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Science & Technology

Spotlight on Black scientists at McGill and beyond

by Shafaq Nami & Madison McLauchlan on

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Despite the important equity work done by various organizations, Black people continue to be underrepresented in STEM fields and academia. In honour of Black History Month, The McGill Tribune spoke to five up-and-coming Black researchers in a variety of scientific disciplines. 

Dr. Myrna Lashley

Dr. Myrna Lashley is an associate professor in McGill’s Department of Psychiatry and an adjunct researcher at the Lady Davis Institute. For more than 30 years, she has advocated for Black Canadians through equity and inclusivity work.  

After coming to Canada from Barbados, Lashley faced overt racism in Canadian academia and experienced loneliness from being the only Black person in her department.

“I came to realize that I was not alone; my feelings were real and realistic and that I had a duty to do what I could to help others,” Lashley wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. “However, those issues are overlaid with a thick layer of societal pain and pressure which are what we now refer to as ‘determinants of health’.” 

Throughout her career, Lashley has focussed on the intersections of racism and mental health, leading her to consulting work at multiple levels of government. In 2017, she authored a report exposing the extent of racial profiling in Quebec’s police force. 

Lashley believes that universities should rework their hiring policies and course offerings to represent BIPOC not only on paper but also in practice.

“In addition, professors need to be trained to understand that in some classes they are continuing to teach authors who may have had and practiced racist ideologies,” Lashley wrote. “Not examining that truth could lead to BIPOC students feeling further dehumanized and ostracized.”

Peter Soroye

Peter Soroye is a PhD student at the University of Ottawa who is focussing his research on conservation biology. Last year, his work on the drastic impact of climate change on bumblebee populations was published in Science, one of the highest-impact research journals in the world. 

As a child, Soroye was fascinated by the natural world. This early interest, coupled with the current climate crisis, inspired his career choice. 

“As I got older, I realized that we were destroying the world around us and making species disappear,” Soroye said in an interview with the Tribune. “I thought if I want to see all of this [nature], I have to help keep it around.”

Soroye is passionate about encouraging young BIPOC to participate in STEM fields through initiatives he has helped to develop, such as the CSEE BIPOC Library. This project hopes to improve BIPOC representation in science classrooms across the country. 

“[Me] and Professor Steven Heard created the idea of these grants that would help shine a light on researchers from historically excluded communities that are doing really brilliant ecology and evolutionary research,” Soroye said. 

As president of UOttawa’s Biology Graduate Student Association (BGSA), Soroye has co-authored a Graduate Student’s Guidebook to help students navigate their graduate school journeys. Often, first-generation students are not provided with sufficient resources to juggle the emotional, financial, and academic costs of pursuing a graduate education.

“[At] every step, from my way through undergrad to now, friends and colleagues who are Black or people of colour leave the program,” Soroye said. “It’s [as if] they’re being pushed out.” 

Dr. Emily Choy 

Emily Choy is a postdoctoral fellow at McGill University and Environment and Climate Change Canada working in the Department of Natural Resource Sciences. In November 2020, she received the prestigious $20,000 L’Oréal Canada For Women in Science Research Excellence Fellowship. 

Choy has dreamed of being a zoologist since she was a child. Her love of nature and animals inspired her to pursue conservation efforts and to combat climate change.

“I spent most of my childhood at my grandparents’ cottage on Canal Lake in Bolsover, Ontario, where I spent hours catching fish, frogs, [and] snakes, and feeding chipmunks, red squirrels, white-breasted nuthatches and black-capped chickadees,” Choy wrote in an email to the Tribune. 

Choy is currently researching the impact of climate change on Arctic marine animals and how prey dynamics might affect the behaviour of predators. Her work has involved frequent travel, such as trips to study ecosystems on Devon Island and thick-billed murres on Coats Island in Nunavut. 

Choy has also been to the Northwest Territories, where she studied beluga whales. However, her proudest achievement is her partnership with Inuvialuit communities as part of a beluga health community-based monitoring program.

Choy is passionate about STEM outreach and education, believing that anything can be achieved with perseverance. 

“You just have to push forward and pursue what you are passionate about,” Choy wrote. “Don’t get discouraged and remember, there is a lot of failure in science, but the only real failure is giving up.” 

Dr. Kevin Hewitt 

Kevin Hewitt is a professor in Dalhousie University’s Department of Physics & Atmospheric Science. 

Initially, he studied biology at the University of Toronto because his mother, whom he credits for his success, wished for him to become a medical doctor. However, he switched paths after he discovered his love for physics. 

