“I’m honoured to have the opportunity to speak in this forum,” says Rankin MacSween, Boisdale native, honourary CBU doctorate recipient, and President of New Dawn Enterprises. “When we tell the truth, we can be known to ourselves and to each other. But truth is not popular. It is said, ‘how society deals with the past informs and shapes the future’. I feel it is important to examine our communal and societal truths, which can lead to healing and compassion. From this place we can find our way forward to a new future.”
MacSween was former Chair of the Cape Breton Branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association. He has lectured at CBU in Sociology and Criminology and taught in the Community Economic Development MBA program there. Elsewhere, he was a Founding Director of the Canadian Community Economic Development Network, a Former Director of the Vanier Institute of the Family and a Former Director of the Canadian Church Council on Justice and Corrections.
Alongside MacSween, Madonna Doucette, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Educator with the AIDS Coalition of Cape Breton will discuss why education is directly connected to HIV prevention and will share some of the experiences she’s encountered while advocating and educating. This engaging evening will also feature a live performance by local folk song writer and musician, Albert Lionais.
The series, which has been dubbed the “Cape Breton TED”, seeks to encourage new attitudes, directions and thinking through speech and music. It aims to uncover the passions of our people through the sharing of their stories and ideas. Previous speakers, including Kate Oland, Dr. Ron MacCormick, Sister Margie Gillis, Jim Mustard, and Bonnie MacLeod, have inspired many IDEAS guests to action and have in turn helped them to realize their own passions in the process. Video from past Powered by Passion talks is available here.
The first of this season’s six presentations takes place on Tuesday, January 29th at 7pm at the Cape Breton Centre for Heritage & Science (The Lyceum) at 225 George Street, Sydney. Admission is free for all talks in the series. Attendees are encouraged to bring a friend, a smile, and their favourite mug to fill with complimentary organic, fair trade coffee or tea.
