By Cheryl Thompson
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MAYOR’S RACE: Parsing the politics of Mark Saunders’ performative allyship
Toronto’s mayoral election is historic. So many candidates and so many political affiliations, identities, and experiences. Voting is going to be a...
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Black History Month: Making space for Black music in Canadian radio
By Cheryl Thompson and Francesca D’Amico-Cuthbert In 1983, Toronto radio personality Ron Nelson introduced local audiences to the program “Fantastic...
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Black History Month: Eartha Kitt’s forgotten visits to Toronto
If there is one thing I have missed more than anything else during the pandemic, it is nightlife. In 2020, at least 22 music venues, including clubs and...
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EXCERPT FROM ‘UNCLE’: Aunt Jemima in Chicago
Excerpted with permission from Uncle: Race, Nostalgia and the Politics of Loyalty, published this month by Coach House Books. Thompson, a Ryerson...
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The ‘bashment’ parties of my childhood are Black history
In 2002, reggae artist Sean Paul shot the video for his song ‘Get Busy/Like Glue,’ in Vaughan. Directed by Toronto’s own Director X, the video begins with...
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THOMPSON: What if the Caribana Carnival went back to its roots?
“The watching Torontonians didn’t cheer, didn’t wave,” reported the Toronto Daily Star on August 5, 1967, as “Caribana” left Varsity Stadium on Bloor...
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THOMPSON: Saunders’ departure won’t fix the problem of policing in Toronto
What can be said about chief Mark Saunders’ sudden departure from the Toronto Police Service (TPS)? In truth, I am neither happy nor disappointed about...
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THOMPSON: Policing the boundaries of space and race during COVID-19
When a Black person is killed by police, it feels like Black people are suddenly taking up a lot of space in Canadian media. I’ve had Canadian producers...
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Beverly Mascoll, a trailblazing Black entrepreneur
At this year’s Academy Awards, Hair Love won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film. The six-minute film tells the story of an African American father...
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The complicated history of Canadian blackface
In 1841, travelling American circuses came to Toronto for the first time and blackface came with them. According to University of Toronto theatre...
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Janice Reid’s “Real Love” intersects race and space
Earlier this week, Mayor John Tory and mayoral candidates Saron Gebresellassi, Knia Singh and Jennifer Keesmaat debated transit, affordable housing...
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Marcus Garvey’s place in Toronto’s history
For the past several years, 355 College Street has been home to Thymeless Bar, a reggae nightspot situated just steps from Kensington Market. What many...