[van-announce] Community Events Digest
SFPIRG
sfpirg at sfu.ca
Fri Oct 23 13:57:16 PDT 2009
Community Events Digest
==Social justice events happening around town==
1) Is Criticizing Israel Antisemitic? (Oct 23)
2) Anti-Olympics Extravaganza! (Oct 23)
3) Official Unveiling of peace activist Kinuko Laskey Bust (Oct 24)
4) Rally to support Handy Dart Drivers (Oct 24)
5) If Civilization is the Problem, What's the Fix? (Oct 24)
6) International Day for Climate Action: Bridge to a Cool Planet! (Oct 24)
7) In Our Own Voices: storytelling, reflection, and resistance (Oct 24)
8) Reflections on Torture at Abu Ghraib with Dr. Sherene Razack (Oct 24)
9) Olympics & National Security Forum (Oct 26, SFU Burnaby)
10) Colombia human rights lawyer and labour leader (Oct 26)
11) Film Screening - Think Peace (Oct 27)
12) Alliance for People’s Health Advocacy Drop-Ins (Oct 29)
13) Resistance Without Reservation (Oct 29)
14) Indigenous Solidarity Event: Film Series (Oct 29/30, UBC)
15) Made in L.A. Film Screening (Oct 30)
16) CLimate Action Camps: Activist Training (Nov 6-8)
17) TAKE ACTION: Support Bill C-300: Corporate Accountability for the Activities of Mining, Oil or Gas Corporations in Developing Countries
**compiled by SFPIRG, SFU's student-based social justice resource centre.
http://www.sfpirg.ca. To have your event included in the next digest, send a
text-based email announcement to sfpirg (at) sfu.ca. **
1)
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Is Criticizing Israel Antisemitic?
A Talk by Alan Sears
Professor of Sociology, Ryerson University
Member, Faculty 4 Palestine
Followed by a Round-table Audience Discussion
Friday, October 23, 2009 @ 7:30pm
Free
Vancouver Public Library Central Branch
"Alma and Peter" Rooms, Lower Level, 350 Georgia St.
Organized by the Seriously Free Speech Committee (SFSC) and Sponsored by Canada Palestine Network (CanPalNet), Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) and NECEF
http://seriouslyfreespeech.wordpress.com/
2)
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Anti-Olympics Extravaganza!
The Vancouver-Whistler 2010 Winter Olympics are just around the corner,
It’s time to take some action!
Where: Rhizome Café, 317 East Broadway
When: Friday October 23, 2009 6:30 pm*
What:
1) Get informed: Sudbury-based sociologist and author GARY KINSMAN speaks
on national security and queer resistance to the Olympics, LINDSAY
BOMBERRY (Onondaga Nation, Eel clan of the Haudenosaune Confederacy League
of Peace) will talk about Indigenous opposition to the Olympics.
2) Get inspired: Local multi-talented Nuxalk and Cayuga emcee JB THE FIRST
LADY and others share their skills and get you pumped for resistance.
3) Get expressive: Share your thoughts about the Olympics and its effects
at the Anti-Olympics Speaker's Corner. The Olympic Resistance Network
Media Committee and the Vancouver Media Co-op will be recording your
opinions, rants, and ideas.
4) Get to action: Take part in the Anti-Olympics treasure hunt. Grab a bag
full of materials and head to the streets to document and express your
opposition to the games.
5) Share your actions: Come to Rhizome in November (details to come soon!)
to collect prizes from the treasure hunt, make a collage of your actions
and watch the video from the anti-olympics speaker's corner.
The Olympics are not going away. The devastating effects are here. But we
can still very loudly say: *No Olympics on Stolen Native Land!*
Organized by No One Is Illegal Vancouver.
For more information, email noii-van at resist.ca or call 778-833-4484. Our
website is http://www.nooneisillegal.org
3)
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Official Unveiling of Kinuko Laskey Bust
Seaforth Peace Park
(South side of Burrard Bridge)
Saturday, October 24, 1:00 pm
The Vancouver and District Labour Council has been working for the past few years to erect a memorial honouring peace activist Kinuko Laskey.
Kinuko was a 17 year old nurse who survived the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. She susequently immigrated to Vancouver with her husband in the early 50's and became a peace activist and educator and strong proponent of nuclear disarmament.
