[IPSM] Bus to Ottawa for the 2011 Walk 4 Justice Rally

[mattm-b at resist.ca]

19 September - 7:30 - 13:30
Parliament Hill
meet at 2110 Mackay (metro Guy-Concordia)
2110 Centre for Gender Advocacy

Missing Justice (Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous women) and
the 2110 Centre for Gender Advocacy invite you to join us for a half-day
trip to Ottawa for the 4th Annual Walk4Justice.

*A CKUT Co-sponsorship*

We encourage you to RSVP to ensure your spot on the bus by writing to
campaigns at centre2110.org or calling 514-937-2110.

Join a a truly amazing group of First Nations women and men who have
walked all the way from Vancouver to Ottawa (a 3-month walk!) to raise
awareness about missing and murdered Native women in Canada and the
realities that they and their families and loved ones face in their
efforts to gain justice and resolution.

Some Background:

The Walk4Justice is a Vancouver-based nonprofit volunteer-run organization
that was created in January 2008. Gladys Radek and Bernie Williams
co-founded this group to raise awareness about the epidemic rates of
missing and murdered women across Canada. Their supporters consist of
First Nations women and men, family members who have lost their loved
ones, and grassroots people of all walks of life who have joined them in
their efforts to demand justice, closure, equality and accountability.

Gladys Radek is originally from northern BC. She is a Small Frog or Lax
il'u following her mother's materlinial line under the Wet su wit 'en clan
system. She is a mother of five, 1 son and 4 daughters and has 5
grandchildren, 2 boys and 3 girls. Radek resides in Vancouver, British
Columbia.

Bernie Williams (Skundaal) of the Haida Gwai Nation is a long time
advocate and voice for women who have been forced to live on the streets
of Canada’s poorest postal code, the Downtown Eastside (DTES). She has
been a frontline worker in the DTES for 25 years. Her mother and two
sisters were all victims of violence who were murdered in the DTES.

583 Native women have gone missing or have been murdered since roughly
1980 according to the Native Women’s Association of Canada. Other
organizations and activists suspect that the actual number is as high as
3000. The reality is that Native women in Canada are at least five times
more likely to die of violence than non-Native women. Racist and sexist
government policies, stereotypes of Indigenous women, a lack of media
attention, and police negligence all contribute to, and indeed perpetuate
this violence as well as the general lack of data--also a form of violence
in itself.

We encourage you to RSVP to ensure your spot on the bus by writing to
campaigns at centre2110.org or calling 514-937-2110.

Coffee will be provided! Please spread the word and invite your friends!
We know it is early but the support that a bus-full of Montreal supporters
would bring to the rally is invaluable.

More info: centre2110.org // missingjustice.ca



-- 
"...education alone will not raise mass consciousness to the point
necessary for resistance." - Kevin 'Rashid' Johnson, Minister of Defence,
New Afrikan Black Panther Party - Prison Chapter