Desmond Cole

Desmond Cole (born 9 April 1982) is a Canadian journalist, activist, author, and broadcaster who lives in Toronto, Ontario.[1] He was previously a columnist for the Toronto Star and has written for The Walrus, NOW Magazine, Torontoist, The Tyee, Toronto Life, and BuzzFeed. Cole's activism has received national attention, specifically on the issues of police carding, racial discrimination, and dismantling systemic racism.[2][3][4][5] Cole was the subject of a 2017 CBC Television documentary, The Skin We're In[6][7] and also hosted a radio show on Newstalk 1010 from 2015 to 2020.[8][9] His first book, The Skin We're In: A Year of Black Resistance and Power, was released in January 2020 and became the bestselling Canadian book that year.[10][11]

Desmond Cole
Cole in 2017
Born (1982-04-09) April 9, 1982
Red Deer, Alberta, Canada
OccupationJournalist, radio host, author, political commentator

Early life

Cole was born in Red Deer, Alberta, grew up in Oshawa, Ontario, and went to secondary school in Whitby.[12] He attended Queen's University for two years before dropping out, stating that "University is now job training, and I think that’s nonsense."[12] After teaching French in the Durham region for two years, he moved to Toronto at age 22,[13] where he began working with at-risk youth.[12] In the spring of 2006, Cole competed in Toronto's City Idol competition and was the winner for Toronto-East York.[12] The winners of the competition were assisted in running for city council in the fall of 2006, and Cole placed third in Ward 20 Trinity-Spadina in the 2006 Toronto municipal election, at age 24.[12]

Career

"The Skin I'm In" and tenure as Toronto Star columnist (2015–2017)

Cole's 2015 essay for Toronto Life "The Skin I'm In", explored anti-Black racism in Toronto and across the province of Ontario. The piece chronicled how Cole was carded over 50 times by police in Toronto.[14][15] The piece was the seventh most read article of the decade on Toronto Life and won three awards at the 2015 National Magazine Awards.[16][17] The essay was subsequently the basis of a 2017 CBC Television documentary film, The Skin We're In, directed by Charles Officer.[7][18]

During his time as a columnist for the Toronto Star, beginning in September 2015, Cole rose to prominence covering issues of race in Toronto.[19][20]

Resignation from column

In May 2017, Cole resigned from his bi-monthly column at the Toronto Star after being told by his editor he had violated the newspaper's rules on journalism and activism by protesting a Toronto Police Services Board meeting over the Toronto police practice of carding and racial profiling. Commentators pointed to contradictions in the Star's admonishment of Cole, and cited the Star's long history of employing and supporting columnists who engage in activism.[21][22]

Michele Landsberg, a former Star columnist, called the Star's treatment of Cole a blunder. She wrote that Cole felt bound by his promise to black children he had addressed during a presentation during Black History Month.[23] Landsberg contrasted the support the Star had provided for the feminist activism she advocated during her 25 years as a Star columnist, with its lack of support for Cole.

Continued activism (2018–2019)

On 14 December 2017, PEN Canada picked Cole for its Ken Filkow Prize, for freedom of expression.[24] Towards the end of 2017, speculation arose that Cole was thinking about running for mayor of Toronto; however, Cole later announced that we would not enter the race.[25][26]

On 10 July 2018, Cole criticized mayor of Toronto John Tory for referring to two black men who injured two children with gunfire as "sewer rats".[27] Cole pointed out that he had not used animal terms to refer to Alek Minassian, who had recently perpetrated the Toronto Van Attack. Cole asserted Tory's language was a trigger for general racial discrimination and that dehumanizing offenders made rehabilitation more difficult.[27]

On 21 October 2018, the eve of the election for mayor of Toronto, the Toronto Star reported that Cole claimed candidate Saron Gebresellassi had accepted a list of contact numbers from incumbent mayor John Tory of which Cole felt the public should have been informed.[28]

The Skin We’re In: A Year of Black Resistance and Power (2020)
Main article: The Skin We're In (book)

Cole's first book, The Skin We’re In: A Year of Black Resistance and Power, was announced in 2019[29] and released on 28 January 2020.[30] The books focuses on 2017 and chronicles a year "in the struggle against racism in Canada."[31][32][33] CBC Books placed the title on its 2020 winter reading list,[33] and it became the bestselling Canadian nonfiction book for the week of February 9–15, 2020.[34] The book saw a surge in sales in late May to early June 2020, corresponding to protests across the United States and Canada against anti-black racism and police brutality.[35] It later became the bestselling Canadian book of 2020 and was also named one of the ten best Canadian nonfiction books of the year.[36][11]

In the aftermath of the death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet, Cole argued for the defunding of the Toronto Police and the redistribution of funds to mental health services and initiatives to address poverty and systemic racism.[37]

In July 2020, Cole was named one of CBC Books' "Writers to Watch".[38]

