Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

Digging a hole and filling it with the memories of Bathurst and Bloor. By Stephen Weir By Thursday bookstore owner and neighbourhood activist Itah Sadu fully expects to have 1,000 messages and artifacts packed into a time capsule for a Bathurst community burial in what was once the Honest Ed Store.  The time capsule has been created to make sure the legacy of the Bathurst & Bloor Black community will be known for generations. The Honest Ed property has been cleared and the current construction company redeveloping the property – Westbank Development – is working with the community to have the lunchtime ceremony! “We have been asking people to write messages and put them in plastic bottles,” explained organizer Itah Sadu.  “We are putting the messages and some very important documents and artifacts into the time capsule!   They messages include thoughts from local folks, and city politicians including Councillors Layton and Michael Thompson. Folks wh...

Bathurst and Bloor Underground. See You In 100 Years. By Stephen Weir A time capsule to mark the role that the Bathurst Bloor Annex Corridor has played in the history of Caribbean and African peoples in Toronto is soon going to be buried in the ground in a busy city construction site.  “ This is another way that we as a community can mark our history,” explained Itah Sadu, the owner of the A Different Booklist.  “This area, around the intersection of Bathurst and Bloor, has a real history – here we can trace our peoples right back to the Underground Railroad!” For now the time capsule sits in the front window of the Bathurst St bookstore and cultural space. And, as customers and the curious come inside, everyone is encouraged to sign small pieces of paper and place themselves inside equally small bottles and put it into the waiting plastic box time capsule. The Different Booklist is a fitting place for the Time Capsule to be created. The store features books...

--> New Photographic Arts Group Putting The Community in Focus CCPAC photo - Kids play in Malvern Park - Stephen Wei By Stephen Weir Six months ago Toronto photographer and videographer Anthony Berot began approaching fellow Caribbean Canadian photographers about forming an association. The goal of the proposed non-profit group? Documenting the Canadian Caribbean experience and inspiring social change through film and digital images. President Anthony Berot Berot, the official photographer and videographer of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival and contri butor to many newspapers and TV networks in the city, turns out to be a persuasive talker. The Canadian Caribbean Photographic Arts Collective (CCPAC) already has a website, close to a dozen members, bi-weekly meetings and has booked its first exhibition in January! “Photography is a powerful tool for social change and a means by which we can establish our place in society,” reads the mission statement of t...