Julio Diaz is a Multimedia Assistant at the Silhouette.

The Silhouette: Please introduce yourself.   

Julio Diaz: I’m Julio Diaz. I’m a second-year health sciences student.  

You’re a member of CANFAR. Can you tell us what that is?   

CANFAR at McMaster [University] is a chapter of a larger organization called CANFAR. It stands for the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research. We raise money for HIV/AIDS research through fundraisers. They also provide bursaries for [graduate students] who are doing research. With that comes a lot of advocacy. At the university level, we find different ways to educate people about what HIV is as a virus but also as a social phenomenon. Generally, to do that, we look more at how HIV presents itself in 2023 rather than where it began.  

What do you do?  

I am public relations for CANFAR. Art is very important to me; it’s a way that I teach people about HIV through a lens that I enjoy. That means making graphics for CANFAR like designing their logo and the website. I do that with another person, Izma. Our goal is to make sure that we present information about HIV to the public in a way that is accurate, well thought out and considerate of student identities.  

Could you elaborate on the focus on the presence of HIV/AIDS in 2023 rather than its past?  

The way I see it is what is happening now with HIV is different from what it was before. In the 1980s, it was a lot more stigmatized. It was more of an issue that people see with homosexual men, which really meant men who have sex with men. However, there were other demographics in the 1980s that were heavily affected by it like intravenous drug users and sex workers. As we get to 2023, we see that the people affected are very diverse . . . It's recognizing that other demographics have always existed and beginning to focus attention on them. It's about making sure that everyone gets the information that they need, knows the best ways to prevent the chance of transmission and steps to take if they are at risk.  

As we get to 2023, we see that the people affected are very diverse . . . It's recognizing that other demographics have always existed and beginning to focus attention on them. It's about making sure that everyone gets the information that they need, knows the best ways to prevent the chance of transmission and steps to take if they are at risk.  

Julio Diaz, Public Relations, CANFAR McMaster

What are the goals that CANFAR has for the future?  

We want to get self-testing kits out to the hands of the people at the university. It's a part of a research study that CANFAR is involved with and it would make testing a lot more accessible. Literature that I've read shows that self-testing can reduce stigma, specifically in young men who have sex with men when it comes to HIV and in pursuing preventative measures like pre-exposure prophylaxis, a medication taken to prevent the spread of HIV. Right now, the other focus is on creating awesome events that people want to come to where we help spread accurate, up-to-date information about the virus. We're also going to continue hosting fundraisers and we have an upcoming research symposium which is a great opportunity to learn about where the research is now.  

What inspired you to join CANFAR?  

I was reading memoirs and educational literature about HIV and how it had impacted the queer community. It's a very large issue as queer people have been targeted violently and that still resonates today with homophobia, transphobia and other forms of discrimination against the LGBTQ community. In reading about that, I knew that I wanted to get involved in some way at McMaster with HIV — that's when I found CANFAR. It's been a perfect fit for me in terms of fulfilling a lot of those desires I had when I was reading those memoirs and being emotionally impacted by the stories of gay men in their short time here.  

What would you like to see in the future of CANFAR?  

A change that I would love to see is to talk more about sex. It's still a huge mode of transmission, specifically sex between men. That is still a huge demographic impacted here . . .  People are quick to think that this is an issue of the past. Because men who have sex with men, intravenous drug users and others are in the McMaster community, it's important to me that they know that this is still an issue that we need to be thinking about and take steps to protect ourselves. I just want to share what's out there so that people can take those steps. It's important to not dismiss the fact that, though we have made strides forward, it still impacts people here.

The Silhouette: Please introduce yourself.  

Ayesha Basu: My name's Ayesha. I'm in my second year of [Chemical Integrated Biomedical Engineering & Health Sciences]. 

You posted an art piece with part of the caption saying, “You will post your bad days.” What inspired you to create and post the art piece? 

I posted that roughly five months ago. It's a black and white sketch. In the caption, I detail that I'm irritated because of the lack of transparency on social media, that it's only used for your good days. I wanted mine to be very open and very transparent.  

It was a pretty bad point in my life. When you're a kid and you go to therapy, they don't ask you out right how you're feeling. They don't ask you to really speak—they ask you to draw out anything. The thought is that when you draw things out, it's letting your conscious flesh out on paper. So, I drew out how I was feeling. That piece has a lot of scribbles, a lot of scratches on it because after I would draw and add what I felt was in my head, I would feel ashamed, or angry or saddened. And that's how that messiness of it came about. So, I just wanted to post that this is a bad day and that's okay. It's important to recognize that you have bad days and they should be honoured just as much as the good points in your life. The teaching is harder, it feels worse, but you come away with something still. 

It's important to recognize that you have bad days and they should be honoured just as much as the good points in your life. The teaching is harder, it feels worse, but you come away with something still

Ayesha Basu

What inspired you to post it? 

