[opirgyork] Weekly Digest + OPEN HOUSE (Tomorrow)

[aruna at opirgyork.ca]

Greetings all!

We would like to invite everyone to our open house TOMORROW! (Wednesday
October 6th) from 230pm to 530pm in the OPIRG office (Rm. 449C) in the
student centre for FREE FOOD, MUSIC, and a chance to visit the office,
meet the staff and figure out what you would like to get involved in!

Come visit the office or email aruna at opirgyork.ca if you can't come to the
open house but would like to get involved!

Stay tuned for our members orientation, trainings and schedule for events
coming out reeeal soon!

Check below for some great community events!

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1) This week! Toronto Palestine Film Festival
2) A Vigil: For the lives lost due to homophobic and transphobic bullying
3) Double book launch: presented by Upping the Anti
4) THE COMMUNITY AND RESISTANCE TOUR: Toronto Event!
5) Film: Six Miles Deep
6) BARRIERE LAKE BENEFIT SHOW
7) "The Chicago Conspiracy" Premier Screening!: A G20 Legal
Defense/Mapuche Political Prisoner Fundraiser
8) Rebel Radio fundraising party! Pedal-powered radio, food and drinks!
9) Hindsight's G20/20 Photo & Art Show
10) OUTwords 2010: a queer| spectrum community arts exhibition & fundraiser
11) RUCKUS: ANTI-RACISM / ANTI-OPPRESSION CONFERENCE IS BACK AGAIN
12) Migrant Justice Organizer Faces Immigration Repression:Update and Call
for Support from Hussan Freedom Committee

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1) We’re excited to announce that the Toronto Palestine Film Festival
(TPFF) will be returning for its third year from October 2-8, 2010.

TPFF is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing vibrant
Palestinian cinema to GTA audiences.
Our mandate is to promote the richness of Palestinian Arab culture through
cinema, music, and other
forms of visual arts. TPFF was conceived in 2008 to commemorate the 60th
anniversary of Al-Nakba.

For general inquiries about TPFF please visit www.tpff.ca or email us at
info at tpff.ca.

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2) A vigil (TO): For the lives lost due to homophobic and transphobic
bullying
Wednesday October 6th from 8pm to 10pm
Corner of Church + Wellesley

We have lost so much in the recent weeks.

Let us come together to honour these young lives and the lives and stories
we never hear about,
to take strength from the company of each other and to bring awareness to
this serious issue
of homophobic/transphobic bullying in the school system and beyond.

Asher Brown, 13, Cyprus, TX

Seth Walsh, 13, Tehachapi, CA

Justin Aaberg, 15, Anoka, MN

Billy Lucas, 15, Greensburg, IN

Cody Barker, 17, Shiocton, WI

Tyler Clementi, 18, Ridgewood, NJ

Raymond Chase, 19, Monticello, NY

Jeanine Blanchette, 21, Orangeville, ON

Chantal Dube, 17, Orangeville, ON

Shaquille Wisdom, 13, Ajax, ON Oct 20th 2007

OTHER EVENTS
Kingston - Oct 6, 8pm - JDUC, University & Union

Montreal - Oct 6, 8pm - Parc de l'Espoir, Beaudry Metro

Ajax - Oct 20, 8:30pm - Heritage Square, Ajax Town Hall

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3) On Wednesday October 6th join UPPING THE ANTI as we celebrate the
launch of two new books by UTA editors.

Come and check out:

David Hugill's “Missing Women, Missing News: Covering Crisis in
Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside”

http://www.fernwoodpublishing.ca/Missing-Women-Missing-News-David-Hugill/

and

AK Thompson’s

“Black Bloc, White Riot: Anti-Globalization and the Genealogy of Dissent”

http://www.akpress.org/2010/items/blackblocwhiteriot

Both books will be on sale for a special launch price. Refreshments will
be served.

Mark your calenders:

Wednesday, October 6 at 7PM - All are welcome
The Imperial Pub
54 Dundas St. E.
Toronto, ON

For more information about UPPING THE ANTI visit www.uppingtheanti.org

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4) THE COMMUNITY AND RESISTANCE TOUR
Toronto Event!