In his molecular lab at Dalhousie, Hewitt studies biomedical applications for Raman spectroscopy, a light scattering technique that allows qualitative and quantitative analysis of molecules. One such application under development at the Hewitt lab is a technology for the fast and inexpensive detection of liver fat content.

“These results will guide transplant surgeons in deciding whether the liver is safe to use for transplantation, leading to fewer discarded livers, shorter waitlists for liver transplantation and better quality of life for many individuals with end-stage liver disease,” Hewitt wrote.

Hewitt has also been involved in many STEM outreach programs, founding the Imhotep’s Legacy Academy, a STEM outreach program for junior high to university African Nova Scotian students. He advises youth hoping to pursue STEM fields to seek out organizations such as the Canadian Black Scientists Network and connect with others who share similar interests.  

“Form your own group to provide support for one another to reduce that sense of isolation,” Hewitt wrote. “Get involved in your community; it will give back to you many times over what you put in and provide you that support that will lift you up to achieve your goals.”

Dr. Anita Brown-Johnson

Dr. Anita Brown-Johnson is the newly appointed chief of family medicine at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), as well as an assistant professor of family medicine in McGill’s Faculty of Medicine. 

Brown-Johnson was raised by her grandmother in Jamaica before continuing her studies in Montreal. A high school teacher sparked her interest in pursuing medicine as a career. 

“I was sensitized at an early age to many complex challenges faced by the elderly,” Brown-Johnson wrote in an email to the Tribune. “This bird’s eye view, coupled with a passion for mathematics and the sciences, inspired my early curiosity in the healthcare field.”

In 2020, Brown-Johnson was the recipient of the Woman of Merit award for her achievements in the field of geriatric medicine and humanitarian work. Her new leadership role has allowed her to oversee clinical and teaching activities, and implement Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity (EDI) initiatives at McGill’s Faculty of Medicine. 

As a physician and researcher, she prioritizes efficient care transitions, which seek to reduce the time spent by patients in transition-care units and the number of readmissions to the hospital. 

Brown-Johnson emphasizes the importance of seeking out mentorship and believing in one’s abilities when striving towards success. 

“Do not be discouraged if at first you do not succeed,” Brown-Johnson wrote. “Perseverance is key. Take time to discover your true passion. Believe in your abilities and never give up. I hope that my journey will help to convince young people from historically under-represented communities that anything is possible with commitment and hard work.”

Science & Technology

Housing crisis in Inuit Nunangat undermines healthy ageing in Inuit elders

by Namrata Rana on

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Healthy ageing is unique to each individual and culture. In Western cultures, for example, healthy ageing is measured by physical, emotional, and social well-being. In Inuit culture, ageing is also linked to spirituality, strong familial connections, and community ties. 

Social determinants of health (SDH) in non-Indigenous ageing, such as a person’s sex, race, marital status, socioeconomic status, or access to services, have also been strong predictors of ageing well. However, in the Arctic, SDHs are influenced by colonialism and racism: Inadequate housing and living conditions in Inuit communities worsen their mental well-being and impede Inuit elders’ healthy ageing. In 2018, 52 per cent of Inuit in Inuit Nunangat were living in overcrowded homes, where over one third of these homes required major structural repairs. 

A series of studies led by Marie Baron, a research coordinator and PhD graduate of community health at Laval University, in collaboration with McGill researchers, investigated the perspectives of Inuit elders on healthy ageing and how it relates to the social and living conditions of the Arctic. 

“The importance of culture and being close to the land [where the Inuit fish, hunt, and ski-doo] helps the ageing population keep their identity and age in a dignified manner,” Baron said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “However, the hidden homelessness and a lack of homes adapted to the needs of an older population negatively impact the well-being of Inuit elders.” 

The Nunavut Housing Corporation’s 2016 plan highlights that only 20 per cent of housing in Nunavut is privately owned. The majority of the population resides in subsidized housing and nearly 3,000 more houses are still needed to provide appropriate living conditions for all members of the Inuit community. 

“It is very expensive for the government to build and maintain houses in the Arctic,” Baron said. “A single house can cost up to half a million [dollars] and with the added political issues stemming from systemic racism, an easy compromise is yet to be found.” 

In addition to the prolonged housing crisis, the study also reported that older Inuit adults felt unsafe in their current homes. The infrastructure of these homes often ignores the accessibility needs of elders. For example, rooms built facing the furnace are a fire hazard, a risk that is exacerbated by the physical limitations of the elderly.

