As told to Dan Rubinstein
Photos by R茅mi Th茅riault
Linda Grussani is an Indigenous art curator with bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 degrees in art history from 杏吧原创. After working at the Canadian Museum of History for three years, she went back to school in 2019 to continue her PhD in cultural studies at Queen鈥檚 University, looking at Indigenous representation in museums.
Her husband, , became Ottawa鈥檚 first Black city councillor by winning a byelection in Rideau-Rockcliffe in April 2019. King has a bachelor鈥檚 degree in journalism and a master鈥檚 in communication from 杏吧原创.
He got to know Grussani almost 25 years ago when they studied together for the final exam of a first-year film studies class, and they became closer over a summer of email correspondence in the early dialup era of the internet. In this new regular feature in Raven, we explore the intertwined professional and personal lives of a couple with strong connections to the university.
Linda Grussani and Rawlson King
Like many people, you鈥檙e both working at home these days. What has that been like?
King: It鈥檚 good that we don鈥檛 have kids because we鈥檙e both really busy all the time. We live in a neighbourhood in my ward in a reasonably sized townhome with two primary bedrooms. This gives us both de facto offices. My busiest days go from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., talking to people in the community and to staff from my office and the city, and sometimes popping out for brief physically-distanced meetings. The frustrating thing for me, of course, is that as a politician you want to be out talking and listening to people directly. But these are abnormal times. I鈥檓 not going to City Hall in the morning and travelling around Ottawa for meetings, but instead am having meeting after meeting electronically.
Grussani: Rawlson鈥檚 easier for me to find right now. In the morning, I鈥檒l ask, 鈥淲hat鈥檚 your schedule like?鈥� and 鈥淒o you have time for lunch?鈥� Because we have the privilege and luxury of having two separate workspaces, we鈥檙e not together throughout the day, so when we are together, we actually want to see each other. I鈥檝e taken on a lot of the cooking since we鈥檙e not eating out much and am getting the chance to experiment. I have this flexibility because of my studies. I鈥檓 basically reading, writing and participating in online lectures and workshops for seven or eight hours a day.
King: Even if it lacks the intimacy of dialogue in the community, we鈥檝e still been able to do amazing things, especially around support for vulnerable people. My office secured an emergency $40,000 investment from the city for the community resource centre in my ward that provides food bank services to vulnerable residents. I also successfully pushed for race-based and socio-economic data on COVID-19 and advocated for more testing in vulnerable neighbourhoods. And my office has supported innovative, grassroots-driven initiatives that include a project that purchases food from local businesses and gives it directly to the food bank. I get wrapped up in these kinds of things and try to ensure they get the support they need from the city.
Grussani: Last March, when lockdown began, I was sort of numb. Then I went into planning mode. I ordered a hydroponic garden and a seed sprouting system and revived a sourdough starter that had been languishing in the fridge. I began drawing on the teachings I had received from my parents. My mom is from the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation; my father came to Canada from Italy in 1960. They have both passed on, but I found myself channelling the things they had taught me. My mother was an accomplished seamster and left me her sewing machine. Prior to COVID, I had not been able to bring myself to learn how to use it. COVID gave me the motivation to take it upstairs and I taught myself how to use it in one day and started sewing masks. I鈥檓 also channelling my father鈥檚 gardening prowess. Growing up we had a large garden and he put a lot of effort into growing the produce he missed from Italy that you couldn鈥檛 find in Ottawa 40 years ago. It seemed like my mind just went, 鈥淥K, we鈥檙e going to grow and make things now.鈥�
It must be surreal to be doing all of these things 鈥� some of which are stressful and demanding 鈥� from home.
King: Ottawa is still in a state of emergency. The city had to transition the majority of its 17,000 employees to remote work and then continue on with the business of the city. I give credit to city staff because we didn鈥檛 see any disruption of essential services. The garbage was picked up, we had power, we had water services. We were continuing operations while dealing with the biggest public health emergency in a century. There are other challenges that we鈥檙e focused on, including social justice issues, transit and a range of health issues. I read a report every morning that tells me how many people are sick and how many people have died. I need to balance these concerns this position to help improve my community. So, yes, it is more work and it鈥檚 way more stressful, but that鈥檚 the nature of this role. And we are making progress, even though there鈥檚 a pandemic. In June, . There have been demonstrations around criminal justice and racial issues in our city and across North America and there鈥檚 a tremendous amount of work to be done.
Grussani: Even before the pandemic began, I had been seeking and building online communities so that I could work from home and not feel like I was missing everyday contact. I joined a writing group in January with women from all over the world. Even if it鈥檚 on Zoom, it鈥檚 important to have a space to talk about our experiences and share concerns. The women I write with are in South Africa, Europe, the U.K. and U.S., and despite our geographic differences, we鈥檙e all united with the same goal: completing our PhDs during these uncertain times. Within online Indigenous communities, there have also been a wealth of online workshops and conversations bringing Indigenous and non-Indigenous people together. It was such a comfort at the beginning of the pandemic to participate in beading circles, cooking demonstrations and virtual pow wows and to feel connection, despite our shared isolation.
What do you think the next few months will hold for you?
Grussani: I鈥檓 working on two projects that I鈥檓 hoping will help Indigenous arts communities. One is with the Hnatyshyn Foundation to develop a national Indigenous art market event, which we鈥檙e planning to bring to Ottawa. It will be an opportunity for artists to promote their work and receive recognition and support. It鈥檚 early and we鈥檙e still looking for funding partners, but we鈥檙e envisaging a two-day event late next year or in early 2022. The other project is organizing an Indigenous Archives Summit for fall 2021 with the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival and other partners. I鈥檓 also working on my dissertation, learning more about bead sewing 鈥� and trying to keep that sourdough starter alive!
King: There is no shortage of things to keep me busy. The anti-racism initiatives we鈥檙e working on as a city are timely and necessary. We鈥檙e pushing for equity of opportunity and equity of outcomes for all people, especially when they鈥檙e dealing with services around employment, economic development, youth and health. I think we鈥檙e really at an inflection point of meaningful change. We鈥檝e seen a sliver of change but we鈥檙e heading in the right direction. Dealing with so many important and interesting issues, I don鈥檛 have time to get cabin fever. There鈥檚 less delineation between work and personal time. That might not be the healthiest thing, but I don鈥檛 feel like I鈥檓 constrained within these walls, though I am looking forward to when we鈥檝e moved beyond the need for social distancing and have a greater semblance of normalcy. One of my targets is the opening of that Indigenous art market in 2021. Hopefully we can hold a celebratory event in my ward that I could attend and maybe, just maybe, speak at. If we get to that point, I鈥檒l be very pleased.
Tuesday, November 24, 2020 in Short Reads - Fall 2020
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