Her Diaspora

Architecture for Humanity Toronto 2009 Lecture Series

2009-08-17T16:48:00.004-04:00

Architecture for Humanity

Friday Foto

2009-08-14T10:00:00.000-04:00

I don't know the origins of the photo, or where this took place, but it breaks my heart.

Remembering Naomi Sims: Black is Beautiful

2009-08-10T15:49:00.007-04:00

Naomi Sims, Cosmopolitan, August 1973

In the 1960s, at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology, Sims classmates urged her to try modeling. On her first attempt not a single agency would accept her...because she was black.

"Black wasn't beautiful then," Sims later told Black Enterprise magazine.

On her second attempt, Sims approached fashion photographers directly. After a New York Times photographer agreed to shoot her for a 1967 supplement, she mailed the supplement to advertising agencies. AT&T then hired her for a television campaign, and she quickly became a hot commodity, making $1,000 per week doing shoots for top designers.

Her success was viewed as a milestone in the civil rights movement, validating that "black is beautiful."

Washington Post's Robin Givhan wrote this week. "It was a cultural revelation."

Sims quit modeling after a short five years and started her own wig business.

She died from breast cancer, August 1st, 2009.

(March 30, 1948 - August 1, 2009)

Sway goes National!

2009-07-15T09:23:00.005-04:00

Sway Magazine is a quarterly magazine that is geared to Black Canadians. The magazine is currently distributed free in the GTA since 2006. Now readers outside the GTA can pick up the magazine for $4.95 at one of the 150 stores across the country (ex: Chapters Indigo). Alan Vernon associate publisher and editorial director at Sway said: “My goal is to make it a national entity that the black community knows, and basically make it our own Essence or Ebony in Canada."
(Information from Marketing Daily, By Matt Semansky, July 15/09)

CBFF Monthly Film Club presents: The Legacy of Frances-Anne Solomon, Sunday July 19th

2009-07-14T21:06:00.005-04:00

The Canadian Black Film Festival is thrilled to announce the July session for their monthly Film Club - a tribute to the highly-acclaimed Frances-Anne Solomon, one of the most prolific Film/TV directors, producers and playwrights of her generation! She is best known for her work on the TV series ‘Lord Have Mercy’, and her most recent film, 'A Winter's Tale' that has received many prestigious international awards.

In addition to the screenings, we’re pleased to be joined by business and life coach extraordinaire Sonia Byrne after the Q & A for a 45 minute talk entitled ‘Fearless Networking: Making the most of your first impression’. Get powerful advice on the use of networking to increase your contacts and grow your business.

SUN JULY 19 National Film Board of Canada 150 John Street (NW corner of John & Richmond) Time: 1 pm - 5 pm Admission: $10 Gen / $8 Students & Seniors (with valid ID) *NOTE: For advance tickets, please contact Andrew at: andrewmahorn@gmail.com /905-999-2629

Jumping on the Bike Band Wagon

2009-07-14T20:56:00.002-04:00

Fingers crossed Toronto may be getting a new bike-sharing program (2 years after BikeShare stopped operating). Hopefully getting off and rolling by Spring 2010 with 3000 bikes around T.O.

Toronto Garbage Strike...

2009-07-14T20:41:00.005-04:00

So I'm in Europe for the past couple of weeks...while in London I'm going on and on about how London needs more garbage cans around the city, cuz I have nowhere to toss my gum and that maybe I should write a letter to the Queen. Walking to work downtown Toronto today all the trash bins are still shrink wrapped. The little things we take for granted and come to expect. The good thing although, we seemed to be well conditioned...garbage is "neatly" piled around bins.

Bike through the Trees

2009-06-25T09:03:00.002-04:00

Bamboo bike! You can recycle everything! Love it!
Alex Lentati Photo

Israel/Palestine: Mapping Models of Statehood and Paths to Peace

2009-06-19T13:32:00.002-04:00

The purpose of this conference is to explore which state model would be the best to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, respecting the rights to self-determination of both Israelis/Jews and Palestinians. Despite the current diplomatic focus on the two-state model, the continued failure to bring peace to the region highlights the necessity of rigorously examining all options for a resolution of the conflict. The conference seeks to systematically measure the two state model against the promise of alternatives; very specifically the potential in the model of a single bi-national state.

