Cheers &Jeers
CHEERS to the organizers of the Central Nova Cheer Challenge last weekend at the Rath Eastlink Community Centre in Truro.
The event drew more than 1,200 athletes from across Nova Scotia and New Brunswick for two days of fun and competition. It’s another example of how Nova Scotia and the rest of the Maritimes are coming out of two years of isolation and restrictions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
While there were virtual competitions last year, it’s not the same as showcasing the participants’ strength and skill in front of a full stadium with the music blasting and supporters cheering.
Kudos have to go out to the Truro Allstars and its 74 participating athletes as well as their families and supporters for not giving up when it would’ve been so easy to walk away and find other things to do during what had to have been a rough and frustrating 24 months.
JEERS to actor Will Smith and comedian Chris Rock for becoming the spotlight of the 94th Academy Awards for all the wrong reasons.
It’s been a couple of years since Hollywood’s elite have been able to gather together en masse to hand out the Oscars, emblematic of the best of the best in the movie industry. What was supposed to be a celebration of a return to normalcy, however, was upstaged when Rock delivered a punch line that poked fun as Smith’s wife, actress Jade Pinkett Smith, who is fighting the autoimmune disorder alopecia, and the actor responded by walking on stage and slapping the comedian.
Smith would later apologize for his actions. While there are more than a few backing the actor for smacking Rock, the important thing to note is that as wrong as Rock was to make fun of the actress’ condition, it’s even more inappropriate for the actor to resort to violence.
As a comedian, it’s Rock’s job to make people laugh, but sometimes jokes can land with a thud. This one did in more ways than one and Hollywood – and movie fans everywhere – are a little sadder because of it.
CHEERS to the news Canada’s Defence Minister Anita Anand is coming to Truro on July 9 to officially apologize to the all-black No. 2 Construction Battalion for the racism its members experienced while attempting to enlist during the First World War.
Anand said she wants to ensure their experiences are never repeated in Canada’s Armed Forces. These young men sacrificed their lives to serve King and Country a century ago, but were faced with numerous obstacles on their way into service as well as during – being relegated to non-combat roles such as building roads, clearing trees and maintaining railway tracks, when they wanted to pick up a rifle and serve beside their fellow countrymen.
“My top priority as minister is to ensure everyone in the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces feels safe and protected, that they have the supports they need when they need them, and we have structures in place to ensure justice is served,” she said. “That we never again experience anything like what happened to the members of the No. 2 Construction Battalion.”
Anand’s comments and the coming apology are a major step in the right direction, but it’s just that – a step. Unfortunately, as they were discriminated against because of the colour of their skin, it’s also unfortunate that 100 years after the all-black battalion went to France to serve on the Western Front, their descendants and other Black Canadians continue to fight the same battle against discrimination, not only in the military, but it society.