Needs No Introduction

In this two part episode of the Courage My Friends podcast, Telling Black histories: writing, recuperation and resistance, we are very pleased to welcome the 4th Poet Laureate of Toronto and the 7th Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate, George Elliott Clarke.

As we continue our conversation, Clarke reflects on past and current struggles against White western power, the meaning of decolonization and shaping effective resistance in Canada and beyond.

Clarke discusses ongoing legacies of colonialism and racist imperialism in global politics,: "As Malcolm X said, '"you're a bunch of hypocrites'"...At the same time as you're expressing all these nostrums and parables of your supposed virtues, you are armed to the teeth. You are armed to the teeth! You are building jails to house masses of people seeking relief from the oppression that you have engineered in their home countries… And then these oppressed peoples flee for the refuge of your democracy and your attitude is to let them drown in the Mediterranean. .. let them drown in the Atlantic.".

For Clarke, achieving real change in Canada is very much in our hands: "We want to end police killings of unarmed Black men and Indigenous men and women and youth? Oh, we can do that, but we're gonna have to vote in place governments that will put in place very strict regiments on police forces..Whatever it is that you, the people together, collectively want in a democracy, you can have it. ..You can have an end to war. You can have more distribution of income and wealth. In a democracy you can actually vote yourselves this…So what's stopping us? Well, actually nothing is stopping us, except our own blind obedience to the way things have always been."

Speaking to the failures of "cancel culture", Clarke says: "The woke/cancelers have power to destroy individuals, which they can do, and they've done it. ..On the other hand, as they have also proven, they cannot destroy oppressive institutions. How nice it would be if they could, but they don't have that ability. They can destroy individuals, but not institutions. I think that's a problem.Because to go after individuals, any mob can do that. But to go after institutions, a mob isn't what you need. You need a revolutionary movement".

About today's guest

The 4th Poet Laureate of Toronto (2012-15) and the 7th Parliamentary/Canadian Poet Laureate (2016-17), George Elliott Clarke was born in Windsor, Nova Scotia, in 1960. A professor of English at the University of Toronto, Clarke has also taught at Duke, McGill, UBC, and Harvard. His recognitions include the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Centre Fellowship (US), the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Fellows Prize, the Governor-General's Award for Poetry, the National Magazine Gold Award for Poetry, the PremiulPoesis (Romania), the Eric Hoffer Book Award for Poetry (US), and International Fellow Poet of the Year, Encyclopedic Poetry School [2019] (China). His acclaimed titles include Whylah Falls (1990, translated into Chinese), Beatrice Chancy (1999, translated into Italian), Execution Poems (2001), Blues and Bliss (selected poems, 2009), I & I (2008), Illicit Sonnets (U.K., 2013), Traverse (2015), Canticles II (MMXX) (2020), and J'Accuse…! (Poem versus Silence) (2021).

Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute.

Image: George Elliott Clarke (Portrait by Katerina Fretwell) / Used with Permission

Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased

Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (podcast announcer); Bob Luker (voice of Tommy Douglas); Kenneth Okoro, Liz Campos Rico, Tsz Wing Chau (street voices)

Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu.

Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca

Host: Resh Budhu

In this 2-part episode of the Courage My Friends podcast, Telling Black histories: writing, recuperation and resistance, we are very pleased to welcome the 4th Poet Laureate of Toronto and the 7th Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate, George Elliott Clarke.

In Part I of our conversation, Clarke takes us on a journey through Black and Africadian history in Canada, his life and work and discusses the importance of recuperating Black and colonized histories through writing and resistance.

Reflecting on the history of Black communities in Nova Scotia, Clarke says: Africadia is built, is constructed in complete defiance, of white supremacist, racist governmental decisions including environmental racism - placing dumps beside Black communities, placing polluting factories on the doorsteps of Black communities and so on. Those people, my ancestors, decided that they were going to construct communities. Church-based, church-anchored communities all around mainland Nova Scotia, in complete defiance of the racist oppressor and the oppressor's attempt to create a Nova Scotia as a White person's paradise. As a White person's dream.

