On October 10th 2009, the Canadian Arab Federation hosted an evening entitled ‘Disowning Canadians Abroad’ where a number of guest speakers discussed the trend of Canadian citizens from racialized backgrounds being abandoned by the Canadian government when facing challenges while abroad. Many spoke from first-hand experience. Faraz Siddiqui was one of the speakers.

As a child, I was drawn to Cookie Monster’s manic love for baked goods, but my most vivid recollection of Sesame Street is Gordon. I can’t remember when I first saw him, whether he was having one of his chats with Oscar about O’s grouchy outlook on life or whether he joined in a song urging us to do something good for ourselves, but I do recall his presence: warm, joyful, thoughtful and firm. Not a caricature or stereotype of a Black man, Gordon represents Sesame Street’s greatest value for me as a father—a world where people of color are celebrated without being tokenized, satirized or exaggerated.

Chasing Mirrors is a multimedia/multi-medium based project focusing on youth identity in London. The exhibit itself is set up with three constantly changing plasma screens showing the amalgamation of the faces of members of the collective. The purpose is to show differences and similarities between them. Additionally, Abdu’Allah asks members of the collective different questions about themselves like their favorite food, who they would raise from the dead, their star sign and what makes them laugh, placing the responses on a large composite board. We interview Faisal Abdu’Allah and reveal some of his inspirations for the project as well as some of the greater social questions his exhibit raises.

Originally spotted via Racewire, Chang-hyo Bae is a South Korean born, London-based artist playing on Empire and the ambiguity of embracing “Britishness” as the “Other”.

I don’t get to do a lot of theatre in London, although I’m not sure I’ve ever been drawn to big production musicals and don’t quite see myself frequenting one of the West End halls anytime soon. But what I hear, is that I’m missing out on some fantastic smaller productions in the fringe of London’s theatre scene. Currently, a few productions deal with themes of identity, race, integration and immigration - all very Worldtown friendly topics. Here’s a few that I hope to check out:

Rich Mix features a production of Ice&Fire’s The Illegals, a community produced play that tells the story of the individuals behind the stereotype of illegal immigration. Ice&Fire have a whole host of productions

Slums, townships, shantytowns. Living at the edge of society but being in the centre of resourceful entrepreneurship and coulorful life amid dire circumstance. This isn’t always the common association made with slum life (except of course, the simplistic glamorization of shantytown life thanks to Slumdog Millionaire and the like), but it’s well captured in this Foreign Policy Photo Essay. The photos from slums in Venezuela, India, Kenya and Indonesia resonate with a sense of ethereal beauty over anguish.

We trawl the news media so you don’t have to.

A Sorry State :: “Canada is becoming a world leader in official apologies. Do they benefit anyone but the people offering them up?”

The Walrus - December 2009 :: Read the entire story here

Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice — and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.
How do you get there?

We trawl the news media so you don’t have to Twenty years on, the celebrations commemorating the fall of the Berlin Wall are in full swing. It seems everyone who was old enough to remember the crumbling wall has some poignant memory associated with the event. Here’s a pick of some memorable commemorative stories surrounding the anniversary.

Black Filmmaker (bfm) International Film Festival (IFF) is the leading and longest running platform for Black World Cinema in the UK. The 11th bfm IFF will take place between 6th – 10th November 2009 at the BFI Southbank, Institute of Contemporary Arts, Rich Mix and Shortwave Cinema. bfm IFF 2009 will feature narratives, documentaries and short films from the UK, Africa, the Caribbean, the US, Canada and Europe.