Lots of great speeches at yesterday’s Women’s March rally in Halifax. I thought Ardath Whynacht made some very insightful points for the long haul. “If we admit that the structures of state violence tend to replicate themselves in the ways we treat each other, than we need to turn that backwards and treat each other better.”

This week we have a wonderful documentary about some of the people who visit Connections, a place in Halifax that supports people who are recovering from mental illness.

Black activists write a letter asking that carding be stopped, and nobody in power wants to talk about it. No way, says the chief of police. Can’t have politicians telling the police what to do, says Stephen McNeil. “Fix the tool, don’t throw out the toolbox,” says mayor Savage.

In January 2016 the Nova Scotia Advocate did a story on Tom Ayers, striking Chronicle Herald reporter in Sydney, Cape Breton. Almost a year later, with the strike still dragging on, we thought we’d give him another call. Ayers talks about settling into his new daily routine, the impressive support from the community, and how he gained a new understanding of what union solidarity is all about.

Mary Campbell, an independent journalist in Cape Breton, is getting the silent treatment from the person in charge of media relations at CBRM because she is not happy about Campbell’s reporting. Not only is the criticism unwarranted, Campbell suggests, it also makes it difficult for her to do her job. Who is to say what is and isn’t balanced reporting?

New NS Advocate reporter Rebecca Hussman attended the opening of the Walking With Our Sisters memorial at the Mount Saint Vincent Art Gallery. “They were lights, even if their life circumstances were such, and there’s disregard for these women. But in there, that’s taken away, and they’re together, and the light shines there.”

These two video fragments of the great Mi’kmaw poet Rita Joe are definitely worth a look. Check out the last interview with Rita Joe before her death, and her memories of leaving the Shubenacadie Residential School behind forever.