Featuring Jordan Flaherty, Jesse Muhammad and Victoria Law

Thursday, October 7
6:30pm
OISE, Room 2211
252 Bloor Street W

The COMMUNITY AND RESISTANCE tour seeks to communicate about current
struggles for justice and
liberation, from nooses hung in the northern Louisiana town of Jena to
women organizing inside
prisons, from resistance to school privatization to post-Katrina community
organizing and cultural resistance.
The tour also seeks to connect communities of liberation, and to build
relationships between grassroots activists and independent media.

This tour is for anyone interested in issues of health care, education,
criminal justice, housing, or
the ways in which systems of racism, patriarchy and other forms of
oppression intersect with these struggles.


Sponsored by the Ontario Public Interest Research Group chapters at the
University of Toronto and
York University, OPIRG-Toronto and OPIRG-York.

Endorsed by the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, Basics Community
Newsletter, Socialist Project,
The Centre for Social Justice, and Upping the Anti.

For more information about the tour: communityandresistance.wordpress.com

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=525599031#!/event.php?eid=142289975816505&ref=mf


About the Speakers!

VICTORIA LAW is a writer, photographer and mother. After a brief stint as
a teenage armed robber, she became
involved in prisoner support. In 1996, she helped start Books Through
Bars-New York City, a group that
sends free books to prisoners nationwide. In 2000, she began concentrating
on the needs and actions of
women in prison, drawing attention to their issues by writing articles and
giving public presentations.
Since 2002, she has worked with women incarcerated nationwide to produce
Tenacious: Art and Writings from
Women in Prison and has facilitated having incarcerated women's writings
published in larger publications,
such as Clamor magazine, the website "Women and Prison: A Site for
Resistance" and make/shift magazine.
Her book Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women (PM
Press 2009) is the culmination
of over 7 years of listening to, writing about and supporting incarcerated
women nationwide and resulted
in this former delinquent winning the 2009 PASS (Prevention for a Safer
Society) Award.

In 1995, she became involved with ABC No Rio, a collectively-run arts
center on New York's Lower East Side,
a move that resulted in changing her lifestyle from delinquency to social
justice with an arts focus. In 1997,
she organized a group of activist photographers to transform one of No
Rio's upstairs tenement apartments
into a black-and-white photo darkroom for community use. She has also
participated in and curated numerous
exhibitions at No Rio's gallery, many with themes addressing social and
political issues such as incarceration,
grassroots efforts to rebuild New Orleans, Zapatista organizing, police
brutality and squatting.
In 2003, she collaborated with China Martens to create Don't Leave Your
Friends Behind, a workshop addressing
the specific (and often unacknowledged) needs of parents and children in
radical movements; and has co-facilitated
discussions in Baltimore, New York City, Providence, Montreal,
Minneapolis, Detroit and Boston.
They are editing a handbook for allies of radical parents by the same name.

JORDAN FLAHERTY is a journalist and community organizer based in New
Orleans. He was the first journalist with
a national audience to write about the Jena Six case, and played an
important role in bringing the story to
worldwide attention. His post-Katrina writing in ColorLines Magazine
shared a journalism award from New America
Media for best Katrina-related coverage in the Ethnic press, and audiences
around the world have seen the news
segments he�s produced for Al-Jazeera, TeleSur, GritTV, and
Democracy Now. His new book, FLOODLINES: Community
and Resistance from Katrina to the Jena Six will be released this summer
from Haymarket Press.
For more information on the book, see floodlines.org.

Jordan has appeared as a guest on a wide range of television and radio
shows, including CNN Morning,
Anderson Cooper 360, CNN Headline News, Grit TV, and both local and
nationally-syndicated shows on National
Public Radio. He has been a regular correspondent or frequent guest on
Democracy Now, Radio Nation on Air
America, News and Notes, and many other outlets. As a white southerner who
speaks honestly about race,
Jordan Flaherty has been regularly published in Black progressive forums
such as BlackCommentator.org and
Black Agenda Report, and is a regular guest on Black radio stations and
programs such as
Keep Hope Alive With Reverend Jesse Jackson.

