By Cheryl Thompson
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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...
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The roots of Doug Ford’s white saviour complex
Race can be an awkward topic of discussion, especially if raised by a Black person. In this instance, some people can interpret the topic as a personal...
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Black History Month: Aunt Jemima Kitchens and a history of southern nostalgia in Toronto
In October, 1962, Toronto Daily Star writer Gordon McCaffrey reported that Metro Toronto was becoming a key target area in a massive invasion of Ontario...
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Revisited ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ at Buddies shines a spotlight on racialized labour
Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird” is most remembered for the 1962 film adaptation starring Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch, a white lawyer in the...
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Scarborough’s gun violence a symptom of larger issues
In 2007, Toronto Life painted a depressing, dreary picture of Scarborough as being filled with street gang violence. In July, when 11 shootings took place...
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Caribana and the meaning of ordered chaos
For nearly 40 years, Toronto’s Caribbean carnival was called Caribana. Since 2006, it’s been “Scotiabank Caribana,” “the Scotiabank Caribbean Carnival...