[opirgyork] Super Cool Things Happening + Happy Pride! <3

[OPIRG York]

Hi Everyone,

Happy Summer!

There are many events going on in the city, and this digest email includes
some of them! We're hoping that you're enjoying your summer so far and
interested in getting involved in some of the awesome work going on in the
city and at York! Check out the callout for working groups for OPIRG York,
as well as the editors callout for the YU Free Press - a radical,
alternative newspaper here at York University. ALSO-- HAPPY PRIDE this
week!!

Please stay in touch with us- whether to tell us about your upcoming events
(that we can include in the email digest/promote on facebook/online) or
tell us how you would like to be involved, or if there are issues you are
interested in that we can connect you to! Feel free to get in touch with us
at anytime at opirgyork at gmail.com.

-OPIRG York
--
www.opirgyork.ca
416-736-5724
opirgyork at gmail.com



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*In this email:*
*
*
*YORK NEWS*

*(1) ONGOING: **YU Free Press- Callout for New Editors/Designers/Web and
Coordinators!!*
*(2) ONGOING: **OPIRG York Working Groups Applications!*
*
*
 *
*
*COMMUNITY NEWS

*
*(1) June 26th: **Breakfast & Rally: Save Friendship Centre goes to City
Hall
 (2) June 27th: **STATE OF SIEGE: Three Years after the Toronto G20: The
Criminalization Continues... Down with the Police State!*
* (3) June 27th: **That's So Gay 2013: Say It To My Face - Opening
reception + Exhibit
(4) June 28th: **Support Ned Peart! Demand an Inquest into Migrant Worker
Deaths!*
*(5) June 28th: **No PRIDE in police brutality! Glam Block the Cops at the
Trans March*
*(6) June 29th: Toronto Dyke March 2013
(7) June 30th: **March with Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QuAIA) in
Pride!*
*(8) July 2: **RECLAIMING REVOLUTION: Sex Working, 2 Spirited, Trans*
Feminists Rise Up!*
*(9) July 8-14: **Mad Pride Toronto 2013: A Celebration of Madness*
*(10) July 11 + 25: Two Session Campaign Planning Workshop for Activists
and Organizers*
*(11) July 25: **s.o.s. + Lost Lyrics present BATTLE OF THE BRUSHES*
*(12) August 10: Jailbreak! Queer Cover Band Show*
*
*
*
*
*YORK NEWS*

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*
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*
*
*YU Free Press- Callout for New Editors/Designers/Web and Coordinators!!*

*On facebook:* https://www.facebook.com/events/481989601884018/

To apply for a position, please fill out a brief application form in the
links found below. We will contact you once we receive your email with the
completed application form. Applications and any general inquires can be
email directly to: info at yufreepress.org.

*For brief application form please see:*

http://www.yufreepress.org/docs/application.doc
http://www.yufreepress.org/docs/application.pdf

*Positions Currently Available:*

Layout Editor: a) Maintain Layout e-mail account; b) Create layout using
final packages sent by Section Editors; c) Coordinate with the printers for
print date and delivery; d) Coordinate with Section Editors on aesthetics
of pages

Website Manager: a) Responsible for the constant upkeep of the website:
Adding articles, photos, monitoring comments etc.; b) Responsible for
maintenance of current layout, or creating a new layout and maintaining it

Copy Editor: a) Receive articles from Copy Editor Coordinator (who is a
voting member of the Collective); b) Edit mechanics and formatting, neither
content nor argumentative stances, using tracking feature (if any content
or legal issues are noticed, notify Copy Editor Coordinator); c) Send
articles back to Copy Editor Coordinator by deadline

Section Editor: a) Manage the Section email account; b) Actively solicit
content, gain permissions to reprint already printed articles; c) Read all
articles submitted prior to Content Selection meetings; d)
Contact/communicate with authors, edit, proofread, fact-check, word count,
consider liability, select pull-quotes, consider aesthetics of Section, etc.


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*OPIRG York Working Groups Applications!*

OPIRG York is very excited to send you this callout for Working Groups-- we
have had many amazing working groups over the years, and are looking for
more amazing groups this coming year. You can see some information below,
and on our website here:

WORKING GROUPS INFORMATION & APPLICATION<http://opirgyork.ca/working-groups>

The full application package and working group policies for OPIRG York are
available at the above link as well! Please check out the callout and apply
to be a working group!

*What role do working groups play at OPIRG?*

Working groups are central to the functioning of OPIRG.  They consist of a
group of volunteers who work on a specific issue pertaining to
anti-oppressive, anti-colonial, anti-imperialist, social justice and
environmental issues. The working groups are dedicated to enacting change
on campus and/or in the broader community, and function autonomously.
Working groups receive funding from OPIRG and access to the OPIRG office.
OPIRG York is committed to change at York University but we ALSO envision
larger community interaction. We want to blend student organizing with
grassroots activism to ensure broad social and environmental change. Thus,
we are encouraging applications for working groups with a broad vision,
especially those who come from traditionally marginalized communities.