“Something as simple as stairs can become a mental and physical barrier for the elderly,” Baron said. “The solution is simple, [as] a ramp can provide adequate transportation and is also very affordable. But, unlike the cities we are used to, Inuit communities wait [until] summer for their orders from the south to arrive by boat, increasing the demand for more local solutions.”

Making existing homes safer and more accessible for Inuit elders can have profound effects on their health and well-being. With the desire to stay connected to their families and the land, the introduction of basic services, like free bus lines to a picnic cabin on the land, can make elders feel more connected to their heritage while strengthening their sense of community. Developing multigenerational housing on hills from where traditional land is visible can reinforce their Inuit identity. 

“We need to assimilate to [Inuit elders’] realities in order to provide them with the comfort of ageing and the dignity that each person deserves,” Baron said. 

Access to basic necessities continues to be a common theme undermining health among Indigenous populations, with adequate housing being the most immediate priority. Other needs include improving interpersonal connections with their kin and increasing involvement with the community on the land. Health policymakers can begin by implementing small changes in the current living standards of Arctic communities, like providing ramps to help residents descend stairs. Significant reform must come from the government as well as a willingness to prioritize the needs of Indigenous people.

Men's Varsity, Sports

A look into the storied life of McGill’s Phil Edwards

by Adam Menikefs on

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In the celebration of Black Canadian figures, McGill is lucky to boast one of Canada’s greatest track athletes and medical graduate, Dr. Phil Edwards, as an alumni. 

Edwards was born to a family of 13 children in Georgetown, British Guiana in 1907. After dominating track events in high school, he moved to the United States in 1925 to attend New York University (NYU). Edwards drastically improved as a sprinter under the guidance of his NYU coaches, competing in the U.S. Nationals for multiple years and winning the 880 yards event in 1929. 

In his college years, Edwards proved to be an Olympic-calibre athlete. However, he could not compete with the American track and field team, as he was required to compete for a country within the British Empire. At the time, Canada was within the Empire and manager of the Canadian Olympic track team Melville Robinson recruited Edwards for the 1928 Summer Olympics. With Team Canada, Edwards earned a bronze medal with his 4×400 metre relay team.

Edwards arrived at McGill following the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics to pursue a medical degree while simultaneously leading the McGill Track & Field team. During his time with the track team, Edwards led McGill to six consecutive championships—five while he served as captain. Edwards went on to set multiple McGill and Canadian track records en route to numerous individual Canadian interscholastic championships. 

Unhindered by his commitment to schooling and collegiate athletics, Edwards continued to dominate internationally. At the 1932 Los Angeles Summer Olympics, Edwards captured an astounding three bronze medals with Team Canada, finishing on the podium for the 800 metre, 1,500 metre, and 4×400 metre relay races. 

After becoming the first Black man to graduate from McGill University with a medical degree in 1936, Edwards competed in the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics. Edwards impressed once again, earning his fifth Olympic bronze medal by finishing third in the 800 metre race. 

This medal was especially significant, as the games occurred under the gaze of the Nazi party, only three years prior to the start of the Second World War. Many athletes, particularly Black competitors, faced racism and were viewed as inferior by the host nation’s leaders. Edwards, along with famous American sprinter Jesse Owens, battled through this racism, successfully placing on the podium and making an athletic statement of equality during a time of entrenched racial discrimination. 

To end his spectacular year, Edwards became the first person to earn the Lou Marsh Award, given annually to Canada’s most outstanding athlete. 

After interrupting his medical career to serve as a captain in the Canadian Army during the Second World War, Edwards earned a graduate medical diploma at McGill University, becoming a specialist in tropical diseases. He continued his work at McGill’s Royal Victoria Hospital by specializing in parasitology and chest diseases, including tuberculosis. Edwards also took part in humanitarian expeditions. In 1960, Dr. Edwards joined a three-month Red Cross mission to help the Congo strengthen its medical system after gaining independence.

Edwards passed away beside his three daughters and wife in 1971 and currently rests close to McGill campus at the Mount Royal Cemetery in Montreal. 

Edwards was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame and McGill’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1997 and entered the Quebec Sports Hall of Fame eight years afterwards. Additionally, every year since 1972, the Phil A. Edwards Memorial Trophy is presented to Canada’s most outstanding track athlete. Looking back on Phil Edwards’ legacy, his impact and recognition at McGill and in Canada remains tremendous to this day. A pioneer for Black Canadian athletes and medical professionals, Edwards reached astounding levels of excellence that inspired many generations to follow.