I'm an honest and blunt person. I feel very icky not saying the truth about how I feel. I post when I'm bored or when I haven't posted for a while. At that point, I really wasn't at the capacity to post something happy or just average-normal. But I did want to put something out there. I also put that as a milestone. A lot of my posts are milestones. If I come back to this later, I'll always know I was able to get better from that low point. I already did it before, so it's just a matter of doing it again.  

A lot of my posts are milestones. If I come back to this later, I'll always know I was able to get better from that low point. I already did it before, so it's just a matter of doing it again. 

Ayesha Basu

How did you feel coming out of that? 

I was going through a decent amount of trouble with the people I knew and the people I trusted. So, social media is hard. One month, I archived all of my posts. I was so unsure of the people I did not trust seeing that part; why do they get to see that vulnerability? But, there are people out there who are completely new and they have the potential to be very very important people to me. But, I'm gatekeeping my personality, not because I want to, but because I have a fear of the people that I used to know. I don't want my past to shape the future people I know. So, I put everything back up. These are the things that happened to me in my life. From then on, I've been pretty transparent and I'm decently proud about what I want to announce in my life. So, if I make the decision to put something out there, I'm standing by it. 

I was so unsure of the people I did not trust seeing that part; why do they get to see that vulnerability? But, there are people out there who are completely new and they have the potential to be very very important people to me.

Ayesha Basu

Where is the intersection between creating art for the purpose of creating art and creating art to express your story?  

Once a teacher told me that you have to know the rules before you break them. For me, I don't know what I'm breaking but something is being broken all the time with the stuff that I draw. It's not skillfully artful but it is still art because art conveys a meaning. For me, the vulnerability of my art just enhances the craft itself. Refining and refining and refining, figuring out what you want to say and keeping it brief to stay within the character limit, what you want to draw with that and how that complements what you're trying to say. The common denominator is that it has meaning in some way. It's a translation of something. In my process, I'm just learning what it is.

Kimia Tahaie was an opinions staff writer of the Silhouette from 2021-22. 

The Silhouette: Please introduce yourself.  

Kimia Tahaie: My name is Kimia and I'm a third-year arts and science student. I'm also double majored in communication and media studies. I'm doing a semester abroad in Amsterdam to do journalism courses because that's what I'm going to pursue professionally. 

Could you tell us a short summary of what the situation in Iran is like right now? 

This all started with the brutal killing of Mahsa Amini. It's very important to note that this was not the first killing that happened under this Islamic regime in Iran. This is one of many. With the protests that have been happening in Iran, they're happening within shorter time frames. The gap is getting shorter and shorter. It just shows how sick and tired the people are of living in the regime. They're trying their best to stop us but people have been very persistent and they're protesting and even going out on the streets every night even though there's a very large chance of getting murdered. But there have been consistent acts of protest. There has been a continuous movement. 

It's just been so many years of oppression. I feel like a lot of people don't know the extent of oppression we've been facing during these past years. We are deprived of the simplest rights as a society, men and women. For example, we can't have pets. If you have a dog, the dog will be taken away from you because that's haram. Iranian women can't bike, Iranian women can't sing, Iranian women can't go on the streets without a hijab. So there are so many elements that have just built up to these protests. That's why I am strongly against a lot of Muslim influencers who are coming out and saying that what Persian women are doing is inherently Islamophobic. That could not be further away from the truth. I think what really needs to be understood is that for me, that's not a hijab. For us, it's a piece of cloth that has been forced on our heads for years and years and years. To us, this is a symbol of freedom. We're not saying to ban the hijab; we're saying to give women the freedom to wear what they want and, in the bigger picture, to give freedom to the people of Iran. 

I think what really needs to be understood is that for me, that's not a hijab. For us, it's a piece of cloth that has been forced on our heads for years and years and years. To us, this is a symbol of freedom. We're not saying to ban the hijab; we're saying to give women the freedom to wear what they want and, in the bigger picture, to give freedom to the people of Iran.

Kimia Tahaie

A lot of people think this is a women's movement. This is a human rights movement. Freedom for all. I think in America, Europe and Canada, everyone's very desensitized to Middle Eastern issues. I think this is very well-done propaganda because it groups us as poor people far away — the poor Middle Easterners that we can't do anything about. This can't be further away from the truth. This is not just the Middle Eastern issue: with the freedom of Iran comes the freedom of many countries. This is something I feel like people are forgetting. We have largely funded Russia, meaning that they can bomb Ukraine. This is not "just another Middle Eastern issue". This is way bigger than that. This is a very global issue. If we believe that, it will lead to the freedom of many, many other countries. 

What can people outside of Iran do to help? 

It's so important to not read what's happening in Iran as just another headline. 

My people are literally giving their lives in the hopes of achieving very basic human rights. There’s an Internet shutdown in Iran so don't let [Mahsa Amini's name] stop circulating. Because the day that this dies down is the day that the regime can completely take over. 

A lot of my friends, even those who aren't Persian, have asked their professors if they could have a few minutes to talk about what's happening. Consistently keeping yourself in the loop with what's happening and spreading awareness on social media is the most important thing. Also, just checking up on your Persian friends because they're not okay. 

