Emmanuel Akanbi

OPSEU rally brings workers together in fight for public education

More than 100 community members and education workers joined Fanshawe support staff workers on their picket line in front of the college Friday, as the union’s strike ended its first week. Fanshawe College’s over 650 full-time support staff, who are represented by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) Local 109 have been on strike since Sept. 11. The local joins more than 10,000 full-time college support staff across the province in striking for job security measures, an increase to provincial funding in the sector, and to ensure benefits cover things like dental and hearing services.  On Friday, the union…

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Can’t we all be free Under The Same Sun?

Historical fictions breathe the stories of the old world. The ability to tell a story of how something might have come to be, a story which likely has been told for centuries is a wonder to behold. We’ve been telling stories forever, we’ve been writing them for a blip in that time, and we’ve been filming them for the tiniest fraction of that blip — leaving an infinite amount of time to film stories we’ve never seen. Spanish writer/director Ulises Porra’s Under The Same Sun is one such historical fiction that tells a beautiful story of how something came to…

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Zain Duraie’s Sink is as honest as it is heartbreaking

Zain Duraie’s Sink is the right amount of devastating. One of my favourites of the festival, the film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last week. There is no shortage of films that cover mental illness in the modern context. Predominantly American or European, there are dozens if not hundreds of projects that show the sadness, the stigma, and the need for community support when dealing with mental health issues. Still, few films expertly portray an earnest perspective of the emotions involved outside of the melodrama frequently depicted. To truly succeed in portraying mental illness requires…

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Seemab Gul’s Ghost School is an outstanding debut feature

With gorgeous cinematography and keen direction from director Seemab Gul’s debut feature, Ghost School shows remarkable strength and film-making talent. The Urdu-language feature, which premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival this week, follows the journey of 10-year old Rabia (an outstanding performance from child actress Nazualiya Arsalan) who undertakes the journey of uncovering the mystery behind “ghost school” phenomenon in Pakistan after her school is abruptly shut down. The exploration takes place through the pure and curious lens of a young girl who above-all wants to go back to school. Ghost schools are institutions that exist on paper, or…

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“Rodent feces, roach infestations, holes”: London ACORN holds gallery at Walnut Street building

Yesterday, more than 20 London ACORN and community members held a gallery demonstration in front of London Middlesex Community Housing (LMCH)’s 85 Walnut Street apartment building. The event aimed to raise awareness regarding the safety and conditions of units in LMCH, which ranked second in London ACORN’s “Slumlord awards” last month. “There are a lot of issues going on at London housing buildings,” said Sharon Villeneuve, an ACORN member and resident at 85 Walnut Street. “A lot of pest control issues, maintenance issues, safety issues, and they’re not being addressed.” “They’re refusing to have meetings that we have requested. That’s…

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“Do not forget Gaza”: Londoners hold emergency protest for journalists murdered by Israel

More than 220 Londoners gathered in front of city hall on Monday in an emergency protest for journalists in Gaza assassinated by Israeli forces.  This protest was organized by the Canadian Palestinian Social Association (CPSA) in response to the Israeli Defense Forces’ targeted assassination of an Al Jazeera crew in a media tent outside of al-Shifa hospital. Among the deceased were journalists Anas al-Sharif, Mohammed al-Khaldi and Mohammed Qreiqeh, as well as camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa. “We are joining a coalition of millions upon millions of people who are saying with a very loud and…

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d an ACORN banner

The Slummies: Inside London ACORN’s “slumlord” awards

On July 14, London’s ACORN tenant organizing group held its first “Slumlord of the Year” awards ceremony, a mock award ceremony to call attention to what their survey-based data suggests are some of the city’s worst landlords. Their aim is to encourage the city to hold these landlords accountable.  Over the past several months, London ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), a tenant advocacy group, conducted a survey of tenants across the city, gathering around 80 responses. Complete with tenant testimonials and bronze, silver, and gold “slumlord” trophies to give to landlords across the city, the awards ceremony…

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Dresden community rallies against Bill 5 and proposed landfill site

On Thursday, more than 160 people gathered in Dresden’s Rotary Park to oppose the Ford government’s Bill 5 and a controversial landfill site proposal that the province has reopened the doors to.  The landfill proposal would expand and reopen an inactive landfill site less than a kilometer away from the Dresden town line. The landfill proposed by York1 Environmental Waste Solutions would accept more than 6,000 tonnes of solid non-hazardous construction and demolition waste every day, running around the clock with an estimated 700 trucks travelling to the site each day.  The Dresden community has been actively opposed to the…

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Pride and Protest: “Parade” Screening at Museum London

Last month, I went to Toronto’s Soulpepper Theatre to watch a production of Michael R. Jackson’s Tony and Pulitzer award-winning musical, “A Strange Loop.” I was stunned by its unapologetic Blackness, especially seeing it amongst a predominantly white crowd. The musical offers a gritty understanding of the lived experiences of a Black gay man in the modern era (modern as in like 2015 modern, to be fair), so much so that a white family with their young daughter packed up and left by the third song. I could not stop thinking about this white family leaving. I kept wondering if…

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Inside the London Premiere of Vancouver-based documentary series Ana Falastini

On May 25, Palestinian-Canadian filmmakers Dalia Al Ahmad and Rawan Ramini came to Western University’s Conron Hall to premiere their Vancouver-based documentary series “Ana Falastini.”  The event brought upwards of 100 community members together and featured surprise performances from the Asala Dabke group and the debut of the Palestinian Threads of Diaspora project in London. The filmmaker duo showed three episodes of their five-episode documentary series, each discussing a specific part of Palestinian identity through interviews in both Arabic and English. Part 1 — History “To be a Palestinian is politicized.”  The first portion of the documentary opened with members…

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