May 29, 2021 This past week marked one year since the world watched in horror as Minneapolis citizen George Floyd was murdered by a white police officer on May 25, 2020, the act caught on video by multiple witnesses with cellphones. Floyd’s murder in broad daylight sparked ongoing worldwide protests against police brutality and white supremacy, with officer Derek Chauvin finally being found guilty of murder just last month. It’s been a hard year but one filled with demands fo

Originally published April 5, 2021 "Lord, give me the confidence of a mediocre White man." - Sarah Hagi Actor/comedian Chris Rock was once asked about America’s achievement of electing a Black president and he famously dismissed it as a breakthrough. “To say Obama is progress is saying that he’s the first Black person that is qualified to be president. That’s not Black progress. That’s White progress,” Rock said. “There’s been Black people qualified to be president for hundre

Originally published March 6, 2021 The workplace sitcom SUPERSTORE is now in its sixth and final season, never that big a ratings hit. Despite starring the wonderful America Ferrera and former KIDS IN THE HALL member Mark McKinney, it was never as beloved as THE OFFICE or PARKS AND RECREATION, probably because this comedy about the put-upon workers of a megastore that NBC lawyers insist is not Walmart was frankly too bleak and unsparing in its depiction of people scraping by

Originally published January 11, 2021 The Double Standard. This article is about privilege, specifically white privilege. I talk a lot about privilege in my work, in fact Breakfast Culture offers an entire course that teaches about Power & Privilege because we ALL benefit from some form of privilege. I recall discussing the concept of privilege with a non-racialized friend who maintained that there was no such thing as white privilege. They informed me that they grew up in a

Originally published November 1, 2020 Often, when racism is brought up in the workplace, people’s immediate knee jerk reaction is “I’m not racist.” However, racism comes in many forms. One form of racism that is being discussed and is often misunderstood is systemic racism. There’s a serious education dispute going on in Alberta right now as the provincial government, wanting schools to focus on “fundamentals,” floated the idea of dropping “sad and upsetting” discussions of C

First Secret Sauce Issue Welcome to Breakfast Culture's blog and newsletter SECRET SAUCE. We call it SECRET SAUCE because, well that’s what we’re all after when it comes to diversity, equity and inclusion right? We want to know “what’s the secret sauce?” In 2018, Ryerson University brought the US-based White Privilege Conference (WPC) to Canada. Yes, there is such a thing as the White Privilege Conference, it was founded more than 20 years ago by Dr. Eddie Moore Jr. WPC’s mis

Originally published on June 5, 2020 One of my favourite writers is James Baldwin. His writing is unapologetic, unfiltered and unique. If you want to learn more about racism, especially on Turtle Island, read him. His fiction and his non-fiction. (Do the work.) I often quote him. My favourite: “I can’t believe what you say, because I see what you do.” Those words have become my mantra; they have defined my experience not only with racism but with life. I strive to be a man of

Originally published June 3, 2020 It’s been a difficult 48 hours. I have not felt this emotional since 9/11. Anger. Frustration. Sadness. Exhaustion. Joy. Hope. The first four are obvious. The latter two may not be. Joy for me is about change. Racism, overt and systemic, is nothing new for me. It has always been a part of my life. So much so that dealing with it has become akin to breathing. You just do it. Black folks know this. It has been a part of our lives for generation

Originally published on June 20, 2019 Happy Pride Month! It’s that magical time of year where 20 per cent of the population (according to the United States National Bureau of Economic Research) celebrates being themselves, being welcome, being included, and sometimes just being alive. I remember my very first Toronto Pride in 1995. There were no corporate floats, no media sponsors and very few allies. Mostly it was us Queers marching north on University Avenue towards Queen’s