Jordan is an editor of Left Turn Magazine, a national publication
dedicated to covering social movements.
He has written about politics and culture for the Village Voice, New York
Press, Labor Notes, Radical Society,
and in several anthologies, including the South End Press books Live From
Palestine and What Lies Beneath:
Katrina, Race and the State of the Nation, the University of Georgia Press
book What is a City,
and the AK Press book Red State Rebels.

JESSE MUHAMMAD: Energetic, inspiring and effective are just some of the
words audiences have used to
describe the writings and messages delivered by writer, news reporter,
artist, publicist and
photojournalist Jesse Muhammad. Brother Jesse, a native of Houston, Texas,
started contributing to the
Final Call Newspaper in 2004 and was appointed as its Southwest Regional
Correspondent.

In 2005, after receiving rave reviews for his reporting on stories that
mainstream media tends to over look,
he was appointed as an official Staff Writer for the FCN, which is the
only national Black-owned newspaper.
Since that time, he has gained worldwide recognition for his consistent
coverage of Hurricane Katrina
and the continuing struggle of its survivors. In 2007, he was credited
with bringing national and
international attention to the case of the "Jena Six", and helped to
mobilize the 50,000 plus
attendees to the historic "Jena Six" rally in September of that year. He
has been a featured commentator
on various television and radio shows in Houston, New York, Chicago,
Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Los Angeles,
Louisiana, and as far as Ghana. His writings are now read in many print
and online newspapers and magazines throughout the world.

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5) Film: Six Miles Deep

Thursday, October 7 · 7:30pm - 10:00pm
Location	Beit Zatoun
612 Markham St.
Toronto, ON

On February 28, 2006, members of the Iroquois Confederacy (also known as
the Haudenosaunee or People of the
Longhouse) blockade a highway near Caledonia, Ontario to prevent a housing
development on land that falls
within their traditional territories.
The ensuing confrontation made national headlines for months. But less
well known is the crucial role played
by the clan mothers of the community – the traditional source of power
...in the Haudenosaunee Nation.

With grace and honour, they rally the community on the Six Nations of the
Grand River Reserve – the largest
reserve in Canada with a populations of 20,000.
It is the clan mothers who set the rules for conduct. And when the
community's chiefs ask people to abandon
the barricades, it is the clan mothers who over-rule them.

Six Miles Deep is an inspiring and compelling portrait of a group of women
whose actions have led a cultural
reawakening in their traditionally matriarchal community.

About the filmmaker
Sara Roque is a multi-talented Metis filmmaker, writer, arts administrator
and activist who has been involved
in a number of community-based arts and Aboriginal history projects. She
is co-founder of the O'Kaadenigan
Wiingashk Collective, dedicated to raising the profile of Indigenous
artists and training in the Kawarthas
region. Her short films have screened at ImagineNative Film Festival and
the Splice This! Super8 film festival,
and have been broadcast on MuchMusic.

Roque holds an Honours BA in Indigenous Studies from Trent University. She
is originally from northern Ontario
and currently lives in Toronto. The proposal for Six Miles Deep – her
first documentary film – won Honourable
Mention in the documentary pitch competition at the 2006 ImagineNative
Film Festival.

Filmmaker in attendance - discussion to follow.
Canada 2009, 43 minutes

---
Need to know:
- No charge (Donations to Beit Zatoun gratefully accepted)
- doors open at 7:15
- Sorry, not wheelchair accessible

Tasty refreshments (non-alcoholic) and snacks with oliveoil+za'atar dipping.

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6) BARRIERE LAKE BENEFIT SHOW

THURSDAY OCTOBER 7, 2010
at
DOUBLE DOUBLE LAND
209 Augusta Ave., down the alley, first double door on your right
(beneath the green light). It's on the second floor, above La Rosa
Bakery.