Co-sponsored by Queen's University anYork University. An official U50 initiative, part of York University's 50th Anniversary celebrations.

June 22 - 24, 2009.
York University, Toronto.

http://www.yorku.ca/ipconf/
From Centre for Social Justice

Canada's abandoned citizens: public forum

2009-06-19T13:23:00.001-04:00

The Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN), Amnesty International Canada, and the Muslim Law Students' Association at the University of Toronto invite you to attend a panel discussion event entitled:

Canada's abandoned citizens:
Abousfian Abdelrazik, Husseyin Celil and Omar Khadr

The event will involve a discussion of the plights of Abdelrazik, Celil and Khadr, the government's duty to protect its citizens abroad and the constitutionality of the government's decisions to date in the three cases.

Confirmed speakers:

Barbara Jackman, Immigration and refugee lawyer
Chris MacLeod, lawyer for Husseyin Celil
Yavar Hameed, lawyer for Abousfian Abdelrazik

Additional speakers to be announced shortly.

Thursday, June 25
Doors open at 6:30pm
Panel discussion begins at 7:00pm
Q&A session follows at 8:30pm
Debates Room
Hart House, University of Toronto
7 Hart House Circle
TTC: Queen's Park

Suggested donation: $5
Light refreshments will be served.

For more information, please e-mail gta@caircan.ca or phone 416-732-2965.
For special accommodations, please contact us at least two weeks in advance.

CAIR-CAN and Amnesty International Canada have also launched a postcard campaign for Abdelrazik, Celil and Khadr. If you would like to participate in this campaign, please e-mail gta@caircan.ca for details.

From Centre for Social Justice

Arrete! Stop The Throttler!

2009-06-11T14:35:00.007-04:00

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms says that all Canadians have 2.(b) "freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication!" So then why are the communication companies, Bell and Rogers, changing the way Canadians access the Internet? "Throttling" is the new term that limits Internet subscribers and ultimately changes how the Internet works. Instead of users deciding how we use the Internet, throttling is now trying to"shape" our traffic.

The Internet is supposed to be a neutral resource, where people have choice and world access. Large companies are now trying to filter the ways in which we can access the Internet...I believe the word is censorship and we can't let that happen! Read more at:

Save Out Net

Kids Under 11 Smoking

2009-06-11T13:50:00.005-04:00

I know this is completely off topic of what I usually discuss, but this is something that really outrages me! If you have children can you please think about them for half a minute and have the decency not to smoke around them. I see it all too oftem people pushing their prams down the sidewalk or holding their child's hand with a cigarette in the other. This past Monday a woman in Vaughan is one of the first persons charged under the new law that bans smoking in cars that are carrying children under 16 yrs of age. The woman had three kids in the car all under 11. The Ministry of Health says that the smoke concentrated in a small area like a car can be 27 times more than in a house. Under the new law, a person can be fined up to $250 which I personally don't think is enough!

Pro Canadian Programming!

2009-06-10T15:08:00.004-04:00

I love this! It is about time that a funded organization backed research in Canadian culture. Hopefully this will catapult into more interest in this area. We need to create long term goals in order to have a Canadian voice and to hopefully create rules and regulations that will guarantee autonomy for Canadian boradcasting:

Please check out the Star today: Atkinson fellow to study Canadian media

Art Work-Work in Art: Immigrants & the Arts

2009-06-03T12:00:00.001-04:00

CERIS – The Ontario Metropolis Centre

Presents a Public Seminar

Art Work- Work in Art:

Immigrants and the Arts

Date: Friday, Jun 12, 2009

12:00 p.m. to 2:00 pm

Moderator:
Dr. Luin Goldring, CERIS Domain Leader, Citizenship & Social, Cultural and Civic Integration

Panelists:

- Tamara Toledo, Executive Director, Latin American Canadian Art Project, LACAP

- Haema Sivanesan, Executive Director, South Asian Visual Arts Centre, SAVAC

- Katerina Atanassova, Curator, McMichael Canadian Art Collection

- Janet Mador, Executive Director, Art Heart, and Bethany J. Osborne, Ph.D. Student, OISE/UT

Description:

