[opirgyork] OPIRG Weekly Digest: February 10th 2011

[Aruna]

Greetings all!

Check out the many great events happening this week both on and off the 
York campus!
Thanks to everyone who came out to both the Decolonial art and survival 
writing workshop! They were both great successes!

If you haven't already...
Come visit us in the York U student centre - RM. 449C!

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1) Sacred Fire for the South March Highlands (ACTION - please read!)
2) My land, My Body: Art by Erin Konsmo
3) Ford’s Budget Committee Shut Down - 2 arrests made, Call for Court 
Support Friday
4) FILM SCREENING: 70: REMEMBERING A REVOLUTION
5) Toronto Free School Launch Party!
6) Scholarship Fundraiser in Honour of Chantel Dunn
7) The Beat Goes ON featuring Mahlikah Awe:ri
8) Remembering Our Sisters: 6th Annual Rally and March
9) Food Not Bombs presents: Keith McHenry: Change we knead now! Baked 
goods not bailouts tour!
10) Race in media and higher Education: A town hall
11) Discussion Forum: Black Talk: Black women in the community
12) “Exposing Canada’s Neoliberal Agenda:
The Context Behind the Commodification and Racialization of Labour in 
Canada”
13) ISAYU and MESA presents: Norman Finkelstein at York University
14) Prison Moratorium Action Coalition
15) The "Hurricane" Rubin Carter at York
16) Feminism FOR REAL Book launch + fundraiser for highway of tears
17) Liberation: A Blockorama Fundraiser
18) Symposium on Building Alliance in Queer Communities: Bridging the Gap
between Deaf and Hearing People
19) The 7th Annual Israeli Apartheid: featuring keynote speakers Judith
Butler and Ali Abunimah

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1) Sacred Fire for the South March Highlands
Wed Feb 9th at 9am until Feb 13th at 4pm
Queen's Park
Toronto, ON

On Feb. 1 2011, two Algonquin men, Robert Lovelace and Daniel Bernard, 
chained themselves to trees in the Beaver
Pond Forest (part of the South March Highlands) near Kanata, Ontario, to 
block a second day of clear-cut logging
from destroying a forest considered sacred by Algonquin First Nations.

Despite a constitutional obligation to consult Aboriginal groups 
affected by development, only some Algonquin
communities were consulted..., even though Grandfather William Commanda 
has identified the area as a sacred
place for the entire Algonquin Nation. A week before cutting began, 
Bernard lit a sacred fire at the eastern
entrance to the threatened area, creating a focal point for local 
community members, Algonquin people and
environmental activists. Over 150 people attended the day of Prayer for 
the Land at the fire site on Sunday 30 January 2011.

Now, Daniel Bernard will light a sacred fire in Queen's Park, the seat 
of the Ontario government, to
demand action to save the South March Highlands from development.

Join Daniel and other fire keepers throughout the week to support their 
struggle to save the Sacred
Forest. On Sunday at 10am, there will be a ceremony and gathering for 
everyone to come out and show
their support for the preservation of the Sacred Forest. The fire will 
be put out at noon.

learn more: southmarchhighlands.ca • www.ottawasgreatforest.com • 
www.union-Algonquin-union.com

***Throughout the week, please bring food, hot drinks, placards, musical 
instruments, and lawnchairs if you can! ***

-for donations, contact Peter Haresnape: 647-838-8455, peter at haresnape.net

please note that this will be a sacred fire, and so guests are asked to 
maintain a respectful presence. no alcohol.
for more information about sacred fires, please see: 
http://youtu.be/fQvF4_-jJ_8

suggested slogans:

* Protect the South March Highlands
* Respect the Algonquin First Nations
* Respect Algonquin Heritage
* Stop the Massacre NOW!
* Save the Sacred Forest

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2) My land, My Body: Art by Erin Konsmo

Come and see the first showing of the incredible work by Métis artist 
Erin Konsmo. Her work will be showcased
at the Baldwin street cafe for the month of February!

Her paintings are themed around reproductive justice, self 
determination, women's bodies, resource
extraction and the connection between them all.

Also - her art is up for sale! So get in there quick before they are all 
sold!
...
Stay tuned for a launch party - coming soon!

The pieces that are currently up are:

Beaded Flowers that Don’t Belong (2010)
Inspired by a recent trip home to Alberta, and all my feelings around 
the tar sands.