The Silhouette: Please introduce yourselves. 

Hilary Menezes: My name is Hilary Menezes. I'm a third-year student at McMaster and I'm currently pursuing an English and cultural studies degree with a minor in political science and a certificate in leadership.  

Madison Menezes: I'm Madison and I'm in my second year of mechanical and biomedical engineering. 

Please elaborate on the Love Packs project. 

HM: Love Packs was started in the pandemic around Valentine's Day last year . . . We realized that there are a lot of people who are super generous and donate around Christmas time and holiday season. But, moving into the new year, we realized that there weren't really many supports for those facing homelessness or abuse [and] in shelters . . . So, when my work hosted a goal funder, we came up with Love Packs. When we were stuck at home during the pandemic, we wanted to pick up something actionable. That was the main driving force. Just hearing about the reactions of all of the women and children and homeless folks that we provided for inspired us to continue it to be more than a one-time initiative. We ended up getting to do another one in the summer and now we're taking it into 2022. 

MM: Just thinking about the degree of how much more difficult the pandemic is for someone living in a shelter was also part of my reason for wanting to really help. We just wanted to make sure that we could provide them with things that they could use day to day and then also other gifts that would make them happier. 

HM: To add on, something kind of unique about Love Packs is we tried to go beyond things like toilet paper, deodorant, toothbrushes and toothpaste. We provide that but we also try to include little gifts. We wanted to give people things that they might consider to be luxuries and might not have access to. These are actual people who deserve to be celebrated. So, we had the opportunity last year to give some fun gifts like makeup, snack packs and different kinds of fancy coffees and teas. We had Starbucks donate some fancy coffee. We really try to incorporate that into our philosophy of not only just giving the essentials but trying to go a little bit above and beyond that. 

Could you guys talk a little bit more about the Love Packs team? 

HM: Last year we did it with just the two of us in our basement. Especially with COVID, it was one of the things where we thought that we can't get more hands because at that point, vaccines weren't so much a thing and cases were through the roof. Still, it was great to see so many people text me. We even had some friends from middle school who we hadn't talked to in five years offer donations. It was cool to see people helping in that capacity. Even then, two or three of my close friends and our parents helped us transport different things when we had super large donations or for the final trip when we brought everything to the shelters. Our communities helped out a lot and we were so grateful. That inspired us to make it bigger this year and grow the team. We’re gaining some traction and are actively recruiting volunteers right now. In fact, we just hired our [executive] team because we want to grow this to reach out to more people this year and give Love Packs to more people. 

How have you guys been feeling about just the General McMaster community then? And I guess the communities that you've been interacting with as a whole 

MM: I started at McMaster without really having been on campus. But I found it fascinating even with online learning. It's just a really welcoming environment and I definitely found a lot of people who are happy to connect. We've even had one of the local doughnut shops, Donut Monster, donate to our project. It was just really nice to see people in Hamilton contributing as well. 

HM: It's been amazing to see how many people from McMaster have either donated to us or businesses have supported us. Actually, the guy who drove the doughnuts from Donut Monster to our home in Mississauga, I met him through mock trial at McMaster. So, I had only known him for maybe not even a year through meetings once a week. But he still said that he'd do it. It was great to see how people are so willing to help out. 

C/O Pasha Malla

The Silhouette: Please introduce yourself. 

Pasha Malla: My name is Pasha Malla. I’m the 2021-2022 Mabel Pugh Taylor Writer in Residence. I'm also teaching a class in [the arts and science department], a special inquiry class on speculative fiction.  

What is your role as the Writer in Residence?  

I'm available to the McMaster community and the broader Hamilton community via the Hamilton Public Library for manuscript consultations, which means that people send me excerpts of their work, poetry or prose and I read them and give them some feedback. Then we have a meeting on Zoom and have a little conversation about it. That's part of it. The other half of the program is various workshops and talks. Tonight, I have a workshop on suspense and urgency that I'm posting on Zoom. I'm doing the art of writing workshops through the Hamilton Public Library and business writing workshops through [McMaster University].  

How have your meetings been so far?  

I've been having the best time. Because the program includes people outside the [McMaster] community, regular old folks from wherever can join as long as they're affiliated with Hamilton in some way. It's been a really nice and diverse group of people and quite a nice variety of kinds of writing that folks are doing. It's been really encouraging and inspiring and kind of fun to read for people and have conversations with folks who are at various stages in their writing. I'm working with some published writers and some new writers. It has been really enjoyable in all kinds of ways.  

What inspires you to write?  

Lots of different things. Writing has been a nice place to just experience a little bit of joy. I've been working on this project that just makes me laugh and I have fun working on. Each project has its own goals and intentions or whatever else and results.

Lately, writing for me, it's been a nice little diversion and a place that I go for laughs. I make myself laugh, which is kind of weird, but nice when you can make it happen.  

Do you mind elaborating on the project?  

