[opirgyork] Weekly Digest: October 21st 2010

[aruna at opirgyork.ca]

Greetings all!

Have you checked out the office yet? Come visit us in Room 449C of the
student centre!

Check out the many events happening in the community this coming week!

---------------------------------------------------------------

1) Organizing In Crisis: Anti-capitalist Dilemmas and Priorities
2) Take Back The Night: “30 Years of Struggle, Resistance, Liberation”
3) The Trans Inclusion Group hosts a FREE screening of: “LA DANY”
4) LGBT Equity in Education Workshop
5) Letter Writing night with Addameer - Palestinian political prisoners
6) A Conversation on QUESTIONING THE BOYCOTT OF ISRAEL: A PATH TO JUSTICE
OR AN OBSTACLE TO PEACE?
7) Toronto Women's Bookstore 3 Day Cabaret
8) Failures of Israel’s Military Court System: Criminalization of Human
Rights Defenders
9) Toronto Premiere of  'South of the Border' by Oliver Stone
10) Fair Trade Fair (York University)
11) Book Launch: Queering Bathrooms: Gender, Sexuality and the Hygenic
Imagination
12) Naomi Klein and Hawksley Workman G20 Legal Defence Fundraiser
13) Not By Our Tears: Play by Asylum theatre group

-----------------------------------------------------------------

1) Organizing In Crisis: Anti-capitalist Dilemmas and Priorities
with Nick Dyer-Witheford
Date:  Friday, October 22, 2010 - 7pm
Location: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, 252 Bloor Street
W. Room 5250

The anti-globalization moment of the 1990s and early years of the 21st
century was a tumultuous time of change and radical action in
anti-capitalist movements. New political configurations sprouted, with
destructured organizing models – horizontal and non-hierarchical with
a penchant for affinity over authority, autonomy and heterogeneity
over order and homogeneity. This movement reached a fever pitch
quickly, and just as quickly seemed to dissipate after the fall of the
World Trade Centres in New York City.

What was the anti-globalization moment, and how does it compare to
today’s moment of economic crisis? What are today's anti-capitalist
movements and how are they configured? How do these movements promote
or impede an anti-capitalist future?

Nick Dyer-Witheford will examine the anti-globalization movement, the
current economic crisis, and anti-capitalist concepts and strategies
to provide fodder for current movements.

Nick Dyer-Witheford is Associate Professor and the Associate Dean of
the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at the University of
Western Ontario. His areas of research are broad and always radical.
He is influenced by the tradition of Autonomist Marxism and has made
many contributions to this field. While his main role is currently to
think about and theorize on behalf of radical social movements, he has
been active in labour and anti-racist struggles, which he continues to
support.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

2) Take Back The Night Website: http://tbtn30.weebly.com/

“30 Years of Struggle, Resistance, Liberation”

The Toronto Rape Crisis Centre / Multicultural Women Against Rape is
pleased to announce its 30th Annual Take Back the Night event happening on
Friday October 22, 2010 at Yonge-Dundas Square in the downtown Toronto
community.
...
This year’s theme is: “30 years of Struggle, Resistance, Liberation”

Take Back the Night is about bringing visibility and exposure to the
impact of sexual violence in women’s lives. We want to highlight every
woman’s experience of survivorship from the personal to political impacts
in our every day lives.
It is a space created to ensure women and children can take up space and
have our voices heard.

Sadly, we have been marching and protesting for 30 years. And although
violence against women has been brought into mainstream awareness, it
still persists in the lives of women, trans people and children every day.

The Toronto Rape Crisis Centre / Multicultural Women Against Rape has
continued to fight the rape culture we live in while providing support
to survivors who continue to experience violence. While some laws have
been enacted and sexual assaults are taken more seriously in certain
contexts, violence has actually become stronger in our culture and
implicit violence has become more pervasive.

“Forms of institutional violence like police not believing women, the
system of evidence collection in sexual assault cases, raids in our
shelters for non-status women, all maintain a culture of violence”
says deb singh, Counselor and Activist at the TRCC/MWAR. “We need to
see that things haven’t got better, more women are being sexually
assaulted and are being silenced every day”.

We demand our rights to safety, and lives free of the fear and
perpetration of violence. We demand Aboriginal rights, equal status
for all women, safe affordable housing, rights for sex trade workers,
de-criminalized prostitution, safe shelters, health care, child care,
education, employment, the raising of social assistance rates by 40%,
immigration status for all, and the raising the minimum wage now.
Without access to a safe place to live, an adequate income, child
care and other community resources, women are being left to face
violent situations. We, as survivors, demand lives free of sexual
violence, murder, living in poverty, police injustice and any
violence that is directed towards women and children.