This CERIS seminar concerns immigrants and the arts, with a focus on visual arts. The purpose of the seminar is to address the tension between the recognition that culture and the arts are key to the vitality of cities like Toronto, and the challenges experienced by many immigrants in finding work in their area of expertise—in this case in the arts. The seminar will provide a forum for artists to problematize and discuss specific concerns regarding a) the challenges migrants face as artists to entry in the arts sector, b) the ways artists negotiate and frame their identities in the process of packing artistic production, c) the role of funding bodies and gallery practices in shaping “immigrant art” and/or art created by newcomers and finally, d) the way artists develop an aesthetic in the context of Canadian multicultural policy and Canadian policy-inspired constructions of ethnicity.

Location: 246 Bloor St. West, 5th Floor, Room 548
(St. George subway station, Bedford Street exit)

This seminar is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.
Please RSVP to ceris.reception@utoronto.ca or call (416) 946-3110.

Seminar presentations are posted on our website after the event, to view please visit: http://ceris.metropolis.net

GTA Measures Diversity

2009-06-03T10:15:00.003-04:00

Just 13 per cent of Greater Toronto Area (GTA) leaders are visible minorities, relative to 49.5 per cent of the population studied in the region, finds a report recently released by Ryerson University's Diversity Institute on behalf of DiverseCity: The Greater Toronto Leadership Project. (Ryerson University)

Wendy Cukier, founder of Ryerson University's Diversity Institute, co-authored the report with Margaret Yap: "Now that we have a clearer picture of where we stand as a region, we're in a much better position to do something about it," says Cukier.

Check out their 8 Initiatives for Change

Ryerson University News
Diversity Toronto Website

2009-05-26T10:29:00.001-04:00

Follow my blog with bloglovin´

Advertising at its best (I hope you can feel my burning sarcasm through your monitor)

2009-05-25T09:03:00.005-04:00

I'm shaking...this has to be some sick joke!

Cutting Identity?!

2009-05-22T13:39:00.006-04:00

On April 16th, a 7 year old boy, in Thunder Bay, Ont. who attends McKellar Park Central Public School, had his hair cut by a teaching assistant.

The teaching assistant observed the boy having difficulty reading in the computer lab at school; she then proceeded to take the boy into the hallway and trim his bangs with scissors. The teacher's assistant has since been suspended from her job.

"The seven-year-old boy had chin-length hair before the incident last month. His mother said staff at McKellar Park Central Public School were aware her son was letting his hair grow so that he could take part in traditional First Nations dancing (CBC)."

"David Mackenzie, an assistant to the Crown Attorney, said that the decision to not lay an assault charge was made with strict accordance to Crown policy (The Star)."

The boy's mother, says that the teacher's assistant's actions were "culturally disrespectful."

"The mother has hired Toronto lawyer Julian Falconer, who specializes in human rights (The Star)."

Please read both articles. It is very interesting to read the different ways in which CBC and The Star present this story.

Article from The Star
Article from CBC

Providing a Voice

2009-05-20T22:18:00.000-04:00

STOLEN FROM AFRICA----INTERVIEW ON MUCH MUSIC
Uploaded by STOLENFROMAFRICA. - News videos hot off the press.

STOLEN FROM AFRICA is a Toronto Based Movement used to promote cultural and historical awareness through education, fashion, music and the arts.

More to Come...

Ingrained in our Society

2009-05-14T11:19:00.004-04:00

The Star today has an article about a woman's son being called a n----- by 3 different children at his school. Jeffrey Reitz published a study finding that skin colour is the biggest barrier to immigrants feeling that they belong in Canada.

"Among minorities born in Canada, blacks have the lowest sense of belonging, the lowest level of trust in others and the weakest sense of Canadian identity. They are the least likely to vote," Reitz and Ryerson University assistant professor Rupa Banerjee wrote in the book Multiculturalism and Social Cohesion (quoted from The Star)."