Well known sculptor Keith Shields created a beautiful bronze bust of Kinuko to honour her and her work.
The Vancouver & District Labour Council thought that it would be very appropriate to display this piece of art and the woman it honours in a prominent location in the city of Vancouver. The bust was approved by the City of Vancouver public art committee as suitable for donation and public display and the Vancouver Parks Board approved locating it in a prominent position in Seaforth Peace Park.
Seaforth Peace Park is the perfect location for this public artwork as Kinuko was honoured to light the peace flame in this park when it was officially dedicated by Mike Harcourt in the 1980's.
http://www.vdlc.ca/
4)
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Rally to support Handy Dart Drivers
HandyDart workers are under attack! MV Canada Bus Company, an American for profit company has proposed a collective agreement that would decimate the meager gains that HandyDart workers have made over the last two decades. The Amalgamated Transit Union is fighting a David and Goliath battle against this American Corporation. It is time that all workers unite against the “public dollars to private corporations” tidal wave. Come join us at the Metro Towers just east of the Metrotown bus loop to support HandyDart workers!
Saturday October 24
12:00 noon
Metro Towers
(east of the Metrotown bus loop)
More info: http://www.bcfed.com/node/1775
5)
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If Civilization is the Problem, What's the Fix?
A Fundraiser for END:CIV
With a special appearance by Derrick Jensen via video conference.
And a sneak preview of selected scenes from END:CIV
Saturday October 24th, 8:00 pm
Heuristic Design Lab in East Vancouver
#202-1814 Pandora St. corner with Salsbury
Price $11.00
Industrial civilization and the culture surrounding it are responsible for our current state of affairs. This is the premise for a new film, END:CIV, based on the work of Derrick Jensen, a best-selling author, environmental activist and lecturer who will speak via video conference in Vancouver on October 24.
Ending civilization is the theme behind END:CIV, a feature documentary by filmmaker and activist Franklin López. END:CIV includes interviews with Professor Ward Churchill and author James Howard Kunstler, among others. On October 24, López will present clips from his upcoming film and Derrick Jensen will link in by video conference for a Q and A.
END:CIV examines our culture's addiction to systematic violence and environmental exploitation, and probes the resulting epidemic of poisoned landscapes and shell-shocked nations.
Derrick Jensen is the author of A Language Older than Words and The Culture of Make Believe
Franklin López is an award winning filmmaker and ex-producer of Democracy Now! You can view his work at subMedia.tv
For tickets and information about this special event visit http://endciv.com
6)
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International Day for Climate Action!! Bridge to a Cool Planet!
Saturday, October 24th
11am-12 noon: gather on the Cambie Street Bridge
12:30: parade to Science World
2-6: workshops, music, performances and more at Science World
Join millions of people around the world in over 1500 events to demand real climate action!!
For more info: http://www.climateactionbc.org
Contact: Kevin Washbrook 778-848-8278 or Sean Devlin 778-321-7306 or email GetInvolved at bridgecoolplanet.ca
Download posters and cards: http://www.bridgecoolplanet.ca/en/download.php.
7)
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IN OUR OWN VOICES
Join the Downtown Eastside Power of Women Group in an uplifting evening of storytelling, poetry, reflection, and resistance
Saturday October 24th at 7 pm
Rhizome Cafe
317 East Broadway (corner Kingsway)
All welcome! By donation $0-20
On facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=135705868281
The Power of Women Group is a group at the Downtown Eastside (DTES)Women's Centre, located in the DTES of Vancouver (the poorest off-reserve postal code in Canada). We are a group of women from all walks of life who are either on social assistance, working poor, or homeless; but we are all living in extreme poverty. Many of us are single mothers or have had our children apprehended due to poverty; most of us have chronic physical or mental health issues for example HIV and Hepatitis C; many have drug or alcohol addictions; and a majority have experienced and survived sexual violence and mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional abuse. For indigenous women, we are affected by a legacy of the effects of residential schools and a history of colonization and racism.
