World

It's a new day for Myanmar: Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has won a by-election for parliament, according to her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD). The NLD was involved in elections for the first time since 1990. 

Although the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) remains powerful in Burmese politics, Suu Kyi's seat in parliament is being viewed as monumental step toward democracy. The 66-year-old pro-democracy leader spent 15 years under house arrest as part of punishment for opposing the country's military regime.

During the election campaign, foreign journalists and international observers were given access to ensure that the election results were legitimate. 

I dreamed I was Agnes Gereb, Hungarian doctor and midwife who was jailed by state authorites for her work in delivering babies in a mother's home -- something that is common around the world, but is criminalized in Hungary.

The only difference was I wasn’t in jail…yet. In the dream, I had a half hour before lock down and I knew there was no time; not for goodbyes, not to complete my life’s work, and certainly not to establish any form of justice.

Luckily, I awoke. But for some reason I’ve not been able to shake the cold and pressing feeling of imminent incarceration. Might it have to do with the fact that earlier that same night, I had agreed to write an article to help free her?

Do you know the tale of Joe Fortes? Well-loved swimming instructor and one of Vancouver’s first Black settlers? English Bay’s first lifeguard?

If not, that may be because much information about Vancouver’s black communities has remained largely elusive from not only the City Archives, but from public memory as well. This February, the Vancouver Observer is celebrating Black History month by commemorating those key African figures who helped shape our vibrant city into what it is today.