*The 2012-2013 OPIRG York working groups were: *

-       YU Free Press
-       Environmental Justice
-       Students Against Israeli Apartheid
-       Art for Justice
-       Progressive Filipino Canadians for Community Empowerment and
Development (PFCCED)
-       Vanier Prison Support Line working group
-       Students for a Free Tibet
-       Justice is Not Colorblind

The OPIRG York board will approve new working group applications as they
come in - so please send in your applications of interest! (
http://opirgyork.ca/working-groups)

Interested in joining one of our existing or past working groups, we can
put you in touch! Our working groups are always looking for new members,
volunteers and people who are passionate about the many issues that they
cover!

If there is a social justice/political issue that you would like to work on
that isn’t represented in our working groups – start your own! We provided
lots of support, funding and outreach help to get your issue out there to
the York community.

For more information on how to get involved with one of our working groups,
email victoria at opirgyork.ca and look online for more information plus the
application package here: http://opirgyork.ca/working-groups.
*
*
*COMMUNITY NEWS*


*==============================*
*(1)*
*==============================*

*Breakfast & Rally: Save Friendship Centre goes to City Hall*


Wednesday, June 26, 8:00AM
At the corner of Dundas and Sherbourne

*On Facebook:* https://www.facebook.com/events/205286666262225/?ref=2

*Bus transport to City Hall
*Rain or shine!
 We are continuing to take action in the community to make sure that the
City keeps the services of the Toronto Friendship Centre open at the
corner. We will be meeting outside the Centre for breakfast on the 26th
and going together down to City Hall where the Community Development and
Recreation Committee of Council is meeting.  We intend to show the
politicians that this community wants to save the Friendship Centre from
closing and is prepared to take action to defend it.  Come out, join us
for breakfast, speak at Committee, and show your support.

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*STATE OF SIEGE: **Three Years after the Toronto G20: The Criminalization
Continues... Down with the Police State!*

*On Facebook:* https://www.facebook.com/events/264018513739090/?ref=2

Thursday June 27th Beginning at 7:30PM

Presenting the Feature Film “State of Seige” @ 7:30PM + Dance Party (After
10PM)

The DETOUR Bar - 193.5 Baldwin St, in the Heart of Kensington Market

Because of the Criminalization of dissent, persecution of our struggles,
and imprisonment of our sisters & brothers…
Because of the Ideological, Cultural & Territorial Plunder we have suffered
for more than 500 Years…

Because of the Policies of Hunger, Economic Cuts, Exploitation & Imposed
Borders that Murder us Legally Every Day…
Down with the Police State! Out of Our Territories!

A night of Solidarity commemorating the third anniversary of the Toronto
G20 and the criminalization that continues within our communities in
resistance.

The repression, imprisonment and criminalization continues on our Stolen
Native Land. While the powerful continue to commit genocide/eco-cide across
our territories, we have the right to resist.

Featuring the Exclusive Film Screening:

STATE OF SEIGE (1972 – Costa Gavras w/English Subtitles)

In Uruguay in the early 1970s, an official of the US Agency for
International Development (a group used as a front for training foreign
police in counterinsurgency methods) is kidnapped by a group of urban
guerillas. The film explores the diversity of tactics used by the
Revolutionary Anti-Authoritarian Tupamaro Movement in order to liberate
political prisoners against the various fascist dictatorships of the
continent.

*A MUST SEE FILM * with Post Brief Discussion

10PM – REVOLTING DANCE PARTY

PUNK BAND PERFORMANCES BY:

*MATT DAEMON (Guelph POC punk)
*LavENDER (Toronto - Australian queertrans crust punk)

HIP-HOP Performace by:
ILLOGIK

MORE BANDS TBA.....

Come dance your shoes off to celebrate our resistance and continue our
revolt!

*Donations at the Door PWYC

Organized by: The Women’s Coordinating Committee for a Free Wallmapu
[Toronto]
http://wccctoronto.wordpress.com/


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*That's So Gay 2013: Say It To My Face - Opening reception + Exhibit*

Exhibition runs on the 3rd and 4th floor June 13 - July 28, 2013

*On facebook:* https://www.facebook.com/events/380454285407061/?ref=2

That’s So Gay is the Gladstone Hotel’s annual gay pride art exhibition that
explores themes around sexuality, gender and identity. That’s So Gay 2013
is curated by Elisha Lim.

For curatorial statement and more info please see our website:
http://www.gladstonehotel.com/event-pages/exhibitions/upcoming-exhibitions/thats-so-gay/

2013 Participating Artists:
Adee Roberson
Ange Loft
Bambitchell (Sharlene Bamboat & Alexis Kyle Mitchell)
Carla Molina Holmes
Jérôme Havre
Kiley May
Meera Sethi
Michele Pearson Clarke
Nadijah Robinson
Sarah Creagen
Syrus Marcus Ware
Sybil Lamb
Textaqueen
Zanette Singh

That So Gay is part of PRIDE AT THE GAYSTONE. For full event listings see
here:
http://www.gladstonehotel.com/event-pages/special-events/pride-at-the-gaystone/


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*Support Ned Peart! Demand an Inquest into Migrant Worker Deaths!*

*Date:* Friday, June 28th
*Time: *9:30am - 4:30pm, with rally at 12:30pm
*Location: *655 Bay Street 14th floor (Interesction of Bay St. and Elm St.)