The comments below the articles on the Star website always amaze me, here are two that are shocking:

Racism? In Canada you say?
Whenever, and wherever, a story on racism is popular reading. But let's put it in perspective. I am a first generation immigrant to Canada. I belong to the visible minority group. I have lived in Canada for over 38 years. Not once has anything racist happened to me, not 38 years ago, not now. This year mark the first time in US history a black man has been elected the president. What more proof does one need to see that racism is no longer a priority problem in most part of North America, especially in Canada? Will racism raise it's ugly head in the future? Possibly, but we really have more pressing things to worry about than racism at this stage of our country's history, such as global warming, possible pandemics, food shortages, world wide shortage of fuel, destruction of rain forest, environmental pollution etc. These are the issues which can potentially kill vast numbers of human beings, no matter what race you are. So let's get the priorities right.
Submitted by xactlyme5 at 7:57 AM Thursday, May 14 2009

Agree 2

Disagree 1

Whites faced even greater discrimination than blacks
Whites overcame(Irish, Italians, Ukranians etc). I thing its time especially for the blacks to stop whining. Barak Obama did not whine himself to the top. He earned it.
Submitted by Egon at 7:56 AM Thursday, May 14 2009
Agree 5

Disagree

I need a moment to calm down...what do you think?
Title links to the article.

2009-05-13T12:01:00.000-04:00

So I'm reading this textbook for class (Strangers at Our Gates: Canadian Immigration and Immigration Policy, 1540-2006 by Valerie Knowles) and I'm completely amazed at the extend to which government was trying to keep Canada White and British, considering how Canada (speaking about the government and not Canadian citizens on a whole) loves to boast that Canada is this wonderful mosaic. Well maybe it is diverse now but don't act like you wanted it to be...I'm just saying.

From Strangers at Our Gates pg. 117 - 119:

"Attempts to Exclude Black American Immigrants

When it came to prospective American settles, however, the Immigration Branch under Scott continued to solicit only white farmers, especially those farming on the Prairies and in the Midwest states, As was the case during the Sifton years, no attempt was made to recruit black agriculturalists, for blacks were widely regarded as being cursed with the burden of their African ancestry (p. 117)."

"Canadians prided themselves on being removed from the racial troubles that had developed in their neighbour to the south following the collapse of Reconstruction in the southern states. And the Immigration Branch was bent on keeping Canada free from such racial tensions. Writing in 1912, shortly after some American blacks had succeeded in making it to the Canadian West, William Scott observed: "The Lincoln said could be settled only by shipping one and all back to a tract of land in Africa, is one in which Canadians have no desire to share. It is to be hopes that climatic conditions will prove unsatisfactory to those new settlers and that the fertile lands of the West will be left to be cultivated by the white race only (p. 118)."

[...]

"In 1911, therefore, steps were taken to have Canada acquire the first racial exclusion ordinance in the Western Hemisphere....The recommendation was never implemented...In September a general election threw the Liberals out of office (p.119)."

a little reminder...

2009-05-12T10:00:00.003-04:00

ps: remember that we can't be complacent in this thinking that purchasing something in support of charity is enough and that we've done our part. Support, support! But remember that action evokes change...get out.

Rosa Loves

2009-05-12T09:05:00.001-04:00

I came upon this cool website recently that sells really artistic graph tees. Great idea...Behind each tee is a story or a person or community in need. The low down: the tee will remain for sale until the donation goal amount is reached...here is some info from the site:

"We hope to encourage individual people to get involved in the community around them on a somewhat tangible scale. We will accomplish this by providing financial support to those in need by infiltrating the t-shirt industry with a new perspective of how clothing can serve a purpose other than outfitting. Everyone has a story. Everyone has a need. By using art and creativity, we hope to foster hope and encouragement through the aid of apparel. Each story will be told through stimulating graphics and actual text that will appear on the inverse of the shirt directly in line with the heart, where the Rosa Loves movement stems from.

Rosa Loves is less about charity and more about awareness, awareness that we are all apart of something greater and are therefore joined by common threads."

"The main idea that took shape was the issue of who, exactly, would benefit from the money that was raised through shirt sales. Instead of donating to larger charity organizations that were already established and had financial support through other ways - it would go to specific individuals with needs in the community around us. It was in agreement that even though there are many wonderful organizations that are doing great, meaningful, and life-changing work, the public can already donate through other avenues - and the cause of the donation seems a little far removed from our reality. It's usually thoughts like,"those people over there" that perpetuate a sense of complacency and lack of concern."