It's actually a sequel to the last novel I had out which is called Kill The Mall. It's an absurdist story with supernatural elements. This is a sequel to that, it's actually the second book in what I think is probably going to be a trilogy and I'm going to finish it before reading week, probably.  

Are there any people or another writer who inspires you in writing?  

There are so many writers whose work I read who are just so far beyond what I'm doing. I find that trying to achieve things that other writers are doing is motivating. Most recently, I've been reading a writer from Argentina whose name is Juan José Saer. I'm just blown away by this guy's genius. Reading something like that makes me, as a writer, try to pick it apart and see how he's doing what he's doing. So yeah, I get inspired by reading a lot.  

Have you encountered any challenges in your own writing or within the Writers in Residence program?  

No, this program has been terrific. That's a testament to how great the people who are sending their work in, who I've been meeting with and [who] have been attending these workshops with [all] are. That's the reason why I did it. If there's any challenge, it's just seeing each piece to try to figure out what the writer is trying to do and then doing my best to help them get there. Giving different suggestions and feedback that will be, I hope, encouraging and motivating but at the same time rigorous constructive criticism.  

Is there anything you would like to say to aspiring writers?  

Go into engineering school so you can get a job. No, I'm just being facetious. I think there's all kinds of generic advice already. You know, you should read, you should write. For me, I think being a curious person in the world is the most important thing. To ask questions, to speculate, to wonder. To tap into that thing we all had when we were kids where there's so much imagination and possibility is a large part of who you are and how you engage with the world. I think that is more important than figuring out the craft. Really being curious, engaging in curiosity about other people, about places, about experiences, about yourself.

C/O Feast Centre

The Silhouette: Please introduce yourselves.

Randy Jackson: I'm Randy Jackson. I'm an assistant professor in the school of social work with a cross-appointment in health, ageing and society and identify as Anishinaabe from Kettle and Stony Point First Nation.

Renée Masching: Hello, my name is Renee Masching. I work with [Canadian Aboriginal Aids Network]. I'm the director of research in this organization. I have bloodlines from Six Nations of the Grand River Territory and also [am of] Irish descent. I was adopted and raised in a family of Eastern and Western European descent.

What do you do at the Feast Centre?

RM: It's a great honour and privilege. Randy and I co-direct the centre and that is based upon decades of experience working together. My role in the Feast Centre represents community voice on behalf of and with many others on our team and supporting the centre. As we structure the centre, we want to be really clear about bringing diverse perspectives to the centre and particularly ground ourselves in a community-based research perspective. My ‘community hat’ is a reflection of the organization, where I work and the membership base that I represent, but, of course, recognizing I also have roles and responsibilities in academia and, for example, Randy would have roles in community as well. 

RJ: To add to that, the Feast Centre is a five-year, close to $5 million undertaking that's looking to develop training opportunities for scholars and trainees and community members who wish to use Indigenous knowledge in their [sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections] research. For that, we work across the four pillars of health research, including clinical, epidemiology, basic science and the social sciences. We've developed a number of training opportunities and the centre of that would be our Learning Lodge Institute, hopefully drawing on land-based training opportunities for researchers. We're also developing a webinar series and a podcast series to go along with the Learning Institute. In addition to that, we offer grant opportunities for Feast Centre members who wish to be more focused on the kind of work that they're doing. So, we offer training grants to students across masters, PhD and postdoc. We offer training opportunities for undergraduate students to become involved and learn about Indigenous STBBI research. Just a whole range of things that we've been developing over the last year and a half or so.

How did you both get involved in and become inspired for the Feast Centre?

RJ: Well, the Feast Centre is really a two-decade-long collaboration between Renee and I working across 45+ different research projects over the last 18-20 years. So a lot of community-based expertise in this endeavour. Across those 45+ projects we did, we did a critical review on the way in which we were approaching research and I really wanted to share some of our knowledge around that. Knowledge for knowledge's sake is fine, but when you're in an Indigenous setting like we are, the development of it is a sacred pursuit. It's really about socially transforming society so that we're addressing disparities of health that Indigenous people experience because of structural disadvantages.

RM: Part of that vision is also recognizing the need for a response to STBBI that is meaningful and evidence-informed and it is also informed by the people who live every day in this reality. Both in the context of living with various infections, as well as the context of prevention work, so we're thinking of the researchers, the individuals, the healthcare practitioners and also, maybe a little bit self-serving, but we're really overworked. There is a lot of interest, and rightly so, in Indigenous health . . . but there's a very small cadre of people who are doing that work, particularly in the context of health and even narrower, in the context of STBBIs. So part of the vision of the Feast Centre is both to bring in new people and to recruit and encourage those who are involved in health research already to focus their attention and energy on Indigenous STBBI research. That's a combination of joining our fellow Indigenous scholars into the work, as well as working with our allies to do more to introduce and explain and understand how we would bring Indigenous ways of knowing and doing into research. This is so we can share the burden a bit and have confidence that good work and good research are proceeding as we understand it and as our team helps us to build that perspective. This also comes from a foundation of a response to HIV, particularly an activist response. I think an activist orientation and activist researcher orientation is exciting and necessary. Knowledge for the sake of knowledge, knowledge for the sake of understanding, for instance, the philosophy and theory of Indigenous research is really important. But, every day, I have to go back to our community of people living with HIV, to our organizations that are responding. If I'm standing in front of a group of people saying: "Well we've learned about what it's like to live with HIV, that's really interesting" — that's an absolutely inadequate presentation for people's lives. We're celebrating the lives of people who are with us, we're acknowledging the lives of people who have passed. Research has to have an impact because people's lives are on the line. What we're learning and doing and why we're doing it is because we want people to live well and live longer. We want people to be in a place where prevention is in place so that people aren't living with STBBI . . .  You know this matters, this is a commitment. We're really trying to make a difference in people's lives.