*On facebook: *https://www.facebook.com/events/684449268247953/

Justicia for Migrant Workers (J4MW) invites the community to attend the
closing day of the historic Human Rights Tribunal examining the workplace
death of Ned Livingston Peart, a Jamaican migrant farm worker who was
killed working in a tobacco farm in rural Ontario. This case is intended to
bring forward changes to prevent workplace deaths and injuries and to
improve working and living conditions of migrant farmworkers in the
province. There has never been an inquest into the death of a migrant
worker under the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program in Ontario or
anywhere in Canada.

We need you to help us fill the Human Rights Tribunal for the last day of
the hearing (9:30 am to 4:30pm) and raise your voices with us at 12:30 to
demand justice for Ned at a rally outside the Tribunal.


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*No PRIDE in police brutality! Glam Block the Cops at the Trans March. *

*Date*: Friday, June 28th
*Time*: 7:30pm
*Location*: Meet at the start point of the trans march, George Hislop Par
*On facebook:* https://www.facebook.com/events/399143773528278/?ref=2

Seriously, what is this shit?
NO PRIDE IN POLICING!
We are calling on all radical queer and trans people to join us at the
Trans March and let the police know they aren't welcome here!

Friday June 28th at the 2013 Trans March
Meet at the start point of the trans march, George Hislop Park at 7:30 PM
Look for the Pink and Black flags and the anti-cop signs

In solidarity with all queer, trans, genderqueer and gender non-conforming
people, in recognition of the history and continuing reality of police
brutality and other forms of state violence against queer and trans people
and queer and trans communities, especially queer and trans sex workers,
queer and trans people of colour, queer and trans poor and homeless people,
queer and trans disabled people and queer and trans people without status,
we say FUCK THE POLICE.

GET INTO THE STREETS AND LET THEM KNOW HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS.

Hey Toronto Police Services! You're not welcome in this march, despite what
the organizers say. You're not welcome anywhere in our communities, even if
some of you are gay. Kindly fuck off.

We denounce the Trans March organizing committee's decision to invite
Toronto Police Services to the Trans March this year. We actually don't
really understand why you all felt it was necessary to ensure your
demonstration was legal at all, and why one organizer suggested the police
marching might be the 'beginning of a beautiful friendship".

Stonewall was a riot, not a permitted rally!
The Police work for a state that consistently and constantly enacts
violence on marginalized communities, including trans people. So no, we
don't wanna be friends.
Let's build our community's collective power to deal with our own problems.

Dress black and/or glam block, glitter glamarchist or pink and black
fabulousness.
Deck yourself out in rhinestones, don your heels or combat boots.
Wear a strap-on to fuck the state.
Bring placards, flags and some fierce queer/trans anti-authoritarian
attitude.

SEE YOU IN THE STREETS.


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*Toronto Dyke March 2013*
*
*
*DYKE DAY: SATURDAY, JUNE 29, 2013*

1:00pm - Line Up (Church St. and Hayden St.)
2:00pm - Dyke March (down Yonge - route below)
3:00pm - Rally at Allan Gardens (Carlton St. and Jarvis St.)

*On facebook:* https://www.facebook.com/events/448900561867257/?ref=2

*VOLUNTEER*

We need lots of help! If you want to join the team, support a specific
project, or help run the show on Dyke Day, please fill out our Dyke March
2013 Volunteer Sign Up Form:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/14gwyFugWLxbmkdWFZAasdGDj1aOy3QLKZAjnpPnHk-8/viewform
*
*
*DYKE MARCH*

2:00PM

Come celebrate the diversity of dykes and demonstrate the beliefs, desires,
and public presence of dykes! Demonstrate your passions and your issues.
March, strut, scream, sign, chant, roll and dance
your way through city streets. Take up space. Take a stand. Come share the
truly awesome energy of thousands of other queer women and dykes. All queer
women and self-identified dykes (including lesbian, bisexual, pansexual,
asexual, questioning, trans, genderqueer, intersex, 2 Spirit and all other
dykes) are invited to march.

Allies, you do so many amazing things as our families and friends. Your
support from the sidewalks along the March route is so important. Come
cheer us on!

Register to March at dykemarch2013.eventbrite.com

Registration only mandatory for large vehicles (all cars, trucks, buses).

MARCH ROUTE

The 2013 Dyke March will travel south on Yonge St. and east on Carlton St.
to end at Allan Gardens for a rally.

*DYKE MARCH RALLY*

3:00PM IN ALLAN GARDENS (CARLTON & JARVIS)

Come and revel in the continued energy of the March. Celebrate the triumphs
of the past year and remind ourselves of how much work we have left to do.
The rally will include speeches and performances. Let’s remind ourselves
why we march – to be out and proud, to take a stand and revel in queer
space, to disrupt, to defy, and to make a riot of a good time!

If you are unable to join the March, you are welcome to come to Allan
Gardens to welcome the Marchers to the park and enjoy the rally.

CONTACT US!