DOORS AT 8:30
music starts after that

THREE (3) BANDS
first, these mystery guests whose names i can't say until next
Wednesday. But then I'll tell you. I tell you now, they sing really cool.
second, ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS (FULL Country band)
third, TROPICS (best duo you ever saw - very loud, and very talented)

DJ'S DJ'S DJ'S DANCING

Admission is sliding scale :  $5 - $5000

Do donate generously, and come with money to spend on party favors

I would ask you to bring all your friends, especially those who like
to dance and spend money on booze and political campaigns.
Unfortunately, Double Double Land is NOT wheel chair accessible.

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7) "The Chicago Conspiracy" Premier Screening!
A G20 Legal Defense/Mapuche Political Prisoner Fundraiser
200 Years of Genocide – Our People Continue Resisting...

**A Fundraiser for the Toronto G20 Legal Defence Fund AND the Family
Support Group of Mapuche Political
Prisoners of Angol and Chol-Chol on Hunger Strike
(Familiares de los Presos Politicos Mapuche en Huelga de Hambre de Angol y
Chol-Chol)**
 Night of Solidarity for our Mapuche Political Prisoners Dying on a 90+
Day Hunger Strike, and all those who have
Suffered the Pain of Physical and Psycological Torture as a Result of the
G20 - Kidnapped in the Jails of the Canadian state

 NO BICENTENARY ON STOLEN MAPUCHE TERRITORY!

Freedom for All the Mapuche Political Prisoners on a 90+ Day Hunger Strike
& All Our Political Prisoners!

NO ONE IS FREE UNTIL EVERY PERSON IS FREE!

Featuring the EXCLUSIVE Toronto Premier of the Documentary Film:

**THE CHICAGO CONSPIRACY**

Chile. Dictatorship. Legacy. Today. Social War.

The State and its Neo-liberal Agenda are the Real Conspirators!
SPECIAL PERFORMANCE BY ILLOGIC (Hip-hip)

See Trailer: http://vimeo.com/2127661

A Film based on the Anti-Capitalist Struggles in Chile since the Pinochet
Dictatorship (the Student Movement,
Community Organizing, & the Uprising of Mapuche Indigenous Sovereignty
Movement) taking its name from the 25 Chilean
economists from the Chicago School of Economics who assisted the making of
the bloody regime in the implementation of Neo-liberal policies.

**Presenting the Director of the Film of Subversive Action Films in an
intimate Discussion/Conversation of the Documentary**

Speakers Directly from Six Nations of the Grand River Territory, WCCC
[Toronto ] on the ongoing struggle of the Mapuche
Nation in so-called southern Chile], the Toronto 19 Support Group, Live
Music, and MUCH MORE.... (MORE UPDATES/ARTISTS TBA!)

$10-20 Sliding Scale
No One Turned Away!

** See Us on Facebook!:
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?saved&&note_id=443069539490#!/event.php?eid=161593357188005&ref=ts

For More Info: www.nobicentenaryonmapucheterritory.wordpress.com

Friday, October 8th @ 8 PM
Birge Carnegie Reading Room (University of Toronto)
95 Charles Street West (Just East of Museum Station)

Organized by:
The Women’s Coordinating Committee for a Free Wallmapu [Toronto]
Email: wccc_98 at hotmail.com

Endorsed By:

Equity Studies Program (University of Toronto)
Ontario Coalition Against Poverty
Community Solidarity Network
National Council of Latin American and Carribbean Women of Canada - LATIN at S
Latin American Solidarity Network-LASN (Toronto)
Barrio Nuevo
Graduate Student Union (University of Toronto)
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8) Rebel Radio fundraising party! Pedal-powered radio, food and drinks!
Friday October 8th from 9pm to 1am
888 Dupont (at Ossington) #404 dial 1126

Support community radio projects in Indigenous communities resisting
mining exploitation! Come dance to global hip-hop,
afro-beat and planetary dance while eating yummy food and supporting a
great cause!

I've been working with communities directly impacted by mining operations
for more than four years now and have been
working to build community radio stations for the past seven! This summer,
I was able to combine my two passions... to
build to radio stations for communities in Fort Chipewyan and Wet'suwet'en
territory in Northern BC. I have a couple other
international radio projects planned for the rest of the year.

