell his greatest story … Continue reading Chali 2na: “In the end, it’s all artistic expression”
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Sean Stephenson has made a career out of making lemonade. When the Chicago native was born, doctors predicted he would not survive more than 24 hours because of a rare bone disorder, Osteogenesis Imperfecta. “My bones are more fragile than most people, and because of that […] sneezing could break ribs, or putting on a … Continue reading Sean Stephenson: “Your interpretation is what matters in life”