Confronting beauty standards for Black women with Jennifer Holness and Amina Mire

Hello and welcome to rabble radio. It's Friday, February 4, 2022. I'm your host, Breanne Doyle. Thanks for tuning in.

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This week, rabble recognizes the first week of Black History Month. We also continue our coverage of the so-called "Freedom Convoy 2022" as it unfolds in Ottawa. As well, Amnesty International asserts Israel is guilty of the crime of apartheid against Palestinians. Is it finally time for international intervention? We'll dive into all those stories and more, a bit later on our show.

First - we present to you a conversation between Professor Amina Mire and documentary filmmaker Jennifer Holness to discuss Holness' new documentary: Subjects of Desire.

Subjects of Desire investigates the cultural shift in North American beauty standards towards adopting Black female aesthetics and features. The documentary exposes the deliberate and often dangerous portrayals of Black women in the media. Subjects of Desire attempts to deconstruct what we understand about race and explores the power behind beauty.

The film premiered on TVO on February 1.

Mire is an associate professor at Carleton University. Her research interests include interdisciplinary analysis and critical research in gender and the cinema, anti-racist/anti-colonial research, political thought, and women and health.

Holness is a director, writer and producer living in Toronto. Her recent work includes the award-winning documentary Stateless and the Shoot the Messenger tv series. In 2021, she was the recipient of the Women in Film and Television's Creative Excellence Award. She is a key part of numerous committees including the chair of the Black Screen Office and co chair of The Canadian Independent Screen Fund for BPOC Creators.

This week, Mire sat down with Holness to discuss Subjects of Desire, and touched on their own experiences of confronting the beauty standards and harmful stereotypes of Black women.

Here is a snippet from that conversation. Take a listen.

(interview - 20 minutes)

That was Professor Amina Mire and director and writer Jennifer Holness, talking about Subjects of Desire. Thanks very much for that, Amina and Jennifer.

If you'd like to know more about this documentary, you can find Mire's review on rabble.ca.

Now it's time for In Case You Missed It.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

This week, rabble marks the first week of Black History Month.

Markiel Simpson kicks off coverage with a piece that argues African, Caribbean and Black Canadians should be celebrated all year, not only during Black History Month. While the significant contributions made by African, Caribbean and Black Canadians - the ACB diaspora - need to be recognized, undoing centuries of systemic racism and oppression cannot be restricted to only one month.

Also this week, Natasha Darling shares how Black sex workers are leading intersectional movements for smashing injustice and the patriarchy, in her must-read column .

Also this week, rabble's staff writers and contributors continued coverage of the so-called "Freedom Convoy 2022".

Karl Nerenberg, rabble senior politics reporter and Ottawa resident, shares what he and his Ottawa neighbours have been experiencing since the beginning of the protests last week, while the police stand idly by:

"Never before has a protest movement in the Canadian capital been accompanied by hundreds of massive, multi-wheel rigs, spewing clouds of noxious diesel fumes, and blaring their oversized horns in a 24-hours-a-day cacophonic symphony," he writes, noting the hateful signage and behaviour of some associated to protest. The presence of all these trucks and protestors poses a challenge the city - one that has experienced thousands of protests - "has never before had to deal with."

While local residents fume knowing what would happen to them if they simply parked illegally, no doubt indigenous and other activists are asking where the capitals' usual security forces - so often immediately on the scene for vigils and demonstration - are?

Nerenberg points out that the Ottawa police, "with reinforcements from across the country, are claiming that they are doing their best to keep the peace, but are treading carefully in dealing with the protesters."

David Climenhaga was one of the first to break the story of the far right involvement in the convoy's GoFundMe page, where this protest began online. This week he ponders whether some of those funds might go towards damages from the protests.

Climenhaga has also been keeping the spotlight on Alberta's political leaders - and reporting on their involvement in the protests and in far right ideology. He ponders, for example, whether Premier Jason Kenney encouraged the copycat Coutts blockade which he now condemns? It would be ironic, Climenhaga writes, if Kenney's dubious claim a week ago that Ottawa's vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers was leading to empty shelves in grocery stores, ended up being what is causing real shortages.

While the protestors in Ottawa have been calling for Justin Trudeau's departure, it was another leader who was ousted this week. Karl Nerenberg reflectsErin O'Toole's eviction as leader of the Conservative party - and shares his thoughts on the prospects for Pierre Poilievre, the MP for Carleton, who inspires enormous loyalty from a large swath of the Conservative base.

Some observers say Poilievre would provide Donald Trump-style leadership in Canada; and like Trump, Poilievre plays politics only in one emotional key – the key of anger. And it seems anger – Nerenberg writes – "is exactly what the Conservative base wants from a leader."

Last Saturday was the fifth anniversary of the January 29th Quebec mosque shooting. In her column, Monia Mazigh considers this first National Day of Remembrance of the Quebec City Mosque Attack and Action Against Islamophobia. Now more than ever, Mazigh says, "it is important to ask ourselves: what has Canada done to prevent future Islamophobic attacks? I am afraid to say: very little."

In international news, rabble contributor and board member, Thomas Woodley writes that the report published by Amnesty International on Monday - asserting Israel is guilty of the crime of apartheid against Palestinians - means there should be no further question that international intervention is required. Amnesty joins a long list of Israeli human rights organizations who have also found Israel guilty of the crime against humanity. Those groups include Gisha, Breaking the Silence, Peace Now Israel, and more. Canadian leaders, he argues, must now respond.

Also:

Don't miss out! rabble's Off the Hill political panel is back on Thursday, February 10, 2022 at 7:30pm EST. This month's theme: Whose budget is it, anyway?

Join hosts Libby Davies, Robin Browne, and guests MP Leah Gazan, CCPA economist David MacDonald, activist, poet and scholar El Jones and Karl Nerenberg. They'll be taking your questions and discussing the parliamentary agenda including the upcoming federal budget. Will major political moments like the turmoil in the Conservative party or the truck convoy make a difference to how the budget plays out in parliament? Tune in or join the live audience on zoom to find out.

Register now to join this free event, via Zoom.

The last thing I'd like to leave you with, listeners, is this: we are in the homestretch of our annual fundraiser, and we have a special offer for all of you rabble radio listeners!

Support rabble a monthly donation of $8 or more before midnight Saturday, February 5th, and you will receive a free copy of Indigenous activist and author Clayton Thomas-Müller's book, Life in the City of Dirty Water. Clayton's book is one of the top 5 contenders in Canada Reads 2022!

EXTRO

And that's it for rabble radio this week. Thanks as always for tuning in. If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts or whatever podcast app you use. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends -- it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.

If you have feedback for the show – ideas, stories, opinions you'd like us to cover – I'd love to hear about. Get in touch with me anytime at editor@rabble.ca.

Thank you to Amina Mire and Jennifer Holness for their conversation this week. Thank you to Karl Nerenberg for his reporting and for supplying the music for this show. Thank you to all the journalists and writers who contributed to this week's content on rabble.ca. And lastly, thank you to you for tuning into rabble radio.

I'm Breanne Doyle, and I'll talk to you next week.

Photo credit: Hungry Eyes Media Inc. used with permission.