Monday August 4th, 2014 – Shadeism, Canada’s Detention Policy, The Izzat Project

York Community Report: News Now’s Dani Sinnatamby speaks to director and producer Naani Thiyagarajah of “Shadeism”, a documentary regarding skin colour discrimination. The term shadeism refers to the discrimination between lighter and darker skinned members of the same community. Targeted communities most often include people of African, Caribbean, and South Asian diasporas.

Download this interview here.

Feature Report: Following our Monday’s Detainment Series, Fakiha Baig speaks with Mina Ramos of End Immigration Detention Network about Canada’s detention practices. Currently, Canada’s Immigration Detention Policy allows for indefinite incarceration of immigrants, amongst many other unjust and immoral detention practices. Fakiha and Mina discuss these practices and the United Nation’s call for a change in practice.

Download this interview here.

Independent Arts Report: Farrah Khan from the Izzat Project speaks to News Now about her comic titled, “Heartbeats: The Izzat Project.” The comic tells a story of six young South Asian women in Toronto who use illustration, design, and writing to share taboo stories and subjects that are present in the community. They women discuss subjects such as honour and violence. Farrah tells us how her comic book can help us better understand the realities of South Asian women in Toronto.

Download this interview here.

 

Wednesday, July 30th – Yves Engler on Israel-Palestine, and Magic Mike

Over the weekend a Pro-Israel rally got violent at Queenspark. The violence proves tempers are flaring even here in Canada, thousands of kilometers away from the conflict in Israel Palestine. Yves Engler was present at the rally and was quoted saying provocative statements in the Toronto Star.

Engler has joined us in the past to talk about his books, “The Black Book of Canadian Foreign Policy and the Ugly Canadian: Stephan Harper’s Foreign Policy.

He joined NEWS NOW live to talk about some of the issues permeating protests, his provocation directed towards and Israeli crowd and some of the talking points regarding pro-Israeli/pro-Palestinian views.

Download this interview here.

 

Michael Penkul aka Magic Mike came to the CHRY studios to talk about an often overlooked form of performance art, magic.

Magic Mike started performing at the age of 4 and has since been developing his skills and learning new tricks. Currently performs at parties, weddings, corporate events and stage shows, living out his passion. He performed at The DOTs Toronto’s Best Kept Secret event in late June and joined Hailee Ingelton to discuss some of the tricks up his sleeve. Tweet Magic Mike at @Michaelpenkul with #magicmike #magic #spokenwordwednesdays

Download this interview here.

Wednesday July 23, 2014 – Israel-Palestine & World Pride, Mink Farming, and Simon Yohanness

Should political statements be acceptable in Toronto’s World Pride Parade? Dianne Moore, a member of the controversial group Queers Against Israeli Apatheid (QuAIA), thinks so. Moore joined Christian Deo on Wednesday to talk about this years World Pride event, the current crisis in Israel/Palestine and a video shot by York U Prof John Greyson called ‘The Disappearing Map.’ For more information on QuAIA, visit http://queersagainstapartheid.org/. You can also tweet them at @QuaiaVoice and @QuaiaTO.

Download this interview here.

 

On July 16th the Canadian Government announced through a press release it would be relaxing loan repayment dates by eight months for Canadian Mink Farmers as they respond to “a dramatic shift in the world mink market”. This has animal rights groups wondering why a program that is usually reserved for agricultural farmers is being applied to fur farms. Mark Howie of Fur Bearer Defenders joined the NEWS NOW team live in studio to talk about the issues with the fur industry, animal rights and the importance of biodiversity. Christian Deo reports. Learn more at  http://furbearerdefenders.com/, or visit their twitter @FurBearers.

Download this interview here.

 

Continuing our focus on spoken word artists in Toronto, Simon Yohanness otherwise known as Stretch, is the next artist to be featured on Hailee Ingelton’s Toronto Artist series. Stretch is a spoken word artist that has graced many stages in Toronto with his poetic flow and creative words. He spoke about his journey as an artist, his inspirations and kicked off his interview with a live performance in the CHRY studios. Tweet Stretch @StretchTO with #spokenwordwednesday and #torontoartist

Download this interview here.

 

Wednesday July 16, 2014 – Save PMAA, J-Rich and DJ Da Senator

The Pallasades Music and Arts Academy based out of a side road at Jane and Finch was abruptly closed in April, 1 year before its scheduled end of funding. The PMAA was an outlet for local artists looking to pursue passions in rap and music and saw musicians from all across the community come together. N.T.K was one of the musicians who recorded at the PMAA and he joins us live in studio to talk about his experiences at the academy. To learn more, please visit savepmaa.org and tweet at @itsnathantv with #savepmaa.

Download this interview here.

 

Jamaican/Torontonian rapper J-Rich and DJ Da Senator stopped by in studio to talk about his music and what it takes to produce and promote yourself as an artist as an artist in the modern music industry. Christian Deo has that Independent Arts report. Tweet J-Rich at @JRichTO with #summerraver and #bigdreamer .

Download this interview here.

Wednesday July 9, 2014 – Heavy Steve

Independent Arts & Culture: Hailee Ingleton speaks with artist Heavy Steve. Heavy Steve is a poet, actor, artistic educator, motivational speaker, and musician, who is based in Toronto. Heavy Steve uses his art to share life lessons, as well as to advocate positive social change. Contact Heavy Steve on Twitter @EmceeHeavy

Download this interview here