Reflections of Indigenous Feminism (2011)
This piece consists of representing how Indigenous values of gender 
equality where
inherent to who we were/are as Indigenous peoples.

Land, Bodies, Self Determination (2011)
This piece represents our struggle as Indigenous Peoples to have self 
determination not only over our
land but to also our bodies. Borders put on our land are borders put on 
our bodies.

ReproEnviroJustice (2011)
As women connected to the land through our bodies, the impact of 
resource extraction is felt physically,
mentally, emotionally and spiritually. It impacts not only our bodies 
but also the children we bear and mother.
Reproductive justice and environmental justice cannot be separated.

Blood Branches (2010)
As Indigenous Peoples are spirits grow within the sacred parts of Mother 
Earth, including the trees. This is a
representation of how those spirits grow and flourish within the forests 
of this land.

Standing Sex Work Warriors (2011)
This piece is a commemoration to the warriors and strength that 
Indigenous Sex Workers bring to our communities.

About the Artist:
Erin Konsmo is a young Métis indigenous feminist from Innisfail, 
Alberta. She is currently the Alberta
representative on the National Aboriginal Youth Council on HIV/AIDS and 
an Intern for the Native Youth
Sexual Health Network. As an Indigenous artist, she focuses on art forms 
that incorporate traditional
knowledge while telling stories of struggle, resistance, 
self-determination, identity and sexual and
reproductive justice. She has a specific interest in the sociology of 
compassion and the role of social
entrepreneurship in society today. She is currently taking her Master’s 
of Environmental Studies at
York University, and works on several projects as a community-based 
researcher on HIV/AIDS.

Contact Information: erin.konsmo at gmail.com

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3) Ford’s Budget Committee Shut Down - 2 arrests made, Call for Court 
Support Friday

Legal Update: 2 arrests were made today at City Hall. Both are being
held over and will be appearing in court on Friday, Feb.11th.

Come out for Court Support!
Friday, February 11th
10AM
College Park (College and Yonge)
Court room #: 507

On February 10, Rob Ford and his friends on the handpicked Budget 
Committee of City Council got a first taste of
community mobilization against the massive social cutbacks they are 
cooking up. Members of OCAP, No One is Illegal,
Disability Action Movement Now, Community Solidarity Network, Common 
Cause, Rhythms of Resistance, and other
people from communities facing attack were involved in the 'People's 
Delegation'.

Dozens of angry people, facing cuts to transport, hostel/emergency 
shelter services, community programs,
tenant services and attacks on refugees and immigrants, entered the 
Committee Room and immediately and
loudly confronted the assembled budget cutters. Two people were arrested 
by the one ‘service’ that
seems to be exempt from cutbacks – the Police. Police were there in full 
force, giving us a picture
of what we can expect for the coming years as social cuts will be 
enforced with lines of brutal cops and arrests.

Ford and his crew made a hasty retreat and those who had come to 
challenge them held the
Committee Room and area outside the Council members’ offices while 
several of the organizations
involved in the action spoke to the crowd about the seriousness of Rob 
Ford’s attacks.

As bad as the present round of cuts are, they are only the first round. 
Ford has made clear he intends
to contract out services to low paying employers and take a knife to 
vital community needs. He is
bringing high paid consultants to plan a vicious series of attacks. His 
regime is the local expression
of an austerity agenda that people are facing and resisting across the 
world. We are calling on workers
facing the loss of their jobs and communities the loss of basic services 
to unite and stop the Ford Agenda.
The February 10 action was strong and important but it’s only a first 
step. Ford and
everything he stands for must be defeated.

Next Steps:

i) Mass Call-in to City Councillors
Next Week! February 14th – 18th

Call your City Councillor in the lead up the Ford's budget being brought 
to City Council (coming to Council on Feb.23rd).
Every City Councillor has a vote at Council and need to be held 
accountable for what will come of the 2011 Budget
and the proposed cuts by Ford to shelter services, tenant rights 
resources, and transit – and this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Tell your City Councillor to Vote AGAINST Ford’s Budget. We want real 
action on poverty, not lip service and sound bites.

