We are first and foremost concerned with the way in which a McGill administrative head has sent a message from the Media Relations Office (MRO) to all McGill constituents prior to the petition even being submitted – this raises the question of whether or not this petition and our demands have even gone through the official procedural channels. We suspect that our demands were dismissed without due process. We would also like to point to the power and racial dynamics in the response to our open letter: a group of racialized students which includes Palestinians who are directly impacted by the colonial violence that Zionism promotes are being told by a Vice-Principal of an elite institution – that is built and founded upon the forced labor of enslaved Black and Indigenous people – that our demands are a “misuse” of EDI values. 

We consider the response to our open letter nothing short of an abuse of power and a fear tactic to silence our just demands – which have already been signed by over 1 100 of McGill constituents and counting. Provost Christopher Manfredi: you are abusing your position of power and are using coercive language to deter your constituents from supporting our open letter, while vilifying our anti-racist demands as “unacceptable.” We have already received messages from constituents who had signed the letter, informing us that people in their departments are being targeted for supporting the open letter and bullied into removing their signatures. These are constituents who have expressed their solidarity with us and wish to support but feel as though they are unable to do so given the hate messages they have received. Despite these scare tactics, employed by both the administration and Zionists on campus, students are showing their support for Palestinian liberation, as they continue to sign and share this petition, which is clearly expressing popular student anger at McGill’s continued complicity in violent settler-colonial ideologies, from Turtle Island to Palestine.

The email sent by the Provost office to the McGill community is not only itself confirmation of what we know to be true and have experienced, it is also evidence of what the letter denounces: McGill is not a welcoming place for Palestinians, Arabs, Muslim people, and their allies, and it has no desire to become a welcoming place for these communities. In particular, this following excerpt from McGill’s EDI Strategic Plan 2020-2025 Vision subsection contradicts the claim that the Provost is making:

Universities across Canada are presently called upon to recognize and address historical and contemporary forces that result in social inequities in postsecondary contexts. Many such forces have their roots in ideologies and practices – such as colonialism, slavery, and patriarchy. Although these ideologies and practices no longer reflect McGill’s values, their harmful effects persist. As such, our institutional commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) must acknowledge and seek to address the lasting effects of historic injustices that continue to challenge equal opportunities to access, and to succeed within, the McGill community.

Conceptual Framework- Equity (p. 3):

Equity, unlike the notion of equality, is not about sameness of treatment. It denotes fairness and justice in process and in results. Equitable outcomes often require differential treatment and resource redistribution to achieve a level playing field among all individuals and communities. This requires recognizing and addressing barriers to opportunities for all to thrive in our University environment.

Despite McGill’s supposed commitment to recognizing and addressing the way that McGill upholds the legacy of violent ideologies, administrators continuously refuse to listen to and amend the very real harm they have enacted on racialized communities. This proves that McGill has no intention of addressing the “historical and contemporary forces that result in social inequities.” Further, the claim that our demands for the University to denounce an apartheid state – which is currently inflicting deadly violence against a colonized people – is a “misuse of our EDI-based plans and policies” is particularly abhorrent. These policies are made for our use and it is the responsibility of the Provost to apply them in ways that promote justice for racialized and colonized students facing entrenched systemic violence. 

Furthermore, framing the current events as “erupted violence” and “unrest” that has an effect on “Palestinian and Jewish members of the campus community” is shockingly irresponsible. This disingenuous framing is violent in several ways: (1) it conflates Zionism with Judaism. This is hugely insulting to the anti-Zionist Jewish students who signed the petition, in addition to constituting a classic trope of anti-Semitism, which portrays all Jews as monolithic and supportive of the oppression of Palestinians. It also implies that any criticism of the state of Israel is anti-Semitic, which  is dangerous and wrong. As a settler-colonial regime, Israel is as deserving of severe criticism as any other settler-colonial, racist or otherwise oppressive state. (2) it implies that Palestine and Israel are engaged in “conflict” or “unrest”. This vocabulary implies equal power and responsibility, and serves to deliberately ignore the blatantly unbalanced reality of what is occurring in Palestine: settler colonialism, military occupation, land theft, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing of stateless Palestinians, by a powerful settler-colonial Israeli state, its military forces, and its settlers. Implying otherwise is shallow and violent, and false, since it serves to hide the oppressive system of colonial domination which has lain at the root of the violence since 1948. 

Additionally the Provost’s response claims that our open letter demands to “exclude some worldviews and ways of self-identifying from our campus.” We wish to point out that Zionism is not a simple worldview nor is it a way of self-identifying; Zionism is an ideology that upholds and promotes a violent settler-colonial structure that is currently terrorizing, maiming, and killing Palestinians to enforce and expand the Zionist colonization of Palestinian land. 

The administration’s statement also conveniently sidestepped a central demand of our petition: divestment from all institutions complicit in the aforementioned atrocities. This is nothing new. In the 1980s, Black and African students demanded that McGill divest from South African apartheid. This campaign was largely driven by the McGill South Africa Committee, which pushed for divestment through educational workshops, sit-ins, and protests. McGill officially divested in 1986, although the practical implementation of total divestment took a few years. This push was reinforced by a “four-hour protest by 1 200 McGill students” in order to pressure the University to cut all academic or financial ties with institutions dealing with South Africa. McGill therefore has a history of promoting and financing apartheid states, only divesting after sustained student pressure. And that is why we are pressuring. 

We reject McGill administration instrumentalizing the language of care, community, and inclusion in its institutional effort to silence dissidents and perpetuate a damaging “both-sides-to-blame” narrative. As we stated in our open letter “If McGill fails to actively respond to and institutionalize our demands, then it would confirm what most racialized students on campus feel, which is that the McGill administration’s creation of various ad-hoc committees, policies, and working groups are lip service meant to assuage our well-founded and immediate concerns.” 

Despite it all, we hope that McGill University will revise their official statement regarding our open letter and engage with it in good faith. In the meantime, we urge constituents of McGill University to consider the email sent by the Provost with a more critical eye, and we hope that the document below will help in doing so. 

Below is a critical analysis of the Provost’s email:

The post Official Statement by Organizers re: Provost and Vice-Principal Academic Christopher Manfredi’s Response to the Open Letter appeared first on The McGill Daily.

A central complaint of the petition is that Palestinian students and those who advocate for their rights face intimidation and bullying at McGill. Whether or not one agrees with the rest of the petition, it is incumbent on the University administration to take this complaint seriously, which the MRO manifestly does not do. Indeed, in its peremptory assumption of bad faith, the MRO is but the latest example of the very intimidation that the petition highlights.

This clear double standard raises alarm bells. The administration’s frequent interventions in student politics and campus debates over Israel-Palestine – from Principal Fortier’s in 2016 to Deputy Provost Fabrice Labeau’s in 2019 to Provost Manfredi’s last week – all invoke EDI selectively and invidiously, consistently extending protections to one side and rebuke to another.

This stance serves to diminish understanding rather than to nourish and sustain it. It undermines faith in the university’s intentions both within our gates and beyond.

Signatories:

Aaron Erlich, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Arts

Ahmed El-Geneidy, Professor, Urban Planning, Faculty of Engineering

Alanna Thain, Associate Professor, Department of English, Faculty of Arts

Alberto Perez-Gomez, Emeritus Professor, School of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering

Alex Ketchum, Faculty Lecturer, IGSF, Faculty of Arts

Alex M. McComber, Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences

Allan Greer, Professor, Department of History and Classical Studies, Faculty of Arts

Amal Elsana, Research Fellow, School of Social Work, Faculty of Arts

Anaïs Salamon, Associate Librarian, Islamic Studies Library

Andrea Pinkney, Associate Professor, School of Religious Studies, Faculty of Arts

Andrea Miller-Nesbitt, Associate Librarian, Schulich Library

Andrew Kirk, Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering

Antoine Damiens, Postdoctoral fellow, Department of English, Faculty of Arts

Ara Osterweil, Associate Professor, Department of English, Faculty of Arts

Aslıhan Gürbüzel, Assistant Professor, Institute of Islamic Studies, Faculty of Arts

Barry Eidlin, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Arts

Brett H. Meyer, Associate Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering

Carrie Rentschler, Associate Professor, Art History and Communication Studies, Faculty of Arts

Catherine Leclerc, Associate Professor, Département des littératures de langue française, de traduction et de creation

Catherine C. LeGrand, Associate Professor, Department of History and Classical Studies, Faculty of Arts

Colin Scott, Director, Centre for Indigenous Conservation and Development Alternatives (CICADA), Anthropology, Faculty of Arts