Check it out (title links to site)

2009-05-11T09:00:00.001-04:00

Israel and Canada: Military and Political Connections

Friday, May 15
7:30 PM
Room 5-250
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE)
University of Toronto
252 Bloor Street West (at St. George subway)

Speakers:

Kole Kilibarda – author, “Canadian and Israeli Defense-Industrial and Homeland Security Ties” (2009), a report for The New Transparency: Surveillance and Social Sorting research project; and Organizer with Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid

Yves Engler – author, The Black Book of Canadian Foreign Policy; and Canada in Haiti: Waging War on the Poor Majority (with Anthony Fenton)

Discussant: Jason Kunin
Moderator: b.h. Yael

Canada’s close links to Israel, and support for its illegal occupation of Palestine are well known. But the recent assault on Gaza, fully backed by the Harper government, exposed the real meaning of this connection. Hear KOLE KILIBARDA explain the military and industrial links and YVES ENGLER describe the political context of the Israel/Canada connection.

A public forum organized by Not In Our Name (NION): Jewish Voices Opposing Zionism; also part of the OPIRG-Toronto People’s History Series and endorsed by Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid
For info: info@NION.ca
NION OPIRG CAIA

2009-05-08T15:23:00.005-04:00

Do some reading..."For Free Expression on Palestine" by Justin Podur.

Food Share

2009-05-06T17:04:00.000-04:00

More and more people are remaking how we are activists in creating change.
Food Share is one company that is reinventing helping.

Food Share is not only a food bank but also looking at all areas of how food get to our tables.

A non-profit agency working to improve access to affordable and healthy food from field to table: from the growing, processing and distribution of food to its purchasing, cooking and consumption.

Food Share operates innovative grassroots projects that promote healthy eating, teach food preparation and cultivation, develop community capacity and create non-market-based forms of food distribution.

(Check them out: title links to their website)

poem

2009-05-03T09:38:00.000-04:00

by t fay l

No One is Illegal

2009-05-01T12:27:00.001-04:00

Sick of Individualistic Culture!!!!!

2009-05-01T09:37:00.006-04:00

I'm reading the Star online (click the title to read the article) today and I can't help but to feel outraged...as you may (or may not know) the Tamil protest that started this Sunday has now been pushed off the street and onto the sidewalk by the RCMP. They claimed that blocking the street was against emergency regulations because of the many hospitals that line the street (OK I understand that having access to hospitals is definitely important). But as I'm reading the comments below it seems as though Torontonians care little about the issues that are affecting others and care only about the traffic or the noise and how this protest is inconveniencing them. "Who will pay for the many police that have been assigned to patrol the protest?" Are you KIDDING me?? Is this really the only thing that Toronto cares about? What about the thousands of innocent children that are being killed? ~~I think~~ I know that if your family was being murdered unjustifiably you would want somebody to listen. So how about we stop thinking about our selves tucked away in our up-to-now safe (knock on wood) country and think about others...think about it.

2009-04-30T09:30:00.000-04:00

Pickering High hosts ninth annual East Meets West show

2009-04-29T21:48:00.004-04:00

I gotta give it to my beloved high school, Pickering High, for keeping this event alive. I can still remember the pride, ahem years ago, when we graced the stage to perform an African inspired dance or my cuz belting a passion-inspired song. I gotta find that tape...does anyone have a VCR?

East Indian and West Indian cultures will collide for a talent show fundraising event at Pickering High School this Thursday, April 30th for the 9th annual East Meets West cultural show.

Doors open at 5:30pm and the show starts at 6pm to 8pm. 180 Church St. N., Ajax.

The show is intended to promote unity between the cultures while sharing their uniqueness.

Tickets are available at the door for $6 for Pickering High School students and $7 for guests; children under age five are free.

Proceeds from the event will be donated to the Caribbean Children Foundation, a charity which brings medical attention to critically ill children in the Caribbean.

2009-04-29T09:26:00.005-04:00

I walked down University Avenue at around 6:15 pm on Monday, to the sounds of drums mimicking my steps. Someone passed me a pamphlet. Red flags of all sizes blew in the wind. A woman chanted on a mic, “No more!” and the crowd shouted “genocide!”. She shouted “President Obama...” and they repeated, “Save the Tamils!” University Avenue has been blocked from Dundas St. W. to Queen St. W., outside the American Consulate, since Sunday in the continued vigil for the United Nation, and the Canadian and American government to take action against the killing of over 70,000 Sri Lankans.

