[Indigsol] Two Spirit and Queer Liberation Movements, Wednesday, Nov. 25 at 7pm

[Indigenous Peoples' Solidarity Movement -Ottawa]

The OPIRG Carleton Fall Colloquium presents:

TWO SPIRIT AND QUEER LIBERATION MOVEMENTS
>From Radical Revolt to Freedom Fighting Justice

With presentations by:

Jessica Yee, Executive Director of the Native Youth Sexual Health Network
Gary Kinsman, co-author of "The Canadian War on Queers"
Ashley Fortier, Q-Team
Zaheen, Agitate! Ottawa

Wednesday Nov 25th 7-9 pm
Montgomery Legion Hall,
330 Kent Street near Somerset Ave
(wheelchair accessible)
Suggested donation $5-10, no one turned away

Advance tickets available at OPIRG Carleton (326 UniCentre), OPIRG-GRIPO
(631 King Edward Ave, 3rd floor) Venus Envy Ottawa (320 Lisgar St), and
Octopus Books (116 Third Ave)

Talk descriptions:

>> Two Spirited Indigenous Feminist Freedom Fighting with Jessica Yee <<

Jessica Yee is a self-described Two Spirited Indigenous Feminist Freedom
Fighter - and as such will outline how frameworks like reproductive
justice and movements like Indigenous feminism come into play with her
work with Two-Spirited youth specifically as the founder and Executive
Director of the Native Youth Sexual Health Network - currently the only
Aboriginal organization in North America to work within the full spectrum
of reproductive and sexual health.

Jessica Yee is a 23 year old Two Spirited young woman from the Mohawk
Nation. She is the founder and Executive Director of the Native Youth
Sexual Health Network, a North America wide organization working on issues
of healthy sexuality, reproductive justice, cultural competency, and youth
empowerment.

>> Remembering Revolt and Resistance: Queer Struggles Against the Canadian
National Security State with Gary Kinsman <<

Queer liberation started as a radical revolt against heterosexual hegemony
in alliance with other groups fighting against oppression and for social
liberation. This presentation actively remembers queer organizing against
the Canadian national security state from the late 1950s to the 1990s.
This resistance undermined and dismantled the Canadian War on Queers which
had led to the purging, surveillance, and harassment of thousands of queer
identified people. This presentation draws from the just-released book
"The Canadian War on Queers: National Security as Sexual Regulation" which
will be available for sale at the event.

Gary Kinsman is a longtime queer liberation and anti-capitalist activist.
He is the author of The Regulation of Desire: Homo and Hetero Sexualities
(1996), co-editor of Whose National Security? (2000), and Sociology for
Changing the World (2006). He is a professor of Sociology at Laurentian
University in Sudbury.

>> Queer Organizing Against Apartheid with Ashley Fortier <<

Drawing on a long history of queer solidarity organizing against South
African apartheid, and in response to Israel’s branding of itself as a
safe haven for queers in order to distract from its racist policies
towards Palestinians, a growing movement of queer solidarity against
Israeli Apartheid has emerged in recent years. This presentation will
highlight some organizing successes and challenges throughout Canada and
the U.S. and demonstrate the importance for queers to learn about and join
in the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaign against Israel.

Ashley Fortier is based out of Montreal where she organizes around radical
queer, prisoner justice, and Palestine solidarity struggles. She's also a
part-time activist researcher with the Collectif de recherche sur
l'autonomie collective, works as a coordinator at QPIRG Concordia, and
hopes one day to complete her graduate certificate in Editing and
Publishing from Ryerson University.

>> Agitating Ottawa: A Local Perspective on Queer Anti-Racist Organizing
with Zaheen <<

Think Ottawa’s bureaucratic and stuffy reputation is a drag?
Unfortunately, this reputation has permeated many facets of our community,
including the activist and queer communities. Anti-racist and queer
organizing has never been easy in this city, but we have definitely come a
long way. Zaheen from Agitate!, a local collective for queer people of
colour, will address some challenges in doing this type of organizing in
our city, as well as successes and ways we have overcome and continue to
overcome these challenges.

Zaheen is a local community activist and has been a member of Agitate for
almost 5 years. She is also involved with other community organizations
such as Ladyfest Ottawa, SASC, and has recently joined the staff at
OPIRG-GRIPO as one of their Coordinators. In her spare time, she likes to
eat ice cream, be a Muslim heathen, and rock out to Whitney Houston.
============================================================================

3a) TWO MARTYRS REMEMBERED ON NOVEMBER 16

By Gurpreet Singh

November 16 is the martyrdom day of a great Indian revolutionary, Kartar
Singh Sarabha, who was hanged in 1915 by the British Empire that occupied
his motherland until 1947. Although it's a matter of sheer chance that his
martyrdom day coincides with that of Louis Riel, the Métis hero of Canada,
the two men had one thing in common: they challenged colonialism at
different times and in different forms.

Kartar Singh Sarabha was born in 1886 in Punjab, when India was under the
British rule. He migrated to the USA in 1912 for studies at the University
of California, where he came in contact with Indian revolutionaries who
believed in armed rebellion to free India from the foreign invaders. He
became an active member of the Gadar Party that was founded in 1913 and
helped in running the party newspaper.     He later went to India to
participate in an armed revolution and tried to incite Indian soldiers who
worked for the British Empire to revolt. He had also participated in
robberies to raise funds for arms and ammunition. While the planned
rebellion failed, he was later arrested by the police with the help of an
informer and hanged.

Louis Riel was born on October 22, 1844. Known as a founder of the
province of Manitoba, he led two resistance movements, the first one being
the Red River Rebellion, which established a provisional government that
later negotiated the terms under which Manitoba entered the Canadian
confederation. He was executed on November 16, 1885, after the second
Métis resistance was defeated at Batoche. Although Riel was not the only
person hanged for struggling for Aboriginal rights, he symbolizes the
continued indigenous resistance in Canada.

The two men set an example for those who believed in social justice and
equality. Their sacrifices have made some difference, but there is still a
long way to go. The imperialist wars and the plunder of resources are
still going on in the world. Colonialism in the garb of globalization is
still posing a threat to the life and liberty of people, especially those
belonging to economically weaker sections. And above all the exploitation
of indigenous peoples continues shamelessly both in India and Canada.

Known as the world's largest democracy, India has witnessed systematic
discrimination against the so-called untouchables or dalits, who are the
First Nation of that country. In south India, the dalits were allowed to
enter a Hindu temple after 100 years last month, and that too under the
police protection. They were declared untouchables by the priest class
centuries ago and are still not allowed to enter many temples. The Indian
communists have now launched a campaign in support of the dalits seeking
social equality. Ironically, Kartar Singh Sarabha's Gadar Party had
denounced caste discrimination, yet this social ill is prevalent in free
India.

In Canada, Aboriginal peoples are still struggling to retain the rights
over their lands, rivers and cultural heritage. Prime Minister Stephen
Harper has apologized for the abuse of the students in the residential
schools, and US President Barack Obama has opened dialogue with First
Nations on the other side of the border. Instead of making tokenistic
gestures, these leaders should check institutional racism.   In both the
secular and culturally diverse countries, right- wing thinkers and
historians have always tried to demonize the First Nations as savages one
way or the other.

The Indo-Canadian pioneers used to call the natives Tae Ke (those
belonging to the elderly uncle's family). This informal sense of
association should be popularized to strengthen relations between the two
communities. Progressive groups can make some beginning by organizing a
commemorative event to mark the martyrdom of both these  men.


-- 
Check out IPSMO's Videos:

http://ipsmo.wordpress.com/video-archives/

IPSMO's Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=120142932547&ref=ts