Daniel Schwartz, Assistant Professor, German and Russian Cinema, Languages, Literatures and Cultures, Faculty of Arts

Darin Barney, Professor, Department of Art History and Communication Studies, Faculty of Arts

Debra Thompson, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Arts

Derek Nystrom, Associate Professor, Department of English, Faculty of Arts

Diana K. Allan, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology & Institute for the Study of International Development, Faculty of Arts

Eduardo Kohn, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Arts

Edward Dunsworth, Assistant Professor, Department of History and Classical Studies, Faculty of Arts

Ehab Lotayef, IT and Technical Services Manager, ECE, Faculty of Engineering

Elizabeth Patitsas, Assistant professor, School of Computer Science & Department of Integrated Studies in Education

Elsbeth Heaman, Professor, History and Classical Studies, Faculty of Arts

Erin Cole, Clinical Research Coordinator, Faculty of Medicine

Fataneh Fasih, Administrative Coordinator, Faculty of Arts

Faye Siluk, E-IDEA Initiative, Faculty of Engineering

Francesco Amodio, Associate Professor, Department of Economics & Institute for the Study of International Development, Faculty of Arts

Frederick Kingdom, Full Professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences

Gabriella Coleman, Associate Professor, Art History and Communication Studies, Faculty of Arts

Gavin Walker, Associate Professor, Department of History and Classical Studies, Faculty of Arts

Gloria Bell, Assistant Professor, Department of Art History and Communication Studies, Faculty of Arts

Grégoire Hervouet-Zeiber, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Arts

Hamish van der Ven, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science and Bieler School of Environment

Hasana Sharp, Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy

Helen Ogundeji, Student Affairs Administrator, Institute for Health and Social Policy, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences

Hongping Tan, Associate Professor, Desautels Faculty of Management

Ipek Türeli, Associate Professor & Canada Research Chair in Architectures of Spatial Justice, School of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering

Ismael Vaccaro, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology and Bieler School of Environment

Jason Carmichael, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Arts

Jen Gobby, Course Lecturer, Bieler School of Environment

Jenny Burman, Associate Professor, Department of Art History and Communication Studies

Jeremy Tai, Assistant Professor, Department of History and Classical Studies, Faculty of Arts

Jessica Ruglis, Associate Professor, Educational & Counselling Psychology, Faculty of Education

Jesus Perez-Magallon, Professor, Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, Faculty of Arts

Jonathan Sterne, Professor, Art History and Communication Studies, Faculty of Arts

Juan Serpa, Associate Professor, Desautels Faculty of Management

Kaleem Siddiqi, Professor, School of Computer Science, Faculty of Science

Katherine Lemons, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Arts

Katherine Zien, Associate Professor, Department of English, Faculty of Arts

Kathleen Rice, Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences

Kelly Gordon, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Arts

Kerry Sloan, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law

Kristin Norget, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Arts

Lara Braitstein, Associate Professor, School of Religious Studies, Faculty of Arts

Leslie Sabiston, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Arts

Lisa Stevenson, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Arts

Louigi Addario-Berry, Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Faculty of Science

Luca Maria Pesando, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Arts

Madhav G. Badami, Associate Professor, School of Urban Planning and Bieler School of Environment

Malek Abisaab, Associate Professor, Department of History and Classical Studies & Institute of Islamic Studies, Faculty of Arts

Maria Cecilia Hwang, Assistant Professor, IGSF/Department of East Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts

Mathew Hannouche, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences

Megan Bradley, Associate Professor, Political Science & Institute for the Study of International Development

Michel Lapointe, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Faculty of Science

Michelle Hartman, Professor, Institute of Islamic Studies, Faculty of Arts

Nicholas Dew, Associate Professor, Department of History and Classical Studies, Faculty of Arts

Nicholas MacKenzie, Student Recruitment Associate, Enrolment Services

Omar Farahat, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law

Pasha M. Khan, Chair in Urdu Language and Culture & Associate Professor, Institute of Islamic Studies, Faculty of Arts

Paul Codjia, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Arts

Peter Johansen, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Arts

Peter McMahan, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Arts

Philip Howard, Assistant Professor, Department of Integrated Studies in Education, Faculty of Education

Prashant Keshavmurthy, Associate Professor, Institute of Islamic Studies, Faculty of Arts

Rachel Kiddell-Monroe, Professor of Practice, Institute for the Study of International   Development, Faculty of Arts

Raja Sengupta, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Faculty of Science and School of Environment

Rex Brynen, Professor, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Arts

Rongdao Lai, Assistant Professor, School of Religious Studies & Department of East Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts

Rula Jurdi Abisaab, Professor, Institute of Islamic Studies, Faculty of Arts

Samer Faraj, Professor, Desautels Faculty of Management

Samuele Collu, Assistant Professor, Anthropology, Faculty of Arts

Sandra Hyde, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Arts

Sara Abdel-Latif, Assistant Professor, Institute of Islamic Studies, Faculty of Arts

Sarah Brauner-Otto, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Arts, and Director of Centre on Population Dynamics

Sarah Moser, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Faculty of Science

Setrag Manoukian, Associate Professor, Institute of Islamic Studies and Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Arts

Shanon Fitzpatrick, Assistant Professor, History, Faculty of Arts

Sumi Hasegawa, Retired Faculty Lecturer, Department of East Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts

Susan Gaskin, Professor, Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering

Tara Alward, Graduate Program Coordinator, Political Science, Faculty of Arts

Theodora Vardouli, Assistant Professor, Peter Guo-hua Fu School of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering                

Thomas Lamarre, Professor Emeritus, Department of East Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts

Timothy Wideman, Associate Professor, School of Physical and Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences

Viviane Saglier, Postdoctoral fellow, Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Arts

Vrinda Narain, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law

William Clare Roberts, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Arts

Yuriko Furuhata, Associate Professor, Department of East Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts

Yves Winter, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Arts

The post McGill Faculty and Staff Respond to Provost’s MRO of May 17, 2021 appeared first on The McGill Daily.

The Daily opposes colonialism, imperialism, and genocide in all forms. We also condemn McGill’s Zionist involvement, which is reflected in their continued investment in Israeli and international businesses located on occupied Palestinian land. This includes the settler colonial Zionist occupation of Palestinian land and systematic ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, which is grounded in and funded by western imperialism. Israeli occupation of Palestinian land is nothing short of apartheid.

Our commitment to anti-oppression includes an obligation to fight for a free Palestine. The Daily will continue to support Palestinian human rights and the Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS) movement. We encourage our non-Palestinian readers to educate themselves using the resources provided in the next slides. It is essential to centre the voices of both Palestinian in occupied Palestine and diaspora in conversations about the occupation.

Sign the petition urging McGill University to divest from Israeli companies and update the discrimination and racism policy to reflect the needs of Palestinian, Muslim, and Arab students.

We also encourage our readers to join us today in standing with Palestine from 3:30pm onwards at the Y-intersection on McGill campus for a solidarity movement organized by SPHR McGill to resist institutional silence from the McGill administration, which will then be heading to a rally in support of the Palestinian uprising and general strike at the Israeli consulate at 5pm. Protesting and putting political pressure on the Israeli settler colonial state in accordance with the BDS movement is an essential way to demonstrate solidarity with Palestinian demands.

In solidarity,

The McGill Daily Editorial Board

The following information is taken directly from bdsmovement.net

Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions (BDS) is a Palestinian-led movement that aims to end international support for Israeli settler colonialism and apartheid, politically pressure Israel to comply with international human rights standards, and to ultimately put an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. 

Boycotts involve withdrawing support from Israel’s apartheid regime, complicit Israeli sporting, cultural and academic institutions, and from all Israeli and international companies engaged in violations of Palestinian human rights. This includes withdrawing support of brands that profit from the Israeli occupation such as Puma, HP, and SodaStream, among others – a full list is available at bdsmovement.net.

Divestment campaigns urge banks, local councils, churches, pension funds and universities to withdraw investments from the State of Israel and all Israeli and international companies that sustain Israeli apartheid.

Sanctions campaigns pressure governments to fulfil their legal obligations to end Israeli apartheid, and not aid or assist its maintenance, by banning business with illegal Israeli settlements, ending military trade and free-trade agreements, as well as suspending Israel’s membership in international forums such as UN bodies and FIFA.

BDS has three stated principles:

1. Ending Israeli occupation and colonization of all Arab lands, and dismantling the illegal apartheid Wall
2. Recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality
3. Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN Resolution 194

BDS is an inclusive, anti-racist human rights movement that is opposed on principle to all forms of discrimination, including antisemitism and Islamophobia.