Find your local councillor’s contact here:
http://app.toronto.ca/wards/jsp/wards.jsp

ii) Ford's Austerity Budget Comes to Council:

On Wednesday, February 23rd the Toronto City Council will begin debates 
on the proposed Ford Budget for 2011. Council
is meant to vote on the Budget by Monday, February 28th. February 10th's 
delegation to the Budget Committee may just
be the beginning of resistance to the 2011 Budget

iii) Join the FIGHT BACK - Join the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty:

www.ocap.ca / 416-925-6939
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4) CARIBBEAN STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
 > invites you to:
 >
FILM SCREENING: 70: REMEMBERING A REVOLUTION
 > How did a handful of students change the course of history in Trinidad &
Tobago?
 >
 > A Documentary Film, Directed by Alex de Verteuil and Elizabeth Topp. 
Produced
by Stephen Cadiz. Edited by Luke Paddington.
 >
 > DATE: Friday February 11th
 > TIME: 6:30 p.m.
 > PLACE: Earth Sciences Centre, 5 Bancroft Avenue and 33 Willcocks Street
 >
 > Filmmaker Elizabeth Topp will be in attendance.
 > For more information about 70: Remembering a Revolution, visit:
http://www.70themovie.com/about-the-film/
 >
 > ALL EVENTS FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
da.trotz at utoronto.ca
 >
 > Between February and April 1970, the streets of Port of Spain were 
filled with
angry young black men and women chanting ‘Power to the People’, fists 
raised in
a salute learned from the Black Panthers of the U.S.A. They spilled out of
Woodford Square in their thousands, fired up by marathon orators like Geddes
Granger and Clive Nunez. They struck fear into the hearts of downtown 
business
owners who quickly locked their banks and stores as they heard the 
approaching
sound of marching feet.
 >
 > This was the legendary Black Power revolution, which captivated the
imaginations of their youthful followers and made the government of Dr. Eric
Williams and the white establishment very nervous indeed. The revolution was
ended by a State of Emergency, but this in turn was threatened by a surprise
mutiny among the soldiers of the Regiment. Had it succeeded (a distinct
possibility) a military coup might well have ushered in a socialist
revolutionary government to Trinidad and Tobago.
 >
 > Forty years later, Afros have given way to grey beards, the Che 
berets have
been stored away, and dashikis gather dust in the back of the closet. 
But the
impact of the Black Power revolution remains fresh and strong in the 
culture of
Trinidad & Tobago.
 >
 > To tell this important story, with its hits and misses, its tragedy 
and its
humour, we have interviewed the revolutionaries themselves, and the 
journalists
observing from the sidelines; the daughter and a close confidante of the 
Prime
Minister, and senior members of the white business community; Coast Guard
officers and Army mutineers: calypsonians, a banker, a lawyer, a priest, a
comedian, a Carnival Queen. Their memories and anecdotes, by turns 
moving and
hilarious, surprising and shocking, are supported by newly-unearthed 
archival
film footage and photographs. Their stories are presented as told, without
bias, and with a single agenda: to get as close to the truth as possible, as
elusive as that might be.

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

5) Toronto Free School Launch Party!

When: 8:30PM-12:00AM, Friday, February 11th

Where: CINECYCLE, 401 Richmond St. (down the alley off of Spadina)
...
To kick off the spring semester of Toronto Free School, and belatedly 
celebrate the beginning of the
project, we’re hosting a community launch party! The Toronto Free School 
is a new project that aims
to promote participatory education, host radical skill share workshops, 
facilitate activist
discussions and film screenings, and build inclusive community through 
learning. In order to
start this community building process, we’re hoping you’ll join us for 
an evening of fun, friends
and fantastic music.

We’ll have musical performances, class introductions from facilitators 
and presentations from
community allies, and delicious cupcakes and cocktails- the event will 
be licensed ;-) .

Hope to see you there!

The Toronto Free School Collective

LAUNCH PARTY FEATURING:

AMAI KUDA (R3 Artists Collective) – http://www.myspace.com/amaikuda/

WILL DEAN (of Dog Tooth Violet) – http://www.myspace.com/dtvband/

MORE TBA

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6) Scholarship Fundraiser in Honour of Chantel Dunn
Saturday Feb 12th
6pm to 9pm
Trinity Temple Church of God
46 Denison Road East

$12,500 is the goal. (I believe with your help we can achieve this!!)

Tickets are $20 for Adults. Tickets for children will be sold at the 
door for $10.