The current civil war started in 1983 over the deaths of Sri Lankan soldiers, has become worse in the last couple of months. The Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lankan government has been accused of discriminated against Tamils, who are battling for an independent state in the north and east of the country.The Sri Lankan government has rejected a call made by The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Sunday for a ceasefire that would allow thousands of civilians caught in the conflict zone to get to safety.

The Tigers have been declared a terrorist organization by the Canadian government. But protesters say that the Tigers are a liberation army that was forced to fight against their oppressive government.

Similar events are taking place around the world.

The Government says:
Media Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said that "...military operations will continue to free the remaining civilians."

Brig. Shavendra Silva, a top commander in the conflict zone, said his troops were on the verge of crushing the remaining rebels and ending the 25-year civil war.

The rebels promised the civilians protection, Rajeshwarai, a resident, said, "but they did not keep the promise."

Which ever side you support, the main point remains, innocent people are being killed.
(photo by TFLucas)

Question of the Week:

2009-04-26T15:33:00.000-04:00

Do you exist only in relation to others and your relative temporal-spatial existence or is there an internal self not describable in words that is not tainted by outside impressions and constructions of the society in which we live?

2009-04-25T12:34:00.000-04:00

2009-04-25T11:58:00.004-04:00

So I finished "Their Eyes Were Watching God" yesterday, and I have to share this book. The story is about a woman who refuses to settle with her circumstance and continues to search until she finds true happiness. Written in hard Southern phonetics of early 20th century following the abolishment of slavery, Zora Neale Hurston, effectively illustrates the inner workings and passion of a Janie (the protagonist). Beautiful. The book was written by Hurston in 1937 and at first received much criticism from her peers. Important themes rang clear throughout the novel such as issues of black autonomy (Jim Crow laws were still in effect) appropriate gender roles and the appearance of race or degree of blackness.The book was recently made into a film by Oprah Winfrey.

15 years later...

2009-04-23T19:12:00.006-04:00

15 years ago, over a period of 100 days, 800,000 Tutsi and Hutu moderates were systematically massacred in a campaign of ethnic cleansing.

SURF

Diaspora Dialogues

2009-04-22T22:18:00.000-04:00

Diaspora Dialogues: free readings and performances by our city's writers and performers. Fiction, poetry, spoken word, theatre and music.
Diaspora Dialogues
Friday, April 24th, 2009
Anthony De Sa and others.
7:00-8:30 pm. Free.
Palmerston Library, 56 Palmerston.

Our Own Skid Row?

2009-04-22T21:31:00.000-04:00

A skid row or skid road is a run-down or dilapidated urban area with a large, impoverished population. The term originally referred literally to a path along which loggers skidded logs (Wikipedia).

A recent report released by the City of Toronto revealed terrifying inequality in a city whose motto is "Diversity, Our Strength". York University Professor Michael Ornstein researched poverty levels among racialized minorities based on data from the 1996 census. The report, "Ethno-Racial Inequality in the City of Toronto: An Analysis of the 1996 Census", has received scant attention from media and politicians, prompting local community groups to begin a campaign to pressure the municipal government to address Toronto's increasingly polarized reality.

The report found that "While 14% of European families live below the Low Income Cut Off, the percentage is much higher for non-Europeans: 32.1% for Aboriginals; 35% for South Asians; 45% for Africans, Blacks and Caribbeans; and 45% for Arabs and West Asians." In addition, of all children, 34% live in poverty; and, of all women, 41% live in poverty; and, of all female lone parents, 60% live in poverty.

Complete Study
The Center for Social Justice

In 1998, after this census Toronto created this slogan, to go with the new coat of arms,"Diversity Our Strength." Which describes the new city (creation of the GTA) and represents the joining of seven municipalities, and the diversity of the city's 2.7 million residents. But what about 2009? In the mist of this economic struggle, these percentages can only get worse.