About today's guest

The 4th Poet Laureate of Toronto (2012-15) and the 7th Parliamentary/Canadian Poet Laureate (2016-17), George Elliott Clarke was born in Windsor, Nova Scotia, in 1960. A professor of English at the University of Toronto, Clarke has also taught at Duke, McGill, UBC and Harvard. His recognitions include the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Centre Fellowship (US), the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Fellows Prize, the Governor-General's Award for Poetry, the National Magazine Gold Award for Poetry, the PremiulPoesis (Romania), the Eric Hoffer Book Award for Poetry (US), and International Fellow Poet of the Year, Encyclopedic Poetry School [2019] (China). His acclaimed titles include Whylah Falls (1990, translated into Chinese), Beatrice Chancy (1999, translated into Italian), Execution Poems (2001), Blues and Bliss (selected poems, 2009), I & I (2008), Illicit Sonnets (U.K., 2013), Traverse (2015), Canticles II (MMXX) (2020), and J'Accuse…! (Poem versus Silence) (2021).

Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute.

Image: George Elliott Clarke (Portrait by Katerina Fretwell) / Used with Permission

Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased

Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (podcast announcer); Bob Luker (voice of Tommy Douglas); Kenneth Okoro, Liz Campos Rico, Tsz Wing Chau (street voices)

Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu.

Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca

Host: Resh Budhu

In this episode of the Courage My Friends podcast, Capitalism and the mental health crisis, social worker, researcher and writer, Madeleine Ritts, researcher on mental health of Black communities, Michelle Sraha-Yeboah, and researcher and educator in labor issues, Jon Weier, discuss the current mental health crisis as an inevitable outcome of capitalism and whether good mental health is a benefit or a boon to our economic system.

According to Ritts: "...Poverty, exploitation, alienation, these are inherent features of capitalism. So the degradation of physical and mental health is inevitable as long as we continue to live under the domination of the market. And I think in our system of racialized capitalism those forces will continue to disproportionately impact racialized people."

Speaking to impacts on Black communities, Yeboah says: "The field of psychology was born at the height of imperial expansion and colonial conquest. It was created to reinforce and serve the interests of the state. And so we see a lot of colonial rhetoric being processed through some of the methodologies and ideologies used in the field to reinforce a narrative about Black communities as being less than, as being subhuman, as misrepresenting their racial suffering. And these things have an impact today."

Reflecting on workers, Weier says: "I think gig work, contract work has been.. breaking down the bonds that can exist at a workplace..It's very hard to build solidarity. It's very hard to build a response or resistance to neoliberalism as these traditional sites of community and solidarity are being undermined in favor of an increasingly atomized workforce."

About today's guests

Madeleine Ritts is a researcher and social worker based in Toronto. Her writing has appeared in Jacobin, Health Debate, Now Magazine, Aeon, and the Toronto Star. She has worked as a mental health clinician for over seven years, and has experience organizing around issues of homelessness and poverty in Ontario. Maddie worked on a community, outreach-based mental health and addictions team in downtown Toronto and recently transitioned to a position in long-term care where she provides psycho-social and palliative care support to residents and their loved ones.

Michelle Sraha-Yeboah is a doctoral candidate at York University in the Department of Social Science. Her research examines medical histories of racial and colonial violence, mental health care service use disparities and holistic wellbeing. Her work is particularly concerned with the intersections of socio-historical and political factors impacting Black Canadians' mental health care service use patterns and treatment preferences. She attends to Black feminist theorizations of care to achieve anti-racist and decolonial mental healthcare service delivery for Africans in the Diaspora.

Jonathan Weier is a professor in The School of Labor and The School of Liberal Arts and Sciences at George Brown College. An established historian and educator, policy professional and commentator on social and labor movements, his research focuses on voluntary organizations, trade unions, political parties and other efforts by workers, social activists, and reformers to achieve progressive political, social and economic goals. Jon has been active in the labor movement and in Left politics for over 20 years and is currently a board member and the academic advisor for the Douglas Coldwell Layton Foundation.

Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute.

Image: Michelle Sraha-Yeboah, Madeleine Ritts, Jon Weier / Used with Permission

Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased

Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (podcast announcer); Bob Luker (voice of Tommy Douglas); Kenneth Okoro, Liz Campos Rico, Tsz Wing Chau (street voices)

Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu.

Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca

Host: Resh Budhu

In the second part of this two-part episode of the Courage My Friends podcast COP15 and 30x30: Indigenous-Led Conservation and Saving the Greenbelt, manager at Springwater Provincial Park and former Chief of the Beausoleil First Nation, Jeff Monague, discusses principles of Indigenous-led conservation, the dangers facing First Nations communities from Greenbelt development and the need to shift our thinking in order to reconnect with the natural world.

Reflecting on the meaning of reconciliation, Monague says:

"We can't think about conservation if we don't live or try to live that conservation…We're not doing that enough. In Canada, the government needs to do more. If it is reconciliation that they're talking about, then they need to do more...Reconciliation won't happen if all of your partners are not included. Let's say we're going to spend $30 million on a project and then we'll give 1% of that to First Nations. That's not reconciliation."

About today's guest

Jeff Monague is a member of the Beausoleil First Nation on Christian Island and currently resides near Coldwater, Ont. Presently, he is the manager at Springwater Provincial Park. He has been an instructor of the Ojibwe Language and has taught at every level, from junior kindergarten to post secondary at Georgian College. His book Ahaw Anishinaabem for beginners of the Ojibwe Language is available on Amazon. He is a former Chief and Councillor of his community on Christian Island and has been the Treaty research director for the Anishinaabek Nation. He is also a Canadian military veteran.

Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute or here.

Image: Jeff Monague / Used with Permission

Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased

Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (podcast announcer); Bob Luker (voice of Tommy Douglas); Kenneth Okoro, Liz Campos Rico, Tsz Wing Chau (street voices)

Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu.

Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca

Host: Resh Budhu

In this two-part episode of the Courage My Friends podcast, Tim Gray, executive director of Environmental Defence and Sandra Schwartz, national executive director of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) discuss the crisis of biodiversity loss and mass extinction, Canada's commitments under the Kunming-Montreal agreement coming out of the global COP15 gathering on biodiversity, and challenges and strategies toward meeting this very ambitious and even more necessary target.

According to Schwartz: the UN has reported recently,.. that around a million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction. And that is really within a few decades. That's more than ever before in human history. And that's largely a result of human interaction with nature. So whether that is from exploration, from mining for example, forestry, …clearly we need to act now to save the natural world, because it is sustaining us as humans.

Speaking to the recent Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, Schwartz says: [I]t was a huge win, both for people, but also for the planet. .. Target Three of the framework is requiring the protection of at least 30% of land and ocean is protected globally by 2030…a requirement that Indigenous rights are respected and that Indigenous territories are recognized…And, all together the goals and targets of the agreement really do present a comprehensive plan to protect and restore biodiversity. But it's ambitious. And really, from our perspective going into the conference, what we were most holding out hope for was that the Framework Agreement would be ambitious.

Reflecting on proposed development on the Ontario Greenbelt, Gray says: 70% of the lands to be removed, is in something called Dufferin's Rouge Agricultural Preserve. It was both part of the Greenbelt, but also had its own separate protective legislation, which was removed by Bill-39 at the same time that Bill-32 was going through…This was formally publicly-owned land, sold to the farm community with legal easements to keep it as farmland forever, which have now been removed and open for development. So threats both to forest and wetland systems that are associated with the National Park, contrary to Indigenous rights and Indigenous opposition, threatens the viability of farming in that area. ..And so the viability of the farm community is threatened, major river systems, federally listed species at risk, fisheries habitat, migratory birds. The list is very, very long.

In terms of the implementation of global agreements, Gray says: [O]ne of the real challenges that we face is that, even as we sign international agreements that commit to stopping loss, increasing protection, advancing restoration to address biodiversity loss is that we see, like in particular in Ontario right now, a massive race in the opposite direction with dismantling of protection regimes for woodlands, wetlands, massive encouragement of sprawl development at the expense of building denser cities with transit, etc. So it is a real challenge to see the most populist, most wealthy province with a huge amount of the the biodiversity that this country holds, literally racing in the direction of further destruction

About today's guests

Tim Gray is the executive director of Environmental Defence. Gray has over 25 years experience developing and implementing environmental policy change efforts. These have included major shifts in land conservation, forest practices and climate change. Starting out his career as a biologist and policy analyst, Gray has spent a lot of time learning skills that move complex environmental issues toward resolution. He has worked with other change makers on the front lines of conflict and has also taken his skills inside to work on government advisory committees and in complex negotiations with industry. Gray completed an H.BSc. at Wilfrid Laurier University and a M.Sc. at the University of Toronto.