Email: dykemarchto at gmail.com
Facebook: DykeMarch Toronto
Twitter: @dykemarchto
Blog: dykemarchtoronto.wordpress.com
Instagram: DykeMarchTO
Connect with us online with the hashtag: #dykeTO


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*March with Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QuAIA) in Pride!*
*
*
*Date*: Sunday, June 30th
*Time*: 2pm
*Location*: Church & Bloor Street
*On facebook*: https://www.facebook.com/events/149101351942243/?ref=2

We've managed to successfully defend our right to march, and now it's time
to spread our message that Palestinian Rights can't be separated from Queer
Rights! We'll have a truck, live DJ, banners and some amazing new placards
that we've screen printed with the help of Just Seeds and Radical Design
School.

We'll also be screen-printing our hot new graphic ("There's nothing hot
about cruising in an apartheid state") on-site at/prior to the Dyke March
and Pride Parade, so please join us and bring your t-shirts/tank
tops/bags/bandanas and more to get fresh printed at the march.

The Pride Parade will take place on Sunday June 30th, and starts at 2pm at
Church & Bloor.

Members of QuAIA will also be marching in the Queers For Social Justice
(QFSJ) Night March, the Dyke March and the Trans March.

The QFSJ Night March is Monday June 24, and starts at 9pm at Cawthra Square
Park.
https://www.facebook.com/events/169830253183853/?fref=ts

The Dyke March is on Saturday June 29, and starts at 1pm at Hayden and
Church.***
https://www.facebook.com/events/448900561867257/?fref=ts

The Trans March is on Friday June 28, and starts at 7:30pm at George Hislop
Park
https://www.facebook.com/events/176077355877322/?fref=ts


***Who is invited to the Dyke March? According to Dyke March tradition,
queer women and self-identified dykes (including lesbian, bisexual,
pansexual, asexual, questioning, trans, genderqueer, intersex, 2 Spirit and
all other dykes) are invited to march. If you are outside this description,
you are invited to show your solidarity for the Dyke March by lining the
sidewalk along the march route.

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*RECLAIMING REVOLUTION: Sex Working, 2 Spirited, Trans* Feminists Rise Up!*
*
*
*Date*: Tuesday July 2
*Time*: 5pm
*Location*: 519 Community Centre
*On facebook:* https://www.facebook.com/events/669843616364947/?ref=2

Colonialism on Turtle island has attempted to erase Indigenous peoples
gender identities, languages and communities. As well, 2 Spirited, trans*
women and sex workers have been subject to so-called "radical feminists"
who claim that we are not real women, that we are traitors to feminism and
that we cause of the violence that befalls us--and a group of them are
coming to Toronto July 5-7.

But we are powerful, resilient, brilliant feminist leaders in our own
right--and tonight we come together with our allies to celebrate this!

RECLAIMING REVOLUTION is our night to build our communities' connections to
each other and to define and celebrate our genders & our visions of freedom
and feminism for ourselves.

RECLAIMING REVOLUTION: SEX WORKING, 2 SPIRITED, TRANS* FEMINISTS RISE UP!

5-6:30PM MOVEMENTS THAT KEEP US SAFE: AN ANTI-VIOLENCE SKILLSHARE w/ micha
cárdenas. ***This workshop is intended for 2 spirited people of all
genders, trans* women and sex working women***

7-7:30 PM LEAVING EVIDENCE: A COMMUNITY ARCHIVING PROJECT. Queer and Trans
young people from The People Project will conduct short video interviews
about how you identify & what feminism looks like to YOU!
Anonymity is available. OPEN TO ALL

7:30 PM PERFORMANCES, FILM AND PANEL
OPEN TO ALL
-Eagle Woman Singerz
-MIrha-Soleil Ross performing an excerpt from her acclaimed play "Yapping
Out Loud: Contagious Thoughts From An Unrepentant Whore"
-Panel featuring:
Mirha-Soleil Ross
micha cárdenas
Monica Forrester
Kim Katrin Crosby
-Short film on "Ho Feminism" (captioned)
-Closing Performance by... to be announced!

Mirha-Soleil Ross is an interdisciplinary artist, storyteller, writer,
translator and social justice activist. She is widely known for her work in
video, performance, theatre as well as for her critical contributions to
transsexual and sex worker political movements and cultures. "My Métis
identity is deeply rooted historically and spiritually, in the resilience
of the first generations of Métis women, the clan mothers behind the
mystery of our lives and our collective survival today."

micha cárdenas is an artist, hacktivist, poet, performer, student,
educator, mixed-race trans femme latina survivor who works at the
intersection of movement, technology and politics. micha has been involved
in creative media activism for the past ten years and currently focuses on
the ways that art and activism can be combined into visionary activism.
Inspired by social movements in the global south and art practices based in
trans experience, micha's approach to art and activism always challenges
the separation between artist and audience, student and teacher, art and
politics. micha has been facilitating workshops building on what our bodies
already know to envision community based responses to violence for two
years in Los Angeles, Detroit, San Jose, Milwaukee, Montreal, São Paulo and
Berlin.