To buy a ticket from me please send me an email/ message on Facebook.

There will be FOOD available for purchase. Raffles as well ( so get your 
ticket)

*Donations for raffle are also being accepted.

If you CANNOT MAKE It but would still like to support the scholarship, 
please tell others, and or make a small (or big :) ) donation online at:

https://eapps.uit.yorku.ca/OnlineDonations/default.aspx

Fill out:

1.Donor Information
2.Gift Information VERY IMPORTANT: please choose other and type :

CHANTEL DUNN MEMORIAL AWARD

and then indicate it as a onetime etc. payment

3. Payment Information i.e. VISA, MasterCard etc

4. Click : Submit Form ( York Foundation will provide Tax receipts for 
donations $10 or more)

Thank you so much!
Rahel Appiagyei

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7) The Beat Goes ON featuring Mahlikah Awe:ri
Sunday Feb 13th
230pm to 530pm
Music Gallery
197 John Street
Toronto, ON

As part of Then and Now – a series of events celebrating Black History 
Month, presented by TD -
Diaspora Dialogues brings together Andrew Mahlikah Awe:ri, Moodie, and 
Donna-Michelle St Bernard
as they weave spoken word, music and drama together to explore 
historical and artistic evolutions,
followed by a lively moderated conversation with CBC’s Garvia Bailey. 
2:30 pm Sunday February 13th
Cost Free! First come, first seated - Li...mited spaces

Spoken word by Mahlikah Awe:ri, accompanied by music

“Nommo,” “Hole Blues,” “Resist-us” and “One” trace the movement of 
African slaves to the east coast
and their intertwining connection to its Indigenous people. Musicians 
Isaac “Riverwalker”
Llacuachaqui and Yusei Ota will accompany her performance.

"Decoherence" by Andrew Moodie

In quantum physics, 10 to the minus 18 metres is the smallest space that 
we can observe matter
in the universe. Many things exist there that have a profound effect on 
us all, but we can't
perceive any of it…much like our unconscious. “Decoherence” is the story 
of a young African
Canadian female artist who struggles to comprehend the unseen movements 
of her soul as they are
forced into her conscious mind and expressed through her art.

"Unlimited" by Donna-Michelle St Bernard

In "Unlimited," artists discover that Black History Month brings a 
wealth of opportunity…and some
strings attached. Initiated in Toronto in 1979, and then brought 
nationwide in 1985, the meaning
of Black History Month has undergone significant evolution. Within the 
context of the education
system, this piece looks at one artist’s engagement with the celebration 
against a backdrop of
changing popular attitudes towards persons of African heritage.

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8) Remembering Our Sisters: 6th Annual Rally and March
Monday February 14th
5pm to 830pm
Police Headquarters
40 College Street at Bay - March to Coroner's office, 26 Grenville street

5 pm start for rally/march (NOTE NEW TIME FROM PAST YEARS)

Gathering with food immediately following; a bus will be available to 
transport participants to the gathering.
TTC tokens will be available for those attending by public transit.
The bus is not wheelchair accessible, but the Meeting Place is.

According to research conducted under the Native Women Association of 
Canada’s (NWAC) Sisters in Spirit
project, over 580 Indigenous women have been murdered or gone missing, 
most of them over the last 30 years.
Despite the clear evidence that this is an ongoing issue, the federal 
government decided in Fall of 2010 to
end funding to Sisters in Spirit. In a move to detract attention from 
this cut, Rona Ambrose announced a $10
million fund to be put primarily towards creating a central RCMP missing 
person centre. It is evident that
few of those in power have a genuine interest in ending the violence 
against Indigenous women. On February 14th,
we come together in solidarity with the women who started this vigil in 
the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, and
with the marches and rallies that will be taking place across this land. 
We stand in defense of our lives and to
demonstrate against the complicity of the state in the ongoing genocide 
of Indigenous women and the impunity of
state institutions and actors (police, RCMP, coroners’ offices, the 
courts, and an indifferent federal government)
that prevents justice for all Indigenous Peoples.

This event is organized by No More Silence, part of an inter/national 
network to support the work being done
by activists, academics, researchers, agencies and communities to stop 
the murders and disappearances of Indigenous women.

Besides the Toronto rally, marches and other events will take place in 
Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon,
Winnipeg, London (Ontario), and Ottawa.

