REFLECTION & REASON

The following lists feature Canadian news articles and reports based on the themes and concepts found in the four novels of Toronto author Kamilah Haywood  (aka Kwoodz): Diamond in the Rough   Concrete Jungle Diamond in the Rough: Part Two The Hidden Track Kwoodz—a queer, Black, Canadian fiction author of Jamaican heritage—writes books depicting the unfiltered, authentic, and occasionally dark side of Toronto life. Through raw details and intimate narratives, they have captured issues from female incarceration to sex trafficking, relationships, coming of age, and spirituality through their intensely gripping novels. 02/02/2022 // NOW TORONTO //  Op-ed: The pandemic sentences prisoners to endless COVID lockdown 03/20/2021 // GLOBAL NEWS // ‘Folks are dying’: Community rallies for depopulation of Ontario jails after COVID-19 outbreaks 02/22/2022 // GOVERNMENT OF ONTARIO //  Ontario Marks Human Trafficking Awareness Day 02/16/2022 // QUINTE NEWS // Human trafficking awa...

It was a term used by many of us: "2020 Vision." We were excited for the new year, with New Years' Resolutions ready for execution, and a clear perspective for activities on a global scale. Visions for upliftment, success, love, and awareness with an undercurrent of positivity. These messages were clear, because 2019 had been a year of extreme learning, self-reflection, and healing. A worldwide pandemic causing a global lockdown, international protesting against police brutality and the lynching of African people, and the continuous fight for racial equality with Black lives mattering: these predictions were far from the vision we had planned for. It wasn't anything we had prepared for, but 2020 became a vision that would open our eyes clearly. History had been broken. Conditions that we had never experienced before, were now realities the human race was forced to face. This fog was removed from our collective eyes, only for us to realize that there is a need fo...

BY GUEST BLOGGER, AUTHOR KAMILAH HAYWOOD In 2017 there I was, a third generation African-Jamaican-Canadian woman in the ice cold of winter, downtown Winnipeg at Tim Horton's, standing in the busy morning rush line up waiting to order breakfast. Our team had taken a trip from Toronto to do some research on bridging the literary gap, while comparing the commonalities between Urban Indigenous communities across Canada and the Urban Toronto communities we were familiar with.  An older white woman at the cash register was kicking out a disheveled (possibly homeless) Indigenous woman. “You are not allowed in here. I already told you that this morning! I don’t care how much money you have! Miss, how can I help YOU?” Me. I was surprised at her disdain for the lady, and warmth toward me. “It’s OK to serve the woman," I said to her. "I can wait.” Her response. “We don’t serve her kind in here.” Just like that. That was just one of MANY particularly eye-opening, and d...

In what has become an annual tradition, Kya Publishing partnered with Cleveland's Elevated Waves Publishing to present a special Writing Workshop for the Toronto Public Library last week, in association with their Black History Month programming. Over the years, the workshop has evolved from discussing the idea of Urban Fiction, to providing information about Urban Fiction...and then with increased participation, we established a format of having a panel discussion followed by one-on-one author chats in the latest editions of the cultural writing workshop. One thing has been consistent, and that is our dedication to letting writers know about the importance of staying true to their authentic voices, and also honouring their personal experiences. Whether writing Urban Fiction, Black Narratives, or developing cultural writing projects, all writers have entered the environment and left with the same spirit: one of increased creativity. This year's workshop highlighted a pan...

History is constantly being documented year-round from various perspectives, voices, and parts of the world. As writers, we recognize the longevity of our work in print, whether it's online or in a library, we know that our words will last far beyond the moments they are created. As readers, we have looked to the words of our predecessors to learn from their environments, find out how they persevered through circumstances they were placed in, and we gain wisdom from their written knowledge and shared processes. Through fictional accounts, or non-fiction instruction, the words are powerful and lasting. As a group of Black writers, we thought it fitting to gather during Black History Month at the Toronto Public Library to reach out to our peers who are also crafting books and memoirs, poetry and other writings, and provide a space for us all to share the importance of writing cultural stories, and the importance of letting your personal experiences and perspectives shine thr...

Since the age of twelve, Kamilah Haywood has been crafting stories based on the realities she has witnessed, growing up in the Canadian city of Toronto. She did not choose to be a writer, or intentionally design her life to be an urban author with a unique perspective on the world class city she calls home. Writing chose her...and even now, she is not sure why. The first author to sign to independent Canadian publishing company, Kya Publishing , Kamilah is ready to have her literary voice recognized as a contemporary communicator of Toronto's urban culture. Though categorized as an "urban fiction" author formally, Kamilah's work is literary treasure, as she encapsulates and personifies a sector of Canadian life not often exposed through literature or pop culture. Diverse by nature, the city of Toronto is visibly filled with community members of all nationalities. Anyone who visits Toronto or rides the TTC (Toronto's transit system) for the day can clearly ob...