Monica Forrester is a 2Spirit-black sista, queer femme, adult entertainer
and activist in all areas of the LGBTQ2S and sex work community. She is the
winner of Inspire Person of the Year, Black Essence Award and EGALE Person
of Colour Award and is currently Engagement Coordinator at Maggie's and ED
of Trans Pride Toronto--Transitioning Together.

Kim Katrin Crosby: A daughter of the diaspora, Arawak, West African, Indian
and Dutch, hailing from Trinidad and living currently in Toronto. Kim is an
award-winning multidisciplinary artist, activist, consultant, facilitator
and educator. She has completed a residency both under D'bi Young and
Buddies In Bad Times Theatre. She is co founder of The People Project, a
movement of queer and trans folks of color and our allies, committed to
individual and community empowerment through alternative education,
activism and collaboration, and was also featured as one of Go Magazine's
'100 Women We Love' in 2012 and is a current feature of The Insight Project
highlighting Toronto's game changers.

About "Movements That Keep Us Safe" skillshare: How do we find the
movements that make us safe, that make us strong and connected, the
movements that open the doors into other realities? This workshop will
engage participants in a discussion, using Theater of the Oppressed and
performance exercises, where we will share the skills and knowledge we have
as 2 Spirited people, trans women and as sex workers for keeping ourselves
and our communities safe from violence. We will look at some high tech
approaches and some no tech approaches in order to create community based
responses to violence. No experience is necessary to participate in the
workshop, as both rely on what our bodies already know.

ASL interpretation for panel and performances | Wheelchair accessible | ttc
tokens available to lounge members | we are working on getting this
livestreamed as well


*==============================*
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*Mad Pride Toronto 2013: A Celebration of Madness*

For the full schedule of Mad Pride Toronto 2013 events, please check our
website at www.madprideto.com and the July 1st edition of C/S Info Bulletin
at www.csinfo.ca.

*** DAY ONE: MONDAY, JULY 8 ***
Where? Ryerson University, ENG103, 245 Church Street

12-12:45pm: Mad Pride Toronto 2013 Kick-Off

1-2:45pm: MAD THINK TANK SERIES (PART 1):
Can the International Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities
stop psychiatric torture?

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities was
developed with representation by psychiatric survivors and users of
psychiatry. It has been interpreted by the UN Rapporteur on Torture to mean
that treatment imposed on people with disabilities, including mental,
psychosocial or psychiatric disabilities, can constitute a form of torture.
Thus, the state cannot impose treatment, as it does using the Mental Health
Act in Ontario and similar laws in Canadian provinces and territories. This
means that people in distress could ask for psychiatric (or other)
treatments, but should never be forced to take them (though they could ask
for such interventions privately). It also means that disputes attributed
to mental disorder would be handled primarily by the courts.

Regardless of how well state governments follow international agreements,
activists in the disability and mad communities are gearing up to monitor
Canada’s implementation of the Convention on the Rights of People with
Disabilities. However, these two communities have a lot to learn from one
another to strengthen our common voices. Join a public discussion on the
Convention and its implications, on monitoring Canada’s implementation, and
on how disability activism can support the rights of people conceived as
mad or mentally ill.

Community participation in this discussion is welcome. A panel of four
disabled and mad people will introduce the topic. Psychiatric survivor
writer Erick Fabris will discuss a recent meeting of the World Network of
Users and Survivors of Psychiatry and their discussions on the Convention.
Disability researcher Samantha Walsh will relate experiences that indicate
how people conceived with intellectual, psychiatric, and mental
disabilities face everyday discrimination. Mad activist Jeremiah Bach will
suggest how mad people could demand accommodations. And Council of
Canadians with Disabilities spokesperson Vangelis Nikias will discuss how
people with physical disabilities are monitoring Canada’s progress in
implementing the Convention.

3-6pm: NOW WE'RE ALL CRAZY - WHAT NEXT?
You’re invited to join the conversation
The Leadership Project

Featuring:
Kevin Healey
Kwame Mackenzie
Phil Thomas
and more……

6-8pm: ALTERED STATES – FILMS BY MAD PEOPLE: MARS PROJECT
A decade ago rapper Khari "Conspiracy" Stewart was diagnosed with a
psychological disorder, but he has rejected the label and is pursuing a
spiritual path. For half of his life, Khari "Conspiracy" Stewart has fought
a spiritual war against two demons: Anacron, an intergalactic consciousness
that possesses Stewart's mind, and the Canadian mental health system, which
diagnosed him with schizophrenia over a decade ago.

Through artful documentation of Khari's history, daily life and with
insight from psychiatric experts, "Mars Project" reveals the deep
complexities of mental health and the inadequacies of the current Canadian
healthcare system. Khari's diagnosis or spiritual encounters (as he refers
to them) have entrenched themselves so deeply, that it will take much more
than a state-imposed drug regimen or spiritual healing to vanquish his
demons.

Yet Khari isn't just a victim. His plagued mind has simultaneously
debilitated him and formed the foundation for his identity as a
contemporary soothsayer who spreads his message and his experiences through
the recited verb-forms of his rap music. Tormented artist, spiritual
shaman, drug-addled rapper, Khari's unique experience seeks to challenge
our understanding of schizophrenia and mental health.