Sandra Schwartz is the national executive director of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society. With master's degrees in management, and environmental studies and over 20 years of experience, she is a strong advocate for sound environmental policy and has championed progressive ideas for clean energy and tackling climate change.

Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute.

Image: Sandra Schwartz and Tim Gray / Used with Permission

Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased

Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (voice of Tommy Douglas); Kenneth Okoro, Liz Campos Rico, Tsz Wing Chau (Street Voices)

Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu.

Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca

Host: Resh Budhu

In this episode of the Courage My Friends podcast, Neil Hetherington, CEO of The Daily Bread Food Bank and Maria Rio, director of development and communication for The Stop Community Food Centre discuss the current state of food insecurity in Canada's largest city, how we got here and what we need to end decades of hunger.

Of the growing reliance on Toronto's food bank system, Hetherington says: "What is startling is the fact that there are over 9,000 new registrants to the Foodbank system in the Toronto area, served by Daily Bread and North York Harvest each month.. almost 10,000 people are putting up their hand and saying, "I am in a position where my income does not meet the expenses that I have and I need to rely on food charity this week or this month. …Prior to the pandemic, 15% of the people that came to the food banks were employed fully. That number has doubled to 30%. And just around 50% of food bank users have a post-secondary education. And so people have done what we told them to do growing up. Go get an education, grab a job and you'll be fine. You'll get that house with a white picket fence. And that's not the reality."

Rio describes the current and increasing challenges facing organizations like the Stop Community Food Centre: "The Stop is also being hit by inflation. So not only are we paying more for food because there's decreased food drives and all those things. There's more people coming to our services ..it's been an exceptionally challenging time. We've had to make really difficult decisions around how do we keep serving our community, but not go into an extremely unsustainable position as an organization? We have to remain open next year. as more and more people run out of other options, such as friends or using credit cards or predatory payday loan services, they're turning to us and we're kind of left scrambling to meet the need with less volunteer help, with less energy than we had two years ago and strain on our resources because our donors are also feeling the pinch."

Speaking to the importance of food banks, Hethrington says: "What we have set out to do over the last number of decades is remind people that food banks are not the answer to food insecurity; we've never claimed that we are. But we do make food available this week for people. .. where we do claim that we are fighting to end hunger is around our advocacy efforts and taking a leadership position?"

Reflection on Canada's failed commitments to end hunger, Rio says: "Canada first signed the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights at the UN, where they ratified the right to food, right to adequate food, clothing, and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions.

And to know that we've been talking about this issue for so long, we've had so many consultations at all levels of government…we've known for a really long time that social assistance rates are abysmally low. That it's a lot of newcomers who are experiencing these barriers. Racialized people, people with disabilities and an intersection of all those identities. We've known that for more than the 40 years that The Stop has been around, or food banks have been around."

About today's guests

Neil Hetherington joined The Daily Bread Food Bank as CEO in January 2018. Beginning his career in project management at Tridel Construction, in September 2000, he made a career change by joining Habitat for Humanity Toronto, at the time as the youngest CEO of a Habitat affiliate in the world. Neil's non-profit experience includes 16 years as CEO of Habitat for Humanity in Toronto, and then New York City, and two years as CEO of Dixon Hall, a multi-service agency serving thousands of people in Toronto. Neil holds credentials from the University of Western Ontario – Huron College, Seneca College, Harvard Business School, and the University of Virginia – Darden Business School and obtained his MBA from the University of Western Ontario's Ivey Business School in 2013. He is an active pilot and sailor. He enjoys furniture making and in his spare time plays tennis terribly, snowboards poorly and bikes slowly.

Maria Rio has over a decade of fundraising and non-profit experience. As a woman, a racialized person, an immigrant, and a member of the LGBTQ2+ community and from her early experience as a refugee, Maria's experience shaped a passion for human rights that fuels her drive to give back and make a difference in the lives of people of various marginalized and often intersectional and underrepresented groups. Her op eds have been featured in publications such as the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives' magazine. She was a finalist for the national 2022 Charity Village Best Individual Fundraiser Award, and has a deep passion for non-profit work. Maria also sits on the Board of Living Wage Canada and is often asked to speak on issues related to poverty, innovative stewardship, building relationships, and Community Centric Fundraising.

Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute or here.

Image: Neil Hetherington and Maria Rio / Used with Permission

Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased

Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (voice of Tommy Douglas); Kenneth Okoro, Liz Campos Rico, Tsz Wing Chau (Street Voices)

Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu.

Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca

Host: Resh Budhu

In this episode of the Courage My Friends podcast we welcome Laura Walton, president of CUPE's Ontario Schools Boards Council of Unions. Just days after CUPE education workers voted to ratify a new four-year contract that includes a hard fought for $1 flat-rate hourly wage increase and two days repayment for a fraught political protest, we reflect on the momentous and contentious labor action taken on by Ontario's education workers.

Reflecting on how essential these education workers are to our schools, Walton says: "From the minute that a child or a member of the public steps into a school; you are stepping into a space that is impacted by the work performed by CUPE members … the cleanliness of the school, the safety of the school. Being buzzed in the door in our elementary schools. The supports that students need in order to be successful and to thrive are all performed by education workers."

Walton describes Bill 28 and its use of the notwithstanding clause: "Bill 28 was actually a two-headed beast ... Not only did it impose a contract which would've provided poverty wages, attacked our sick-leave- …. It also put in place the notwithstanding clause. But also taking the notwithstanding clause one step further: we wouldn't be able to take them to court, but they also put in pieces where we wouldn't be able to take them to the human rights tribunal. We wouldn't be able to arbitrate it. Really removing any sort of legal avenue that a worker may have and really interfering with the charter rights of workers."

Of the unprecedented coming together of public and private sector, Walton says: "I have been a worker for my entire adult life. Started working at 13. And I've been a union activist for 20 years and you know, I remember reading about union activism. I remember reading about labor history ... And I always kind of pictured 'what did that feel like?' ... How did you know you were in that moment, when you were in that moment. ..Those became very real. And one of the comments that I made that day is, 'Workers are like a family. We may not always agree, but when you attack one of us, you attack all of us.' And I really hope that it becomes a catalyst for solidarity moving forward."

About today's guest

Laura Walton is an educational assistant from Belleville, Ontario. First elected to the role in 2019, she is the president of CUPE's 55,000-worker strong Ontario School Boards Council of Unions (OSBCU).

Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute or here.

Image: Laura Walton / Used with Permission

Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased

Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (voice of Tommy Douglas); Kenneth Okoro, Liz Campos Rico, Tsz Wing Chau (Street Voices)

Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu.

Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca

Host: Resh Budhu

In this episode of the Courage My Friends podcast, Emmay Mah, executive director of the Toronto Environmental Alliance (TEA) discusses the many intersections between the climate crisis and the housing crisis and the potential fallout from Ontario's proposed housing Bill 23: More Homes Built Faster.

According to Mah: "We need to acknowledge that we are experiencing a deep, acute housing crisis. And this is also an environmental crisis."

Reflecting on the Ford Government's proposed Bill-23: The Better Homes Built Faster Act, Mah says:

"The title of the Bill .. is incredibly misleading. It is both bad for addressing the housing crisis and bad from a climate perspective, and there are no two ways around that. ..Basically what this bill proposes to do is it's going to gut about 10 existing provincial laws, which will ultimately strip local governments of their ability to build and protect affordable housing and achieve their climate goals and basically protect the environment and plan communities within municipalities."

In refuting the tension between development and conservation, Mah says:

"It is in all our interest to build green affordable housing. It is also in our interests to preserve natural land and resources and food growing areas. So these things should not be pitted against one another. And I think that it is a falsehood that is purposely being constructed to serve these development interests. And so we really need to push back against this. This is incredibly shortsighted."

For Mah, communities are themselves modeling the change we need to see:

"Community members often have the deepest perspective on what solutions will work locally, and understandably so. They bring a lot of knowledge and wisdom and lived experience to working on solutions. So I want to strongly encourage folks that have the impetus to really, really move forward with solutions they know are going to work with their communities. And organizations like TEA should be supporting them and so should local government."

About today's guest

Emmay Mah joined the Toronto Environmental Alliance as executive director in 2019. For the last 20 years, Emmay has worked in the non-profit sector locally and internationally, developing and managing programs focused on child rights, health, and the environment. She is passionate about building local movements to achieve healthy, equitable and climate-friendly cities.

Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute or here.

Image: Emmay Mah / Used with Permission

Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased

Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (voice of Tommy Douglas); Kenneth Okoro, Liz Campos Rico, Tsz Wing Chau (Street Voices)

Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu.

Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca

Host: Resh Budhu

In part two of this special two-part episode of the Courage My Friends podcast 'Mouth Open, Story Jump Out: The Power and Purpose of Storytelling in These Times,' we continue our conversation with storyteller, actor, playwright and filmmaker, Rhoma Spencer; storyteller and teacher, Lynn Torrie; and storyteller, teacher and founder of Queers in Your Ears, Rico Rodriguez.

Speaking to the origins of Carnival and the meaning of stories for the formerly colonized and enslaved, Spencer reflects: "Stories [are] indeed a part of resistance. These are stories that my mother talked about. Some she would've experienced and some that would've been passed on to her..These are stories that was told to me. Carnival as manifested through the post-emancipated African was a form of resistance. When we were emancipated in 1834, we took to the streets to celebrate our emancipation, and we did so by mimicking our colonizer."

According to Torrie, stories are a vehicle to deal with even the most sensitive of subjects: "What I find is sensitive topics like addiction, people have strong opinions about them. And sometimes when you approach them directly, people shut down, it's hard to listen; either because they've been personally touched by the issue or because they have strong opinions about how the issue should be dealt with … Sometimes if you approach something in the context of a story, it's easier to listen to than if you speak to the issue directly. A story gives people room to listen to the feelings and perspectives of the characters involved rather than getting stuck on one side or the other of an issue."

Reflecting on the need to be included in stories and storytelling communities, Rodriguez says: "When we grew up as queers, we're sitting around the table and the stories that are being told are stories that are gonna shape our lives sometimes, even if they're fairy tales, personal stories. Stories that are told at Thanksgiving or big family events or family reunions. Stories are being told around the table, they're not queer affirming … And I think that's what led me to tell more of my personal stories, especially with Queers in Your Ears, is that I wanted to create that dinner table for queers where they came and listened and they got affirmed."

About the storytellers

Rico Rodriguez is a storyteller and a teacher who specializes in Latinx tales and writing and telling personal and fictional stories that are infused with equity and social change themes. He founded "Queers in Your Ears" a 2SLGBTQI storytelling event. Rico has facilitated workshops on the art of storytelling in educational settings and community and health promotion agencies. He has told in schools, theatres, libraries, festivals, pubs and conferences as well as on CBC Radio in Canada and on National Public Radio in the U.S. His story credits include: Do The Best You Can In the Place Where You Are And Be Kind, Your Value Does Not Decrease Based On Someone's Inability To See Your Worth, When A Flower Doesn't Bloom, You Do Not Fix The Flower, You Fix The Environment In Which The Flower Can Grow.

Rhoma Spencer is an actor, playwright, docu/filmmaker, director and comedian. When not doing all of the above she can be seen at her Sweethand Delights turning a random pot of gastronomic pleasures. Critically acclaimed by the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star and NOW Magazine, her works include: Biomyth Mono Digiplay and Login Password Logout ( Aluna Theatre, Caminos Festiva, 2021). Her film, My Execution will be Televised recently won the Impact Award at the Caribbean Tales International Film Festival and her film, A Pile of Dirt will premiere at the Regent Park Film Festival in December. Rhoma can be seen in the award-winning Canadian film, Scarborough.

Lynn Torrie is a Toronto storyteller with a passion for traditional folk tales and Canadian history. Her original adaptations have been performed at the Toronto Storytelling Festival, The Word on the Street, StoryFusion Cabaret, the Ottawa Signature Series and Guelph's Tea 'n Tales. She is a member of the York storytelling Guild and a regular host at both Storytelling Toronto's Storytent and 1001 Friday Nights of Storytelling. She designed and taught over 100 workshops to teachers and educational assistants with the Toronto District School Board and is currently the project co-ordinator for Storytellers of Canada's workshop series and teaches "The Art of Storytelling" at Toronto Metropolitan University, Continuing Education. Since COVID 19, Lynn has travelled the virtual world, hosting, teaching and telling on Zoom.