Because those in power refuse to act to stop this injustice, Palestinian civil society has called for a global citizens’ response of solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for freedom, justice and equality. 

Follow and learn from these voices:

Instagram:

• @ijvmtlstudentnetwork (McGill specific)
• @sphrmcgill (McGill specific)
• @theimeu
• @palestinianyouthmovement
• @jewishvoiceforpeace
• @letstalkpalestine
• @cjpmeofficial
• @visualizing_palestine
• @rabetbypipd

Twitter:

• @bdsmovement
• @palyouthmvmt
• @uscpr_
• @jvpaction
• @wearenotnumbers
• @mondoweiss
• @ijan_network
• @m7mdkurd
• @indjewishvoices

Websites:

• bdsmovement.net
• decolonizepalestine.com
• mecaforpeace.org
• whoprofits.org
• 101.visualizingpalestine.org

The post Statement In Solidarity With Palestine appeared first on The McGill Daily.

To hide your light-washed 
identity became an art.

It hurt your ticking heart.
And pushed your beating
brain further apart.

White picket fences and
white painted homes
dominated your life.

You decided to hide your 
curly curls,
But you could never erase 
the colors from your face.

White forged your everyday
sights.

You were forced to see a
sea of whites, only.

Old pictures on your phone
remind you that you were
sad, all the time.

And that still kills you inside.

No one could ever know:
at night, warm tears formed—
and streamed down both
brown eyes.

You couldn’t scream.
Precisely because you
didn’t realize why you cried.

What does it mean—
to be Black and white?

The answer never came
in black and white.

For the longest time, 
you were unbelonging.

So you did a bad thing.

You forgot the part of
you that wasn’t white.

No one could remind you
to remember.

So you bought the
ironed white khakis.

And put a white 
mask on to hide
behind.

You fed yourself the white lie.

You wanted the picket fence,
So you chose stagnant white friends.

It took colors to remind you,
You chose the wrong life.

Nobody but you
knows otherwise:

You’re not white.
You’re not black.
You’re not white washed.
You are light-washed.

I am blessed to be mixed. To be half-Black and half-white. I am blessed to have a Canadian and British mother, and a Mauritanian and French father. I am blessed to have grown up in three vastly different countries: France, Tunisia, and the United States. 

When I lived in France and Tunisia, I was always surrounded by people who looked like me. If I hadn’t moved to Rye, New York (85% white and 1% Black), I would not be writing this piece today. Coming to the United States was the greatest challenge I ever faced, because for the first time in my life, I became “othered.” 

When I took my first standardized test in America, I remember scanning down the list of ethnicities on the scantron. Of course, the first box was “white.” Directly underneath that box was “Black/African-American,” and I would always check off both the white and Black boxes. To me, doing so highlights an American obsession with grouping “others” into “othered” categories. To implicitly remind non-whites like me that they are different. 

How can one reduce identity to a box? And for what racist purpose?

I know that American kids have been checking these boxes off since elementary school. These boxes are insensitive and tactless because they fail to account for the intricacies of being racialized. It can only be incomprehensible, despicable, and insulting to note that until 2000, American schoolchildren and census takers could only fill in one box. The state shouldn’t be in charge of guiding us into our identities, we should identify them ourselves and come into them in a bona-fide fashion, with no external nor governmental guidance. 

In America, the roots of these boxes go back to slavery and segregation. Following the ban of the importation of slaves via the trans-atlantic slave trade in 1808, white Americans came up with the “one drop rule” to embolden the domestic slave trade. The rule stressed that anyone with a single drop of Black blood was to be qualified as Black and to be sold (or kept) into slavery. It was in white people’s economic, dominant, and supremacist interest to Blacken slaves.

Conversely, white people forcefully assimilated Indigenous peoples. In an attempt to justify theft of their land, settlers enforced the assimilation or disintegration of Indigenous peoples, actively ensuring that these Indigenous peoples would be whitened (for example through inter-race reproduction and residential schools) and accepted into society once they were “civilized.” Similarly, in Brazil, the white colonial elites supported a policy of “blanqueamiento,” which encouraged the reproduction between lighter-skinned people so as to “whiten” the Brazilian population and ensure the unchallengeable subsistence of white dominance. As exemplified by the colonial practices of the “one drop rule” and the “whitening” of Indigenous peoples and Brazilians alike, white people have always attempted to define other people’s identity. 

Some of my friends in Rye, New York, have been implicitly complicit in these attempts to define my identity. I’d be standing in lunch lines, waiting for some awful food, when out of the blue, my closest friends would say, “you act so white” or “you’re the whitest Black kid ever.” In doing so, they would implicate themselves in committing microaggressive racism. They were saying that I was too white because I “articulated” my words. Because I did well in school. Because I lived in a wealthy suburban American town. Because I was friends with them. It’s almost like they were saying “don’t get too close to us!” or “you’re not Black enough!” American society has been conditioned into associating whiteness with excellence. Conditioned to box people into different categories so as to perpetuate constructed racial differences and white supremacy. When I became “too white” to white people, I implicitly became an insubordinate threat. So my white friends implicitly felt the need to remind me “not to get too close.”

Sometimes these were just snide comments, but to add fuel to a pathetic fire, sometimes they were compliments. As in the case of white colonialists whitening and “civilizing” indigenous peoples, if these comments were “compliments,” then I was “whitened.” Look at you, all civilized! Look at you, articulating your words like me! But as in the case of American slavery, if these comments were implicit warnings, then I was “Blackened.” Don’t get too close! You can’t talk like me!

American society has been conditioned into associating whiteness with excellence. Conditioned to box people into different categories so as to perpetuate constructed racial differences and white supremacy.

To my white friends, these comments were insignificant. To me, as a mixed child, they revealed and reinvigorated the deep struggles I had with defining my already complicated racial identity. White people were denying me the privilege of defining my own identity because they felt entitled to define my identity for me. Their words and actions were unfair. I never denied nor questioned their whiteness. And I never denied nor questioned their whiteness because American society has been constructed so that whiteness is the default, to preserve a legacy of colonial, slave-based, segregationist, white supremacy. 

One summer night in 11th grade, playing ping-pong, I called out two of my friends for saying that I acted too white. I don’t really remember how the conversation went down because I have tried to forget it, but I do remember being emotional, loud, and consistent with my words. I remember being told I was “overreacting” and “oversensitive.” I remember being frustrated that not even my closest friends could hear me. The worst part about it is that for years after, I was the one apologizing for that night. 

I painfully regretted speaking up in defense of my light-washed identity. I thought it was wrong of me to put my friends in such a predicament. I should have just shut up and taken their comments. After all, they could have been intended as compliments!

White people were denying me the privilege of defining my own identity because they felt entitled to define my identity for me […] I never denied nor questioned their whiteness because American society has been constructed so that whiteness is the default.

In retrospect, that moment highlighted the fact that I was hiding my Blackness, my négritude, what I call my light-washed identity. For a moment, I let those “other” parts of me seep out and speak, but in doing so, I reminded my friends (and myself) that I didn’t look like them. And so, I vowed never to defend my identity again. I thought that if I didn’t continue to put a white façade on, I’d lose some of my friends. 

I will never forgive Rye for not making me feel welcome when I first arrived. For making me not take pride in, but to hide my curls. One of my best friends once told me: “your curly hair looks like a bunch of pubes.” It saddens me that for a momentary moment, I was self-conscious enough to believe him. 

Another time, after telling my friend I’d kissed a pretty girl, he said “I’m surprised Rye girls would get with a minority.” At the time, I didn’t have the energy nor the confidence to speak up for myself. I am now 19 years old and attending college, and times have changed. I am no longer bound by the impenetrable, white, cultist bubble that is Rye. I no longer have to fit in in a white community. I no longer have to speak to please anyone but myself. 

Now, I know it is my moral responsibility to speak my emotional truth. To use emotional, thus true words to question and confront the words and actions of those closest to me. As I once wrote:

“If what I say is felt by so many who look like me, what we say is not unwarranted, because it can only be the truth.”

Now, I have the courage and independence to call myself “light-washed” in blatant rejection of the people calling me “white washed” or “Black.” I do not deny my Blackness, I am proud of it. I embrace it. But what I make of my Blackness is beyond personal. I have every right to say I am not Black because I have a problem with other people putting a label on identity. A label that can only be a white legacy of constructed colonial and slavery-based racial differences. Colonists and enslavers had no right to Blacken or whiten people to serve their own supremacist interests. You have no right to Blacken me. You have no right to whiten me. 

Tiger Woods calls himself “Cablinasian” (Caucasian, Black, Indian, Asian) in rejection of people referring to him as “Black.” I am sure he came up with such a beautiful term because like me, he was tired of the narrative other people wrote for and about him. The point of identity is that it is intrinsic and unique to the individual. I own my own identity. We all own our own identity.