I'm working with communities that I've have developed long-term
relationships with, and am largely paying from these
projects out of pocket, with contributions from the communities
themselves, and with whatever I can fundraise on a
grassroots basis. Please come out and support these projects! And if you
can't come but would still like to support
this work, you can make paypal donations at protestbarrick.net!

If you're interested in hearing more about the stations that I've built so
far, and how I got involved building these
stations, check out this interview I did last month with COOP radio.
http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/audio/northern-indigenous-communities-take-airwaves/4656

Thanks so much for your support, and hope to see you come out next Friday!

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9) Hindsight's G20/20 Photo & Art Show
Studio 561, 561 Bloor St. West
October 8-10th

Friday 7-11pm Opening Party
...Saturday 12-11pm TBA
Sunday 12-6pm TBA

The G20 Summit in June of 2010 was one of the most controversial and
spectacular moments in the history of the City of Toronto.
It was also one of the most documented, thanks to legions of professional,
hobbyist, and casual photographers.

Hindsight’s G20/20 is a look back at that fateful weekend through the eyes
of several photographers, artists, musicians,
videographers and speakers. The overwhelming police presence, the burning
cars and the Black Blok may have been the most
common images on the evening news, but the G20 was so much more than just
those things.

If you stayed home that weekend, it’s safe to come out now take a look for
yourself what it meant to walk through downtown
Toronto. If you did venture downtown, come take a fresh look. It’s an
opportunity to share stories, understand different
perspectives, make your own conclusions and witness some incredible art.

We'd like to do an exhibit of cell phone pictures from The G20 Weekend, so
please post them on this event's Wall.

We're also looking for videos from that weekend to show - please post them
here, as well as G20-inspired music, art, poetry and stories.

And don't miss the Gala Opening Night Party Friday October 8th from
7pm-11pm with Funk Soul & Rock n Roll DJ Sweet Jelly Roller.
More guests to be announced.

Admission $5-10
Donations will be accepted on behalf of the Canadian Civil Liberties
Association.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Sincerely,

The Hindsight's G20/20 Photo & Art Show Team

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10) OUTwords 2010: a queer| spectrum community arts exhibition & fundraiser

October 8 opening 7pm | 2nd floor
October 9 tour & talk back 1pm | 2nd floor
October 13 OUTwords @ Granny Boots 7pm. after party at Vitamin G 10pm |
Melody Bar

This exhibit showcases the work of the participants of OUTwords, a free
and intensive eight month Media Arts and Leadership
program for LGBTTQQ2SIA* youth. Their work engages themes of homophobia,
gender performance, and racism, with proud and
political undertones. The photo...graphy and short films being screened
communicate the vulnerabilities and resilience of
diverse queer/trans personalities.

“This exhibit honestly portrays the challenges that queer and trans youth
experience every day, while celebrating our determination,
creativity and brilliance” says Kim Crosby of The People Project. This
social enterprise facilitates OUTwords annually and aims
to empower young queer people in Toronto.

The exhibition will be on display on the 2nd floor at the Gladstone Hotel
from October 8th until the October 15th, complimented
by a series of community events.

October 8 opening 7pm | 2nd floor
October 9 tour & talk back 1pm | 2nd floor
October 13 OUTwords @ Granny Boots 7pm. after party at Vitamin G 10pm |
Melody Bar

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11) STAND UP. SPEAK UP.

RUCKUS: ANTI-RACISM / ANTI-OPPRESSION CONFERENCE IS BACK AGAIN

OCTOBER 13TH AND 14TH, 2010

RUCKUS! is a free activism & antiracism conference for youth of colour,
their allies and concerned youth. It is back for
another exciting year promising to bring an amazing selection of engaging
workshops that will get youth to think critically
about themselves and the world we live in today. RUCKUS! aims to bring
together young people of color from Ontario to
critically address issues of race, racism, multiculturalism and social
justice. The impetus for this project came from
the awareness that young people of color often lack role models who share
their cultural histories and experiences,
especially in social and environmental justice communities.