“The TBTN march is an event organized by feminist grassroots,
anti-violence & anti-oppression activist groups all around the
world with a focus on safety for women and children” says Grissel
Orellana, TRCC/MWAR Outreach & Community Development worker.

***UPDATE***

TBTN SCHEDULE:

Community Fair
4:00 - 8:00 pm
Community organizations will provide information tables and resources to
share with the public
Town Cry
4:00 - 8:00 pm
The Town Cry will include discussion, solidarity greetings, and voices
from the community. Hosted by PAVE (Parkdale Anti-Violence Education
Working Group).
Rally
4:00 - 8:00 pm
Speakers, performances and other presentations will take place
on the Yonge-Dundas Square stage.
March
8:00 - 9:30 pm
It will start and end at Yonge-Dundas Square. Marshalls will provide
security and guide marchers on the undisclosed route.
The March is for women and children only.
AfterParty
9:30 - 11:00 pm

with DJ JOLA & DJ ZAHRA Yonge-Dundas Square

-------------------------------------------------------------------

3) The Trans Inclusion Group hosts a FREE screening of: “LA DANY”

Everyone welcome. Allies welcome.

► LA DANY: is an intimate doc-portrait of the odd and extraordinary
Dany Castaño Quintero, a transvestite street performer from Medellín,
Colombia. For over 20 years, Dany has entertained the crowds that gather
in Bolívar Park every Sunday following mass. Her improvised show, with its
over-the-top depictions of kidnappings, rapes, murders and infidelities,
is pure entertainment, high on audience participation and low on good
taste. Dany endears the poor and dispossessed. With her theatrics and
heart she’s become an icon for the city’s gay community. Dany is adored
for her humour, spirit and generosity. But away from her adoring public,
life is a struggle. Barely able to read or write, Dany forges a day-to-day
existence to stay safe, sane and alive.

Dany makes weirdness work. By playing with found objects, absurdity and
her own identity, Dany ultimately plays with the constructions of joy,
violence, imagination, reality, innocence, vulgarity, community, conflict,
show and life, and gender and self. LA DANY celebrates art as activism and
makes spectacle political. But what will you see in LA DANY? Come be her
audience


dir.: Julie and Jim Giles
rated: unrated (2010)
produced by: Julie and Jim Giles for Brother & Sister Productions
music by: Alex Cuba, Ron Davis, Rubén “Beny” Esguerra, Diego
Marulanda
language: Spanish with English subtitles
<film running time 80 min>
website:http://ladany.com/

DATE AND TIME:
Monday October 25, 2010
6pm-8pm
FREE
LOCATION:
The Centre for Women and Trans People
563 Spadina Ave. rm.100
wheelchair accessible through Bancroft Avenue
seating may be limited

womenscentre.sa.utoronto.ca
womens.centre at utoronto.ca
416-978-8201

Vegan & nut-free meal/snacks (ingredient list available)
Open discussion afterwards.

For accessibility accommodations contact: tig.action.toronto at gmail.com

** Thank you to the filmmakers for their work and generous donation **
** And thank you for your support of the Trans Film Screening Series

Post-event a DVD copy of LA DANY will be available through The Dr. Chun
Resource Library (a social justice library and joint project with OPIRG
Toronto located at The Centre for Women and Trans People)
http://library.opirguoft.org/

-------------------------------------------------------------------

4) LGBT Equity in Education Workshop
DATE: October 26th 2010, 9:30 am - 2:30 pm
LOCATION:   York University Research Tower, YRT 626 (wheelchair accessible)

The workshop and lunch are free; but space being limited,
pre-registration is required. To register, email: yufa at yorku.ca by
Tuesday October 19. Please include your name, affiliation/occupation
(i.e. student, teacher, etc), and contact information.  You will
receive a confirmation email and directions to the workshop when your
registration is received.

Panel 1:   LGBT Equity in Secondary Education: The TDSB Experience
Shane Camastro, graduate of the Triangle Program, LGBT student activist
Tim McCaskell, researcher, writer, and activist
Alvin McIntyre, teacher, William Lyon Mackenzie Collegiate Institute

Panel 2:    LGBT Equity in Post-Secondary Education
Sheila Cavanagh, Professor, Gender and Sexuality Studies, York
Doreen Fumia, Professor, Sociology, Ryerson
Casey Oraa, Sexuality Studies Major, LGBT student activist

For more information on the workshop or about the YUFA Community
Projects Committee Lorna Erwin (lerwin at yorku.ca).

