[Januaryfirst] Meeting reminder & few thoughts...

Tue Nov 12 16:59:52 PST 2013

Hey all,

Just got back from Montreal! Catching up on messages. See you at the
meeting tomorrow.

Karin

On Tuesday, November 12, 2013, 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<javascript:_e({}, 'cvml', '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 <javascript:_e({}, 'cvml',
>> 'leier at sfu.ca');>>
>> To: Gil <zapat3ro at gmail.com <javascript:_e({}, 'cvml',
>> '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 <javascript:_e({},
>> 'cvml', '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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