RJ: In addition to what Renee said, our centre draws on several sorts of methodological approaches, including decolonizing and Indigenous methodologies. But really, we're community-driven and that's really an important value that we try to articulate so community-identified concerns are really what drive the Feast Centre. We want a social transformation that positively addresses some of the disparities, issues that were identified by Indigenous communities themselves. We try to work from that perspective. The other perspective that I think is really, really important here is this idea of strengths. So there are enormous Indigenous cultural strengths that we want to foreground in the research that we do. It's that focus on strength that articulates a position you don't often hear in research literature about Indigenous people. That research that's being published overwhelmingly tends to focus on challenges and pathologies that Indigenous people are thought to live with, whereas we want to tell a fuller, greater picture about Indigenous people that focus on their strengths in the context of those challenges that they experience. We want to show that Indigenous culture is very efficacious in terms of helping people heal and live successful and productive lives. The responses to health disparities need to be grounded in Indigenous approaches and ways of being in the world.

What is your favourite memory of the Feast Centre?

RJ: What floats to the top of my mind right off the get-go here is the launch of the Feast Centre, which was about a year ago and you can watch the video on YouTube. We had a number of Indigenous artists participate along with us, a number of other people connected to the Feast Centre, the hope that they had for the Feast Centre. Renee and I talked in that video about how we orient ourselves to the Feast Centre and the work that we wanted to do.

RM: That was the first thing that came to mind. Running a major centre, running a major grant [and] working closely in partnership across distances and in COVID as we've tried to bring life to the Centre. The launch really culminated a lot of that passion and vision. The other side of that is we've stuck together and worked really hard and through hard times and through really exciting times.

C/O Robyn Sidhu

The Silhouette: Please introduce yourself.

Robyn Sidhu: My name is Robyn, my pronouns are he/she/they and I'm a fifth-year student at [McMaster University] in the [political science department] and I'm double majoring in peace studies and attempting to minor in gender studies.

When did you first get into poetry?

I was in grade 10 [and] for a civics assignment, we had to do a creative project that had to do with a social justice issue my teacher gave us. I decided to do poetry and I think queerness. This was also when I was still in the closet so I was like, “let me test the waters, let's see how these folks think about the gays.” That same year I started slamming with the Brampton poetry slam. That doesn't exist anymore; it only lasted a couple years, unfortunately. But I loved it. I was writing really angsty poetry that was definitely not good at all, but I really loved it. Then I came to Mac and I heard about the Burlington slam project. I ended up joining the team and being able to go to a couple different festivals, which was really cool. I got to go to Dallas, [Texas] in my first year for the International Women's Poetry Slam and this was also before I came out as nonbinary, [so] I identified as a woman when I went. I got to go to Chicago for the National Poetry Slam out there which is super cool and only three Canadian teams get to go — the Burlington, Toronto and Vancouver teams. I also ended up going to the Canadian festival for Spoken Word in my second year, which was in Guelph. That's how I got to know the national scene and then the American scene and kept writing.

Do you have any goals in regards to your work?

It's kind of weird. Once the pandemic happened, I've taken a step back from writing and now I teach [more]. I work with this charity in Toronto called CANVAS. We do consent education training in schools and workplaces and queer identity training in schools, camps, workplaces and stuff like that. Through CANVAS, I run a poetry program for [femme and misogyny-affected] youth and shelter spaces. For the past two years, I've been running this program . . . Every year, I get to meet so many wonderful youth who come through the program and write and foster and create that space. That is something that I love doing more than actually performing and writing. We put together a book every year called the Back Talk Collective. My real poetry goal is to expand that program . . . I want to expand that. I want to do a queer-specific stream; I want to do a stream for boys and masc [folks]; I want to do a trans only stream; I want to keep teaching . . . I love doing it. All of our sessions are about some part of our identity or experience. We try to weave a lot of other art forms into the session like collaging, poetry and music. We do performances together and we pay whoever comes to perform. We really strive to not just create that safe space in session, but also as an organization, [to] really invest in our youth and our artists. So, we’ve implemented this new thing where if you're submitting to any literary magazine and there's a paywall to submit, we'll cover that. Or if you're wanting to go to other workshops that are arts-related and there's a paywall, let us know and we'll pay for it. That's been one of the things that I've really tried to foster because I don't just want people to come to my session and then do poetry; I want them to invest in themselves.