ACTRA in the News

2009-04-21T09:44:00.003-04:00

"Stars of stage and screen want same protection as unionized workers, such as minimum hourly pay"
Apr 21, 2009 04:30 AM
Robert Benzie
QUEEN'S PARK BUREAU CHIEF

Actors are demanding the Ontario government act to give them the same rights as other workers.

To emphasize their point, their union, ACTRA, dispatched some of Canada's best-known stars of stage and screen to Queen's Park yesterday.

"We are here today to ask for three things: collective bargaining rights for artists; inclusion of artists in the Employment Standards Act, and legal protection for child performers," said Gordon Pinsent.

That would, among other things, allow actors to receive minimum hourly pay and overtime currently unavailable to them.

Labour Minister Peter Fonseca, who has met with ACTRA, said the government has no plans to change the classification in the legislation. (The Toronto Star)
See the Full Article Here

Calling all Actor, Writers, Producers, Directors - Please fill out survey!

2009-04-20T10:59:00.002-04:00

Hello everyone,

I am writing in my capacity as Co-Chair of the ACTRA National/Toronto Diversity Committee and our current Outreach and Education initiative. Please see the link below which takes you to an on-line survey that we are hoping you are able to circulate. We are looking for immediate responses and will be accepting submissions up and until May 22, 2009. We would appreciate your assistance in collecting as many responses as possible. Although the survey is targeted towards ACTRA members we are also accepting submissions from other sectors of the screen based industry.

http://www.actra.ca/actra/control/feature14

The following is some further information on the initiative and the goals of the survey.

"As part of an Outreach and Education Initiative, the ACTRA National/Toronto Diversity committee is seeking opinions and experiences from actors, producers, directors and other creative talent working within Canadian film and television who are either Culturally/Physically Diverse or Aboriginal or work with those communities. Responses collected in survey form will be compiled into a report and tabled at both the ACTRA Toronto and ACTRA National council meetings. Our aim is to identify issues and challenges faced by those who are from, or chose to create projects within, cultural and disability sectors. The Diversity Committee's mandate is to create initiatives that support the building of a Canadian Industry that is inclusive of multiculturalism. We need your voice to help build those initiatives. Should you choose to include your name, ACTRA ensures that all personal data collected in this survey will be held in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998and will not be distributed or shared".

On behalf of my Co-Chairs; Sheila Boyd (Toronto) and Don Jordan (National) we thank you in advance for your support.

Jani Lauzon
Co-Chair
ACTRA National/Toronto
Diversity Committee
jlauzon@actratoronto.com

Skid Row @ ReelWorld

2009-04-19T15:14:00.012-04:00

We went to see "Skid Row" yesterday at the ReelWorld Film Festival. Skid Row, features Pras Michel of the Fugees, who spent 9 days living on the streets of Skid Row in Los Angeles. Skid Row is home to one of the largest stable populations of homeless persons in the US. The streets are lined with cardboard boxes and tents. The population ranges from 7,000 to 8,000 people! This is an eye-opening documentary that puts a face to the homeless of Los Angeles. This film brings to light the underlying issues facing every major city in the country and abroad. Here in Canada we are faced with many of the same issues. Check out the website and trailer: http://www.skidrowthemovie.com/

"Beyond politics, this film speaks to us all."

(To my understanding, Pras, couldn't join us at the screening because he is currently in Somalia. Pras took an interest in the problem of piracy off the African coast last summer and decided to make a documentary about the subject. According to his twitter page (http://twitter.com/prasmichel) it seems as though the situation is very unsafe. Godspeed.)

I'm Not the Indian You Had in Mind

2009-04-17T11:46:00.007-04:00

The ACTRA sponsored "I’m Not the Indian You Had in Mind," screened last night as part of the ReelWorld Film Festival at the Carlton Theatres.

The four minute and twenty-six second short, challenges the stereotypical portrayal of First Nations peoples in the media. This spoken word film offers an insight of how First Nations people today are changing old ideas and empowering themselves in the greater community.

The film takes us through scenes of people in business suits all the way to those in typical urban attire juxtaposed against the loincloth-wearing, tomahawk wielding Natives of the past. This encourages the viewer to examine the profound role that these one-dimensional media representations have played in shaping their perspectives of an entire group of people.

"The man living next door, the woman working in the next cubicle, or the stoic wood carving in front of the cigar store – which Indian did you have in mind?"