Teagan de Laronde is Métis and a citizen of Red Sky Métis Independent Nation. A graduate of the University of Toronto Teagan was president of the Indigenous Studies Student Union, co-founder/VP for 'BIPOC in Politics', and serves on various committees focused on Truth and Reconciliation including the Victoria College (Re)Conciliation; The Truth is not Fully yet Told". She is currently a project manager with UofT's Department of Religion on the "Relations on the Land" project. In August 2022, she worked with the City of Toronto and Indigenous partners to Decolonize Museums. Teagan works as a First Story Storyteller, a community-based project that researches, preserves, and shares Indigenous history and perspectives within what is now known as 'Toronto.' An avid jigger (dancer) and beader, Teagan's work can be viewed at @birchbeadwork on Instagram.

Richardo Keens-Douglas M.B.E is an award winning actor, playwright, author, storyteller and proud Grenadian-Canadian. From drama, dance, and comedy, to musical theatre, storytelling, and directing, Richardo also hosted national radio storytelling show Cloud 9 and Sunday Arts Entertainment on CBC television in Canada and was the host of the television hit Who Wants to be A Millionaire Caribbean. He has appeared on a variety of stages in North America and the Caribbean, including Stratford, Canadian Stage, Factory Theatre, TWP, and Theatre Fountainhead in Canada. His play The Nutmeg Princess won the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Musical of 1999. In 2003, Richardo was inducted into the Caribbean Hall of Fame for Excellence in Theatre.

Dan Yashinsky is a storyteller, writer, and community animator. His books include Suddenly They Heard Footsteps - Storytelling for the Twenty-first Century, and Swimming with Chaucer - A Storyteller's Logbook. In 1999 he received the Jane Jacobs Prize for his work with storytelling in the community. His pandemic project was to record 16 folktales with his donkey Eysele. You can see them on Youtube by searching for The Storyteller's Ass. Info: www.tellery.com.

Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute.

Image: Rico Rodriguez, Rhoma Spencer, Lynn Torrie, Teagan de Laronde, Richardo Keens-Douglas, Dan Yashinsky (photo by Jacob Zavitz), / Used with Permission

Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased

Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (voice of Tommy Douglas); Kenneth Okoro, Liz Campos Rico, Tsz Wing Chau (Street Voices)

Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu.

Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca

Special Thanks to: Debra Baptiste (Executive Director, Storytelling Toronto), Audrey Rochette (Director, Indigenous Initiatives, George Brown College)

Host: Resh Budhu

In the fourth, two-part, episode of the Courage My Friends podcast, series III, we are joined by six Canadian storytellers

In this special, and very storied, two-part episode of the Courage My Friends podcast Mouth Open, Story Jump Out: The Power and Purpose of Storytelling in These Times, we are very pleased to welcome six Canadian storytellers.

In part one, we begin our conversation with First Story storyteller, Teagan de Laronde; actor, author, and storyteller. Richardo Keens-Douglas; and community animator, author and co-founder of Storytelling Toronto, Dan Yashinsky.

Within her story within a story, storyteller, de Laronde says: "In Toronto, like many places, there are many stories of the land; in the land, based on the land. I think one of the biggest misconceptions about Toronto is that there are no Indigenous stories. We tend to see urban places as non-Indigenous spaces.Toronto though is a city, is an urban space because of Indigenous design. It was a meeting place, a council ground, a shared space, and it still is."

Before launching into the story of La Diablesse, storyteller Keens-Douglas describes storytelling as: "connecting through the soul. Storytelling for me is a passing on. It's a sharing of yourself. It's a sharing of where you came from. It's a sharing of a history. It's a sharing of knowledge. And when I connect with my audience, when I tell my stories, I want them to go through the process with me."

Prefacing the story of the tortoise and the leopard, Yashinsky says,"Stories have a way of crossing borders. They don't really respect political frontiers. They slip through all the barricades and they end up being subversive because of that. They're deep and they're personal. and they live by word of mouth. And every attempt to control them has failed. So I've always thought about that, storytellers are the enemies of all champions of control."