What type of workshops/activities will be held this year?

This year’s workshops will bring to the forefront issues that are relevant
to today’s youth including, homophobia,
islamaphobia, gender, racism, anti oppression, aboriginal discrimination
and activism through the arts. (Look at the
attached file: Ruckus Workshop Descriptions Final Copy for more details!)

What’s the main message?

This year’s Ruckus aims to focus to provide a positive space for youth to
express themselves through arts and
other mediums to get their voices heard. This years’ theme is “Stand Up.
Speak Up” tries to express to youth
that activism begins with one’s own understanding of the various systems
of oppression that allow injustices to
continue. In understanding how these systems work, youth will be given the
resources and space to learn how to
organize effectively to create positive change in their communities.

Any other details I should know?
Registration is FREE and LUNCH is provided!!!
When: Wednesday, October 13th and Thursday, October 14th. 2010

Where: York University, Keele Campus, Accolade West Building

For details about the exciting workshops being offered and information on
how to register,

visit http://www.youthactionnetwork.org/ruckus-2010/
School, Group and Individual registration available.

Attached to this email are all 3 registration forms for direct access!

Please note that registration closes October 10th, 2010.

Contact: Sandra Vides Martinez at svidesmartinez at gmail.com  for more
information.

Additional Information

Check out our Youtube video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=587RBlKZnm8

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/_Y_A_N

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12) From: Hussan Freedom Committee <freedom.cttee at gmail.com>

*- please forward widely - *

*Migrant Justice Organizer Faces Immigration Repression
Update and Call for Support from Hussan Freedom Committee**
 04 October, 2010

Syed Hussan, 26, an organizer with No One Is Illegal-Toronto and the
Toronto Community Mobilization Network was swarmed by a group of plain
clothes police-officers, thrown into an unmarked van and driven away on
the morning of Saturday, June 26th, as part of a ‘preventative’ mass
arrest of community organizers before the largest day of G20 summit
protests even began.

Following his release on extremely restrictive house arrest conditions,
Hussan has been unable to get his work permit renewed and is facing
inadmissibility proceedings even though he has a study permit application
pending. In the coming weeks, Hussan may require immense public and
political support to stop possible deportation and we will be updating you
accordingly.

*Right now, there is an urgent need for financial support. Please donate
to Hussan’s Immigration Defence Fund by paypal through
http://toronto.nooneisillegal.org/freedom  or mail cheques (with "Hussan
Immigration  Defense Fund" in the subject line) to: No One Is
Illegal-Toronto, 90C **Beverley Street*, *Toronto** **ON** **M5T 1Y1*

Canada, like other G20 countries, uses militarized borders, temporary work
programs, and a violent police system to keep migrants in precarious
conditions. Those that organize and resist for justice and dignity for
themselves and  their  communities face repression, intimidation and
deportation.

Over the years, we have seen again and again brave and courageous migrants
without full status, refugee claimants, undocumented people and temporary
workers be targeted, criminalized and deported. We remember Wendy Maxwell
Nzinga <http://dawn.thot.net/wendy.html>, Mohamed
Cherfi<http://toronto.nooneisillegal.org/node/320>and countless others
that have faced criminal and immigration repression.

As people that organize for justice, as members of migrant justice,
anti-poverty, indigenous sovereignty, feminist, disability rights, queer,
and environmental justice movements, we know that our communities are
constantly targeted. The Harper minority government has used funding,
illegal laws, and administrative and criminal tactics to silence critics
and organizers.

We cannot allow our strongest voices to be silenced. We cannot allow
immigration status to limit people’s ability to organize publicly,
politically and openly. It is in this spirit of mutual aid, of collective
strength, and an unwavering commitment to all political prisoners, we ask
you to support Hussan's fight for justice and status in the fight for
status and justice for all.

Please also Support the G20 Defence Fund! Visit
http://g20.torontomobilize.org/support

To receive further information and to hear updates, please email
freedom.cttee at gmail.com