Endorsed by: Sistering, The Women and Gender Studies Institute 
(University of Toronto), No One is Illegal
Toronto, Indigenous Education Network (University of Toronto), Canadian 
Chiapanecas Justice for Women,
Parkdale Activity and Recreation Centre (PARC), Springtide Resources 
Inc. Ending Violence Against Women,
Anduhyaun Shelter, ShelterlSanctuarylStatus Campaign, Assaulted Women's 
and Children's Counsellor/Advocate
Program (George Brown College), Christian Peacemaker Teams - Aboriginal 
Justice, Indigenous Sovereignty
and Solidarity Network (Toronto), First Nations Solidarity Working 
Group, CAW-Sam Gindin Chair in Social
Justice and Democracy (Ryerson University), Women and Gender Studies 
Student Union (University of Toronto),
Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), Centre for Women and Trans 
People (University of Toronto), UN Women - Canada

-----------------------------------------------
9)

Toronto's Food Not Bombs & OPIRG-York Present...

Author, Artist, Activist, and Food Not Bombs co-founder
********* KEITH McHENRY **********
"Change We Knead Now! Baked Goods not Bailouts Tour!"
...
Food Not Bombs started in 1980 when eight college aged activists dressed 
as generals and started holding
bake sales pretending to buy a bomber. Thirty years later Food Not Bombs 
organized a two month long vigil
outside the White House baking bread in a solar oven to build popular 
support for a conversion from a carbon
based war economy to a sustainable solar future.

Now taking that same message around the world, Keith will demonstrate 
how to prepare solar baked goods and
give a presentation about the history, principles and Food Not Bombs 
global campaign for the change we knead now!
Tax payers have spent trillions to bail out the banks and fund wars for 
corporate domination, now it's time to bail out our communities!

DETAILS:
date: February 14, 2011
time: 6:00 p.m.
venue: Vari Hall RM. 1152A, York University

COST:
This is a FREE event. No tickets or RSVP required.

If you have any accessibility request, please contact 
fnbtorontoevents at gmail.com, or post to the event's wall.

For more info:
Food Not Bombs: http://www.foodnotbombs.net/
Toronto's Food Not Bombs: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5494892948

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

10) Race in media and higher Education: A town hall
Tuesday February 15th
630pm to 9pm
OISE/UT Library
252 Bloor Street West (St. George Stn)

Confirmed Panelists:

Senator Vivienne Poy – Chancellor Emerita, University of Toronto
Haroon Siddiqui - Editorial Page Editor Emeritus, The Toronto Star
Rinaldo Walcott – Chair, Sociology and Equity Studies in Education, 
University of Toronto
Danielle Sandhu - Vice President Equity, University of Toronto Students’ 
Union

For the past five years, various racialised communities have felt the 
brunt of what they deem as
distorted and harmful depictions by media outlets and in higher 
education settings. Asian Canadians
believe that the Maclean’s ‘Too Asian?’ article and the Toronto Star’s 
article on ‘Asian Students
Suffering for Success,’ both published in November 2010, worked to 
racially profile and stereotype
Asian Canadians as perpetual foreigners in this country. Black Canadians 
construe the blackface
‘costume’ at the University of Toronto in October 2009 as part of a long 
history of blackface
performance and minstrelsy in demeaning black people and caricaturing 
black cultures. The Muslim
community feels targeted by discriminatory journalism that promotes 
Islamophobia and fear of
Muslims, as evinced, for instance, by Maclean’s articles published from 
2005 to 2007.

The Town Hall will aim to address the following questions:
1. How do Canadian media and higher education institutions address 
issues of race and racism?
2. What are the benefits and limitations of their approaches?
3. How can issues of race and racism be addressed differently by media 
and higher education?

Event Sponsors:

Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
- Centre for Integrative Anti-Racism Studies
- Department of Sociology and Equity Studies in Education
Asian Institute
Canadian Studies Program
The Anti-Racism & Cultural Diversity Office
University of Toronto Students’ Union
United Steelworkers Local 1998

Refreshments Provided
Wheelchair Accessible

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11) Discussion Forum: Black Talk: Black women in the community
Wednesday February 16th
430pm to 8pm
Student Centre Rm. 313

BLACK TALK
This year YUBSA has planned a series of discussions, debate and forums 
that shine a light a various
aspects of the Black community while challenging and attacking 
stereotypes. All panels will featured
variety members of the student community discussing the current state of 
affairs in the community
as it related to us in today’s society.