Campus Spotlight, Student Life

‘A Bite of History’ explores food and culture within Black communities

by Lilly Lecanu-Fayet on

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The Black Students’ Network (BSN), the McGill African Students Society, and the Office of the Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic) presented the panel discussion “A Bite of History: A Conversation on Food, Ancestry, and Healing” on Feb. 17 as part of Black History Month. The panellists— Aisha Lesley Bentham, vegan chef and founder of Hue Foods; Jean-Philippe Vézina, founder and director of Les Jardins Lakou; and Maud Mazaniello-Chézol, a clinical dietitian and PhD candidate —came together to discuss the important role that food can play in helping racialized individuals connect to their culture and pursue physical and emotional healing.

A focal point of the conversation was how the panellists think about food in the context of their personal and professional lives. Bentham opened the discussion by commenting on the international roots of veganism, as well as her own practice. 

“Veganism has been so whitewashed and boxed in as limiting, eating only salads and smoothies,” Bentham said. “There is a huge history of veganism all over the world before it came to North America and became narrowed. There can be a gentle process in a vegan lifestyle that I am trying to implement in my cooking.”

Bentham sees cooking and eating as a form of meditation with profound healing benefits that come with being present and listening to her body. For her, food has been a key pathway towards not only physical but emotional healing, helping her to connect with her Guyanese roots. She and Vézina agreed that using all senses while cooking and eating is crucial for people of African descent hoping to reconnect with their heritage.

“Farming is a healing practice,” Vézina said. “Farming and the connection to the land has been a way for me to learn more about my background as a Black person, but also touching the earth and the land has a powerful healing effect. The relationship with the land as people of African and Indigenous descent is the story of displacement and trauma. That is why it is so important to reconnect with the land.”

Les Jardins Lakou is a farming project that Vézina founded in 2019, focussed on growing indigenous African crops. As a farmer, he is interested in optimizing the nutrition and sustainability of the food he produces. He explained how industrialized agriculture in developed countries can deplete the soils of nutrients, resulting in less nutritious food. Mass-produced foods can lack micronutrients that would normally be found in produce. As such, artisanal farming uses practices that not only protect the land, but also produce more nutrient-rich foods. 

“For people in developing countries, globalization has led farmers to change to industrial agriculture tailored for the export market instead of subsistence, so people start buying their food in supermarkets because they are no longer farming their own,” Vézina said. 

Food exists at the crossroads of cultural, social, and biological needs, and when the foods that a community eats begin to change, so can its people. Mazaniello-Chézol’s research examines the potential health consequences of introducing a western diet to those living in developing countries, which include an increased prevalence of diseases like obesity and diabetes. But the people are not to blame for these problems––in countries where processed food is quickly becoming the cheapest and easiest option, individuals are often forced to make difficult health decisions when it comes to their diet. 

“Food should not be a burden and people should not be made to feel guilty for not having access to healthy and sustainable food,” Mazaniello-Chézol said. “Food should always be something you like to work with because it is a social tool. Food is all about embracing culture and ancestry and getting your hands busy.”

Science & Technology

Teaching spinach to send emails

by Youssef Wahba on

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Although plants are living things, they are usually inanimate and incapable of communicating anything but their need for water. However, through the use of nanotechnology, researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have found a way to initiate communication between plants and humans. With this emerging technology, spinach, known for its high iron content, can now send emails to warn scientists about climate change.

Researchers injected the spinach leaves with single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs)—a strong yet very light allotrope of carbon. As their name suggests, SWCNTs are nanoparticles that are almost 50,000 times thinner than a human hair and formed by rolling thin sheets of graphene into cylinders. The carbon nanotubes in engineered spinach can then detect harmful compounds or pollutants in the soil. The technology was originally created to test for explosive compounds, known as nitroaromatics, and is one of the first developments in the emerging field of plant nanobionics.

David Juncker, professor and chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at McGill, studies how nanotechnology can be used to manipulate cells, proteins and tissues.

“Nanobionics refer to the integration of nanoscale artificial structures into living systems, [and] in this example, [into] single-walled carbon nanotubes into spinach plants,” Juncker wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. “The general idea of bionics is to enhance biological function thanks to artificial structures, and in this case, they are materials at the nanoscale in plants.”

The carbon nanotubes in the engineered spinach are illuminated with infrared light, which is then emitted back, forming an image that acts as a reference for a nanotube not yet bound to any compounds. Chemicals present in the soil will make their way up to the leaves and bind to the carbon nanotubes, causing them to reemit the infrared radiation in a different manner, forming a different image. A small computer connected to the infrared camera then indicates the difference between the image formed and the reference. Once it does so, the computer automatically sends an email to the researchers signalling the presence of the target compound. 