I wrote a whole poem to come up with the term “light-washed.” Writing a poem to define my identity sounds a whole lot better than checking off predetermined and pre-written boxes on a standardized test, a census, or a college application. Children are creative, and instead of making them check racist boxes before standardized tests, we should let them creatively define themselves. 

It can only be telling to note that once I befriended people who looked like me in college, it felt like a burning burden had been lifted. I finally wasn’t the “other” in the room anymore. I felt like I was free, like I finally had the space to breathe.

If I had stayed in a predominantly white community, if I hadn’t built deep friendships with people who look like me in college, I’d still be hiding my identity. I’d still be making race jokes to fit in. I’d still be laughing at other people’s race jokes. 

To hide who I am was the hardest, most dishonest, and dissonant action I ever took in my life. By making race jokes, I was attempting to bridge the distance between my Rye peers and I. And I can never apologize enough to the African and Black communities for poking fun at our wondrous, wonderful cultures to build deeper friendships, to feed the implicitly supreme egoes of American white people. I was just a child, but boy have I grown. 

What pains me the most about a bourgeois American community like Rye is that so many of my peers will go on never questioning their implicit racism. They will never break from the implicit or explicit chains of white supremacy because they will attend predominantly white universities, befriend mostly white people, join a mostly white frat without learning from the lived experiences of people like me. In the words of Césaire, one can have all the education in the world, but when his moral character, his racism, or even his privilege is questioned: “The petty bourgeois doesn’t want to hear any more. With a twitch of his ears he flicks the idea away. The idea, an annoying fly.”

The post In Defense of My Light-Washed Identity appeared first on The McGill Daily.

The recreational use of cannabis has a history plagued by stigma, first starting from the early 1900s, when it became legally required for medical products containing cannabis to be labelled as such. After the Mexican Revolution of 1910, the population of Mexicans in the southern United States increased. The Mexicans were using cannabis recreationally, instead of medicinally. When stigma concerning the climbing immigrant population started to grow, cannabis was weaponized against Mexicans in the area, as angry Americans began to claim that the plant was turning people into killers. As the years went on, various states passed prohibition laws, and the Nixon administration’s War on Drugs sealed marijuana’s fate as part of the group of drugs identified as ‘public enemy number one’. 

It’s easy to see the history of what made the plant so stigmatized in the first place, but what seems to be the constant root of this stigma is a fear of the unknown, a sense that mysterious side effects of the drug will have huge negative impacts on the wellbeing of citizens. This harmful stigma is something raised by several youth advocacy groups, and something that was discussed at one of the Get Sensible roundtable discussions on March 25th, 2021. Get Sensible is a campaign from the Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy, and the project aims to provide evidence-based, non-judgemental, youth-led education concerning cannabis. The project notes that “authoritarian and fear based approaches to drug education don’t work,” highlighting the downfalls in our current government education programs and driving home this fear of the unknown that so many are scared of. 

The roundtable discussion from Get Sensible allowed for young people from across Canada to share their stories and opinions on a democratic platform. Participants were able to pick from various topics like Harm Reduction or Mental Health, and discuss them in breakout room sessions, where they were able to explore these topics in a context more comfortable and open than the norm for discussions concerning drugs. In the Mental Health room, for instance, youth discussed how cannabis can benefit their mental health and alleviate anxiety symptoms, as well as how over-consumption can trigger negative psychological experiences. The discussion was balanced and allowed for individuals to share their lived experience in a productive manner of facilitating drug education. 

Young people are leading the way in cannabis education. Get Sensible released a 75-page Sensible Cannabis Education Toolkit under CSSDP, free for all to download, and available in English, French, Spanish, Punjabi and Mandarin. Local organisation VoxCann has produced survey reports concerning cannabis use during the COVID-19 pandemic, hosted live-streamed panel discussions and produced a report titled “What Cann We Learn from University Students? Experiences with Cannabis from Youth in Universities.” Youth are prioritizing accessibility in cannabis education and are engaging in more productive outreach than the government seems capable of, and more nuanced discussion concerning usage. In a conversation with the Daily, CSSDP Chair and VoxCann founder Kira London-Nadeau commented: “Those who have learned about cannabis in schools often received information primarily from police officers, which reinforces the punitive and criminal legal-system based approach to drug use. In the absence of much-needed nuanced, evidence-based education that promotes the agency of youth in making informed decisions around cannabis use, much of the knowledge young people report comes from their own experiences with cannabis and learning from their peers. This is not to say that this way of learning isn’t useful, but it often doesn’t provide youth with the full scope of knowledge, support and resources they need to make the choices that work for them when it comes to cannabis.”

It was abundantly clear at the Get Sensible roundtable: youth are not receiving the unbiased, factual information concerning cannabis use that they should be in schools. 

“A common take-away of our roundtables is that students already have a lot of knowledge, but also many questions when it comes to the science, legal, social and educational aspects of cannabis,” London-Nadeau explained. That’s why VoxCann has their own Director of Medical Content, Fernanda Pérez-Gay Juarez, who has a PhD in Neuroscience from McGill and who is responsible for the health sections of VoxCann’s workshop and outreach. Having a medical professional on board is an unparalleled opportunity for the organisation, who are able to meet the needs of young people seeking further medical information about cannabis use.

While it is excellent that youth are taking the initiative to get involved in harm reduction and drug education, the Canadian government should face more accountability for its lack of education programs following the legalization of cannabis. On some level, it seems like Health Canada is making an effort, having launched a host of campaigns to “deliver ‘honest facts’ to teens,” and pledging to invest $100 million over the next six years in cannabis education. This being said, comments that this $100 million from Health Canada will go towards “cannabis public education, awareness and surveillance” are concerning, given the vagueness of what “surveillance” means and the harmful effects that increased surveillance of citizens has on societies, particularly in minority communities. It is imperative that we do not allow our government to re-criminalize an already legalized substance. 

We must demand more of our authoritative organizations, and put further pressure on the government to provide accurate health information regarding cannabis and to fund research that will benefit public health. It should be attainable for everyone who wants to learn about cannabis to be able to easily gain the information they need and improve their cannabis literacy. We must continue to productively engage in conversations about cannabis, and organisations should prioritise compensation for young people who are sharing their lived experiences, as Chapter Liaison Heath D’Alessio commented on at the Get Sensible roundtable: “If people aren’t compensating you for sharing your lived experience with them, that’s not right.”

The work of youth organisations such as VoxCann and the CSSDP is exemplar, and we owe it to student organisers to continue supporting their research by contributing to the conversations they facilitate and donating where possible to their organisations to help keep these valuable education initiatives alive. As London-Nadeau notes, it’s important to continue to “contextualise use,” given her work as a PhD student at the University of Montreal that has highlighted the increased use of cannabis by members of the LGBTQ+ community: “Among queer, non-binary and trans youth, there is more cannabis use as well as more mental health challenges, and cannabis seems to be a key tool that is used for coping purposes to address the challenges facing these youth. To me, this signals that the creation and dissemination of harm reduction tools and contextually-informed cannabis education is not only important for all youth, it’s also particularly important to support communities of young people that may be engaging in more cannabis use, such as queer, non-binary and trans youth.”

To learn more about these initiatives, check out cssdp.org, as well as voxcann.org, and download the free Get Sensible toolkit here. 

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Dan Harmon’s sitcom Community (2009-2015) centres on a study group at Greendale, a fictional community college in Colorado. The group includes seven core members: Jeff (Joel McHale), a former lawyer who returns to college when his degree is discovered to be fake; Britta (Gillian Jacobs), a psychology major and former activist; Troy (Donald Glover), a former high school football star; Pierce (Chevy Chase), an elderly millionaire; Annie (Alison Brie), an over-achieving medical administration student; Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown), a mother of three hoping to start her own business; and Abed (Danny Pudi), a film major who is heavily coded as autistic. 

I immediately connected with Abed. This was a character that got me – I watched him dump his life story on Jeff before he even introduced himself in the pilot episode, and it was like seeing myself on television in the best and most confusing way. 

Though Abed is never explicitly labelled as autistic, the series often hints at this aspect of his identity. In the pilot, for instance, Jeff tells Abed, out of anger: “Yeah, well you have Asperger’s.” (Asperger’s is an outdated term for autism spectrum disorder without language delay). In the season 3 episode “Regional Holiday Music,” Abed says “On the spectrum? None of your business” during his “Christmas Infiltration” rap with Troy. Abed’s autism is generally accepted by Community’s fanbase; Dan Harmon even discovered that he was autistic himself while writing Abed’s character.