DISCUSSION FORUM: The Role of the Black Women in the Black Community
A panel of smart... influential black women comes together to pose and 
address these questions:
AM I not my hair? (Discusses trends, fashion and hairstyles and tackles 
how black women are
portrayed in the media, community) WHO YOU CALLING A…..!? (Discusses 
degradation of black women
by black men or men in general, i.e. the baby mothers, babies having 
babies, abuse) Sister,
your still on my mind (discusses the positive things accomplishments of 
black women and the
change of perspective regarding black women throughout time). Come 
together and help us
celebrate and acknowledge our beautiful black women.

GUEST SPEAKERS: TBA
DATE: Wednesday February 16th 2011
Snacks will be made available.

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

12) “Exposing Canada’s Neoliberal Agenda:
The Context Behind the Commodification and Racialization of Labour in 
Canada”
1st part of UKPC at York’s public lecture series
Guest lecturer Emmanuel Sayo, Philippines Canada Task Force on Human 
Rights (PCTFHR)
Stong College, Room 302, York University
4700 Keele Street, Toronto, Ontario
Wednesday, February 16th, 6:00 – 8:00 PM
Free to the public

Upcoming lecture to expose the reality behind the commodification and 
racialization of labour in Canada
For immediate release
February 9, 2011

Packed with fresh content grounded in a community context, a new lecture 
series by UKPC at York (Ugnayan
ng Kabataang Pilipino sa Canada/Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance–Ontario 
@ York) is sure to enlighten,
empower and entice the minds of youth, students and educators. The 1st 
lecture, “Exposing Canada’s
Neoliberal Agenda: The Context Behind the Commodification and 
Racialization of Labour in Canada”
will take place at York University’s Stong College, Room 302 on 
Wednesday, February 16th from 6:00 –
8:00 PM. A dynamic lecture by Emmanuel Sayo, from the Philippines Canada 
Task Force on Human Rights
(PCTFHR) - a member of the Congress of Progressive Filipino Canadians, 
will expose the implications
of Canada’s neoliberal expansion on racialized communities and the 
broader Canadian society.

The lecture will explore Canada's racist history as a white-settler 
nation, whose process of nation-
building has relied on immigration policies and exclusionary laws that 
have relegated people of colour
as permanent sources of cheap labour. From the Chinese head tax to 
today’s Temporary Foreign Workers
Program (TFWP), the lecture will show how such policies have inhibited 
the successful settlement
and integration of racialized communities.

As the lecture will demonstrate, the perspectives of those omitted from 
Canadian history actually
reveal much about its ongoing reality. “We must not separate the 
experiences of racialized peoples
in Canada from the whole globalpolitical context of neoliberalism. Also, 
we must not simply put
the experiences and realities of people of colour into the box of 
‘immigration issues’ without
being critical of Canada’s neoliberal policies of privatization, 
liberalization and deregulation, Sayo says.

Such an understanding is crucial for racialized youth. “As youth and 
students, it is important
for us to grasp our history in order to make ourselves count in Canada’s 
future,” says Charie
Siddayao, UKPC at York member and undergraduate student.

Delivered with clarity and progress in word and in action, UKPC at York’s 
upcoming lecture series
will be sure to advance the Filipino Canadian community’s role as makers 
and innovators of their own histories.

-30-

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13) ISAYU and MESA presents: Norman Finkelstein at York University
Wednesday February 16th
7pm to 10pm
York University
Price Family Cinema

This event will be hosted by:
Middle Eastern Student Association (MESA)
Iranian Students Association at York University (ISAYU)

ISAYU and MESA are proud to announce York U's next big event, Professor 
Norman Finkelstein.
Mr. Finkelstein will be discussing Mid-East issues such as the ongoing 
Israeli - Palestinian
conflict, Lebanese resistance, as well as Iran's role within the Middle 
East.
Please bring your friends and family for this once in a life time 
opportunity.

Mr. Finkelstein will be at York University Wednesday February 16th 2010.
Doors will open at 7:00PM, the event will start at 7:30PM.
Ticket prices are as follows:
$10 for York students
$15 for non-York Students

Note: We only have 500 tickets, no resevations under any cirucmstance.