*** DAY TWO: TUESDAY, JULY 9 ***
Where? 246 Sackville Street

7-10pm: MAD MATTERS BOOK LAUNCH FEAT. MAD COMEDY JAM:

Mad Matters brings together the writings of this vital movement, which has
grown explosively in the years since 1993. With contributions from scholars
in numerous disciplines, as well as activists and psychiatric survivors, it
presents diverse critical voices that convey the lived experiences of the
psychiatrized and challenges dominant understandings of "mental illness."
The connections between mad activism and other liberation struggles are
stressed throughout, making the book a major contribution to the literature
on human rights and anti-oppression.

Followed by:

Mad Comedy Jam

Featuring the best in Mad stand-up comedy! There have been comedians who
talk about craziness, but nothing compares to Mad comedians cracking up
about madness!


*** DAY THREE: WEDNESDAY, JULY 10 ***

3-5pm: THE EMPOWERMENT COUNCIL PRESENTS:
THE MAD HATTER TEA PARTY!
and
LUNACY, LAWS, & LAWYERS: an update on key topics in mental health.

Location: CAMH Cafeteria, 1001 Queen Street

Guest panelists:
Anita Szigeti, Mental Health Lawyer, Toronto, Former Chair of the Mental
Health Legal Committee
Lorne Sossin, Professor and Dean of Osgoode Hall Law School at York
University
Lana Frado, Executive Director Sound Times Support Services

6-8:30pm: “THE WALLS ARE ALIVE WITH THE SOUND OF MAD PEOPLE”
Guided by Friendly Spike Theatre Band
www.globalserve.net/~friendlyspike

Location: Meet outside at the corner of Queen and Shaw

This event is a guided theatrical walk/roll around the Historical Patient
Built Wall on the grounds of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
(CAMH). During the 19th Century, walls were built and rebuilt around the
grounds of the asylum by unpaid patient labourers. In 2010, memorial
plaques dedicated to psychiatric patients’ history were unveiled around
this site. By including a lively dimension in the telling of this story, we
embody the past in a way that empowers the present.

7-9pm: BONKERS: BOOK LAUNCH
Location: 246 Sackville Street
www.facebook.com/events/365836726860479/

BONKERS is a group mad book launch & reading event!
Come on out! Experience our words and images. Bring cash to pick up one,
two or all of these!:

1. Sarafin's latest collection of comics: "Asylum Squad: Monster Hospital".
Price: $15.00
Sarafin's Asylum Squad: Monster Hospital continues the story of Madder and
company after they find themselves committed to a notorious psychiatric
hospital.

2. Tom ebook: "SCHIZO: Stable Chaos - How I Zeroed Oppression"
Price: $20.00
Tom will be launching his memoir titled SCHIZO, an acronym for Stable
Chaos: How I Zeroed Oppression. The memoir covers his near-fatal journey as
a successful student through psychiatry and schizophrenia into a Mad
identity. He will be reading a portion of his memoir and answering any
questions.

3. Shawna Dimitry's "Running Through Your Minds", A chapbook of poetry
Price: $10 (ONLY TEN DOLLARS!)
Also featuring live poetry readings by the sensational Shawna Dimitry, a
mad and Bipolar I - identified poet.


*** DAY FOUR: THURSDAY, JULY 11 ***
Where? 246 Sackville Street

12:30-12:45: WOMB RAGE
KERL
A skit using real medical documents in the past describing an unfathomable,
womanly, disease called Womb Rage! This project was created for a history
of madness course.

1-2:15pm: MAD HISTORY TALK
David Reveille

In celebration of the 20th Anniversary of Mad Pride, David Reville will
give a talk on the history of the mad movement in Toronto, with a
particular focus on last 20 years. The major debates and activities which
have characterized the movement during this time will be introduced. He
will draw from the course he teaches on mad people’s history at Ryerson
University. The idea behind this talk is that mad people have a right to
know their own history of struggle and resistance.

2:30-3:45pm: THE TOFU AND POTATOES OF MAD PRIDE
Tina Shapiro

In this vegan-friendly look at the nitty gritty of Mad Pride Toronto 2013,
we explore: What’s mad? What’s pride? What’s the significance of it being
our twentieth anniversary (drawing on Geoffrey Reaume’s article in the C/S
Info Bulletin)? How shall we move forward from here? This will be
interactive with the audience, especially drawing on the insights of any
veterans of the Toronto mad movement who may be in the audience, as a
homage to our mad history.

4-6pm: MAD SPIRITUALITY: FAITH, FOOLS, AND FELLOWSHIP
A panel of peers followed by open discussion.
Everyone is welcome to attend.
• How do we make (non)sense of our madness/distress/visions/voices/ extreme
states/alternative realities through spirituality/religion? How do we
explain this (or not) to our shrinks and biomedical psychiatry? Do they
listen?
• What role do spiritual/religious beliefs, practices, and communities play
in our self-care, healing, recovery, wellness, activism, Mad Pride?
• How do we navigate exclusion from spiritual/religious communities due to
madness or from Mad communities due to spiritual/religious beliefs? How can
we create more welcoming and inclusive spaces? Where do we find good
support?
• How do we provide spiritual care to our peers? What's the relationship
between spiritual care and peer support?
• What's the relationship between Mad spirituality and Mad culture?
• What support do we want from spiritual caregivers, religious leaders,
religious/spiritual/atheist congregations and communities, healthcare
providers, family, friends, allies, peers, consumer/survivor community?

