Racism, Present: Holy Chuck Burger
/Lisa Charleyboy dissects last August’s Holy Chuck Burger scandal, when the Toronto restaurant thought it was ok to have a sandwich named the “Drunken, Dirty Half-Breed” on its menu.
Read MoreRacism, Present: Temporary Workers
/Kelli Korducki talks to the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, and learns some harsh truths about the way Canada treats the racialized internationals who work on our farms.
Read MoreRacism, Past: Canada's Troubling Legacy
/Renee Sylvestre-Williams presents a timeline of Canada’s more egregious racist decisions. For example, remember that time our first Prime Minister didn’t believe Asian or First Nations folks should have the right to vote? No? Well read all about it here.
Read MoreCanada's Racist Money
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We are sorry that we haven't updated in a while. It's summer and we're busy enjoying life and you know what? You should be too. Get off the internet, we'll see you at the beach.
One day soon, we are going put up a Q&A with illustrator Ness Lee, a Hilarious-Hakka-Chinese-Canadian whose stuff we love love love. Above, her take on today's news that the Bank of Canada wussed out on putting an Asian woman on our $100 bill because of some random jerks in a random focus group. If you want to hear Denise Balkissoon's take on it, go here.
But really, you should go to the beach.
Q & Ass with Rahim Thawer
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Speaking with Denise Balkissoon, sexual health counsellor Rahim Thawer discusses HIV prevention, fetishes, stereotypes and, most importantly, keeping the ass fun.
Cozmic Cat's Asstastic Mix
/Shake your rump! Download an asstastic playlist, courtesy of Cherrybomb’s DJ Cozmic Cat.
Read MoreMy Big Banana Body
/Karen K. Ho is tall, curvy, and Chinese. Crazy, right?
Read MoreOf Mice and Faceless Men
/Jaime Woo reveals the most shocking thing about being a faceless torso on Grindr.
Read MoreThe Ass and Body Confidence
/If Kim Kardashian and Rihanna have taught us one thing, it’s that someone else can like your rearview, but if you flaunt it, you’re a slut. No fair, says Renee Sylvestre-Williams.
Read MoreWhite Women and Everything You Dream Of
/“Desire doesn’t care what your politics are.” Navneet Alang kisses a white girl, just like Undercover Brother.
Read MoreKim's Convenience: On now at Soulpepper
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Esther Jun as Janet and Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as her father, Mr. Kim
By Denise Balkissoon
Every second-gen* daughter of a workaholic immigrant father should go see Kim's Convenience. Mr. Kim may be Korean, not Trinidadian, and he's a shopowner in Regent Park, not an electrician-turned-politician in Scarborough, but I'm pretty sure he got his schtick from my dad. Item A: fatherly concern wrapped up in insults. Guaranteed my dad has come out with just what Mr. Kim asks Janet: "Why not do something 'real' and make your your low-earning, arty job a 'hobby'? What? Why are you mad now?" Item B: Brutal, bone-cutting arguments about who owes who what, in terms of money, time and respect in this new land where none of the traditional rules apply. Item C: Oceans of intense love tussling for shelf space with old-school notions of masculinity, culture and honour.
Every member of the Kim's cast did a fantastic job breathing real personalities into the classic immigrant archetypes that we think we understand, but probably haven't though enough about. As a note-perfect Eau de Convenience Store wafted from the stage, Mr. and Mrs. Kim conversed in Korean, yet the audience kind of knew what they were saying. So real, and so brilliant.
I can't say if Kim's Convenience is actually Toronto's play of the year because I am a boor who never goes to plays. But in this one, I saw myself, and I saw my city, not just its hardworking past, but its brave, mongrel future.
Kim's Convenience is on now at the Young Centre in the Distillery. It's almost sold out, but there are still tickets left in mid-June. Grab 'em, now.
*Or maybe I mean first-gen? Copy editors and genealogists, help me out here.
Happy Birthday to Us!
/The Ethnic Aisle turns one this month! We're having a party to celebrate, and would love for you to join us. And now, some reflections on the first year by Nav Alang and Denise Balkissoon
Read MoreThe Shipment: On now at Harbourfront
/If you’re looking for a soft and fuzzy feel good play to ease you into a discussion of racism, then Korean-American playwright Young Jean Lee’s The Shipment isn't for you. While “dissect[ing] what it means to be [B]lack in America,” Lee pulls no punches, spares no feelings and handles no one with kid gloves.
Read MoreEthnichat: Religious Holidays for Everyone!
/Our Renee Sylvestre-Williams wrote about whether we in Ontario should have more religious, more inclusive religious holidays. We later then had a Twitter chat - or as we call them, an Ethnichat - about the topic. It turned out to be a complicated, provocative topic! For those who couldn't make it, we've selected some of the responses in a Storify below:
Read MoreWould Hamburgers Halal Be As Popular As Burger's Priest?
/Simon Yau wonders whether the Christian-flavoured Burger’s Priest is kinda weird. Would Hamburgers Halal or Buddha Burgers be as popular?
Compelled to "Do Jewish"
/Does circumcision make you Jewish? Lea Zeltserman is a diversity-loving Torontonian married to a non-Jew who found herself planning a bris for her unborn child.
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