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I have a lot to say about this. But before it descends into a necessary shit posting let’s not lose focus. Together we have just lost one of the MOST IMPORTANT VOICES ON AIR THIS CITY HAS HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF KNOWING, Arts Reporting hero Tara Thorne https://twitter.com/buote/status/1293162296852779009
Tara is a fearless, committed, witty, and joyful advocate for theatre, music, comedy, poetry, drag, dance, visual art and ALL forms of creative output in this city + Atl Canada for nearly 20 years. But more importantly- Tara drew our attention to work we WOULN’T HAVE KNOWN ABOUT
Younger artists will not know a time when we could expect to hear a PROUD, OUT, QUEER LEADER on our airwaves but let me tell you- she was a STAND-ALONE for way too long. Tara elevates voices who otherwise would go unnoticed:
Black artists. Indigenous artists. LGBTQIA artists. Rural artists. Little tiny back alley no-one-woulda-paid-attention artists. Tara was fighting to bring this coverage to the forefront when LITERALLY NO ONE ELSE DID. Artists: do you remember the first time your work was on CBC?
I’m not talking about the white darlings of the music industry who won non-stop play and celebration on the airwaves. You know who they are. I’m talking about the voices, the creators, the dreamers, the BRAVE who rebuilt the mold of this entire fucking city.
Remember when the existence of @BusStopTheatre was threatened? Here’s a venue that is accessible, inclusive, and absolutely vital to the creative sustenance, the very heart beat of our city. Just imagine- how many seats did Tara fill for how many shows?
Tara is a fair, courageous, bold Arts journalist who didn’t give a fuck about what ShOuLd be covered. She hand-delivered us the voices WE NEEDED to survive every single week. Voices you ONLY KNOW because of her.
Tara is a freelance journalist. This gives her the freedom to protect her OWN integrity which is sorely needed- specifically in a town where old white men still hold power in nearly all of our institutions. Now she is being punished- FIRED- for a literal joke. One tweet.
She deleted the tweet. She apologized. She apologized again. But this was determined to be not enough. I am enraged when I think of the men at CBC who belittled, and yes abused women, including me during my time there who were NEVER held to account.
When I am ready I will name each and every one of them. I hope you’re fucking scared men because you’ve gotten away with a lot of bullshit and contributed NONE of the glowing vitality we have come to expect from Tara. But I will not do this today.
Today is about Tara Thorne. If you are an artist in this town you owe her your allegiance. You owe her your thanks. You owe her all the scrappy buoyant fierceness she’s provided us for so many years, at times, at the expense of advancing her OWN phenomenal artistic works.
I do not fear for my friend. Because she is powerful as fuck, and a hustler, and never stops working. Like a river, she’ll always find her way to the ocean. But Halifax, I fear for us. Because our city has lost a treasured irreplaceable jewel on our airwaves.
Show her some love. She’s MORE than earned it. #ImwithThorney #Solidarity #QueerArts #Onward
PS: PAGING @CANADALAND
You can follow @MaggieRahr.
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