Our aim is to empower ourselves through our experiences and to raise awareness from our own perspectives about the issues affecting the neighbourhood. We believe it is crucial for us- as women who daily bear the brunt of poverty and violence- to share directly with you. We are victims, but we are survivors; we are oppressed, but we are powerful. We are frequently researched and advocated on behalf of, but it is rare that our own voices, our own aspirations, our own struggles, our own h(er)stories are heard. We hope you will join us and we hope you will hear us about our struggles with poverty, homelessness, child apprehension, violence, police, the Olympics, social assistance systems and more.
For information email project at dewc.ca or call 604-681-8480 x 234.
8)
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Reflections on Torture at Abu Ghraib
With Dr. Sherene Razack
Saturday, October 24th, 2009, 7–9 pm
Vancouver Central Public Library, Coast Salish Territories
350 W. Georgia St., Alice MacKay Room
It’s now four years since the Abu Ghraib pictures hit the airwaves and discussions of torture are still everywhere. Dr. Razack explores how many contemporary discussions of torture that take place as critique, rely upon, even as they install, the idea that the enemy is culturally different from us. She traces the work done by the idea that Arab/Muslim means a different kind of human that can only be kept in line through violence.
Dr. Sherene Razack is Professor of Sociology and Equity Studies in Education at OISE of the University of Toronto. Her area of research focuses on race and gender in the law. Her most recent book is, Casting Out: The Eviction of Muslims From Western Law and Politics (2008).
Admission is free. Seating is limited. Childcare available on-site, please RSVP.
For more information contact the RAGA Centre at 604-822-0232 or ragacentre at gmail.com.
Presented by RAGA, Centre for Race, Autobiography, Gender, and Aging; and the Lawyers Rights Watch Canada
Co-sponsored by UBC Women’s and Gender Studies & Vancouver Status of Women
9)
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Olympics & National Security Forum
Monday, October 26
12:30-2:30 * MBC 2290 * SFU Burnaby Campus
Refreshments will be served
The 2010 Winter Olympics will take place on unceded Indigenous land
from February 12-28, 2010.
>From real estate developers to private security corporations, the
political and corporate elite have the most to gain from the Olympics.
Over 13,000 municipal, provincial, national, and military police as
well as joint US-Canada military & North American Aerospace Defence
Command operations are being deployed to protect the Olympic games at
the cost of over $1 billion dollars. This is why the 2010 Olympics
have been dubbed the "Security Games".
Communities in Vancouver are already feeling the fall-out from
increased security. Security cameras and increased policing are
invading communities and many Vancouver residences--especially
anti-Olympic activists and particularly Indigenous defenders--have
been intimidated and harassed by CISIS and VISU (Vancouver 2010
Integrated Security Unit).
However, as this panel will show, resistance to the Olympics and its
regimes of security has been successful. This forum will discuss
current and historical practices of and resistance to national
security and the Olympics.
~Gary Kinsman {LAURENTIAN UNIVERSITY}
Author of the Regulation of Desire, and forthcoming book the Canadian
War on Queers, speaking to Queer Resistance to the 1976 Montreal
Summer Olympic social cleansing
~Nassim Elbardouh {NO ONE IS ILLEGAL}
SFU student tackles the cuts to civil liberties and increased security
due the Games
~Tami T {COMMUNITY OLYMPIC WATCH}
Former SFU student and anti-olympic activist talks about her
experiences of VISU visits and her ongoing work in the commercial
drive area.
This forum is endorsed by Out on Campus, Simon Fraser Public Interest
Research Group (SFPIRG), the Teaching Support Staff Union and the Olympics
Resistance Network. More info: programs (at) sfpirg.ca
10)
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Colombia human rights lawyer and labour leader in Vancouver
Mon Oct 26, 4:00 to 5:30 p.m.,
Room 1410, SFU Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver.
Colombia human rights lawyer and labour leader, Mariano Jose Guerra Diaz will be discussing the state of affairs in Colombia, particularly President Uribe's re-election plans, and recent developments in the parapolitica scandal. Sponsored by the Latin American Studies Program and the School for International Studies at SFU, and CoDevelopment Canada.
http://www.sfu.ca/las/news/MarianoJoseGuerra.html
11)
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Film Screening - Think Peace
Tuesday, October 27 at 7:00 p.m.
Norm Theatre in the Students' Union Building (SUB), UBC
Campus Room 130
6138 Student Union Blvd.
$5/$10 sliding scale.