This technique can be used to detect compounds and pollutants in the soil such as nitric oxide, which is formed as a result of combustion and contributes to climate change. Although only two plants—spinach and thale cress—were tested, the procedure could be applied to any other plant species. 

Nanobionics, however, come at a high cost.

“SWCNT[s] are expensive to make, and here are functionalized with a molecule that binds the chemical,” Juncker wrote. “They are likely very expensive [and] need to be externally introduced, which would not allow for broader use. But the concept could be replicated with biocompatible materials, and even with materials produced by the plant themselves thanks to genetic engineering.”

Plant nanobionics can also increase plant productivity. For instance, certain nanoparticles could be injected into plants to increase their absorbance of solar energy, leading to a faster rate of photosynthesis. Farmers can also detect specific compounds in the soil to help them determine the exact amount of fertilizers or pesticides they need to use. 

“This is an example where they take advantage of the material to create a visible change in response to chemicals found in explosives, which could help locate them,” Juncker wrote. “At large scale, this could be useful to detect explosives or other ground chemical[s] based on satellite imagery, similarly to how Roman ruins can be identified based on changes in the vegetation colour when they grow atop shallowly recovered structures.”

This is not the only technical application of spinach. In the past, scientists struggled to find a material that would replace platinum as a catalyst for fuel cell reactions. However, a study conducted by American University found that an engineered version of spinach is actually more efficient at sparking reactions than platinum. This discovery marks an eminent step towards clean energy dependency as fuel cells could replace the conventional internal combustion engine.

Commentary, Opinion

Financial accountability is key to the success of SSMU’s five-year plan

by Michael Dickinson on

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The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) experiences high annual turnover among its leadership, which often forces executives to prioritize making an immediate impact at the expense of more effective, long-term goals. In response, President Jemark Earle campaigned on a promise to implement a long-term plan for the organization that focusses on policies that his successors may otherwise neglect. In December, SSMU unanimously adopted a five-year plan to improve staffing, club finances, and student services. Earle’s plan contains numerous items that will improve student life, but it requires a significant monetary investment from McGill students. To ensure the plan’s success, SSMU will need to be more transparent with how student funds are spent. 

If enacted effectively, Earle’s ambitious goals will increase the scope of services available to McGill students. Among other ideas, the plan proposes to open a pharmacy and a tax clinic, and renovate the University Centre’s second-floor cafeteria into a student lounge. Clubs and student advocacy groups will receive more financial and institutional support, and additional administrative staff would be hired to alleviate the burden on SSMU’s currently overworked employees.

The proposed services would be beneficial, but they come at a high price: It is estimated that increasing club insurance alone will cost two hundred thousand dollars. Since student fees make up much of SSMU’s budget, the Society is obligated to allocate these funds more responsibly than they have in the past to ensure the success of this expensive project. A recent Finance Committee report found a significant lack of oversight regarding SSMU’s approval of ancillary fees in recent years. For example, groups requesting fee collection do not need to submit any information about how they intend to use their budget, leading many groups to ask for more than they need. Between 2015 and 2020, SSMU approved 95 per cent of fee requests from student groups despite often not knowing how this money would be used. To eliminate wasteful spending and leave more resources available for more meaningful projects, budgets must be scrutinized more thoroughly before SSMU approves funding.

Although SSMU has not always been forthcoming about past budgets, the plan’s finance section shows that its executives are aware that this needs to change. SSMU’s suggestion to consolidate fees is an excellent start towards minimizing monetary waste. Externally auditing this collective fund would allow full financial transparency, and money could be allocated to groups on an as-needed basis. Furthermore, the plan’s other fiscal goals would raise money in the short-term to lessen the need for future fee increases. These include registering SSMU as a charity so that it can receive donations, and investing portions of the consolidated fund into money markets. Additionally, the Finance Committee report identified that SSMU services regularly run large surpluses. Existing surpluses can help decrease the burden of the plan’s new fees, but it is up to the Society to prevent services from collecting more money than necessary going forward.

In addition to saving money, increased budgetary accountability and transparency would empower SSMU members to make informed choices about the five-year plan. Every fee increase that SSMU intends to levy will have to be approved by a student referendum. Although past referendums have seen voters overwhelmingly support fee increases, these elections have been hampered by low turnout. This shows a lack of interest or knowledge among the student body regarding SSMU’s finances, which is dangerous considering the expense of the new projects. Greater transparency will keep students informed about the budget, thus encouraging them to fulfill their obligation to vote.

Although the five-year plan will help the university, a history of fiscal mismanagement threatens to undermine its potential. SSMU must learn from these mistakes by empowering its Finance Committee, club leaders, and external auditors to ensure that their projects are financially viable. The success of the five-year plan hinges on increased fees, and students deserve to know that their money is being spent responsibly. 