Just a note here: autism is a spectrum made up of many traits and characteristics that each autistic person embodies to different extents – here’s a pretty cool comic that explains this. Abed may be the perfect representation of autism for me, but that doesn’t mean he fulfils that role for every autistic person. 

Abed has a special interest in TV and film, and he attempts to understand the world through pop culture references. This resonates with me deeply as a person who understands others through the media I consume; I adopt much of the way I talk from my favourite books, TV shows, and YouTube videos. Abed speaks in movie quotes, uses movie marathons to connect with friends, and imagines himself as various film characters to problem-solve. 

Unlike in many depictions of autistic people, Abed’s friends accept and encourage his interests, instead of making fun of them. In season 1, Britta pays for Abed’s film class when his father refuses to, allowing him to pursue his aspiration of being a filmmaker. In the season 2 episode “Critical Film Studies,” Abed’s friends throw him a Pulp Fiction-themed birthday party. Abed even meets his girlfriend, Rachel, when she picks up on the rom-com-inspired “Two-Timer Date” scenario that Abed is pulling while she is working the coatroom at their school dance. 

Despite Abed’s in-depth knowledge of pop culture, the show doesn’t portray him as a savant – an autistic person who has “extraordinary” abilities in a specific category, a trope that is present in most portrayals of autism in the media, but that represents less than ten per cent of the autistic population. Abed loves making films, but he also struggles with his craft. He can build an impressively large blanket fort and memorize countless movie references, but he doesn’t know how to pay parking tickets, can’t tell his left from right without mouthing the Pledge of Allegiance, and can’t read an analog clock. He is multifaceted and imperfect, considered as neither a charity case, nor a superhuman. 

What sets Abed apart for me is the fact that his loved ones are patient with him when he misinterprets social situations and struggles to connect with others, while simultaneously holding him accountable when he messes up. When Abed fights with his girlfriend because he lies to her about wanting her to move in, she expresses her disappointment in him, but remains understanding of his difficulties with relationships. Abed’s friends give him pointers on sarcasm and teach him how to understand certain social cues, but they don’t excuse his manipulative behaviour as him “not knowing better.” 

While I love this character in so many ways, I am also upset by the show’s reluctance to confirm his diagnosis. In a media landscape with so few autistic characters, especially autistic characters of colour, Abed would have been meaningful representation. By skirting around his diagnosis, the writers seem to communicate that autism is a “bad thing,” rather than simply a neurotype that differs from the dominant one. Television is a space where autism can be spoken about openly, which makes it a tool to decrease the stigma around being autistic.

Nearly six years after the end of Community, I struggle to find an autistic character who is as accurately depicted, well-rounded, and as fun as Abed. As Autism Acceptance Month begins, it’s important to uplift the work of autistic individuals and advocate for meaningful representation in the media. Series like Everything’s Gonna Be Okay (in which autistic actress Kayla Cromer plays an autistic girl named Matilda) and films like A. S.imple D.ate (written by and starring autistic actress Rebecca Faith Quinn) are essential media. 

Seeing Abed Nadir on Community was a genuinely life-changing experience for me. For the first time, I felt truly seen by a character, and we can infer from Abed’s massive Twitter fanbase that many other people relate to him as well. Abed remains one of very few, well-written, autistic characters on television, but he can’t be the sole representation of autistic young adults, particularly when the traits and experiences of those on the spectrum vary so widely. Autistic people deserve meaningful representation that reflects the diversity of our lived experiences.

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Though this frightening inescapable online threat may seem improbable to us in daily life, hacking is a real threat. There are estimated to be approximately 4.66 billion internet users worldwide. This increased interconnectability of the world also increases the risks that we are exposed to. Instead of supernatural forces such as Laura’s ghost in the movie, real people can watch and track our every move online. According to Security Magazine, there is a hacker attack every 39 seconds. Due to the growing usage of online applications such as Facebook and Instagram, with the former having approximately 5.2.79 billion users worldwide, we are more vulnerable online than ever-before. 

Many of us scroll hurriedly past the “terms and conditions” of applications and websites, which is arguably the most important part of creating any personal account, as we consent to the application and website having access to all of our information. This includes personal details, contacts, location, and even pictures. In a case where a data breach occurs (a security incident in which information is accessed without authorization) this highly sensitive information can be leaked to third parties such as hackers, and put one’s safety in danger. Hackers can acquire your information through pre-coded links made to grab your IP address and other personal details to make you identifiable.  Online predators can make use of this information to not only find your name and location, but information like your email addresses, passwords, and home addresses. Apart from cyber harassment, this availability of information can also lead to stalking. A notorious case is that of Randi Barber & Gary Dellapenta. Barber and Dellapenta were members of the same church, with the latter developing an obsessive infatuation with Barber. After being banned from the church congregation for pestering Barber in the summer 1998,  Dellapenta posted Barber’s personal information, including her pictures and home address on multiple sexually explicit websites, asking for sexual favours. This led to several male harassers at Barber’s house, who she turned away horrified. Dellapenta was then sentenced to six years in prison on charges of cyber-stalking. 

This private information could also be posted on dangerous parts of the internet, such as the dark web, which refers to encrypted online content that is not indexed by conventional search engines. The internet is often depicted as a glacier, with the “darkest” or most dangerous level submerged from our point of view. We only have access to 0.004% of the internet through search engines, which leaves 99.996% of the internet inaccessible to us without permissions and passwords. The posting of this highly sensitive information on these websites can make a person subject to harassment, abuse, blackmail or false allegations, potentially aimed to tarnish one’s image. The lack of cyber rules and the failure to implement them, coupled with the ability to hide one’s information, makes it especially hard to hold the perpetrators accountable for their actions online. 

Apart from gaining access to information, hackers can also gain access to images without your consent. There have been various demonstrations depicting how easy it is to hack your security camera or web camera to spy on you – many of these examples have depicted exposed video streams recorded without one’s knowledge, which could contain highly personal content. A common sign that a computer webcam has been hacked is the webcam’s indicator light turning on without the user doing anything, even after applications and browser extensions running in the background are closed. In order to protect yourself from webcam hacking, you can enable Firewall, run an antivirus, and avoid clicking on suspicious links or spam email. 

In addition to spying and illegally recording content, “deepfakes” of people can now be created. Deepfakes are synthetic media in which a person in an existing image or video is replaced with someone else’s likeness. Deepfakes have garnered widespread attention for their uses in fake pornographic content of celebrities, fake news stories, and hoaxes. It is now becoming increasingly difficult to spot deepfakes, which can make it very easy to create a distorted reality and create a narrative to incriminate someone. This is especially harmful in the case of celebrities or political figures, as they have mass followings. Deepfakes of them can be used to tarnish their reputation, lose employment opportunities, promote harassment and bullying, and incite violence and similar events to the recent storming of the capitol. By creating convincing videos of political figures and promoting false conspiracies, public safety can be put at risk and spark protests or violence. There have also been various cases of deepfake pornography, which can lead to permanent emotional trauma for the victim, along with threats. In 2019, a disturbing application called DeepNude was released, aimed at undressing fully clothed pictures of women. Celebrities and every-day women were both objectified and humiliated. Though the creators later removed the application, many copies still exist, free of charge. 

So does this mean we should never put anything about ourselves on the internet? No, but it does mean we should try our best to protect ourselves and think carefully about the content we put out, as we never know who is watching us or who can gain access to our information.  An unprotected computer is an open door for hackers and predators. Their clever tactics and detailed technical knowledge can easily help them gain access to information and steal or change it. Moreover, be careful about who you trust or give your personal information to online, as it puts not only you but your close friends and family at risk as well. Steps to help you increase security include enabling two-factor authentication on applications, using a VPN to hide your location, using strong passwords, and not clicking any suspicious links. Just like in the movie Unfriended, cyber threats can be extremely hard to escape, so think twice about the information you make available online. 

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Oppressive and racist language on campuses has harmful consequences, and has led some students to end their university studies. The experience of having their very worth and dignity questioned and debated on campus resulted in their studies being “cancelled.” This compromises students’ wellbeing, as well as their opportunities in academia.

Demanding responsibility from our peers and institutions is not tantamount to “cancelling.” Rather, students who seek to challenge deep-seated systemic inequities on campuses are demanding accountability and redress for past and present harms. It bears reminding: academic freedom does not equate to unconditional social acceptance. 

