Category: Politics, Policy & Governance
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Kingston Pen: The Original Social Distancing
I was going to refer to incarceration as the “ultimate” social distancing. But it’s not. Death is the ultimate social distancing. Prison is purgatory, a reduced state between life and not life that, hopefully, ends in a return to some kind of normal. In the meantime, the Correctional Service of Canada battles Covid-19 outbreaks in… Read more
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Kent Monkman: Shame and Prejudice
EXHIBITION: Shame & Prejudice: A Story of Resilience by Kent Monkman 06 January – 08 April 2018 @ the Agnes Etherington Art Centre at Queens, Kingston, ON It’s interesting, artist Kent Monkman said. When he posts a new painting to social media the predictable response is around 500 likes. But this one, he said gesturing… Read more
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I Am Not Your Negro
The question you have to ask yourself, White America needs to ask itself: Why was it necessary to have a nigger in the first place? ~ James Baldwin, I Am Not Your Negro In a neighbouring village more English than England and whiter than white, I found Agatha Christie’s book in the stacks of the church’s charity book sale. I was… Read more
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More Than Enough Refugee Blues to Go Around
Refugee Blues was published by writer and poet W.H. Auden in 1939, at the start of World War II. It’s safe to say not much has changed and, perhaps, it never will if war and hatred continue to be our modus operandi. The million dollar question is this: Are we doomed as humans to this destructive cycle of scapegoatism… Read more
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Capital Building: A View from Washington – Part 3
Click here for Capital Building: A View from Washington – Part 1 Click here for Capital Building: A View from Washington – Part 2 Not Set in Stone: Memorials for the Future The National Park Service (NPS), the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC), and Van Alen Institute collaborated on Memorials for the Future, an international ideas competition that took place… Read more
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Capital Building: A View from Washington – Part 2
Click here for Capital Building: A View from Washington – Part 1 Having finally seen Washington, DC for myself this summer, it was great to connect with this presentation by Marcel Acosta, Executive Director of the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC), the Federal Planning Agency for America’s Capital. In it he discusses how the city came to be shaped,… Read more
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Capital Building: A View from Washington – Part 1
In spite of the oppressive heat and humidity of August in Washington, D.C., I did what I like to do best: I walked around, looked at things and talked to people. This being my first trip to the capital, I focussed on the National Mall, exploring adjacent neighborhoods, and my relentless pursuit of Guastavino tile. In D.C., security is the conversational opener in the same… Read more
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Alex Janvier at the National Gallery of Canada
Alex Janvier is among the most important figures in the development of contemporary Indigenous art in Canada. This retrospective presents more than 150 works created from 1950 to the present day and recounts the story of a life devoted to art and the re-empowerment of Indigenous cultures. Over a prolific sixty-five-year career Janvier has produced… Read more
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Don’t be like this idiot
On the gravel shoulder of the road sits an abandoned clothes dryer wrapped in official-looking crime scene tape bearing the words “Under Investigation.” Beside it, a canary-yellow lawn sign screams DON’T BE LIKE THIS #IDIOT. This curious tableau did what it was meant to do: It caught my eye and stirred my imagination. Read more
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24 Sussex Drive is Falling Down
Contrary to opinions offered by former tenants of the building, reality television stars, CBC listeners, and social media commentators, there is no single right answer to the question: What should become of the Prime Minister’s residence at 24 Sussex Drive? In fact, it doesn’t matter whether the building is razed or retrofitted. Either way, there… Read more