Off the Board, Opinion

The role of analog media in an online world

by Aidan Martin on

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Last Friday, I listened to Prince by Prince on vinyl while I handwrote a letter to a friend, wandered the streets taking videos on my handheld camcorder, and watched my favourite John Cusack film High Fidelity on VHS. It is 2021, and yet I find that my days are consumed by the use of various forms of analog media. In an era where our lives are entwined with an online space, there is a need for a tangibility that only early media can provide.

Although the resurgence of analog may seem ridiculous to some who consider it inferior to new technologies, there is value in preserving and returning to older types of media. I am aware that my VHS collection is outdated, but streaming a movie on my laptop does not even slightly compare to the process of watching a film on my small box TV. From carefully choosing which film to watch, taking the movie out of its cover, rewinding the tape if my past self was not kind, and finally pressing play, there are no interruptions except the subtle background noise of the popping static and whirring of the spinning tape. Criterion enthusiasts and even my parents would agree that this way of watching a movie is absurd, but the physical nature of the antiquated process provides me with unparalleled comfort. As the credits of a movie I have just streamed roll by, I will turn to FaceTime to talk to my sister about it, or continue the seemingly endless cycle of scrolling the internet. But at the click of the tape coming to its end, I’ll press rewind, sitting and thinking about the film before perhaps turning to a book. Among other things, being offline encourages me to connect with my surroundings and be more mindful in the process. 

For me, the use of analog media is a natural inclination. Although I grew up on the cusp of the internet’s explosion, I remember going to the video store to pick out DVD and VHS tapes and my parents creating home videos with a tape-recorder camera. Going through my parents’ basement in search of their vinyl records, old cameras, and movies felt like a necessary rite-of-passage. Perhaps the use of analog media is a form of nostalgia, which it is in part for me, but for a newer generation that was not alive to experience the world pre-internet, these forms of media can provide a much-needed offline escape and exploration into history.

The analog medium of film photography has become ubiquitous with the increasing prevalence of disposable, thrifted, or hand-me-down cameras. Contrasted with a DSLR or cellphone camera, using film demands more time and contemplation with each photograph instead of taking multitudes of the same shot. The instant gratification of immediately seeing a photo taken with a digital camera is not possible with a film camera, and even instant film polaroid cameras take time to process. Once a roll is finished, the act of developing the film requires patience and reflection that leads to surprises of forgotten photographs. If the photographer chooses to print the photos, it adds another element of physicality that is normally lost in our phone’s camera roll.

While digital media provides a way to connect that was never possible pre-internet, the act of typing a text message to a friend holds much less care, love, anticipation, and thought than crafting a letter and placing it in the mailbox. The excitement and sense of modernity that came along with the age of the internet have already grown old, and the connections that it has provided are often greatly over-stimulating and emotionally tiring. The role of analog media in my life has allowed me to access a not-so-distant history, disconnect from constantly being online, and be more mindful of each moment and those who share them with me.

Arts & Entertainment, Books

‘Black Women’s Voices’ panel unpacks writing on the journey to justice

by Matthew Molinaro on

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On Feb. 19, the Canadian Women’s Foundation’s Tireless Readers Collective hosted “A Celebration of Black Women’s Voices in the Journey to Gender Equality,” a panel discussion featuring authors Zalika Reid-Benta, Eternity Martis, Francesca Ekwuyasi, and Jael Richardson. Chaired by the Foundation’s president and CEO, Paulette Senior, the panel reflected on writing as a path to justice, each author’s approaches to their stories, and their views on the future of Black literature and representation in Canada.

To open the discussion, Senior shared a quote from one of Canada’s founding mothers and political trailblazers, Rosemary Brown. 

“Until all of us have made it, none of us have made it,” Senior read.

As the discussion moved to their genres, all four authors noted the stark contrasts between each other’s writing. Where Martis’ memoir, They Said This Would Be Fun, is journalistic, Richardson’s novel, Gutter Child is dystopian. Reid-Benta highlighted the importance of their range in genres and prose styles.

“There is a diversity of Black narratives […] that expands the scope of what it means to be Black,” Reid-Benta said.

Likewise, Richardson explained why the authors’ differences were valuable for both reaching and reflecting the lived experiences of a wide readership. 

“It does not matter the form,” Richardson said. “Stories are a way of reaching other communities [….] By reading, people look at their lives differently.”