6:30-10:30pm: ARCHITECTURE OF MAD: AN ART EXHIBITION
The name of this exhibition relates to the social construct within which we
are deemed mentally ill and Other. The name reflects our desire to reclaim
pejorative terms and, in so doing, empowering ourselves. To us, Mad is a
great word that describes struggles that most people cannot even imagine,
and coming to terms with the fact that we cannot do things in the same way
as so called normal people. Instead, we develop new ways in which to do
things. We understand that our time-line for getting through life is often
interrupted by crises and hospitalizations and that becomes part of who we
are. But we regard ourselves as survivors of often intense struggles.
Because of this we are powerful.


*** DAY FIVE: FRIDAY, JULY 12 ***
Where? 246 Sackville Street

12:30-2:15pm: MAD THINK TANK SERIES (PART 2):
"If These Walls Could Talk" Film and Discussion
This is a Dream Team sponsored documentary by first time Toronto filmmakers
Naomi Berlyne and Sibyl Likely. Inspired by the resilient lives of
consumer/survivors they know, Berlyne and Likely sought to document the
incredible stories of the ‘patients’ that lived behind the walls of the
institution we now know as CAMH. Depending largely on archives and the
trailblazing work of Geoffrey Reaume, the film traces the history of CAMH
from the mid- 1800’s until the present. The second part of “If These Walls
Could Talk” focus on contemporary narratives of Mad People as they discuss
the challenges they experienced while hospitalized as well as in society at
large. Despite the heavy subject matter, the film ends on a hopeful note
with stories of resistance and resilience.

While the filmmakers will be on site to answer audience questions, the
Dream Team would like to accompany the film with an interactive discussion
about how consumer/survivors continue to challenge the ‘walls’ they face
both within the confines of institutions and outside of them.

2:30-3:30pm: THE MURDER OF RACIALIZED PSYCHIATRIC CONSUMER/SURVIVORS BY
STATE OFFICIALS IN TORONTO, ONTARIO
Tracy Mack

Since the murder of Edmond Yu 16 years ago, the excessive and lethal force
used by Toronto police officers has not ameliorated, resulting in the
deaths of eight additional psychiatric consumers/survivors. By analyzing
each of these murders it becomes clear that identities that are constructed
at the intersection of negative racialization and mental health issues are
perceived as dangerous and deviant for who they are and not for what they
have done, leading to the excessive and lethal force used by police
officers.

3:45-5:45pm: REPORT BACK from THE PSYCHIATRIC DISABILITIES ANTI-VIOLENCE
COALITION

After the death of George Wass in March 2011, community organizers decided
not to memorialize, but to take action to end violent attacks in our
communities, and to expose the layers of systemic violence that our
community members are facing. Two years later, members of PDAC want to
share what we’ve been up to with the Mad Pride community. Based on our
discussions and research, we have four issues that are important to raise
with the community in this political moment. We would like to present these
in the form of a panel, with plain language presentations of the facts and
politics around each issue.

6-7:15pm: HOW TO TALK TO CRAZY PEOPLE: A BOOK READING BY DONNA KAKONGE

How To Talk To Crazy People is a memoir about Donna Kakonge, an
African-Canadian woman, dealing with mental illness during her 20s. A
reading of the book will spark a discussion around what is crazy?, should
the word crazy even be used?, how do the experiences of people of colour
with a mental illness differ from those who are White?

7:30-9:30pm: ALTERED STATES: FILMS TBA

OR
5:30-9:30pm: MAD CULTURE NIGHT
Hosted by Friendly Spike Theatre Band
www.globalserve.net/~friendlyspike

May Robinson Auditorium - 20 West Lodge Avenue

Open stage/mic for mad people to talk, rant, sing, perform, act… Bring your
thoughts, script, lyrics, instrument, voice, friends, props – and share
your stuff with us!


*** DAY SIX: SATURDAY, JULY 13 ***
Where? TBA

11am-5pm: The Mad Market will go all out this year, some might say even
Bizarre! Along with the many mad goods for sale, a myriad of performance
artists will take over the market to celebrate their Mad Pride.

8pm-2am: MAD LOVE: A DANCE PARTY


*** DAY SEVEN: SUNDAY, JULY 14 ***
Where? Meet at Parkdale Library

12:30-3pm: PARADE
3-7pm: BBQ - Trinity Bellwoods Park

THE BED PUSH PARADE AND AFTER-PARTY

Celebrating 20 years of Mad Pride! The parade will begin at Parkdale
Library at 1303 Queen St W, the site of the first Psychiatric Survivor
Pride in 1993. We’ll then march east along Queen Street to Trinity
Bellwoods Park for a BBQ! Join us for some speeches, drumming, and a
march/roll down the sidewalks of Queen Street W. Bring your costumes,
pajamas, hats, mad gear, placards, signs, banners, instruments, children,
family, friends – and yourself! There will be food and fun when we arrive
at our final destination!