Have there been any obstacles that you've encountered with poetry or any of your work?

I run a poetry slam series in Toronto called Hot Damn it's a Queer Slam. It's Canada's only queer circuit for queer people by queer people. The pandemic has forced us online. We haven't been able to meet together in person. Everybody's Zoomed out and nobody wants to go to Zoom events so we found that our poetry slams, our open mics and the workshops we've been hosting have been pretty intimate. They're not getting as many people as they normally would have. That's been kind of a step back, but also the beautiful thing about Zoom is that everybody can join, no matter where they're from if you have Internet access. We've been seeing a lot more disabled folks come and join our sessions because you can log on and you don't have to physically go anywhere. We've had people from across the world join our workshops, which has been really weird and really good because we never would have met [them] otherwise, but now [they’re] from London and [they’re] in this workshop on a random Saturday. 

Do you have any favourite poems?

Sonya Renee Taylor and it's called The Body is Not an Apology. Gorgeous, phenomenal. It's about how you don't have to apologize for existing and you having a body is a joyous reckoning. Sonya Renee Taylor also has a website and an organization called The Body is Not an Apology. It's a movement about reclaiming your body as a disabled person, reclaiming your skin as a racialized person and then it's just a phenomenal organization and movement. Another poet that I absolutely adore, but, unfortunately, have never been able to meet, is Melissa Lozada-Oliva and she is phenomenal. She's a [Latin] writer and she's got this poem called Black Thong Underwear. 

Do you have any favourites of your own?

Falling in Love with a Poet. I just love roasting shitty men I've dated and that one is so close to home. When I read it for other poets, they're like, "wow, you're really calling me out" and well, we all do this stuff, so. Then I've got another poem I wrote in my first year that's called Sunflowers and Rooftops and I usually perform it with my ukulele. I know four chords on the ukulele and I milk them all. It's about this first-year romance I kind of had but I exaggerated in my head.

Do you have takeaways from your work, your experiences or just even from poetry itself? 

I think the biggest takeaway from poetry has been that anybody can be a good writer. As long as you foster it, especially with teaching. There's this thing I teach called the responsibility of the storyteller. [It’s] the idea that we're all experts of our own narrative, but we shouldn't be writing each other's stories; write what you know [and] write what you've experienced. It's been really interesting to see people writing such specific stories to their own experiences and then seeing other people relate to that. It makes me feel not alone. Poetry brings so many people together. If I read a random poem out and somebody I never met before relates to it, that's a shared moment and I love those shared moments. I love how such specific stories in my own life can resonate with other people and vice versa. Also, putting your heart into it and trying really can get you somewhere. You know, with being able to go to all the festivals, being able to meet so many wonderful people and being able to run a slam myself. It's just my wildest dreams come true.

Silhouette graduates reflect on what being part of the Sil has meant to them

_{C/O Baim Hanif}

By: Esther Liu, Contributor

C/O Pardis Ghaneian

By: Esther Liu, Contributor

The Silhouette: Please introduce yourself!

Ghaneian: My name is Pardis Ghaneian, my pronouns are she/her and I am in my final year of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour at McMaster University. In terms of clubs and involvement, I've been a research assistant, community advisor, Archway mentor and [teaching assistant] at McMaster over the past few years.

What inspired you to become an Archway Mentor? 

A long time ago, I dreamed of moving to Canada and studying at McMaster. I was able to achieve that in 2014! I moved from Iran but in the beginning, it was challenging for me to transition from a country with a totally different language and culture. I had lots of barriers, language barriers, cultural barriers, financial barriers — it was difficult to adjust to the environment and I didn't have a strong support system to really help me during that time.

But then later when I started university, I had a great community around me with my community advisors and program mentors and it really inspired me to do the same when I can. That really contributed to me being happier and healthier and doing better overall. I decided to support students transitioning into university or even a new country. I was really really excited to become a CA in my third year with other dedicated student leaders and support my students’ growth and feelings that I had in my first year.

Alongside working as a CA, I really wanted to connect with my Iranian-Canadian community and promote my culture and support international students. I started up a mentorship program within the McMaster Iranian Students Association to give academic and non-academic support to all the new students, whether they're international or just transitioning from home.

This year, I initially planned on being a CA for the third time and I was super pumped about it, but unfortunately, we couldn't because they were closing down the majority of the residence buildings. They offered the CAs the opportunity to work as Archway mentors. I just really love working with first-years and I accepted the position right away. Especially since everything's online, I can't imagine how hard it must be for them to find resources or even learn anything about how university life is.

What did you expect out of the Archway program? 

At first, the email that was sent to us was basically saying that: "we're in a pandemic; we have to close down the residence buildings. But, we have another opportunity where you can help first years as Archway mentors."

