thankyou sherelle, julius, brenda and you others for your very thoughtful posts... i get my list deep in the night; i don't know why i get it so much later than some...maybe the order in which we joined? i'm glad the direction of this topic has gone towards the quality of soul in joni mitchell... thankyou for putting into words this quality...you mention it has to do with individuality and originality... in the edmonton folk fest in the nineties, on a lovely clear prairie night, the most memorable song joni sang (in my mind), Borderline includes: Every bristling shaft of pride Church or nation Team or tribe Every notion we subscribe to Is just a borderline Good or bad, we think we know; As if thinking makes it so! All convictions grow along the borderline Every income, every age, Every fashion-plated rage, Every measure, every gauge Creates a borderline Every stone thrown through glass, Every mean-streets-kick ass, Every swan caught on the grass Will draw a borderline... (from Turbulent Indigo) julius raised the question, is there really a canadian- american black bond - maybe its anecdotal, especially when you here a stupid remark like that made by prime minister chretien (not his first, and not his last)...and sherelle, you asked for some thoughts on this topic... i'm not an expert, i can only share a few anecdotes...like lincoln alexander, who i knew fairly well, a descendent of the underground railroad, and the first black member of parliament, who has been since then lieutenant- governor (official representative of our 'Head of State, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for the province of Ontario)..."Linc" as he was known by his friends, knew more of the real history, and yes, his father was a 'red cap' on the CPR (Canadian Pacific Railroad), as were many blacks...was it hard for them to find other work? probably...and was the culture any better than that south of the border? probably less overtly racist, though economic opportunity not too easy...some blacks were ontario residents, some ended up in halifax where they created a community of sorts, sometimes excluded on certain 'imperial' sports teams...yes canada was less violent, but sometimes had a 'british empire' snobbery, so your comment julius about finding any port was bang on...of course now in canada, economic opportunity for minorities is excellent... we are a far-flung country of 5 major regions, each with their own flavour, who have had to be therefore more of a cultural mosaic, and therefore with a far less dominant 'majority' than in the U.S....and so there are patterns of migration and borderlessness that have been a part of our history... joni mitchell, though, is exceptionally borderless...the prairie vastness, the migrating geese, originally no black population to speak of (with a few interesting exceptions, like a few black cowboys who drove cattle north with others from places like texas and oklahoma)...and she like my sask cousins wanted with all their souls to initially get away from 'boring maidstone' where all she could do for fun was to watch the train roll by...saskatoon too teetolling and 'provincial'...so she went borderless from early on, a migrator like the geese, flying south to sophistication and excitement and opportunity...she has read thomas merton, and therefore felt the thrill of his borderless vision too, as well as his (for he was a big migrant too) interest in the african american community (and a special friendship with martin luther king and his wife coretta)...because their 'story' is our story...as my dad would always quote "we are all part and parcel of what we have met"... joni had and has guts galore...and her vision has been borderless... shane