NO CAMERAS ALLOWED!!! The event is being recorded by ISAYU and MESA, as 
well as the media present

Norman Gary Finkelstein (born December 8, 1953) is a Jewish-American 
political scientist,
author, and dissident. He is a graduate of Binghamton Universityand 
received his doctorate
in 1988 from the Department of Politics at Princeton University. For 
many years he taught
political theory, and also did extensive research and lecturing about 
the Israel-Palestine
conflict. He is currently an independent scholar. Finkelstein is the 
author of five books
which have been translated into more than 40 foreign editions

For more information please contact:

Mehras J. (President of ISAYU)

at the number: 416 890-0943

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

14) Prison Moratorium Action Coalition
Thursday February 17th
6pm to 8pm
519 Church Street Community centre

Please join us on February 17 to contribute your ideas, thoughts and 
energy to organizing a
rally and other demos/events directed at the federal government's 
proposed crime bill legislation and prison expansion.

We are a group of activists, ex-prisoners, drug users and activist
scholars who believe that prisons do not make our community safer. In 
canada, people from
Indigenous and racialized communities (Black and African diaspor...ic 
people in particular)
are the most targeted and over-incarcerated in the prison industrial 
complex (PIC).
Additionally, queer and trans communities, people living with 
disabilities, people with
mental health issues, homeless people, people who use drugs, people living
with HIV/AIDS, non-status people are at greater risk of incarceration.

The canadian government is enacting legislation that will continue to 
incarcerate these
populations but at a much faster rate. This includes Bill S-10 
(mandatory minimum sentences
for drug 'offences'). All evidence shows that mandatory minimum 
sentences do not work and
only increase the repression of the War on Drugs and People Who Use 
Drugs (specifically Indigenous
and Black communities). Furthermore, the canadian government has 
increased spending on the construction of new
prisons to punish and control these populations despite falling crime 
rates and a decrease in the severity of crime.

We believe that the government knows what they are doing and despite its 
ineffectiveness
continues to move in the direction of the united states whose tough on 
crime agenda is now
bankrupting some u.s states.

The Prison Moratorium Action Coalition formed in resistance to the new 
legislation and expansion
of prisons in canada. We demand that our tax payer money be spent on 
much needed social justice
initiatives including: housing, child poverty, settling Indigenous 
land-claims, effective harm
reduction programs, education, HIV/AIDS and HCV, programs for non-status 
people

For more information to sponsor this event please contact: 
PrisonMoratoriumACToronto at gmail.com

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

15) The "Hurricane" Rubin Carter at York
Thursday February 17th
630pm to 930pm
Accolade East 102
Price Family Cinema

"The Hurricane" Rubin Carter at York

Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011
doors open 6:30pm

Accolade East 102 - Price Family Cinema

Tickets available at Member Services Office and all week in Vari Hall

$2 for students
$10 for non-students

The York Federation of Students invites you to witness the “Hurricane” 
Rubin Carter on February 2nd, 2011
to launch Black History Month as part of the Xpressions Against 
Oppression speakers series. Carter was a
middleweight boxing champion once ranked as a top contender in the early 
1960s. Carter’s boxing fame was
eclipsed by a controversial and racially biased murder trial in 1966. 
His conviction put him in prison for
nearly 20 years, despite the lack of physical evidence linking him to 
the crime. He staunchly maintained
his innocence and penned the autobiography The 16th Round: From Number 
One Contender to Number 45472
while in prison. The book shed light on the complex psychological 
struggle he endured to maintain his
integrity not only in prison but also as a black man living in America.

His plight captured the attention of celebrities like Bob Dylan and 
Muhammad Ali, as well as a small
commune in Canada. He befriended the Canadians, and later went to live 
with them upon his release from prison in 1985.

Rubin Carter went on to work for the Canadian Association in Defence of 
the Wrongly Convicted and,
while he was never declared innocent, he serves as an example of the 
ireless pursuit of freedom and justice.

brought to you by:

The York Federation of Students
Xpressions Against Oppressions

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16) Feminism FOR REAL Book launch + fundraiser for highway of tears
Friday February 25th
7pm to 9pm
Toronto women's bookstore
73 Harbord Street
Toronto, ON

Join us on Friday February 25th from 7pm to 9pm to celebrate the 
official book launch of
"Feminism FOR REAL: Deconstructing the Academic Industrial Complex of 
Feminism" edited by
Jessica Yee. National book launch dates across Canada and the United 
States will be announced in the coming weeks.

