Articles by Cecily Nicholson
We are sad to note the loss of Beatrice Lucy Starr, wolf clan of the Heiltsuk from Bella Bella, who passed away this June 14th in the company of family. As a community member, an organizer with the Power of Women group, a long-time volunteer of the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre and as a mother, auntie, grandmother and sister, she left a legacy to celebrate. (…)
This February 21st communities gathered to honour the legacy of El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, Malcolm X, on the 50th anniversary of his assassination. “Don’t be shocked when I say I was in prison,” he often told his audiences. “You’re still in prison. That’s what America means: prison.” So begins Dan Berger’s Al Jazeera article drawing on Malcom X’s 1963 speech, “Message to the Grassroots.” Malcolm X spent several years in prison for a series of robberies before he became an activist. Like many black men of that era, he “came to consciousness” when he joined the Nation of Islam while in prison. (…)
It has been over a year since community members were subjected to the Sham Inquiry into the deaths and disappearances of women who lived and worked in the Downtown Eastside, and its investigation into the failure of the RCMP, Vancouver Police Department, the City of Vancouver and the Province of British Columbia to protect these vulnerable women. As the implementation of recommendations remains largely incomplete, and authorities continue to deny responsibility, the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry has served to protect those who should be held the most accountable. (…)