--------------------------------------------------------------------

5) Letter Writing night with Addameer - Palestinian political prisoners
Tuesday October 26th
630pm to 9pm
Beit Zatoun (@  Bathurst Station)
612 Markham St.

Join us for a very special letter writing night with Addameer Prisoners’
Support and Human Rights Association, based in Palestine
(http://addameer.info/).

We will learn about the cases of recent Palestinian political prisoners
and write letters of solidarity to the prisoners and their families.
We'll provide everything you need to get started - including a delicious
vegetarian dinner courtesy of Food Not Bombs. Please RSVP so that we can
be sure to have enough food.

Hope to see you soon!
Toronto ABC

Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association is a Palestinian
non-governmental, civil institution that focuses on human rights issues.
Established in 1992 by a group of activists interested in human rights,
the center offers support to Palestinian prisoners and detainees,
advocates for the rights of political prisoners, and works to end torture
through monitoring, legal procedures and solidarity campaigns. Addameer
Association is currently planning a speaking tour in five different
Canadian cities, including Toronto, Montreal, London, Ottawa and
Vancouver.

------------------------------------------------------------------

6) The University of Toronto Middle East History and Theory Workshop

presents
A Conversation on QUESTIONING THE BOYCOTT OF ISRAEL:
A PATH TO JUSTICE OR AN OBSTACLE TO PEACE?

Moderated by
Jens Hanssen
Associate Professor of Middle East and Mediterranean History, University
of Toronto

Featuring among others t.b.a.
Omar Barghouti
co-founder of the Palestinian campaign for the academic and cultural
boycott of israel (pacbi)

October 26th, 7:30-9pm
Bahen Centre, room 1190, 40 St. George St.

The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaign against Israel has been an
extremely contentious issue on campuses around the world. Its supporters
see it as an effective means of pressuring Israel to uphold international
law. Its critics see it as rife with double-standards, and as a
counter-productive approach to resolving the Israel/Palestine conflict.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

7) The Toronto Women's Bookstore invites you to join us for our official
opening party!
Come celebrate the re-opening of the store with a three-day cabaret
featuring readings, performances, dj's and refreshments.

Drop by the store Wednesday, October 27, 2010 - Friday, October 29, 2010
between 7:00 - 10:00 p.m. and celebrate with us!

For complete details, please see the event poster attached and check
http://www.womensbookstore.com/ for updates on scheduled authors and
performers.

We hope to see you then!

TWB OPENING PARTY SCHEDULE:

AN EVENING OF READINGS
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
7:00 - 10:00 PM
Authors TBA

AN EVENING OF PERFORMANCE
Thursday, October 28, 2010
7:00 - 10:00 PM
Performers TBA

OFFICIAL OPENING PARTY
Friday, October 29, 2010
6:30 - 11:00 PM
Join us and meet the TWB community with refreshments and DJ's

----------------------------------------------------------------

8) Addameer Prisoners' Support and Human Rights Association Presents:

*Failures of Israel’s Military Court System: Criminalization of Human Rights
Defenders *

*Wednesday October 27th, 2010, 12:30pm – 2pm *
*Founders College 305, Senior Common Room*
Representing Addameer Prisoners' Support and Human Rights Association, Mr.
Ala Jaradat will discuss contemporary issues facing Palestinian political
prisoners including the failures of Israel's military court system,
widespread use of administrative detention and the arrest and ill-treatment
of children and human rights defenders in the oPt (occupied Palestinian
territory). Of importance, Mr. Jaradat will highlight Addameer’s research on
cases of arrest and detention of Palestinian, international and Israeli
human rights defenders involved in demonstrating against the illegal
construction of the Wall and against Israel’s human rights violations in
East Jerusalem.

Addameer (“Conscience” in Arabic) is a Palestinian non-governmental, civil
institution that focuses on human rights issues. Established in 1992, the
center’s activities focus on offering support for Palestinian prisoners, by
advocating for the rights of political prisoners, and working to end torture
through monitoring, legal procedures and solidarity campaigns. For more
information on Addameer, please refer to the organization’s English website
at: *http://addameer.info/?page_id=8*

*Sponsored by the Graduate Program of Social & Political Thought*
*Co-sponsored by the Graduate Program of Sociology, Undergraduate Program of
Law and Society, and York  University's Centre for International and
Security Studies (YCISS).*

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

9) Toronto Premiere of  'South of the Border' by Oliver Stone

Bloor Cinema , 506 Bloor Street West (at Bathurst), Toronto
Wednesday, October 27 · 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.  $10

Celebrated director Oliver Stone takes us on a cinematic tour of Latin
American in upheaval at the Oct. 27 Toronto premiere of his most recent
documentary South of the Border.

