We need artists, geniuses, radicals and random brilliance to disarm society and its pathologies. Normal doesn’t work anymore. “Some of the negative comments claim what we did was insensitive, but if you think that this is crossing the line and … [Read more]
Continue readingAuthor: stephen elliott~buckley
We Pivot: An Easy Test of Cultural Appreciation Not Appropriation, Oluo 11/18
Chapter 10 of Ijeoma Oluo’s deeply valuable So You Want to Talk About Race focuses on the how to appreciate culture instead of appropriate it. It debates whether white people can/should rap. It’s not about Vanilla Ice versus Eminem or … [Read more]
Continue readingWe Pivot: The “N” Word Debate Is Over, Oluo 10/18
Chapter 9 of Ijeoma Oluo’s awesome So You Want to Talk About Race focuses on the debate about whether various people can/should say the “N” word. When I watched Dear White People on Netflix, I saw a sublime example of … [Read more]
Continue readingWe Pivot: Canada’s Secret School-to-Prison Pipeline, Oluo 9/18
Chapter 9 of Ijeoma Oluo’s awesome So You Want to Talk About Race focuses on how systemic racism in institutions like school create a recipe for failure for non-whites. This is one of the largest comprehension divides for Canadians trying … [Read more]
Continue readingWe Pivot: Do This Before Confronting Affirmative Action, Oluo 8/18
Chapter 7 of Ijeoma Oluo’s So You Want to Talk About Race focuses on ideas and experiences surrounding affirmative action. This awesome chapter has helped me consolidate a few ideas I’ve heard. When [even marginally] progressive HR departments start anonymizing … [Read more]
Continue readingWe Pivot: Not Being Defensive About Racist Police Brutality, Oluo 7/18
Despite the statistics that police treat people of colour and indigenous people more unfairly and brutally, a reflexive defensiveness exists to discount that experience. When people who aren’t white complain about driving while black, etc., is our initial impulse to … [Read more]
Continue readingWe Pivot: White Men Need Intersectionality Expertise, Oluo 6/18
Intersectionality needs to become the most understood word as we wind down this decade. I’ve been thinking that for a few years now, but chapter 5 of Ijeoma Oluo’s So You Want to Talk About Race deeply reinforces that. My … [Read more]
Continue readingWe Pivot: Entitlement Mapping 101, Oluo 5/18
Fresh off of chapter 3 of Ijeoma Oluo’s So You Want to Talk About Race, we now enter the check your privilege chapter. This is a critical chapter to ensure that as we delve into the rest of the book, … [Read more]
Continue readingWe Pivot: Inevitable Race Conversation Mistakes, Oluo Day 4/18
I love chapter 3 of Ijeoma Oluo’s So You Want to Talk About Race. It reminds us that our human/race arrogance is a deep impediment to making a difference in the world. Francesca Ramsey, whose voice is spreading more widely … [Read more]
Continue readingWe Pivot: The Racism-Power Intersection, Day 3/18
Let’s get into chapter 2 of Ijeoma Oluo’s So You Want to Talk About Race! It’s been hard in recent year to talk about reverse racism, which I don’t believe exists. Racism is prejudice based on race, but there’s always … [Read more]
Continue readingWe Pivot: Oluo, Race, Class and Priorities: Day 2/18
Chapter 1 of Ijeoma Oluo’s So You Want to Talk About Race is called “Is It Really About Race?” In the debrief of the 2016 election, many folks have concluded that if we paid more attention to poor white people … [Read more]
Continue readingWe Pivot: So You Want to Talk About Race, Day 1/18
Ijeoma Oluo’s new book is out: So You Want to Talk About Race. I first encountered her writing in Medium and was quite gripped by her wisdom. So I pre-ordered her book and started it today. Every day for the … [Read more]
Continue readingWe Pivot: Horgan Insults Delgamuukw with the Site C Debacle
20 years ago yesterday came the Supreme Court’s Delgamuukw ruling, ensuring that this “Canada” recognizes pre-existing aboriginal sovereignty, especially in BC where virtually none of the land was ever ceded to the British Crown. This is a pathetic day for … [Read more]
Continue readingWe Pivot: Louis C.K.’s “Victims” Didn’t Put Vancouver Animators Out of Work
We need more from the CBC. And the Canadian Press. “Sexual Misconduct Claims Against Louis C.K. put Vancouver Animators Out of Work” was the initial headline of a Canadian Press wire piece that the CBC ran, which has since been … [Read more]
Continue readingWe Pivot: Men Steal Women’s Due Process
I didn’t think this up, but it’s been gnawing at me for years and many times in recent months with all the sexual predators being outed…with still millions more to go, I’m sure. Should there be consequences to these alleged … [Read more]
Continue readingWe Pivot: Vancouver Will Now Segregate the Children of the Rich from the Poor
Vancouver is increasingly moving towards a financial caste system. It’s not like it hasn’t been going on for generations, but now it’s becoming entrenched in civic development policy. Instead of an intentional, well-led civic discussion about housing, justice, poverty, inclusion … [Read more]
Continue readingWe Pivot: The USA Is Disconnecting From Reality
The US government is a deranged, terrorist state. There is a broad epidemic of people throughout America with damaged mental health who are unhinged from reality. That people are trolling Las Vegas shooting victims, calling them frauds, that the shooting … [Read more]
Continue readingWe Pivot: Why is Britain Moving Towards a 2-Child Policy?
While a royal family can embrace a third child, Britain is instituting a de facto 2-child policy for the poor. This is classist, racist, anti-feminist, misogynist, anti-human, inhumane and it perpetuates rape culture. As we pivot to a new world … [Read more]
Continue readingWe Pivot: Trudeau’s Empty “Yes We Can” Moment
Obama’s “Yes We Can” mantra made many question, yes we can do what exactly? That was its brilliance. He became whatever to whoever. Trudeau’s commitment to a national inquiry on murdered and missing indigenous women has become the same emptiness, … [Read more]
Continue readingWe Pivot: Modern Labour Activism?
Modern Labour Activism Modern Labour Activism is a collection of 35 labour renewal essays I wrote for Our Times magazine from March 2010 to June 2017. Is Canada’s labour movement in an existential crisis? Is it properly adapting to the … [Read more]
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