We support all students who are holding their peers and professors accountable for their use of oppressive language. We believe that there are multiple ways to hold each other accountable, depending on the context, with respect and integrity, without resorting to intimidation and harassment. These students are striving to dismantle oppression and foster spaces that are safe and welcoming for all students, while still valuing the exchange of ideas and knowledge. Freedom of speech has been wielded to perpetuate oppressive rhetoric and to discriminate against students from marginalized groups. 

Respectful critique is a part of academic freedom, the university experience, and the exchange of ideas. In light of this, our relationships must be reciprocal and respectful in order for us to share spaces and ideas with one another. As students, when we voice our disagreement or disapproval at certain forms of expression, it is a reflection of our values and continued willingness to engage with these topics and our peers.

Moving forward, we call on students and professors to engage in dialogues with care, compassion, and thoughtful consideration of the consequences of their speech. Let’s not forget that at the root of all of this is the human impact of oppressive language. Despite the powerful resilience of marginalized communities in academia, who have fought and continue to fight for accountability, some students are leaving campuses because they are not safe there. As a baseline, we must centre the dignity of all students, and professors, when we engage in this debate. 

We must recognize that there has been an undeniable shift in the academic landscape in the past several decades. We have more diversity in Canadian universities than ever before, including a diverse range of perspectives and lived experiences. This change in academia includes a broader culture striving for inclusivity. Therefore, we must persist in voicing our firm opposition to racist comments, and continue to fight for a more accepting and inclusive space at McGill Law. We should seek to remedy – not perpetuate – historic harms within our community.

Words hold power. We believe that academic freedom and the exchange of knowledge comes with certain responsibilities. In order for students and professors to benefit from this freedom equally, we all have a responsibility to foster an academic environment grounded in the principle of human dignity, and to dismantle systemic inequities. 

If a classmate tells us that our words have caused harm, our response must not be to immediately brandish our right to freedom of expression. We can do better. Surely, we can share ideas and beliefs with care and compassion, recognizing everyone’s right to pursue an education with dignity.

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Almost Famous is the story of William Miller (Patrick Fugit), an aspiring rock journalist who is assigned by Rolling Stone to write a profile on the emerging rock band Stillwater. William may be the protagonist, but it’s Kate Hudson’s Penny Lane who has become the symbol of the film. Penny doesn’t describe herself as a groupie; rather, she refers to herself as a devoted “band-aide” that goes on tour with the group. Hudson’s effortless looks reflect popular 70s fashion trends, and have since elevated her as a fashion icon in cinema. Vintage sites including Depop and Etsy are overflowing with copies of the jacket, all for people to bid over. While the film itself offers a charming coming-of-age story, it’s ultimately the iconic looks that captivate viewers post-credits.

Penny Lane exudes confidence even in her most vulnerable moments, and the jacket embodies this perfectly. The film’s costume designer Betsy Heimann describes the coat as Penny’s “armour,” since the exaggerated collar and shearling material act as a protective layer against the cruel world that is rock n’ roll music. While Penny is confident, romantic and free-spirited, she is also a petrified young girl in a misogynistic industry. The jacket allows her to fully embody a self-assured persona. When Penny walks into a room, people notice, and the jacket only amplifies that power, which is why the world – or at least, the trendy youth on Depop – is currently fawning over it. We’ve been anxiously hibernating for a year now, so it makes sense that an article of clothing used to create a carefree facade is at the top of our shopping lists.

While the jacket is a show-stopping piece, many of the film’s other costumes have since become icons as well. The wardrobe choices in Almost Famous were carefully curated to authentically embody the era in which the film is set – in true 70s fashion, many of the characters rocked bell-bottom jeans and the iconic Levi 501s, a “vintage” staple that has transcended into mainstream culture after Gen Z banded together to cancel skinny jeans (Thank you, Gen Z!). Almost all of the characters in the film wear this denim, which helps them achieve the “laid-back rockstar” aesthetic that was popular at the time.  

Heimann has also explained how she channeled Bianca Jagger’s thrift store aesthetic to master the groupie’s look. 70s fashion adopted many trends from both the 30s and 40s due to the newfound popularity of vintage clothing, so aspects of these previous decades are apparent in many of the female costumes as well, helping them achieve the bohemian aesthetic of the groupie look. For instance, Polexia (Ana Paquin), another groupie, adopts the “vintage chic” look within her 70s wardrobe while sporting a 1930s chemise throughout the film. This iconic apparel has since become a popular wardrobe staple, sported by icons for decades, and by teenagers in the summer months.  

This piece wouldn’t be complete without acknowledging Penny Lane’s iconic round glasses, featured on the film’s poster. The metallic round shape is synonymous with the film, and has been adopted by brands like Ray-Ban as the perfect summer accessory. So, while we can thank Almost Famous for its legendary soundtrack and its nostalgic references, we must also acknowledge its masterful fashion statements. The film provides iconic looks that have left viewers infatuated for decades. And let’s face it – who doesn’t want to be Penny Lane?

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For one, the report alleged a misuse or underuse of funds by student Services without “indicating the frequency and the severity of the misappropriated funds,” Prevost said. Prevost further explained that “stringent financial guidelines” already exist within SSMU to “prevent misappropriation of funds” – “all requests must be approved by the Service, the VP Finance of SSMU, and the accounting department,” which would prevent misappropriation “if conducted properly.” Financial issues due to SSMU neglecting to follow protocol supports Rajji Courtney’s claim that student dissatisfaction is caused by internal governing issues. According to Rajji Courtney, SSMU “governance is a mess and there are scandals every year,” giving SSMU a “poor reputation” which causes the “pushback” over fees that “SSMU Services often face” – for Prevost and Rajji Courtney, the issues lie within SSMU governance and not in Services. Rajji Courtney believes the report implicated Services as a scapegoat, characterizing them as “financially burdensome and irresponsible when in fact [Services] cost a full time student less than $20 per academic year.”

Further, SSMU reports that they consulted student Services as part of their investigation, but according to Prevost, such consultations were made on short notice and the resulting feedback from student groups was not taken into account. “The ‘recommendations’ presented in those consultations meetings were the same that were included in the report,” according to Prevost. The current recommendations include expanding Legislative Council powers, as stipulated in recommendation #3, which would allow the council to “freeze,” “reduce,” and “terminate fees.” Prevost views this expanded power as “an existential threat to SSMU Services” because of its potential to “effectively defund” Services in their “entirety,” while “[disregarding] the will of the McGill Undergraduates who voted to support those initiatives.” Recommendation #4 of the report proposes a change to the process of introducing or increasing Ancillary fees, seemingly to end the practice of Services pulling “possible expenses out of thin air to justify” an increased budget and fee amount, in the words of the report. Prevost not only believes this to be a “hyperbolic statement that weakens the legitimacy of the report,” but claims that for most Services, this is simply not true. Prevost says:

“Speaking of our own Service, the UGE has only sought to increase its budget once since its consolidation in 2006, and the fee we proposed allowed us to go move from a bare-bones Services without the funds to upgrade its library nor purchase appropriate supplies for its cooperative, to one that has the funds to properly train volunteers, supplement our existing services, and expand into other areas.”

Prevost’s ultimate stance on the provided recommendations is that if they “were to go through as they currently stand, it would make daily operations of SSMU Services inherently more difficult.” Instead, Prevost proposes “hiring more personnel who review and respond to cheque requisition & purchase order forms” and instituting “mandatory review timelines.” Rajji Courtney also hopes that the recently hired Services Finance Coordinator will “enable the financial processes […] to move more quickly and smoothly.” Prevost claims that SSMU’s “highly unresponsive […] Financial chain of command” has hindered UGE’s operations.

Prevost also characterized SSMU’s student survey, which informed the findings and conclusions of the report, as problematic because it was not representative of the student body. The survey did not control for gender, year of study, program, faculty, or if the respondent was an undergrad at McGill. It also did not prevent users from submitting their responses multiple times. For UGE, “the survey is anecdotal at best.”

Although the “report itself doesn’t hold any power,” Rajji Courtney says, it does have influence “if it is taken seriously and considered as reputable” among the voting members of Legislative Council – especially when many “in SSMU governance have very little understanding of the work of Services,” yet are making decisions which could be “actively harmful to the functioning of the non-governing bodies of the SSMU.” 

Since the report’s publishing, UGE has spoken to some SSMU members and they were receptive of UGE’s criticisms, according to Rajji Courtney. Despite the newly hired Services Finance Coordinator, “the future of SSMU Services rests entirely in the hands of elected representatives and whether they decide to enact the recommendations included in the report,” says Prevost.

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Best New Artist

2020 was a big year for Megan thee Stallion. Her EP Suga contained her hit single “Savage” which went viral on TikTok, and became even more popular when fellow Houston native Beyoncé was featured on the song’s remix. Surely no one is more deserving of an award that recognizes artists experiencing a breakthrough year? 