Martis and Ekwuyasi elaborated on Reid-Benta’s and Richardson’s points by referring to the potential of fiction and non-fiction stories to add truth to the public record of historical Black narratives.

The discussion extended past their writing and to the women’s relationships with their work. Martis, whose current journalistic practice with West End Phoenix focusses on revealing the hidden dynamics of systemic oppression, argued that solution-based journalism can help highlight the pandemic economy’s disproportionate effect on survivors of abuse, employed women, and maternal mortality.

“We need to speak of the intersections of what it means to be a woman of colour in a pandemic,” Martis said. “Narrative allows us to make choices [….] Solution-based journalism gives us the skills to act and to empower people of colour and women of colour.”

Similarly, the four noted that sharing Black narratives as a Black author often involves digging into the past—either historically or personally. To explain the “origin story” in dystopian fiction, Richardson spoke candidly about her limited knowledge of Black issues because of the erasure of Black history from the Canadian education system. 

“In Black History Month, we talk about [Abraham] Lincoln, [Martin Luther] King [Jr.], emancipation, and slavery […], but that is a narrow lens of history,” Richardson said. “We need to do a better job of showing who we are […] because our existence is not just based in slavery.”

The authors shared their thoughts on how to reframe Black histories and present-day narratives so as to more accurately depict a wide array of experiences.

“More Black people need to tell Black stories,” Ekwuyasi said. “In Nigeria, on the continent, in the Caribbean, Black people are telling Black stories [….] We’re not a monolith.”

On multivocality, Reid-Benta went on to explain the difficulties she encountered trying to transcribe Patois and accurately portray Toronto’s Little Jamaica neighbourhood when writing Frying Plantain.

“I didn’t want to be seen as being the voice of the neighbourhood […], blanketing Black experience together,” Reid-Benta said. “I wrote what I felt was right.” 

As the discussion came to a close, the authors spoke about the reception of their art. More recently, Ekwuyasi’s novel Butter Honey Pig Bread was shortlisted for CBC’s Canada Reads and Reid-Benta was selected to head the 2021 Giller Prize Jury. Martis is working on a project about Black and racialized jurors, and Richardon is currently writing a sequel to Gutter Child. 

The four authors left the panel with a bold message for the future of gender equality—to write, to take on that active voice in reshaping and reinforcing what one sees and believes, and to continue supporting Black and intersectional voices beyond Black History Month.

Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

‘Minari’ makes the personal feel universal

by Michelle Siegel on

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Minari, the latest offering from production company A24, presents a complicated yet touching portrait of a South Korean immigrant family through a holistic lens. The film follows the Yi family, who try to establish their lives on an Arkansas farm during the 1980s. The story, written and directed by Lee Isaac Chung, is a semi-autobiographical portrait of his early family life and upbringing.

While David Yi (Alan Kim), the youngest child of the family, is Chung’s proxy character, the film does not take place solely from David’s perspective—it switches between the perspectives of David, his strong-willed and determined father Jacob (Steven Yeun), and his patient but suffering mother Monica (Han Ye-ri). The arrival of Monica’s mother, Soon-ja (Youn Yuh-jung), creates a subtle wrinkle in the fabric of the narrative, and she quickly develops into an integral and beloved companion to the children. 

Every member of the cast is phenomenal in their roles, but Yeun, Youn, and Kim stand out. Yeun in particular gives a controlled and nuanced performance, treading the delicate balance between nurturing his family and fulfilling his own ambitions. This is highlighted in the many scenes where Jacob and Monica fight over their family’s living situation. On one night, the two come to blows over Jacob’s decision to move the family as a hurricane passes through the state. While Monica believes that the best thing for their family would be to move back to California and regain stable work, Jacob insists that it is best for them to stay so that the children can see him succeed. Jacob parallels other iconic cinematic patriarchs, such as Walter Younger in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, who is forced to reconcile his personal goals and dreams with the greater needs and desires of his family. 

The film somewhat neglects the eldest daughter Anne (Noel Kate Cho) as a character, presumably because she is not old enough to provide an impactful perspective as the adults in the film do. This is one of Minari’s few missteps, as the exclusion of Anne feels like a missed opportunity for a further exploration of the siblings’ relationship. Besides this slight narrative hole, Minari comes together in virtually every other aspect: The entire cast has natural chemistry and sells the differing perspectives and relationships within the family dynamic. The film’s score, composed by Emile Mosseri, is also a perfect undertone to the film, sounding at once hopeful, whimsical, and melancholic. 

