Paper Trails

Black Women Connect Vancouver is a collective of women who come together to inspire, empower, leverage our strengths and embrace our diverse experiences. It’s a community where we can build meaningful relationships, and celebrate the beauty of black womanhood. We spoke to founder, Nataizya Mukwavi about BWCV's origins and their trajectory to follow.  

We spoke to Danny about the complex journey LGBTQ+ refugees undertake when arriving from Syria. The journey isn’t as black and white as many might think. Danny’s experiences inspired him to dedicate his time to Rainbow Refugees, a Vancouver-based community group that supports refugees seeking protections in Canada based on their sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression or HIV status.

Vulnerable populations living on Vancouver's- downtown Eastside are experiencing rampant mental health crisis because of the COVID-19 outbreak. Larissa is a frontline Occupational Therapist, for the many at risk, marginalized groups living on the DTES.

How do you navigate your world, living in-between two identities? What prose and poet Fred Wah refers to as the "Undoing of Hyphenated Identity."

We chatted with Nathan about how that limbo state of cultural and social dispositions set up (unique) foundations for certain industries to emerge. How do you choose to express your identity, creatively?

Link to Nathan's channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9mohTKPZD8

e feel so blessed to have conversed with these two souls on issues like normalization of cannabis use across cultures. To read more on Cobb and Mariel, and their experience with ganja, or listen to their interviews..

The OP team is honored to present our childhood friend, and revolutionary DJ, @armaghedion. Having spent his life traveling the globe, immersing himself in various cultures, Ghedion Behonegne brings comfort to the culturally confused with his unique sound. 

Cultural stereotypes are often defined by skin tone and geography. People seem to have a fixed idea of what an individual from a certain region should look or sound like. Having your very existence contradict these fixed ideas that people have can be quite entertaining, so long as you're light hearted towards racial ignorance. Sometimes the best we can do with a tough situation is to make me laugh, and through happiness, they may be more open to learning a little more about a culture they don't understand.

Size culture; a trend of behaviours demonstrated by a large population of people in association with clothing size. Have you ever asked someone what their size is? It's a rather uncomfortable question. Size shaming is a culture practiced across all forms of human relationships. Between parent and child, friends at school, lovers, or online. We seem to hold a certain significance to numbers, numbers that don't actually accurately give any detail about a persons shape or size. Like a Snack swim swear is a line that screams "fuck the numbers and what you think they say about our bodies" Designer, Emilie Erwied not only allows you to customize your style, but also custom fits the outfit to your body. The entire artistic process is a movement against size shaming culture

One nomad documents his journey. A picture for every soul he meets. For 8 months, he rides through foreign lands, an alien to a welcoming old world; only to return home to opportunity. Ben Glassco shares how he left the "cooperate drone and moved towards something that actually made him happy" read more at www.originpapers.com

Take the expectations people place upon you and scream FUCK YOU loud enough for the entire world to hear it. No matter who you are or where you come from, you should never allow yourself to be bound by the pressure of the outside world. Do what makes you happy, speak truth, and listen to this episode.