There's a revolution underway in South America, but most of the world
doesn't know about it. Oliver Stone undertakes a road trip across South
America exploring the myths behind the movements leading the cultural,
social and political transformation that is sweeping across the continent.
As well he delves into the American corporate media's intentional
misrepresentation of South America while interviewing many of its
democratically elected presidents.

In close up and personal discussions with Presidents Hugo Chavez, Evo
Morales (Bolivia), Lula da Silva (Brazil), Cristina Kirchner (Argentina),
as well as her husband and ex-President Nėstor Kirchner, Fernando
Lugo (Paraguay), Rafael Correa (Ecuador), and Raul Castro (Cuba), Olivern
Stone gains unprecedented access and sheds new light on the profound
transformations in the region.Robert Naiman, Policy Director, Just Foreign
Policy on Huffington Post says
 "Could be Oliver Stone's most important
film."

This special screening is co-sponsored by the Toronto Bolivia Solidarity
and the Latin American Caribbean Solidarity Network.
Join us for a great evening.

A portion of the net proceeds from the event will be contributed to legal
defense funds in Toronto.

Look us up on Facebook: Please take a few moments to let us know you will
be attending!
For more information please contact:  jsharkey at sympatico.ca

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

10) Fair Trade Fair (York University)
Friday October 29th
10am to 5pm
Vari Hall, Ross Link and Central Square

The Fair Trade Coalition’s Fair Trade Fair is taking place on October 29th
from 10am to 5pm. Join us in Vari Hall, the Ross link, and Central Square.
Fair Trade products will range from chocolate and coffee to clothing and
jewellery. Come out and support our vendors, and learn about the Fair
Trade system. The products at the event are all purchased fairly, which
means that the labourers were paid a living wage and the product was
produced in an environmentally sustainable way.

Every year we invite a variety of vendors that carry fair trade goods to
not only sell their products, but to talk to students about what fair
trade is. This year we would like to focus on the partnerships between
producers and consumers. We encourage open dialogue regarding the history
of the products and the stories behind them.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

11) Book Launch: Queering Bathrooms: Gender, Sexuality and the Hygenic
Imagination
By Sheila L. Cavanagh
Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen Street West
Sunday, November 7th, 2010
FREE

To launch Sheila Cavanagh's groundbreaking new study, Queering
Bathrooms: Gender, Sexuality and the Hygenic Imagination, The
University of Toronto Press and Sexuality Studies Program in the
School of Women's Studies and the Centre for Feminist Research at York
University presents a pinata of queer culture: featuring a tour of
local bathrooms guided by Shawn Micallef, Live DJ Sets by Nik Red, a
Photo Exhibit by Andie Shabbar, a dramatic reading of Queering
Bathrooms and Cavanagh in conversation with Susan Stryker, co-editor
of The Transgender Studies Reader.

Intinerary: Queering Bathrooms Launch:
5:00pm- Foucauldian Walking Tour of local Washrooms, Starts and Ends
at the Gladstone Hotel Ballroom, Hosted by Shawn Micallef
6:30pm- Cocktail Reception, featuring a Live DJ Set by Nik Red and a
Photo Exhibit by Andie Shabbar
7:30pm- The Queer Bathroom Monologues, a staged reading of the
interviews in Cavanagh's new book, Queering Bathrooms.
8:00pm- Sheila Cavanagh in conversation with Susan Stryker
8:30pm- Book Signing, featuring a Live DJ Set by Nik Red

Sheila L. Cavanagh is an Associate Professor in the Department of
Sociology and Sexuality Studies Coordinator at York University.