With an opening address from Lee Maracle, drumming by Shandra 
Spears-Bombay and rattle
dance by DJ Danforth, this event will feature spoken... word 
performances and round table
discussions from the book contributors, followed by a screening of "The 
Road Forward",
dedicated to the countless First Nations women who have "disappeared" on 
British Columbia's
"Highway of Tears". More information about "The Road Forward" here: 
http://www.reddiva.ca/?p=557

Proceeds from the evening will go to a scholarship fund created for the 
children of missing
and murdered Aboriginal women.

For more information please contact Erika Shaker at the Canadian Centre 
for Policy
Alternatives at erikas at policyalternatives.ca
Venue main area is wheelchair accessible. We regret that the washroom is 
not wheelchair accessible.

To pre-order your copy of the book, go to 
http://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/ourschools-ourselves/feminism-real

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17) Liberation: A Blockorama Fundraiser
Friday February 25th
930pm to 230am
GoodHandy's
120 Church Street

DJs Craig Dominic & Nik Red Present: LIBERATION

Come celebrate the Past, Present & Future of our communities
***In honor of those who came before us**

FEATURING the best in R&B and Urban Music to rejuvenate your bodies out 
of hibernation:

DJS: NIK RED, CRAIG DOMINIC AND DJ TWYSTED

PLUS PERFORMANCES BY:
Ayo Leilani
House of Pink Lady

Cover $5
proceeds going to BLOCKORAMA 2011 (presented by Blackness Yes!)

we regret that this space is not wheelchair accessible.

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18) Symposium on Building Alliance in Queer Communities: Bridging the Gap
between Deaf and Hearing People

 > > On the behalf from Ontario Rainbow Alliance of the Deaf (ORAD), we are
 > > inviting the Deaf and Hearing organizations in Queer communities to 
come
 > > together at our first Symposium on Building Alliance in Queer
Communities:
 > > Bridging the Gap between Deaf and Hearing People.
 > >
 > > The Symposium will be scheduled on Friday February 25, 2011 from 10:30
 > > a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at The 519 Church Street Community Centre, to discuss
 > > about these barriers that many individuals in the Deaf Queer community
 > > face. Symposium topics will be dedicated to discuss about accessibility
 > > issues, solutions, proactive planning, and working together.
 > >
 > > Please register with Frank Folino at edirector at orad.ca and please 
include
 > > your name and email. If registering as an organization, please 
state your
 > > position in your organization and how many will be attending. You will
 > > receive confirmation within 24 hours.
 > >
 > > Hope you will join us and there will be ASL-English Interpreters 
Provided
 > > and Wheelchair Accessible. ORAD looks forward hearing from you soon!
 > >
 > > Thank you,
 > >
 > > Ontario Rainbow Alliance of the Deaf
 > > c/o The 519 Church Street Community Centre
 > > 519 Church Street
 > > Toronto, Ontario M4Y 2C9
 > > E: info at orad.ca
 > > W: www.orad.ca
 > > T: www.twitter.com/OntarioRAD
 > > Y: www.youtube.com/OntarioRAD

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19) The 7th Annual Israeli Apartheid: featuring keynote speakers Judith
Butler and Ali Abunimah
Toronto: March 7 - 13, 2011
www.apartheidweek.org

Mark your calendars - the Seventh Annual Israeli Apartheid Week will take
place in Toronto from March 7 - 13, 2011!

First launched in Toronto in 2005, IAW has grown to become one of the most
important global events in the Palestine solidarity calendar. Last year
was incredibly successful with over 55 cities worldwide participating in
the week's activities. In Toronto, IAW 2010 featured a full week of events
celebrating 5 years of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) successes.

IAW 2011 takes place following a year of incredible successes for the BDS
movement on the global level. Lectures, films, and actions will highlight
some of these successes along with the many injustices that continue to
make BDS so crucial in the battle to end Israeli Apartheid. Confirmed
speakers in Toronto include world-renowned philosopher Judith Butler and
Palestinian-American journalist Ali Abunimah!

All speakers and full programme available soon at: http://apartheidweek.org/

Join our facebook group:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Israeli-Apartheid-Week-Toronto/46324309566