16 Facts About Desmond Cole

Desmond Cole was born on April 9,1982 and is a Canadian journalist, activist, author, and broadcaster who lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Desmond Cole was previously a columnist for the Toronto Star and has written for The Walrus, NOW Magazine, Torontoist, The Tyee, Toronto Life, and BuzzFeed.

Desmond Cole was the subject of a 2017 CBC Television documentary, The Skin We're In and hosted a radio show on Newstalk 1010 from 2015 to 2020.

Desmond Cole was born in Red Deer, Alberta, grew up in Oshawa, Ontario, and went to secondary school in Whitby.

The winners of the competition were assisted in running for city council in the fall of 2006, and Desmond Cole placed third in Ward 20 Trinity-Spadina in the 2006 Toronto municipal election, at age 24.

The piece chronicled how Desmond Cole was carded over fifty times by police in Toronto.

Desmond Cole hosted a weekend talk show on CFRB radio from 2015 to 2020.

In May 2017, Desmond Cole resigned from his bi-monthly column at the Toronto Star after being told by his editor he had violated the newspaper's rules on journalism and activism by protesting a Toronto Police Services Board meeting over the Toronto police practice of carding and racial profiling.

Commentators pointed to contradictions in the Star admonishment of Desmond Cole, and cited the Star long history of employing and supporting columnists who engage in activism.

Desmond Cole wrote that Cole felt bound by his promise to black children he had addressed during a presentation during Black History Month.

Towards the end of 2017, speculation arose that Desmond Cole was thinking about running for mayor of Toronto; however, Desmond Cole later announced that we would not enter the race.

On July 10,2018, Desmond Cole criticized mayor of Toronto John Tory for referring to two black men who injured two children with gunfire as "sewer rats".

Desmond Cole pointed out that he had not used animal terms to refer to Alek Minassian, who had recently perpetrated the Toronto Van Attack.

Desmond Cole asserted Tory's language was a trigger for general racial discrimination and that dehumanizing offenders made rehabilitation more difficult.

On October 21,2018, the eve of the election for mayor of Toronto, the Toronto Star reported that Desmond Cole claimed candidate Saron Gebresellassi had accepted a list of contact numbers from incumbent mayor John Tory of which Desmond Cole felt the public should have been informed.

In July 2020, Desmond Cole was named one of CBC Books' "Writers to Watch".