Although some may find the plot slow and uneventful, the quiet struggles and mundane routines of the family are far from boring. The authenticity woven through Minari unveils the subdued calamity of the family’s trials and tribulations. Chung’s semi-autobiographical work is filled with love and respect for his story—Minari never appears as a sanitized portrait of immigration, opting instead to depict Chung’s recollections of his childhood and his current perception of his parents’ experiences in that setting. 

The real magic of Minari is the universality of the story. The film is deeply personal to Chung, yet its intimacy allows the audience to experience its shared truths. The story’s themes are relatable in many regards, whether in reference to the immigrant experience, the sometimes grave and other times humorous antics of childhood, or the broader notions of failure, family, and faith. Even viewers who are oblivious to the symbolism of the minari plants that David and Anne plant with Soon-ja will be moved by the tenderness and determination of the Yi family. While Chung’s story may not specifically reflect that of every person who watches Minari, the heartfelt emotions and strong relationships between the family members make the movie an unforgettable experience. 

Minari is available for viewing on A24 Screening Room as of Feb. 12. It is scheduled for VOD release on Feb. 26.

Out on the Town, Student Life

Ghost kitchens: How Livia Sweets has stayed afloat during the pandemic

by Antoine Guimbal on

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Just over a year ago, Livia Café was a vibrant, bustling, and health-driven coffee and matcha bar. Their Peel St. location had become a go-to spot for matcha-lovers and an indispensable part of the Montreal food scene, welcoming both office-workers on lunch break and students looking for a place to study.

In March 2020, however, Livia Café was forced to close temporarily as the government implemented stay-at-home orders across the province. The industry froze as restaurant groups, chains, and smaller independent businesses were no longer allowed to host their customers in-house, and the consequences were dire: 10 per cent of Montreal restaurants have permanently closed since the pandemic began, with around half at risk of shutting down for good.

The new restrictions forced restaurants with the means to stay operational to adapt. Among them is the Instagram-worthy bakery Livia Sweets, Livia Café’s sister company. Their business model: A ghost kitchen and e-commerce.

Ghost kitchens are delivery-only restaurants: Before COVID-19, the model offered attractive economic benefits for business owners, reducing costs by limiting the need to hire service staff and provide a physical space for customers. During the pandemic, however, ghost kitchens have become the norm.

Frustrated with the limited pastry options on delivery services, Livia Sweets owner David Dayan saw a place for bakeries on the e-commerce market. Knowing they could eliminate substantial costs by operating out of one of its parent group’s other restaurants, Ryu, the project was brought to life. 

Established in April 2020, Livia Sweets is unlike Livia Café in a key way. While the café is driven by health-consciousness, the bakery embraces decadence with a vast array of desserts that can help bring a little more joy to birthdays, anniversaries, and other milestone celebrations dampened by the pandemic.

“The bakery was launched with the intention of flipping the culture from the Livia Café,” Victoria Alexander, the marketing manager for Dayan’s restaurant group, said. “Despite the pandemic, people still deserve the fun.”

Livia Sweets aims to prioritize its customers’ interests and demands. Sporting the same logo as the café, Livia Sweets’ brand pays homage to neighbouring Montreal cafés, restaurants, and pastry shops. Their selection of lively, colourful cakes on its website is reminiscent of Christina Tosi’s Milk Bar. The bakery has also worked hard to eliminate food waste. 

Third-party delivery services such as UberEats or Doordash offer a client-friendly platform, but charge businesses a substantial 25 to 30 percent fee from every order. As a result, some large chains have launched their own delivery services, and other restaurants have turned their waiters into drivers or ultimately decided not to offer delivery at all. 

“Our biggest challenge was to find a logistical way to become profitable,” Alexander said. 

Their hybrid e-commerce model, including third-party applications and an in-house delivery platform, proved to be the best solution. Customers can order from the bakery’s rotating menu through Uber Eats and DoorDash for delivery, or directly from their website for orders to be picked up between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. 

By offering a selection of menu items on delivery applications, the online pastry shop hopes to relieve the cravings of its clientele five days a week. Simultaneously, their one-day-a-week, in-house delivery model provides the bakery with the flexibility to optimize the week’s baking schedule by planning deliveries in batches. 

“We have been encouraged by the success of Livia Sweets, and we have begun exploring additional e-commerce opportunities, such as the delivery of at-home matcha kits from the Livia Cafe,” Alexander said.

Livia Sweets’ success using the ghost kitchen model exemplifies the resourcefulness that food-service businesses have used to survive during the pandemic, and might also foreshadow a long-term shift in the way restaurants operate. In the future, students can expect to see more ghost kitchens on their delivery apps, as the model has proven itself to be a flexible and economical alternative to in-house dining during these uncertain times.

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