However, Doja Cat might have a better chance at receiving the award, having already won in the same category this year at the American Music Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, and People’s Choice Awards. Her album Hot Pink ranges from bubblegum pop to soul-inspired sadness, and it spawns the hit single “Say So,” which she promoted with multiple performances throughout the year, each one upstaging the next. 

Who should win: Megan thee Stallion

Who will win: Doja Cat

Song of the Year

Billie Eilish’s “Everything I Wanted” is definitely one of the best songs of the year. In her trademark whisper, Billie asks, “If I knew it all then would I do it again? Would I do it again?” – questions that ring true and relevant, even if you’re not an international pop star. It’s unlikely, however, that Eilish will take home the award after her surprise sweep at least year’s show, especially considering the fact that this song didn’t reach the same level of popularity as “Bad Guy.” A more likely contender, and one that I would personally like to see win, is Roddy Ricch’s “The Box.” But realistically, Song of the Year – and most other major categories – will be a neck-to-neck competition between the two biggest pop stars of the year, Taylor Swift and Dua Lipa. It’s anyone’s guess whether the Academy will opt for the new dance floor classic “Don’t Start Now,” or Taylor’s indie ballad “Cardigan.”

Who should win: “Everything I Wanted” (Billie Eilish) OR “The Box” (Roddy Ricch)

Who will win: “Cardigan” (Taylor Swift) OR “Don’t Start Now” (Dua Lipa)

Record of the Year

As the song of the summer (if there ever was one), Savage Remix became the anthem for “hot girls” everywhere. From its catchy refrain, “I’m a savage / Classy, bougie, ratchet / Sassy, moody, nasty,” to Beyoncé’s relatable lyric, “If you don’t jump to put jeans on, baby, you don’t feel my pain,” the track is an instant classic. Beyoncé is also nominated in this category for her song “Black Parade” which celebrates Black culture and activism. While Beyoncé is due for a general category win, I doubt it will be for this song. Instead, Dua Lipa’s smash hit “Don’t Start Now” seems to be headed for a win. A fun and upbeat dance-pop song, it had a significant impact on both the charts and critics this year.

Who should win: “Savage Remix” (Megan thee Stallion, ft. Beyoncé)

Who will win: “Don’t Start Now” (Dua Lipa)

Album of the Year

At the end of July 2020, as a strange summer started to wind down, Taylor Swift surprise-released folklore, her eighth studio album. While her peers were trying to figure out how to promote an album without releasing music videos, doing live performances, photoshoots and endless press junkets, one of the biggest pop stars in the world forewent it all. folklore is a departure from Swift’s previous work, and it is filled with folk and indie ballads that tell the stories of a host of characters. The album is some of the artist’s strongest work, masterfully combining her insightful lyricism and poignant melodies. folklore received near-universal acclaim and made most “Best Of 2020” lists. The Grammys will surely follow suit and award folklore with Album of the Year.

Who should win: folklore (Taylor Swift)

Who will win: folklore (Taylor Swift)

Best of luck to all the nominees!

The post 2021 Grammy Awards Predictions appeared first on The McGill Daily.

Nonetheless, the use of Black culture in Athens is clearly disproportionate to the actual exposure to the African diaspora, which boils down to the sparse immigrants who are usually artisans, merchants or farm workers in the rural areas. In default of her occupying any space, the Black woman is turned into a consumable good, a fashion feature, a design on men’s Bermuda shorts. She is (mis)represented as a token of artistic creativity by white Europeans who call themselves “content creators” or “designers” and who rely on the word “original.” Yet, Black women exist right outside of those “exclusive artsy boutiques,” living a reality so divergent from the exoticized figures displayed that they are not even recognized. 

The myth of a homogenous exotic Africa alienates very real African women, who become so estranged from their own image that they are not recognized as the originators of their own cultures. Appropriation is theft. It contributes to the undermining of Black self-identification, and Black worth. White designers are direct witnesses of Black struggle, and yet, choose to propagate the white-gaze-tainted lie of a palatable Black culture for consumption that continues to harm Black people.

It is indeed out of a survival burden that Black women in Greece sit outside all day selling their priceless culture to unburdened folks for cheap. Frivolous white fashion trends create invisible strings that hold Black enterprise and livelihood at the mercy of cultural appropriation, coercing us into cooperation.

This constant denial of power, agency, and credit through a systematic cultural appropriation is an experience shared throughout the immigrant family. It is common to see Black parents and children merchandising on touristy Greek plazas, day and night alike. A night in Nafplion displays abusive power dynamics when, as tourists enjoy drinks and tzatziki, their kids regroup to bully Black vendors into giving them free articles under the helpless eyes of their Black children. While some fake crying, others blame their acted-out misery on the Black sellers’ behaviour, demonizing them before their own children helping with the sales.

European tourists vacation abroad, holding the privilege to make it an enjoyable experience for themselves. They pay no mind to those who lack agency, means, and power to do the same, thereby exacerbating this hardship. As wealthy white people, and potential clients whose wellbeing is looked after, tourists abuse Black immigrants and Black locals through ignorance and consumption.

Travelling is not just escaping one’s own reality, it is stepping into the lived reality of others, forming relations of power that need to be interrogated. It is thus important for Westerners to check their privilege, and question their role when leaving the West and/or interacting with non-Western cultures, as such interactions and tourism have their roots in colonialism. It is a contentious but relevant question whether it is even possible to decolonize tourism, as power and agency inequalities in travel, migration, and exodus exist on a global scale. Nonetheless, it remains crucial for those who hold privilege to critically reflect on the costs their benefits force onto Black, Native peoples and people of colour.

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As organizations, associations, and individuals based in or with past connections to Tiohtià:ke/Montreal, we stand in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en Nation in their defense of territorial sovereignty, against the destructive encroachment by CGL. As individuals and groups with existing or past ties to McGill University, we write this letter to denounce the institution’s links to the CGL pipeline on the unceded territory of the Wet’suwet’en Nation.

Though we are physically far from Wet’suwet’en territory, we are outraged that institutions in Montreal are complicit in making the CGL pipeline possible. Some of these connections were made more obvious during the creative actions that residents in the Greater Montreal area took in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en Nation in January and February of 2020. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Wet’suwet’en territory and the Coastal GasLink pipeline are no longer in the headlines, but the project continues apace. So it is shocking to know that institutions based in Montreal provide financial and material support to the CGL Pipeline. For example, McGill University holds an investment of $4,770,450 in TC Energy Corp as part of its endowment portfolio. The risks for the Wet’suwet’en Nation associated with the ongoing construction of the pipeline give urgency for institutions like McGill to divest from TC Energy Corporation.

The Canadian and BC governments and CGL are using this moment of reduced mobility of land defenders due to COVID-19 public health regulations to go ahead with the construction of pipelines. The continued construction of the CGL pipeline despite the declaration of a public health emergency connected to COVID-19 has placed citizens of the Wet’suwet’en Nation in increased vulnerability as construction workers from outside the community enter the territory. Earlier during the pandemic, the public health guidelines of the BC government which limited gatherings of 50 people did not apply to construction sites as they were deemed as “essential services.” However, the labelling of pipeline construction sites as an essential service is a farce. The issue is made more urgent with a number of cases reported this past November and December in the pipeline construction camps in Wet’suwet’en territory. In an open letter, 22 female chiefs from Wet’suwet’en have voiced their concerns about the danger that these construction camps pose in terms of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Canadian government continues to militarize Wet’suwet’en territory. Heavily armed RCMP officers remain present on Wet’suwet’en territory. We strongly condemn the Canadian government’s criminalization of peaceful protest.

The disregard of the self-determination of the Wet’suwet’en Nation and their governing body of Hereditary Chiefs has demonstrated the emptiness of the Canadian government’s “reconciliation” discourse. Indigenous peoples are demanding nothing short of decolonization. A first step towards that is to respect the decision of the Hereditary Chiefs of Wet’suwet’en Nation to refuse the construction of the CGL pipeline on their territory. Divesting from oil and gas projects is also a means to fulfill the Liberal government’s commitments towards addressing climate change. An authentic solution to climate change would respect the self-determination of the Wet’suwet’en Nation.
We stand with the demands of the Hereditary Chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en Nation that call upon the ceasing of construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline, the immediate withdrawal of the RCMP and associated security and police forces from Wet’suwet’en territory, and that Wet’suwet’en self-determination is honored by respecting their decisions, laws, and governance structures. We add to these demands a call for divestment from TC Energy Corp by institutions like McGill University.