References
  1. "Shining a light on the police: Five questions with activist Desmond Cole". The Globe and Mail. 14 July 2017. Archived from the original on 14 August 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  2. "Racism not a big problem? Activist says survey shows Canadians 'in denial'". CTVNews. 10 December 2019. Archived from the original on 18 December 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  3. Sun, Edmonton (10 July 2017). "Activist Desmond Cole to speak in Edmonton amid debate on controversial police practice". Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  4. Canada, P. M. N. (14 November 2018). "Toronto 'carding' activist Desmond Cole stopped by police in Vancouver | National Post". Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  5. "Activists question Federation of Black Canadians' leadership, ties to Liberals". CBC News. 27 February 2018. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019.
  6. Charles Officer (30 September 2017). "The skin we are in". CBC News. Archived from the original on 15 August 2018. Retrieved 31 July 2018. Following celebrated journalist Desmond Cole as he researches his hotly anticipated book, this documentary from acclaimed director Charles Officer pulls back the curtain on racism in Canada.
  7. Otchere, Shantal (10 March 2017). "Watch Desmond Cole's doc, The Skin We're In, on CBC.ca". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  8. Robb, Peter. "The fire this time with Desmond Cole – ARTSFILE". Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  9. Média, Bell. "Desmond Cole". www.iheartradio.ca. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  10. "Desmond Cole on his new book, dismantling racist institutions and 'the pablum of diversity' | The Star". thestar.com. 24 January 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  11. "The top 10 bestselling Canadian books of 2020". CBC Books. 28 December 2020.
  12. "The audacity of Cole". The Varsity. 6 November 2006. Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  13. "Why Toronto Writer Desmond Cole Sees Every Uniformed Police Officer as a Threat". TVO.org. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  14. Desmond Cole (21 April 2015). "LIFE The Skin I'm In: I've been interrogated by police more than 50 times—all because I'm black". Toronto Life. Archived from the original on 24 October 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2018. In second year, when I moved into the student village, I started noticing cops following me in my car.
  15. Bero, Tayo (6 November 2019). "Canada is overdue for a reckoning with its anti-black racism | Tayo Bero". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 18 December 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  16. "Toronto Life's 20 most popular stories of the decade". Toronto Life. 26 December 2019. Archived from the original on 28 December 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  17. "Desmond Cole". National Magazine Awards. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  18. Officer, Charles (2017). "The Skin We're In". CBC.
  19. "Toronto police to begin collecting race-based data in January". Toronto. 19 December 2019. Archived from the original on 20 December 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  20. News; Canada (25 April 2015). "Vital intelligence gathering or meddling? Police across Canada under growing pressure to stop carding people | National Post". Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  21. "The 'benevolent liberal racism' behind Desmond Cole's Star exit – Macleans.ca". www.macleans.ca. Archived from the original on 13 February 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  22. "It was wrong to rein in Desmond Cole: Paradkar | The Star". thestar.com. Archived from the original on 9 August 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  23. Michele Landsberg (15 April 2017). "Former Toronto Star columnist Michele Landsberg calls out paper's bosses for Desmond Cole "blunder"". NOW magazine. Archived from the original on 11 October 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2018. Since the province passed new rules making arbitrary street checks illegal, Cole argued, the Board should stop making the information already gathered, much of it illegally, available to police.
  24. Jane van Koeverden (14 December 2017). "Desmond Cole awarded 2017 PEN Canada/Ken Filkow Prize for freedom of expression". CBC Books. Archived from the original on 2 August 2018. Retrieved 31 July 2018. Cole has become a sought-out voice on issues faced by marginalized communities. In April 2017, he was removed from a Toronto police board meeting for protesting how the police board was handling the case of Dafonte Miller.
  25. "Will Desmond Cole run for mayor of Toronto? He's thinking about it: Keenan | The Star". thestar.com. Archived from the original on 14 December 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  26. "Desmond Cole announces he won't run to become Toronto mayor | The Star". thestar.com. Archived from the original on 14 December 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  27. Muriel Draaisma (10 July 2018). "Mayor John Tory won't apologize for calling gunmen who wounded 2 young girls 'sewer rats'". CBC News. Archived from the original on 19 July 2018. Retrieved 31 July 2018. Mayor John Tory has described men responsible for a playground shooting as 'sewer rats.' Journalist and activist Desmond Cole objects to that language, saying it exposes black people to more danger.
  28. Marco Chown Oved (21 October 2018). "Mayoral hopeful accused of accepting 'material support' from John Tory's team". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 22 October 2018. Retrieved 22 October 2018. Cole published the post on social media two days before the municipal vote 'out of fear Saron would continue to keep her actions from the community.'
  29. Edwards, Samantha (6 January 2020). "10 books we're excited to read in 2020". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  30. "The Skin We're In by Desmond Cole". Penguin Random House Canada. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  31. "These are the books to watch in 2020 – Macleans.ca". Macleans magazine. 31 December 2019. Archived from the original on 20 January 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  32. Price, Neil (27 January 2020). "Desmond Cole wants to dispel Canada's "magical thinking" on race". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  33. "The CBC Books winter reading list: 40 books to read to kick off 2020". CBC Books. 28 January 2020.
  34. "The bestselling Canadian books for the week of Feb. 9–15, 2020". CBC Books. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  35. https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/anti-racism-books-sales-spike-1.5597039
  36. "The best Canadian nonfiction of 2020". CBC Books. 1 December 2020.
  37. "Police brutality continually treated like a 'one-off' in Canada, says Desmond Cole". CBC Radio. 1 June 2020.
  38. "The CBC Books Writers to Watch list: 24 Canadian writers on the rise in 2020". CBC Books.
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