About the storytellers

Teagan de Laronde is Métis and a citizen of Red Sky Métis Independent Nation. A graduate of the University of Toronto Teagan was president of the Indigenous Studies Student Union, co-founder/VP for 'BIPOC in Politics', and serves on various committees focused on Truth and Reconciliation including the Victoria College (Re)Conciliation; The Truth is not Fully yet Told". She is currently a project manager with UofT's Department of Religion on the "Relations on the Land" project. In August 2022, she worked with the City of Toronto and Indigenous partners to Decolonize Museums. Teagan works as a First Story Storyteller, a community-based project that researches, preserves, and shares Indigenous history and perspectives within what is now known as 'Toronto.' An avid jigger (dancer) and beader, Teagan's work can be viewed at @birchbeadwork on Instagram.

Richardo Keens-Douglas M.B.E is an award winning actor, playwright, author, storyteller and proud Grenadian-Canadian. From drama, dance, and comedy, to musical theatre, storytelling, and directing, Richardo also hosted national radio storytelling show Cloud 9 and Sunday Arts Entertainment on CBC television in Canada and was the host of the television hit Who Wants to be A Millionaire Caribbean. He has appeared on a variety of stages in North America and the Caribbean, including Stratford, Canadian Stage, Factory Theatre, TWP, and Theatre Fountainhead in Canada. His play The Nutmeg Princess won the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Musical of 1999. In 2003, Richardo was inducted into the Caribbean Hall of Fame for Excellence in Theatre.

Dan Yashinsky is a storyteller, writer, and community animator. His books include Suddenly They Heard Footsteps - Storytelling for the Twenty-first Century, and Swimming with Chaucer - A Storyteller's Logbook. In 1999 he received the Jane Jacobs Prize for his work with storytelling in the community. His pandemic project was to record 16 folktales with his donkey Eysele. You can see them on Youtube by searching for The Storyteller's Ass. Info: www.tellery.com.

Rico Rodriguez is a storyteller and a teacher who specializes in Latinx tales and writing and telling personal and fictional stories that are infused with equity and social change themes. He founded "Queers in Your Ears" a 2SLGBTQI storytelling event. Rico has facilitated workshops on the art of storytelling in educational settings and community and health promotion agencies. He has told in schools, theatres, libraries, festivals, pubs and conferences as well as on CBC radio in Canada and on National Public Radio in the U.S. His story credits include: "Do The Best You Can In the Place Where You Are And Be Kind", "Your Value Does Not Decrease Based On Someone's Inability To See Your Worth", "When A Flower Doesn't Bloom, You Do Not Fix The Flower, You Fix The Environment In Which The Flower Can Grow"

Rhoma Spencer is an actor, playwright, docu/filmmaker, director and comedian. When not doing all of the above she can be seen at her Sweethand Delights turning a random pot of gastronomic pleasures. Critically acclaimed by the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star and NOW Magazine, her works include: Biomyth Mono Digiplay and Login Password Logout ( Aluna Theatre, Caminos Festiva, 2021). Her film, My Execution will be Televised recently won the Impact Award at the Caribbean Tales International Film Festival and her film, A Pile of Dirt will premiere at the Regent Park Film Festival in December. Rhoma can be seen in the award-winning Canadian film, Scarborough.

Lynn Torrie is a Toronto storyteller with a passion for traditional folk tales and Canadian history. Her original adaptations have been performed at the Toronto Storytelling Festival, The Word on the Street, StoryFusion Cabaret, the Ottawa Signature Series and Guelph's Tea 'n Tales. She is a member of the York storytelling Guild and a regular host at both Storytelling Toronto's Storytent and 1001 Friday Nights of Storytelling. She designed and taught over 100 workshops to teachers and educational assistants with the Toronto District School Board and is currently the project co-ordinator for Storytellers of Canada's workshop series and teaches "The Art of Storytelling" at Toronto Metropolitan University, Continuing Education. Since COVID 19, Lynn has travelled the virtual world, hosting, teaching and telling on Zoom.

Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute.

Image: Teagan de Laronde, Richardo Keens-Douglas, Dan Yashinsky (photo by Jacob Zavitz), Rico Rodriguez, Rhoma Spencer, Lynn Torrie / Used with Permission

Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased

Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (voice of Tommy Douglas); Kenneth Okoro, Liz Campos Rico, Tsz Wing Chau (Street Voices)

Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu.

Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca

Host: Resh Budhu