Consumer culture is the bane of our existence -Kiran A Dime hoodie has become a ubiquitous cultural symbol on the McGill campus. The Montreal-based skate brand grows in popularity with each limited edition drop. Why do McGill students like Dime? Are they not just another company selling mass-produced, overpriced, undifferentiated[Read More…]
Commentary
STM safety ambassadors are customers in uniform, not adequate emergency responders
If you saw an emergency on the metro, what would be your first instinct? Would you intervene yourself? Would you call the police? Ask another bystander for help? Google what to do? Odds are you didn’t say, “Find one of six safety ambassadors scattered around the metro station who cannot[Read More…]
The Memory of a Bee Sting: Unveiling Black Women’s Anger
Microaggressions are like a bee sting. You can always recover from the sting, but the memory of the pain lasts forever. Microaggressions are the tiny pricks that slowly erode your self-esteem. And, because society deems acts of casual racism acceptable, these pricks persist. People believe it is fine to touch[Read More…]
Egbert Gaye’s death leaves a gaping hole in Black anglophone journalism in Quebec
Egbert Gaye, the founder of one of the few Black-run newspapers in Montreal, and the only one to continue to operate over past decades, passed away on June 4, 2023, leaving behind an incredible legacy for Montreal’s Black community. His newspaper, Montreal Community Contact, provides media representation for Montreal’s English-speaking[Read More…]
Liberation, not excellence, should be the focus of Black History Month
Earlier this year, the federal government announced that this Black History Month (BHM)’s theme would be “Black Excellence: A Heritage to Celebrate; a Future to Build.” Almost thirty years after its adoption, BHM today signals a response to persistent problems in Canadian society—anti-Blackness as old as the country itself and[Read More…]
Gracia Kasoki Katahwa’s recent election proves that better financial resources for Black candidates can go a long way
While Montreal is known for its diversity, government representation remains an issue for the city. On Feb. 1, Gracia Kasoki Katahwa, mayor of Côte-des-Neiges– Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough and the first Black borough mayor in Montreal’s history, made history when she joined the city’s executive committee, responsible for human resources and combating[Read More…]
Is a student strike effective? It’s complicated
On Jan. 25, the McGill Religious Studies Student Association (RSUS), the Student Association of Sustainability, Science and Society (SASSS), and McGill Undergraduate Geography Society (MUGS) announced that their members would be on strike from Jan. 31 to Feb. 1. The strikes joined Concordia students in responding to the Coalition Avenir[Read More…]
McGill students don’t hate Montreal, just the McGill bubble
Tripadvisor’s Travellers Choice Award 2024 ranked Montreal 13th on the “Best of the Best” list for sustainable travel, crowning the city the “cultural capital of Canada.” Alongside this, Time Out ranked Montreal in 12th for “World’s Best Cities for Culture.” While this didn’t surprise me, I was shocked to find[Read More…]
The real value of a McGill degree
What makes McGill a good school to attend? Is it the superior facilities? The enormous introductory classes? Much of the value in attending McGill stems from the McGill degree as a form of cultural capital. In other words, having the McGill name on a resume lends clout. A McGill degree[Read More…]
Blanchet’s tale of “two Quebecs” embodies the Bloc Québécois’s hypocrisy
Montreal is a city characterized by its liveliness and natural beauty. The numerous events that take place on the island, such as the Nuits d’Afrique and Jazz Fest music festivals highlight the city’s diversity and boast its reputation as a tourist hotspot. Most enticing, however, is that Montreal is composed[Read More…]