Director/writer: Thomas King

Thomas King is a noted novelist and broadcaster who most often writes about Canada's First Nations. He is an outspoken advocate for First Nations causes.

I enjoyed watching the short last night with my ACTRA gals, and love the vision of this piece. Would love to see these ideas shown in a feature. What do you say, Thomas?

Reel World 9th Edition

2009-04-16T17:43:00.011-04:00

The ReelWorld Film Festival kicked off its ninth edition with the Opening Night Screening and Gala Wednesday night at the Scotiabank Theatre with its premier film Gospel Hill.

Actress and entrepreneur, Tonya Lee Williams, founded ReelWorld in 2001 in direct response to a lack of positive diverse stories on screen and sustainable opportunities for emerging talent of colour trying to break into the Canadian entertainment industry. One of ReelWorld's four primary objectives is, "to showcase and promote the work of diverse film and video makers and film artists to Canadian and international audiences." We heard from Tonya Lee Williams herself, Wednesday night, talking about her mission and continued ReelWorld vision.

We were also graced by The Honourable David C. Onley, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. Who congratulated ReelWorld for their continued efforts and stressed the importance that culture industries have on Canadian society as a whole.

Lieutenant Governor Onley, was sworn in on September 5th, 2007 as the first Lieutenant Governor with a disability. Onley's continues his mission to remove physical barriers to people with disabilities and focus on affecting issues such as obstacles to employments and housing.

Gospel Hill, is a film located in Julia, South Carolina, where the residents of a small black neighbourhood are being forced out of their homes to make way for a multimillion-dollar golf course development. Race relations are strained just as they were forty years ago when Peter Malcolm (Samuel Jackson), a black civil rights activist, was assassinated. Dr. Ron Palmer (Giancarlo Esposito), an influential black community leader who runs the emergency clinic in Gospel Hill, is supporting the golf course development in hopes to move up the economic latter. John Malcolm begins to realize that the fight for equality didn't die with his father, that it continues in every breath the town takes, and he knows that if his wife, Sarah Malcom, continues to stir the hornets nest he will be thrust into the position he shared with his father forty years ago (imdb).

Cast: Angela Bassett, Danny Glover, Julia Stiles, Taylor Kitsch
Director: Giancarlo Esposito

ACTRA Diversity was there!

2009-04-16T12:07:00.010-04:00

The Canadian Black Film Festival launched the CBFF Film Club April 12th, 2009.

The film club will show regular screenings that will showcase black world cinema content. Its first screening, at the National Film Board, hosted by Gadley Campbell and Andrew Mahorn, was the feature film Saving God. Saving God is an inner city tale of the eternal struggle between good and evil.

Convicted felon Rev. Armstrong returns back to his neighborhood a changed man looking to take over his father's old church. The neighborhood is tough and full of drugs and gangs. Through Armstrong's tough demeanor and strong faith he tries to make a difference with Norris - a youth on the edge of falling into a lifetime of drugs and gangs. Armstrong must also deal with his past history of violence, the hesitation he encounters by some of his community members and making sure he doesn't fall again (imdb).

The film was directed by Duane Crichton, a Ryerson University film school graduate.
Cast: Ving Rhames (Mission Impossible), Dean McDermott (Notorious), Ricardo Chavira (Desperate Housewives), Dwain Murphy (How She Move) and 2008 Juno Award Nominee Jully Black.

Props to a 90% Canadian cast!!!

Duane Crichton (director) and Dominic Serafino (producer) attended for a post-film Q&A session. Crichton, in his film, wanted to break down the casting of stereotypical characters. The film transcends on many different levels and is a story of redemption. Crichton talked about introducing his film to audiences in the US. When trying to explain that Canada, unlike the states that for the most part has one black history, has many different diasporas resulting in many different types of black histories and stories, he encountered a room of blank stares. This emphasizes the importance of telling diverse Canadian stories. Canada needs to broadcast television that Canadians can identify. There's so much more black history than just the Underground Railroad!

The CBFF Film Club is accepting submissions for future screening sessions (contact Andrew Mahorn: andrewmahorn@gmail.com)
The Film Club is to be held on the 2nd Sunday of every month. Please come out and show your support!

www.savinggodmovie.com