February is the shortest month of the year, and we fill it with 12 months of material. Every day, prominent Black personalities, executives and others are booked solid, and community organizations find time and platform for already-told and heard stories and glories. Opportunities are provided to have hard conversations that may never take place without the inadvertent hyper-awareness that comes with Black History Month. The month is replete with talk of much-needed change, motivated by good intentions that leave a bubble of hope in its wake. However, on March 1, calendars flip to the next milestone in the queue, and …

Globally, February has become synonymous with the ubiquitous celebration of Black History Month. However, over the years it has become apparent that the spirit of solidarity as regards Blackness and achievements, even during the shortest month of the year, has not been embraced by the Black diaspora and most notably Africa and some parts of the Caribbean. For whom is it really synonymous? The notion of Black history month has its roots in the United States of America. It was founded by African American scholar Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson. Woodson, who earned a Ph.D. from Harvard University, had noticed that …

The carol goes thus, ” He knows when you are sleeping. He knows when you are awake . He knows when you have been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake. In this era of privacy and confidentiality , is that not too much personal information for any “jolly” guy to know about you and your personal business. He magically and mysteriously comes down the chimney to leave presents, even though many of us do not have fireplaces or chimneys. . I do, but that is not the issue at hand. .Anyone or anything coming down my chimney …

What we are taught seldom nourishes the mind like that which we teach ourselves. It is imperative that the Black community become aware of the fact that traditional learning needs to be supplemented. Most persons with a casual interest in educational matters, and/or those only interested in education processes as they affect their children or grandchildren, would not be cognizant of the vast variety of academic opportunities which augment and broaden standard learning. The curricula of public and private school will typically only include subject matters of “general interest” to the “general public.” Remember this: any learning beyond the “general …

Canadian government has overlooked public health in the face of cannabis wealth On October 17, 2018 the government of Canada legalized and regulated the production,distribution, sale, import and export, and possession of cannabis for adults of legal age. Following such a move Canada became the first major industrialized country to provide legal and regulated access to cannabis for non-medical purposes, signalling a shift away from the reliance on prohibitive measures to deter cannabis use, and the adoption of an evidence-informed public health and public safety approach. The Cannabis Act introduced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government, was implementedwith three explicit …

Sadly, and basically true many false generalizations stalk our land, making no distinctions whatsoever between diverse people and institutions, lumping them instead into one steaming mass. Naturally, we all generalize to some degree, it certainly makes life simpler. There is no need to examine every cow to be confident that cows produce milk. As debate taught me in University, such is the nature of inductive argument. Notwithstanding, the type of which I am discussing is of the sort that saves us from having to think about who or what is staring us in the eyes. Yes, the type that leans …

If we do not move with the times, sadly we will find ourselves left far behind As students return back to school, and become settled in their individual seat in the classroom, there remains a lurking issue that has remained unaddressed for far too long. STEM Education As a long- standing affiliate of the pedagogical profession I know and understand that if the interest of children are not piqued early the odds of them, once they enter high school, if they donot already like it or find something that they enjoy about it, they won’t go into STEM career fields. …

In Quebec June 23, heralds the end of an academic school year for public schools, as well as the start of summer vacation. For many people, the word “summer” evokes easier days, a time when life slows down. So does the term “summer break,” a time parents, teachers, and students value as a well-deserved respite from the labor of the school year. Because summer break is a widespread and beloved tradition, the suggestion for some children that they must attend school during the summer is not taken very well. Strange as it may seem, this has emerged as one of …

I am haunted by a strange inner feeling that after reading this article, a plethora of suggestions would be proffered regarding my current mental status or at best any continued claim to being a representative of the homo sapiens genre. Mother’s Day is upon us, and not for a nano second would I deny the fact that every mother could use a break. However, Mother’s Day is not about that. We all have heard mothers say, ” I just want to spend Mother’s Day without my kids.” Ask any mother about her Fantasy Day, and before she even gets started …

Recently, more than 1,000 scientists, engineers, many of them leaders in the Big Tech industry including Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak, Evan Sharp, Chris Larsen, and Gary Marcus, signed an open letter calling for a pause in the development of the newest artificial intelligence (AI) systems, suggesting some of their super intelligence machines could no longer be controlled by humans. They called for a slowdown in production of the more powerful AI tools, so that potential risks could be studied —and researched. Not surprisingly, the letter set off alarm and scores of questions because it is Artificial Intelligence that empowers much …