Finding oneself through sound, dance and family

This episode originally aired September 5th, 2021.

Documentary: Listening to Country

Indigenous people in the prison system experience a profound loss of connection to culture while they're incarcerated and far away from the sounds of home. 

A team of researchers in Australia set out to change that. 

"Sound itself is so intrusive. You can't actually have sonic privacy, in a sense, and especially in a prison." says researcher Vicki Saunders

Producer McKenna Hadley-Burke takes us to Queensland for a story about the profound healing power of sound. 

Hollywood Jade

Hollywood Jade grew up in Toronto wanting to be a dancer. He found success at an early age, appearing in films such as Hairspray, music videos and awards shows. But as a queer man, he felt that being his authentic self was not always welcome.

"The urban community just wasn't as open and as receptive as it is now to black queer bodies in cis-heteronormative Caribbean, very religious based environments," says Jade. "I had to …  really step aside and be like, 'Okay … How do I want my work to be presented? How do I want people who work with me to feel? How do I help people who don't feel seen? How do I create spaces for people like that?'"

Today he is a choreographer, and was the resident choreographer for Canada's Drag Race, a sister series to RuPaul's Drag Race.

A Saint in the family

Andrew Faiz is the grandson of a Presbyterian Pakistani saint - Vazir Chand.  Most Presbyterians don't honour saints, yet for this specific Pakistani community, Andrew's grandfather has been given special reverence.

He hadn't fully realized what this meant until he went to Pakistan with his mother.

"I'm watching people fall to the ground and touch the hem of her sari. They're saying in Urdu and Punjabi, they're saying, this is a daughter of the saint. This is the daughter of the saint, and they're reaching out to touch her to touch her, to touch her. Because by touching her, that touching him. It was a profound experience."

Andrew tells us what it's like to be the grandson of a revered holy man — and why he's still not sure what that means for him.

Andrew Faiz is an associate editor with Broadview Magazine and wrote  about his family here.