Letter drafted by

Stefan Christoff, radio host at CKUT 90.3fm, McGill University 

Kasim Tirmizey, B.Eng ‘03, Part-Time Faculty, McGill University

In consultation with

Marlene Hale, Wet’suwet’en climate justice activist.

Organizations/Associations:

McGill Nurses for Planetary Health, signed co-chair Naomi Pastrana

Divest McGill

McGill Pan-Asian Collective

Students in Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights McGill – SPHR McGill

McGill World Islamic and Middle East Studies Students’ Association

The Black Students’ Network of McGill University

Climate Justice Montréal

Courage Montréal

The McGill Arab Student Network

CKUT Radio, 90.3fm

Radlaw McGill

Le Ministère de la nouvelle normalité – Groupe théâtrale d’action climatique

The Indigenous Law Association / Association de Droit Autochtone (ILADA)

Students’ Society of McGill University Executive Committee

Climate Justice Action McGill

Atelier Céladon

Protesters Legal Information Clinic / McGill Corporate Accountability Project

Extinction Rebellion Justice Tiohtià:ke / Montreal

Women of Diverse Origins / Femmes de Diverses Origines

The Quebec Public Interest Research Group at McGill (QPIRG McGill)

McGill Students for a Free Tibet

McGill Stands With Hong Kong

Independent Jewish Voices Canada / Voix Juives Indépendantes

Black Rose Books

South Asian Women’s Community Centre

Indigenous Student Alliance at McGill University

Graduate Architecture Students’ Association at McGill University

SOS Territoire (GRIP UQAM)

Du Pain Et Des Enjeux / Bread & Struggles

Architecture Students’ Association at McGill University

For a list of individual signatories and to read the full French version of this letter, click here.

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Although there is a lot of great journalism at McGill, we wanted to highlight excellent student journalism across Canada beyond the McGill bubble. Several of our favourite articles, marked with asterisks, have been nominated for the Canadian University Press’ John H. McDonald Awards for Excellence in Student Journalism (named after a former Daily editor – not to brag).

– The Link –

Concordia University, Montreal

The Link is an independent publication at Concordia University in Montreal, QC. In print since 1980, the Link switched from weekly newspapers to a monthly magazine in 2017, and distributes copies to the wider Montreal community.

COVID-19 exacerbates green space inequity in Montreal neighbourhoods: How public green space is vital to public health, especially in a lockdown – Allegra Moyle

Dress Up collective gives us a look into Montreal’s infamous fashion community: Two vintage-loving friends create community through fashion-driven events – Gabriela Vasquez-Rondon

– The Eyeopener –

Ryerson University, Toronto

Established in 1967, The Eyeopener is Ryerson University’s independent student-run newspaper.

*Queerness, fashion & safety: When LGBTQ2IA+ aesthetics popularized but left its community members behind: Despite the popularization of drag and LGBTQ2IA+ aesthetics, glam looks can be a dangerous identifier for queer, trans, and non-binary people – Nabeeha Baig

*Sex work is real for Ryerson students: Sex work is often misunderstood, but for these Ryerson students, it’s both a means of income and empowerment – Andrea Josić

– The Ubyssey –

University of British Columbia, Vancouver

The Ubyssey is UBC’s largest student paper, and is entirely independent, non-hierarchical, and student-run. They have been publishing weekly since 1918.

UBC prof, who alleged anti-Indigenous discrimination, deletes tweet appearing to dox 12 former students – Charlotte Alden and Andrew Ha

*UBC changed its cash payment policies amid 2019 provincial ‘dirty money’ laundering concerns – Maneevak Bajaj

– The Silhouette –

McMaster University, Hamilton

Established in 1930, The Silhouette is a weekly student run newspaper at McMaster University.

No more tests in the middle of the night: We should be accommodating for inconveniences caused by time zone differences – Jiahe Deng

“I can’t applaud the institution for doing the bare minimum”: Student reacts to McMaster’s initiatives to tackle anti-Black racism – Elisa Do

– The Varsity –

University of Toronto, Toronto

Founded in 1880, The Varsity is University of Toronto’s student publication and one of the oldest student newspapers in Canada. They can be found online, as well as in print weekly.

Is the pandemic equalizing housework? It’s complicated: New UTM study sheds light on domestic labour and the “needs exposure hypothesis” – Tahmeed Shafiq

“Dangerous and irresponsible”: Casual workers at U of T demand sick days, draw attention to precarity of work – Isabel Armiento

– The Fulcrum –

University of Ottawa, Ottawa

The Fulcrum was established in 1942 and is the English-speaking student-run newspaper for the University of Ottawa.

*Meet the team working to Indigenize the U of O campus: Indigenous affairs office pushing to shift curricula, programs – Ryan Pepper

Rising debt, no food, and midnight classes: Reality for international students during COVID-19 – Mayson Maharaj

The post The Daily Reading List: Student Journalism appeared first on The McGill Daily.

Released on December 25 2020, Bridgerton is a series decked out in tulle and anxiety about finding a husband in Regency-era London before the end of the social season. Despite the endlessly bingeable gentry drama and schemes to attract suitors, Bridgerton lacks an understanding of consent and racial dynamics. These problems effectively taint the series’ escapist purpose, leaving viewers more troubled than entertained.

Bridgerton is based on an eight-book romance series by Julia Quinn, and it was written and created by Chris Van Dusen and produced by the iconic Shonda Rhimes. The series is a socialite drama filled with eligible bachelors and young ladies all vying for one thing: marriage. The first season focuses mainly on the first instalment of the book series, The Duke and I, which follows the tempestuous romance between the demure Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor) and the dark and stormy Duke of Hastings (Regé-Jean Page). 

As Lady Daphne navigates her second season in the ton (le bon ton was the colloquial name for British high society in late Regency-era London, translated to mean “good manners”), the dashing Duke returns from his years-long travels abroad after the death of his father. The Duke and Daphne’s chemistry is so magnetic that they crash into each other at a ball, and so the enemies-to-lovers tale begins. In a predictable turn of events, they couple up so that Daphne can attract jealous suitors with the charming Duke by her side, and so that he can keep young socialites and their clawing mothers at bay. 

The show is essentially eight hours of romance literature you could find at your local airport. There’s romance, there’s raunch, and just when you think Lady Daphne and the Duke of Hastings are headed for Splitsville, they return to each other, because of course love conquers all. In a time where all we do is wander around in our sweatpants, a couple of hours in this world of pomp and circumstance is a nice change of pace. Beyond the fact that Bridgerton is set in the late-seventeenth and early eighteenth century, the dancing, the schmoozing, and the being all-dolled-up-in-public feel unfamiliar to homebound viewers. 

But the series’ escapist world also raises concerns about consent and racial representation, which distracts viewers from the glitzy romance that the show tries so hard to focus on. One of Bridgerton’s standout features is that it includes a racially diverse cast within an aristocratic society, a social class that is historically hallmarked by white homogeneity. Yet, critics have accused the writers of Bridgerton of glossing over the rampant racism present in the time period it represents, and of only burdening its Black characters with an awareness of racism. 

The Duke of Hastings and his mentor, Lady Danbury, have several conversations referencing “us” versus “them,” and how they must conduct themselves in this new world. Meanwhile, the white characters of Bridgerton prance around looking for their ideal mates, without ever speaking about race. The presence of Black characters amid the upper echelons of London society is explained by the fact that the leader of the ton, Queen Charlotte, has recently decreed that Black people can now become members of the gentry. Bridgerton makes this attempt to sidestep the issue of race, and fails; the majority of villains in Bridgerton are Black, and white characters monopolize almost all the speaking roles. Though Bridgerton contorts itself as a colour-blind show, it’s hard to escape the fundamental truth that the society it parallels was created because of slavery and oppression. 

Equally disturbing is the attitude Bridgerton presents towards consent. Once the Duke and Daphne marry, the show mainly focuses on her lack of sexual education, as well as the Duke’s refusal to have children. The show goes even so far as to include a scene where Daphne sexually assaults the Duke. This act is effectively never resolved, and the couple lives happily ever after. Bridgerton’s final episodes cast a shadow over the entire season, complicating a series that tries so hard to provide viewers with a break from reality. Though the series presents itself as a light-weight fantasy, the way it contends with issues of race and consent never reaches any semblance of a conclusion. 

Despite the backlash, Netflix has announced that Bridgerton has been renewed for a second season, and production for the show will start this spring. The endless content factory whirrs away, the series only a cog in a machine meant to distract from the world around us. It seems Bridgerton doesn’t remove us from reality at all, instead gesturing clumsily toward systemic issues. The show can’t help but pop its own bubble of whirlwind romance and Regency-era finery.

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