[opirgyork] 13th Annual Pow Wow starts tomorrow @ YorkU! + CUPE 3903 Support

Wed Mar 4 09:24:07 PST 2015

Hey Folks!

For the duration of the CUPE 3903 strike, OPIRG York board and staff will
continue to fill our mandate, continue to do work in the community, and
continue to work on social and environmental justice issues, but will not
be crossing picket lines. Please see our solidarity statement below as well
as ASAY's solidarity statement. ALSO...

*The 13th Annual Pow Wow will continue- and it begins tomorrow night!! *
*Please see details below!*

-OPIRG York
********

*TOMORROW The Pow Wow events start!*
*Thursday, March 5th - Screening: *
*DRUNKTOWN'S FINEST*
*Time: 7pm, @ Moot Court, Osgoode Hall*
Set among the landscape of the Navajo Reservation, Drunktown’s Finest takes
us on a journey of exploration into the lives of three young Navajo people.
Unfolding over a few days in the lives of the three protagonists – who
represent three genders – we follow Luther, a father-to-be trying to stay
out of trouble in order to be accepted into the militarily; Felixia, a
beautiful transgendered woman who aspires to be Miss Navajo; and Nizhoni,
an adoptee who defies her White parents by searching for her birth family
before leaving for university. All three characters navigate the realities
of life on their rez and struggle to balance the formation of their own
identities with traditional Navajo values and familial pressures.
Please share and attend!!

[image: Inline image 1]

*Friday, March 6th -4th Annual Knowledge In Sharing Stories Conference*
*Breaking Intergenerational Trauma: Motivation, Inspiration, Dedication
from teh 7th Generation*
*Time: 10AM-4PM, @ Moot Court, Osgoode Hall*

*SCHEDULE*

*Time*

*Speaker*

*10:00am – 10:15am*

*Welcome/Opening Prayer/Poetry *

Karissa John, Blu Waters, Rosalind Rundle

*10:15am – 10:35am*

*Journey and collection of Poems*

Melissa Compton

*10:35am – 10:55am*

*The Story of my Residential School Experience*

Cliff Standingready

*10:55am – 11:15am*

*Original Instructions: Healing Through the Reclamation of Culture*

Lisa Boivin

*11:15am – 11:35am*

*7 Poems, 7 Generations*

Jamie Lee Morin

*11:35am – 11:55am*

*From Homeless Addict, to the Halls of Academia*

Jesse Thistle

*11:55am – 12:15pm*

*Word on the Street*

Krystal Froman

*12:15pm – 12:35pm*

*Storytelling & Film Sharing*

Michael Keshane

*12:35pm – 12:45pm*

*Morning Q&A*

*12:45pm – 1:00pm*

*Birthing the Two-Spirit Flag*

Fallon Simard, artist & Blu Waters

*1:00pm – 1:30pm*

*Lunch *

NVP Artist – artwork

*1:30pm – 2:15pm*

*A Spoken Word Piece*

Kahsenniyo Tahnee Williams

*2:15pm – 3:00pm*

*Empowerment & The Identity of Being Indian in the 21st Century*

Nataanii Means

*3:00pm – 3:45pm*

*Survive & Thrive*

Shawnee Talbot

*3:45pm – 3:55pm*

*Q & A with Kahsenniyo, Shawnee & Nataanii*

*3:55pm – 4:00pm*

*Closing Remarks, Closing Prayer*

Karissa John, ASAY, & Blu Waters

*Saturday, March 7th - Pow Wow*
*12-5pm, Vari Hall, York Unversity*

*********************

*OPIRG York Strike Solidarity Statement with CUPE 3903 & 3902*

*March 3rd, 2015.*
*(View online + please share here: bit.ly/3903support
<http://bit.ly/3903support>)*

The staff and board at OPIRG York extend our solidarity and support for
CUPE 3903 and CUPE 3902 who are on strike for accessible education for all,
a fair and equitable work place, and increased job security. The university
administration has failed to bargain in good faith, and has forced the
unions to strike for these demands. It is the Administration who we must
direct our attention towards and ask that they return to bargaining in good
faith, and demand that they put accessible education first.

Currently many members of 3903 (many of whom are also students) live on
wages below the poverty line, are asked to reapply for their jobs year
after year, and are given class sizes that exceed an ideal learning space
for students. The fight for decent wages, job security and a cap on class
sizes is a fight for students to have a better learning environment. It is
not just a CUPE 3903 fight; it is one that we all should demand from York’s
administration, and is a fight for decent worker’s rights.

For example York has outright refused to add LGBTQ to their equity policy,
which is something 3903 has demanded. The members of 3903 & 3902 deserve
our support. We stand in solidarity with CUPE and it’s membership and
encourages students, community members, faculty and staff to join 3903 and
3902 on the picket line in their demands for accessible education for all.

For the duration of the strike, OPIRG York board and staff will continue to
fill our mandate, and continue to do work in the community, and continue to
work on social and environmental justice issues, but will not be crossing
picket lines.

*To read more about CUPE’s demands and ways to support:*
http://betteryork.ca/

*More information and to contact OPIRG York:*
http://opirgyork.ca
opirgyork at gmail.com, opirgyorkboard at gmail.com.

*********************

* Official Announcement from the Aboriginal Students Association at York
Re. 13th Annual Pow Wow*

We at ASAY support the faculty and Contract Instructor's and Teacher's
Assistant’s strike; however, it comes at a critical time - Pow Wow time -
which could reduce numbers and attendees to some of our events. We are
meeting with CUPE to work out the details, stay tuned. No matter, THE SHOW
WILL GO ON. That aside, we stand with CUPE and understand their position.
Contract Instructors and TAs do need to eat and pay bills, we understand
that, and they can't do it on the ridiculous wages they get; the university
needs to pay them what they are worth and stop treating them like academic
general laborers or peons. And if the university needs to find money to do
so, dip into the higher pay salaries of upper echelon university exec's and
bureaucrats – a couple thousand out of a few $100 000 salaries won’t hurt
anyone. It's a matter of priority and good business practice: YorkU pay
your Contract Lecturer and TA employees fairly, give them job security, and
treat them like the educated, vital teachers they are.

*********************

-- 

-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
<http://opirgyork.ca/working-groups>*
Contact victoria at opirgyork.ca for further information.

*We also have two collectives: *PrOPIRGanda Radio and the Radical Reading
Room. You can contact us about ways to get involved in these collectives:
opirgyork at gmail.com.

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