I think of my poetry as a form of rescue work. I’ve spent much of my creative life giving voice to figures from the recent or distant past, silenced by turmoil and time, who clamour to have their stories told. It’s a process that been called the ventriloquism of history…

My poetry cannot exist without the confines of colonialism still bearing down on me that has kicked my ancestors so hard in the past that future children fell. My poetry punches people in the guts.

It’s rare that the initial draft of a poem matches my vision of what its potential. It takes time to either carve away at it to get to its essence, or to slowly unpack and add layers of sensory imagery and meaning—or both simultaneously.

Both my written and visual work investigate the representation of Black people across the Canadian cultural landscape. My goal is to unpack mechanisms of power and systemic oppression…