[Januaryfirst] Meeting reminder & few thoughts...

Tue Nov 12 16:03:42 PST 2013

Hi all,

We just confirmed that friends from the indigenous communities of the
Cauca, in Colombia, are able to connect with us through Skype for the 20th.
Just a heads up so we can consider how we change/adapt our plans . We're
also waiting from Miguel from Mexico, who is hopefully also available.

Should we put an update on FB about speakers? Or wait til after our meeting
tomorrow?

gil

On Tue, Nov 12, 2013 at 8:29 AM, Dave Diewert <ddiewertt at shaw.ca> wrote:

> Ok, will be there.
> dave
>
> On 2013-11-12, at 8:15 AM, Harjap Grewal wrote:
>
> hey folks,
>
> So hoping folks will be at the meeting tomorrow and few quick thoughts on
> where we are at.
>
> I know we have a few suggestions for speakers (people from the collective,
> folks from community contacts from the global south, Ellen/Murray, etc) but
> I do think we need to look at what's best in terms of capacity, the goal of
> the meeting and as Gil suggests another date if needed. Cease is still
> available but could check with her about another date if needed.
>
> I am also worried now about what we can muster up for January 1st.
>
> so just a reminder, *Wed. Nov. 13th (tomorrow) 7 pm at Rhizome (317 East
> Broadway)* for anyone that can make it.
>
> harjap
>
>
>
>
> On Sat, Nov 9, 2013 at 1:51 PM, Gil Aguilar <zapat3ro at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> It seems we're out of speakers from the academic world. One thought is to
>> go on, and try to focus on the analysis and experience of communities,
>> instead of the more research- or academic-based perspective. In order to
>> make it appealing tho, we're hoping to establish links with indigenous
>> people from Colombia's Cauca region AND with Miguel Alvarez, from Mexico's
>> SERAPAZ (who mediated peace talks between the Mec. Gov't and the
>> Zapatistas). If both are able to Skype in that would be a great event!
>>
>> What do you think? Also, what to do if these connections cannot be made
>> for the 20th? Is it reasonable to move the date of the event or should we
>> just go for it as best as we can?
>>
>> Gil
>>
>>
>> -------- Original Message --------
>> Subject: Re: Invitation to speak at public panel on trade agreements and
>> social movements/resistance
>> From: Mark Leier <leier at sfu.ca>
>> To: Gil <zapat3ro at gmail.com>
>> CC:
>>
>> Hi, Gil,
>>
>> Many thanks for your invitation to speak at this important event. I have
>> to decline, as I really have nothing to add to the discussion as it's
>> outside my area of research and so-called "expertise."
>>
>> Best wishes for a successful event, and in solidarity,
>>
>> Mark
>>
>> On Nov 8, 2013, at 11:09 PM, Gil <zapat3ro at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Hi Mark,
>>
>> I am part of the January 1st Collective, an effort that recently formed
>> in Vancouver after a scare this summer that the TPP (Trans-Pacific
>> Partnership) negotiating rounds were coming to Vancouver and nobody was
>> ready to organize around the issue. We are relatively small amalgam of many
>> other collectives, with cross-membership in unions (Postal Workers), groups
>> like No One is Illegal, CIPO-VAN, etc. Our work revolves around "trade",
>> which is mostly the all-encompassing frame from which we hope to work and
>> support anyone who has an anti-capitalist, anti-colonial basis for
>> organizing.
>>
>> *We're organizing a public panel this coming November 20, 2013, at 6 PM
>> at the common room of the YWCA Downtown (**733 Beatty St., corner of
>> Georgia), and we would love to have you as one of the speakers*. The
>> format is relatively traditional, with three speakers, a facilitator (one
>> or two from our collective), and then some time for discussion and
>> (hopefully) planning for future actions.
>>
>> As a speaker, we would love if you could talk about a more broader
>> perspective of how trade agreements affect communities in general, the
>> working class in particular, and how it worsens our living conditions
>> across the board, except of course for those in power.
>>
>> We have also asked Ceasse Wyss (indigenous activist based in Vancouver)
>> to speak to the reality of resisting and facing the effects of trade
>> agreements on the ground and efforts of international solidarity based in
>> the Vancouver area.
>>
>> For the last speaker, we are hoping to establish contact through skype
>> with friends in "the South" to speak to the "other side" of the story, and
>> make links of how we can build meaningful international solidarity. For
>> this portion, we are awaiting confirmation from  indigenous friends of the
>> Cauca region of Colombia. If they are unable to join us this time, we are
>> also looking for our friend Miguel Álvarez Gándara, president of SERAPAZ in
>> Mexico.
>>
>> I have attached the callout as it stands now, and a link to
>> our Facebook event, for your reference. Please take a moment to go though
>> them and let me know if this interests you. We certainly hope it does!
>>
>> This event is the second (we hosted a workshop on August 27) of our collective's
>> plan of events for mobilizing on January 1st, 2014, as it marks the 20th
>> anniversary of NAFTA coming into effect, the Zapatistas' uprising in
>> Chiapas, Mexico (where I am from originally, btw), and other important
>> things, such as 40 years of the Seasonal Agriculture Workers Program
>> between Mexico and Canada, etc.
>>
>> Gil Aguilar
>>
>> P.s. Another member of our collective may have requested you to be a
>> speaker for our event, so if he has, please consider this a friendly
>> reminder, as we really would love to have you join us :-)
>>
>> -----callout-----
>>
>> FTAs are so 1990s!
>> Almost two decades have past since Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) were the
>> hot topic, when the incredible resistance to the World Trade Organization
>> at Seattle covered front pages across the globe, and the Zapatistas of
>> Chiapas, Mexico were on everyone’s minds. Even the powerful music and
>> message of Rage Against the Machine seems like ancient history!
>>
>> But two decades have not been enough to normalize the almost-complete
>> destruction of our social safety nets (health care, education, unemployment
>> insurance programs), the impoverished living and working conditions that
>> are constantly getting worse, and the general dispossession that thousands
>> of people across North America and the rest of the world have endured due
>> to these agreements. Two decades of FTAs have also meant two decades of
>> resistance.
>>
>> Join this public discussion of how communities have endured these two
>> decades, and be part of the ongoing struggle to recover the lost ground and
>> build anew communities that rely on our collective sense of belonging and
>> friendship, and where our work is put to the benefit of all, not the few.
>>
>> *when:* Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2013. Start at 6PM
>> *where:* YWCA Downtown Meeting Room at 733 Beatty St., corner of Georgia
>>
>> Speakers:
>> Ceasse Wyss
>> + TBA
>>
>> <2013-11-20_FTAs-are-90s.jpg>
>>
>>
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>> Januaryfirst at lists.resist.ca
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>>
>>
>
>
> --
> *twitter.com/harjap <http://twitter.com/harjap>*
>
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