I've done a lot of mentorship programs at Mac and I was expecting Archway to be a similar experience, but it was more formalized than I was expecting. Later on, we learned that it was going to be a lot bigger and more formal and have a full summer of training for that. But, it's been great! I'm super happy that they did it on such a large scale so that all the students were able to benefit from this opportunity because we have, what, over 8000 first-year students? Even more? If they were to connect only a few people to each of the upper-years, we couldn't accommodate everyone and [that] would take away the opportunity from so many people. 

How has your experience been? 

I was initially working with one community of 43 students. It was great, but to increase the engagement we decided to combine my community with another one to allow students to find more friends and expand their online networking with other McMaster students. It's been really great to see a diverse set of students from all over the world.

I have students calling from China, from Nova Scotia, some people from Hamilton . . . It was super cool to see everyone calling in from different places and have those connections. I'm constantly learning from them. I don't want to be the one who only shares my experiences, I always ask questions to learn from the younger generations and see what's happening.

What is your favourite memory/part of being an Archway Mentor?

My favourite memory was when we started off this program earlier in July when we were connecting with all of the students one-on-one virtually. Everyone was really excited for their upcoming year and I just really loved that energy. There were also a lot of uncertainties and I really resonated with how they were feeling. I really enjoyed being able to resolve some of those uncertainties about university and connect students who were scared of not being able to find friends, not able to succeed in their classes with resources and others. 

My favourite memory was when we started off this program earlier in July when we were connecting with all of the students one-on-one virtually. Everyone was really excited for their upcoming year and I just really loved that energy.

What’s been your biggest challenges as a mentor?

Even though it's really great to have people from all over the world in the program, it's sometimes hard to coordinate times to meet and there are different network issues. Connectivity has been a big problem for a lot of students, sometimes they're not able to even share their video and it's hard to gauge their body language and see how they're feeling. It makes me wonder whether they feel supported enough. I've been trying my best to consistently email them and provide them with different platforms to reach out to, but it's always on my mind whether they feel supported or not.

Are there any possible improvements to the program that you can think of? 

The Archway team has been working tremendously hard to build this whole thing from scratch. They didn't know what the university was going to be like. At first, we heard that fall was going to be online and then it became the whole year. There were just so many uncertainties for the people who are developing a program on such a large scale. They've all been working really hard.

Some of the things we could learn from this year are to implement more large-scale events for students earlier on. At the beginning, even though we had a lot of community events, we figured out that some of the communities could be combined to have more engagement. Knowing that, next year we could just start with those larger groups and events to better connect students. It's just important to reflect on what happened this year and what to do in the future.

What have you learned through your experiences as a CA and Archway mentor?

It's been really hard to transition to an online environment, not only for first-years but for upper-years, for faculty members — for everyone really. As I said before though, I think it's a lot harder for first-years since they don't have that pre-existing experience with university and it could feel isolating too as a lot of other university students may say that they found their best friends in their first year.

So throughout these past few years, I really learned how important it is to have those connections and I've been really trying hard to create these connections with our students to create a welcoming, warm and inclusive environment.

So throughout these past few years, I really learned how important it is to have those connections and I've been really trying hard to create these connections with our students to create a welcoming, warm and inclusive environment.

What would you say to those applying to be an Archway Mentor or CA?

I really feel like working as a CA and as an Archway mentor have been a major part of my university experience. So congratulations on making one of your best life decisions! It actually has been one of my best decisions, it's been so great to be involved and I feel that it really helped with my character development.

I grew from a hesitant and shy person to a strong student leader, mentor and supporter of my residence and Archway community. I know it may seem intimidating to take on such a big role in an online environment, however, the lasting positive impact you have on students, especially during this challenging time, is worth it.

By: Esther Liu, Contributor

The Silhouette: Please introduce yourself!

Inemesit Etokudo: My name is Inemesit Etokudo but I go by Inem. I am a 28-year-old [McMaster University alumna] living out in Alberta, Canada. I split my time between Calgary and Edmonton, but I'm primarily based out of Edmonton right now.

Since graduating from Mac, I joined the energy sector, specifically the oil field. Right now, I am a pipeline operator and engineer. I was a [life sciences] major. I went into sciences and thought I was gonna do the whole med school pathway.

After four years of gruelling school, I decided another seven was not for me. My parents live in Calgary so I actually moved back to my parents and took a year off to figure out what I want to do. I ended up just falling into the sector because that is all we Albertans do.

What are some of your hobbies?

When I first moved out to Alberta, I knew no one. I was just like: "I'll pack up my stuff and move across the country”. When I first got here I found it a little lonely. I didn't really know anyone and wasn't making friends yet. So, I decided to turn my passion [for] fashion and my love for styling into an online blog.

It literally started with my mom taking my pictures in front of her house, my brothers and sister pitching in and my parents buying me my first camera. That's how it's evolved to where it is now, where I'm really lucky and blessed to be able to help women who don't see themselves a lot in the media and in fashion have someone to look to.