For more information, contact Chriss Reed Publicist at
creed at utpress.utoronto.ca (416) 978-2239 ext 248

--------------------------------------------------------------------

12) Naomi Klein and Hawksley Workman G20 Legal Defence Fundraiser

Join Naomi Klein, Hawksley Workman and friends...
For an evening of song, speech and art to defend the G20 arrestees

Date: Thursday November 11th
Time: 7:00pm - Pre-event / 8:00pm - Main event
Location: The Great Hall 1087 Queen St. W (Map: http://goo.gl/maps/pNxK)

During the G20 summit in June this year, the residents of Toronto bore
witness to the largest mass arrest in Canadian history as approximately
1200 people were assaulted, harassed, beaten and arrested by the police.
More than 250 were charged and six remain in jail. Others are out on bail
under extraordinarily restrictive conditions, continuing to face police
harassment and re-arrest. Legal costs are mounting.

Despite this repression, more than 40,000 people marched on the streets of
Toronto to resist the destructive, exploitative and exclusionary agenda of
the G20. As we continue to organize against the G20 agenda, we must now
also raise money to defend all those who are forced to go through
expensive legal proceedings.

Please join us for a evening of song and speech to defend the G20
arrestees and raise money for the defense fund.

7:00pm
Pre-event with Naomi Klein
Food and drinks provided
Tickets: $100 available (includes pre-event and main event) ONLINE at
GalleryAC (http://www.galleryac.com/)

8:00pm
Naomi Klein & Hawksley Workman
Tickets: $50 in advance / $60 at the door
Tickets available ONLINE at GalleryAC (http://www.galleryac.com/)

Tickets also available at:

Another Story (http://www.anotherstory.ca/)
315 Roncesvalles Ave
416-462-1104
(IN STORE)

Rotate This (http://www.rotate.com/tickets.php)
801 Queen Street W.
416-504-8447
(IN STORE)

Soundscapes (http://www.soundscapesmusic.com/tickets-for-sale/)
572 College Street
416-537-1620
(IN STORE)

Toronto Women’s Bookstore (http://www.womensbookstore.com/)
73 Harbord St
416-922-8744
(IN STORE)

Please contact nov11fundraiser at gmail.com for any inquiries.

This is a 19+ event. Limited capacity: Please book your ticket as early as
possible to ensure availability.

Unfortunately, this venue is not an accessible venue. We sincerely apologize.

More Info: http://g20.torontomobilize.org/nov11

------------------------------------------------------

13) Not By Our Tears: Play by Asylum theatre group

Asylum Theatre Group will present the play Not By Our Tears at the Robert
Gill Theatre in Toronto on 13 November 2010 in two shows at 4:30PM and
8:00PM.
Written by Toronto based poet and playwright R. Cheran, directed by Dushy
Gnanapragasam, and designed by Eugine Vincent, the play was originally
produced in November 2009 and had its premiere in Toronto. After spending
a year touring various North American cities, the play is returning to its
original venue.

Thirty years of war in Sri Lanka had an enormous impact on Tamil
literature and theatre.
The war came to an end in May 2009. The last phase of the war - described
as a "War without Witnesses"- cost more than 40,000 Tamil civilian lives
and the internment of more than 300,000 Tamils in various military-run
camps in the Northern Sri Lanka. Not By Our Tears is the voice of
thousands of voiceless people that were interned. While chronicling the
story of internment, loss and trauma, the play skillfully articulates a
poetic vision of mourning and hope.

Not by our Tears belongs to a special genre in the tradition of Tamil
drama, commonly known as “verse play” (paa naadakam) or “play in poetry”.
The objective of such performances is to offer a visual and oral
representation of poetry.
Traditionally, some of the most important plays in Tamil have been verse
plays.  In more recent years, this tradition of theatre merged
with the practice of performing poetry orally for groups of interested
listeners. The confluence of the two has given to this genre a particular
resonance.  A verse play is both contemporary and ancient; it combines the
immediacy of oral poetry with the aesthetic distance of theatrical
performance.
Based on the English translation of contemporary Tamil resistance poetry by
three major Tamil poets, namely, R. Cheran, V.I.S. Jayapalan and Puthuvai
Ratnathurai,
Not by our Tears skillfully weaves memory, history and narrative to evoke
a haunting and heart-wrenching image of internment, loss, nostalgia, and
resistance.

Event: R. Cheran’s verse play Not By Our Tears
Date:   Saturday 13 November 2010; 4:30PM and 8:00PM
Venue:Robert Gill Theatre (inside University of Toronto’s Koffler Centre,
3rd floor) 214 College Street at St George Street (enter through St.
George Street)
Tickets: $20 @ Box office: 416-978-7986 Suj: 647 836 6858

Info: Asylum Theatre Group: www.asylumtheatre.ca
Robert Gill Theatre: http://www.graddrama.utoronto.ca/theatres.html