🗞 Combatting racism with basketball

COMMUNITY

North Preston hooper aims to combat racism with 3-on-3 tournament

Basketball has taken Chris Johnson a long way from his childhood home of North Preston. The six-foot-five 35-year-old, who once called Cole Harbour’s Auburn Drive High School home, has competed against the likes of NBA superstar Jimmy Butler. Played in front of a roaring crowd in the NCAA’s March Madness tournament. Called Canadian NBAers Andrew Nicholson, Tristan Thompson and Corey Joseph teammates. Now, Johnson sees basketball as another avenue: A way to reach young Haligonians and Nova Scotians and set them on a better, more inclusive path.

“I think [basketball] is about perspective,” Johnson says, speaking by phone with The Coast. “I found purpose within the game. I was able to play in different countries and get two college and university degrees. And I’m using it the same way now to connect with our youth.”

This weekend, he’s hosting the third annual Anti-Racism Tournament at Citadel High School—an initiative that both promotes social justice and funds skills development programs for young Haligonians.

As The Coast’s Martin Bauman reports, it’s a cause that lies close to Johnson’s heart.

Need to know

🏃 The HRM is warning of traffic delays this coming Sunday between 8am-12pm due to the Navy 10K race. Check out the race route here.

🏊 Penhorn Beach and Albro Lake Beach are closed to swimming due to high bacteria levels.

📃 The city has announced its plans to launch its Voluntary Vulnerable Persons Registry before the start of hurricane season.

🚌 Transit staff deserve a safe workplace, you deserve a safe ride. If you witness or experience any acts of aggression on Halifax Transit notify transit staff or call 311.*

*Sponsored Post

On The Coast

SPONSORED BY CANADIAN MUSEUM OF IMMIGRATION AT PIER 21

Field Trips at the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21

Teachers looking for fun educational trips should think about taking their class to the Museum for one of its excellent programs about the long and ongoing history of immigration to Canada.

Can’t get to the Museum? Never fear! They also offer Virtual Field Trips!

In other news

🏠 Despite concerns about traffic in school areas, a new Beaver Bank apartment building has been approved by Halifax’s North West Community Council. CBC has the story.

💵 Irving has received $463 million in funding to use towards upgrades at its Halifax facility that are needed to build the Canadian Surface Combatants.

🌳 The Province has funded fifteen projects with more than $220,000 through its Habitat Conservation Fund in hopes of improving wildlife habitats in Nova Scotia.

🦠 According to a new Canadian Medical Association journal study, 75% of Canadians had been infected with COVID-19 by March 2023.

🌀 The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting the Atlantic Ocean will see 2 to 5 major hurricanes this season.

MUSIC

Rich Aucoin wants you to feature on his next album

So well-earned is Halifax alt-pop artist Rich Aucoin’s “nicest guy in music” reputation that when The Coast reaches him by phone on a late August morning, he’s helping a friend jumpstart their car. The same Polaris and Juno-nominated artist who once toured across Canada by bicycle to raise money for Childhood Cancer Canada—and blogged about it for The Coast—also recalls getting into trouble as a Coast newspaper carrier after college. The problem? He wanted to talk with everyone he met.

“I wasn’t great at the job,” Aucoin chuckles. “Several times, customers would call and be like, ‘Is there something wrong with The Coast today? It hasn’t arrived yet.’ I would just get so caught up chatting with different folks at each place [on my route].”

That drive to connect with people hasn’t left Aucoin. In fact, he’s doubled down on it: Not just in his confetti-filled live shows, in which the 39-year-old often finds himself in the middle of the crowd; but on his newest creative project, the wide-ranging, epic and ambitious Synthetic—a quadruple album that promises “more synths than any album in history.” For Aucoin’s forthcoming Synthetic: Season 3 and Season 4, he’s inviting collaborators to send in synth sounds and arrangements that he’ll weave into his final composition.

Coast reporter Martin Bauman caught up with Aucoin to talk about his vision—along with his show tonight in Hubbards.

ARTS

Everything you need to know about the 11th annual Art of Disability Festival

Are you looking for an opportunity to shop for new art pieces and support local artists? The Art of Disability Festival will take over Pier 21 this Saturday in-person (with virtual components) for the first time since before the pandemic.

Here are the details of what the festival is all about and how you can attend.

Deals

💸 Mevyn is currently having one of its biggest sales to make room for new inventory. Shop from multiple 30% off racks!

Have a local special we should feature? Reply back and let us know!