Boys and Girls Club of East Scarborough to build 47 affordable housing units

Boys and Girls Club of East Scarborough to build 47 affordable housing units

By Lincoln DePradine A Scarborough-based organization is embarking on a housing project that would benefit youth in the east of Toronto, many of them from the Black and Caribbean community. The Boys and Girls Club (BGC) of East Scarborough has purchased land at 62 Orchard Park Drive and plans on building 47 affordable housing units […]

Darker Shade of Blue: A Black cop’s memoir with heart and humour

Darker Shade of Blue: A Black cop’s memoir with heart and humour

By Stephen Weir It usually doesn’t happen this way. A retired Black York Region police supervisor wakes up at 4 am from a sound sleep, goes upstairs to his office, and sits down to begin writing his autobiography. Fast forward a few years, Keith Merith, without introduction, an agent, or an editor, mails off his […]

Federal investment boosts legal aid for racialized inmates

Federal investment boosts legal aid for racialized inmates

Ensuring access to justice stands as a foundational principle within the Canadian legal system, and is emblematic of a society committed to upholding the rule of law. Recognizing the pressing need to dismantle systemic barriers present in the justice system, there is a crucial call to establish equitable and impartial avenues for legal recourse, particularly […]

Opera about Black Canadian contralto is ‘poetic justice in an art form that rejected her’

Opera about Black Canadian contralto is ‘poetic justice in an art form that rejected her’

By Neil Armstrong The Canadian Opera Company’s upcoming opera, “Aportia Chryptych: A Black Opera for Portia White,” sets out to reclaim the Black Canadian contralto’s story and evokes memories of the past as a form of political resistance. Haui, the director and librettist, describes it as a “love letter to Black women” and said it […]

Toronto Police Service honours Jean Augustine and Terry James

Toronto Police Service honours Jean Augustine and Terry James

JamesBy Lincoln DePradine Dr Jean Augustine left frontline politics in 2006, and Terry James retired as a Toronto Police Service (TPS) sergeant in 2010. The two are “incredible’’ and are still impacting communities in Canada, according to Jacqueline Edwards, president of the Association of Black Law Enforcers (ABLE). “You have created and cultivated changes in […]

On International Women’s Day we make an urgent call to accelerate gender equality

On International Women’s Day we make an urgent call to accelerate gender equality

In the face of escalating global crises, the pursuit of gender equality has never been more critical. The empowerment of women and girls is indispensable for fostering prosperous economies and ensuring a sustainable future for our planet. As we approach International Women’s Day tomorrow March 8, 2024, the theme “Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress” underscores […]

Early detection of prostate cancer is key to effective treatment

Early detection of prostate cancer is key to effective treatment

One vital tool in this quest to diagnose and treat this common cancer is prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, testing, which is a simple blood test offering valuable insights into prostate health. By the age of 50, men should be having the test done annually. If you have a family history, have risk factors, or if […]

Make pharmacare legislation a top priority

Make pharmacare legislation a top priority

Canada stands out as the only nation with a universal healthcare system that lacks comprehensive coverage for prescription drugs, except for hospital patients. Shockingly, 7.5 million Canadians find themselves with inadequate or no prescription drug coverage. Recent surveys indicate an overwhelming 93 percent support a national pharmacare program with equal access for all. Because of […]

Tropicana Community Services opens Black Mental Health Week

Tropicana Community Services opens Black Mental Health Week

By Lincoln DePradine Employers, in the private and government sectors, publicly promote concepts like “equity’’ and “anti-Black racism’’. However, what happens on the job to Black employees is something completely different from the public expressions of employers, according to Aina-Nia Ayo’dele, a former City of Toronto manager, who also is known as a “spiritual liberation […]

Lillie Johnson lauded as a dedicated public health advocate at Order of Canada investiture

Lillie Johnson lauded as a dedicated public health advocate at Order of Canada investiture

By Neil Armstrong Centenarian Lillie Johnson — who founded the Sickle Cell Association of Ontario and will celebrate her 102nd birthday on March 16 — has been lauded for her advocacy for sickle cell disease in Ontario. At a special ceremony held at Extendicare Rouge Valley, the long-term care residence where she lives in Scarborough, […]