*==============================*
*(10)*
*==============================*

*Two Session Campaign Planning Workshop for Activists and Organizers*

http://www.eventbrite.com/event/4121441342#

This workshop will be held at Friends House,, 60 Lowther Ave. Toronto (near
St. George and Bloor)
Dates: Thursday July 11, 6.30pm - 9pm and Thursday July 25, 6.30pm - 9pm.

Workshop description: This workshop is designed to help you and your
organization learn valuable steps, tools, techniques and approaches that
will help you effectively plan and execute a winning campaign plan to help
you achieve your policy goals.

Participants will learn the basic components of a campaign, how to choose a
strategic campaign goal, choosing strategies and tactics that suit your
goals, working with individuals and groups to build influence, and
understanding the key ingredients of successful campaigns. It's recommend
that multiple people from one group attend the workshop as there will be
ample time to strategize to achieve your goals.

Trainer: Jessica Bell is a facilitator and educator. She teaches advocacy
and government relations at Ryerson University. She is the co-founder of
Tools for Change, which provides skills-based advocacy training to
Torontonians. More information about Jessica is at www.jessicabell.org.

COST: $40 for both sessions, or $30 each for activists from the same group.

For more information email: peaceworks at primus.ca or call at 416-731-6605.

Please inquire if cost is a barrier.

PeaceWorks is an initiative of Toronto Friends Meeting (Quakers), in
partnership with Voice of Women for Peace, Toronto Climate Campaign and
Greenspiration.


*==============================*
*(11)*
*==============================*

*s.o.s. + Lost Lyrics present BATTLE OF THE BRUSHES*

Call for Painters/Muralists

Thursday July 25, 2013
4 Artists
1 $400 Cash Prize
1 Party
Live DJ + Cash Bar
19+

To enter, please send:
+ your name
+ short bio (what your art is about - 50 wrds max)
+ 2 images of your paintings (in .jpeg format)

to sos.curatorial.collective at gmail.com
by July 5, 2013

*all materials provided
*for more info: soscollective.squarespace.com

*==============================*
*(12)*
*==============================*

*Jailbreak! Queer Cover Band Show*

In recognition of Prisoner Justice Day, and building up to the Queer &
Trans Anarchist & Anti-Authoritarian Convergence August 23-25, QueerCore
presents
Jailbreak!, the next installment of the Queer Cover Band Show series.

Prisoner Justice Day is an annual day of remembrance for prisoner lives
lost and in recognition of the injustice, oppression and hypocrisy of the
prison industrial complex. On Prisoner Justice Day, we show solidarity with
those inside prison walls in their fight for humane treatment and better
conditions, and work towards the eventual abolishment of the prison system.

They may not be able to hear our songs, but in our hearts they are not
forgotten.
Pay tribute to their struggle.
Bring your stories and songs of remembrance, resilience and resistance.
Light a candle. Light a fire. Let the flames engulf the prisons and the
state.
We'll set this night ablaze and dance in the ashes.

//RIDE A UNICORN\\
//ROCK OUT\\
//SMASH THE PRISONS\\

Saturday August 10th
Doors at 8PM.
Bands at 9PM
Location: To Be Announced,
Check out our Facebook event:
https://www.facebook.com/events/658684767480024/

$5 at the door or pay what you can.
No one will be turned away for lack of funds (seriously, no one will be
turned away)
Proceeds will go to supporting the work of the Prisoner Correspondence
Project Toronto, which runs a letter writing program to Queer and Trans
identified prisoners in the U.S and Canada.

What is the Queer cover band show??

We are bored and tired of straight cis-gendered white dudes taking up the
majority of space at shows. We want more rad folks to sing and play their
hearts out. For too long we have been excluded. It's time for our glittery
selves to shine.

This space is prioritizing queer/trans people of colour, black, indigenous,
women and all those that are underrepresented and alienated from the music
scene. Let's build our own beats to break down barriers and help create a
music scene that aims to be safe, inclusive and empowering. Have no shame
in your skill level. You can do it!

What is Queercore Toronto?

Queecore, besides the wicked awesome music reference, is an autonomous
collective of queer identified radicals in Toronto committed to injecting
anti-capitalist political ideology into queer community organizing. We
fight the pink washing of the police, the state and the corporations and
will not be co-opted or assimilated into heteronormative, patriarchal,
racist systems of exploitation and consumerism.

Contact us at radicalcoverbandshow.to at gmail.com for assistance building
cover bands, borrowing instruments and finding practice space.
*
*
*Find Queercore on Tumblr: *http://queercoreto.tumblr.com

-- 

-OPIRG York
--
www.opirgyork.ca
416-736-5724
opirg at yorku.ca


*There are many ways to get involved at OPIRG. Apply to be a working group:
**http://opirgyork.ca/working-groups*
Contact victoria at opirgyork.ca for further information.

*We also have three different collectives: *PrOPIRGanda Radio, Radical
Reading Room and PrOPIRGanda Zine- see the callouts below. You can contact
us about ways to get involved in these collectives: opirgyork at gmail.com.
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