That's really one of my biggest goals. As much as I love clothing and love shopping and love styling, the undercurrent of everything that I do with my passion is to help Black fat women feel seen. That's really all I try to do and I try to use my platform to ensure that their voices are heard as well.

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What inspires you?

The first thing has to be my parents, my family and my heritage. So I'm Nigerian and I'm not sure if you know a lot about the Nigerian culture, but we love colour. We love expressing ourselves through our clothing, we love wearing traditional garb that's beautiful, colourful and full of patterns. I believe my styling really evolved from that.

I love playing with patterns and colours to sort of push some of those boundaries that plus people feel uncomfortable doing sometimes. They want to just wear the dark colours and fade into the background. I'm like "Hello, a leopard print mixed with hot pink" — that's kind of what I love to do.

Secondly, I grew up travelling the world. My dad was an [expatriate]. So every year or two we found ourselves in a different country up until I was about 12 or 13 years old. So, I've been able to see the traditional dressing up of quite a number of countries in my lifetime and it really showed me how unique your fashion and style can be dependent on geographical location.

Being a Black woman is a huge influence of mine. Especially in the field I find myself in, it's quite dominated by older white men. So trying to break in and figure stuff out is a real passion of mine because I look around where I am [and] I don't see a lot of me. I've always been the type of person to find those really tough places where I do not exist and try to force my way in.

Through that, I've realized that as much as fashion is important and I love it and it's the backbone of what I do, it's the advocacy portion that I really enjoy the most. Using fashion, which everyone speaks in terms of style, everyone can understand it. I use that as a gateway to discuss more pressing topics. I also started a sorority while I was at Mac. It's one of Canada's first or second Black-focused sororities. So my sorority sisters are huge inspirations for me. It's really cool to see what all the alumni are doing and really awesome to see all the new classes coming in.

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So much of fashion is from Black culture and Black women in particular. 

It's a very interesting subject that you brought up. For a while, Black culture has been the inspiration behind high fashion. However, when seen on Black bodies, that same fashion is seen as ghetto or unprofessional or it doesn't "fit right”. But then, all of a sudden, you have high fashion houses like Gucci and Louis Vuitton doing cornrows and braids and then, all of a sudden, it's alright, we're fine now. That bit is an ongoing battle.

To be honest with you, it's the reason why no matter what space I'm in, I like to make it very clear that I am Black first. That is a very important thing for me. Even something as little as driving into my work parkade, I'm blasting my Childish Gambino on full blast and then getting out and saying: "Hey, morning Tim, morning Bob," as our 47-year-old white counterparts are getting into work. I really want to ensure that people know that I know that I'm Black first.

What keeps you going when it comes to your Instagram account?

Honestly, it's the community I've built. The interesting thing about myself being online is that being an influencer is not my job goal in five to 10 years. I'm very rooted in my career, you know, CEO of a Fortune 500, that's the path that I'm going on. So my online journey is a very casual one. I don't really care much for the number game. It's more so building a community where people feel safe within it.

Having done that for a couple of years, I've genuinely formed a group of individuals around me who are positive and support each other and know not to troll accounts. It's just such a positive environment that I've intentionally fostered online. When times are rough and for the beginning of this year, I've taken a couple of months off cause being online a lot is a lot. It can definitely take its toll on you. Even being away for so long, I still got such lovely messages. Some people who follow me were checking in and these are people I've never met before. So it's just such an awesome way to connect with people, especially during this time where we're all so not connected physically.

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How did you get into modelling?

That was literally just by fluke. I had no plan in place, I was just taking my own pictures. And then, I believe it was Addition Elle. They were really the first supporters. They're a Canadian-based plus-sized brand. They really, really supported me and still to this day support me and everything that I do.

The modelling aspect came because honestly, taking my own pictures, I learned how to model just by doing that. When you have a tripod and a camera and a remote, you have no choice but to figure out how to work angles on your own. I think that some of the images I got as a result of that really showed how I could do that. Agencies and companies started noticing and from there — it just kind of blew up. I wish I could say that I had a path or a plan for it but it was all a fluke.

Do you have any personal goals for your online presence?

Online, I have Instagram, TikTok — that whole shebang — a YouTube channel and a website. For the website, I would love for it to eventually become a place where I can let other people speak. That's always been a goal, to give other writers a platform where I can let them speak about what they want to.

For my Instagram and TikTok side of things, again, I really just wanna show a body that does not look like the conventional Instagram body or the conventional TikTok body. I just want to show that just because you don't look like these people online, which — asterisks, many of them don't actually look like that either — it doesn't mean that you cannot have fun with fashion, that you can't wear a crop top and show your belly, it's okay, we all have stretch marks.

With my YouTube channel, I want to show that a plus person can inhabit that lifestyle. So, I'd do off-shift vlogs where I'll do mundane things around the house, go grocery shopping, hang out, show behind the scenes of some shoots just to show that being fat — and again, I use the word "fat" as a descriptor, to me it doesn't have any negative connotations whatsoever — does not mean that you must stop just living.