Think Peace: Portrait of a 21st Century Movement was filmed at the World
Peace Forum in Vancouver in 2006 by a group of citizen journalists, film
makers and concerned people. Is peace an achievable goal?
Director Corey Ogilvie, UBC Alumni will be in attendance.
This is a benefit for the Vancouver Community Television Association, a non-profit society responsible for 5 hours of weekly broadcasting on Shaw Cable 4.
http://thinkpeacemovie.com/
(**Film available in the SFPIRG library)
12)
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Alliance for People’s Health Advocacy Drop-Ins
Thursday October 29th
6 – 8pm
Organizing Centre for Social and Economic Justice
672 East Broadway (at Fraser)
Get information on what healthcare services are covered under the BC Medical
Services Plan (MSP) and PharmaCare for low-income people, children, elderly,
refugees, recent immigrants and migrant workers.
Learn about and free or low-cost services available in the community for:
-Dental and vision care
-Counseling services
-Food services, nutrition, community kitchens and gardens
-Housing advocacy
-Workplace injury
-Access to medical care
*This drop-in is free.
For free childcare registration is suggested.
Registration is encouraged.
Bus tickets available if needed.*
http://www.vcn.bc.ca/~aph
13)
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RESISTANCE WITHOUT RESERVATION!
As part of Indigenous Sovereignty Week and building resistance to the
Olympic Torch Relay, join us in an evening of powerful films, dignified
food, inspiring speakers, and rebel performers...
Thursday Oct 29.
Doors and food served @ 6 pm
Event begins @ 6:30 pm
706 Clarke Drive (3 blocks south of Hastings)
Bus route #22, 10, 16, 20
Child-friendly. Bus tickets available
Defenders of the Land, a cross-Canada network of First Nations in land
struggle and fighting for Indigenous rights, has issued a call to organize
a cross-Canada week of educational events on Indigenous Rights and
Indigenous struggles from October 25-31, 2009. The purpose of this week is
to disseminate ideas of Indigenism and to contribute to building a
cross-Canada movement for Indigenous rights, sovereignty, and justice that
is led by Indigenous communities with a broad base of informed support.
As non-native multiracial supporters, we are allies of frontline
Indigenous communities who organize in defense of their land, freedom, and
autonomy. As a grassroots anti-racist and anti-imperialist migrant justice
group rising to liberation, No One Is Illegal strongly believes that our
movement must always be in active solidarity with self-determination
struggles of Indigenous communities who struggle across Turtle Island
against centuries of imposed racist, sexist, criminalizing, impoverishing,
and genocidal policies.
Our event is organized in this spirit of respect with the diverse
realities of Indigenous peoples to survive and resist, especially in the
face of our society's apathy, the normalization of colonialism, and
increasing state repression. We hope you will join us and we encourage
others to organize additional events and actions during Indigenous
Sovereignty Week. No Justice on Stolen Land!
Organized by No One Is Illegal-Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories.
For more information, email noii-van at resist.ca or call 778-833-4484
Visit http://noii-van.resist.ca
14)
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Indigenous Solidarity Event: A Colour Connected Film Series.
In solidarity with Defenders of the Land, a cross-Canada network of
First Nations group fighting for Indigenous rights, Colour Connected
marks the week of October 25 to 31 as Indigenous Sovereignty Week.
Thursday October 29th, 2009
12:30-2:00pm
Norm Theatre
UBC Student Union Building,
6138 Student Union Boulevard.
**The Mystery of Chaco Canyon**
This documentary investigates the colossal prehistoric remains at
Chaco Canyon and highlights the advanced and complex astronomical
knowledge of the people behind the constructions at the site. The film
challenges the notion that Chaco Canyon was primarily a trade and
redistribution center. Rather it argues that it was a center of
astronomy and cosmology and that a primary purpose for the
construction of the elaborate Chacoan buildings and certain roads was
to express astronomical interests and to be integral parts of a
celestial patterning. Directed by Anna Sofaer, produced by The
Solstice Project, & narrated by Robert Redford
[This event is organized in conjunction with the UBC Social Justice
Centre and Cinema Politica. Their other upcoming screenings can be
found here; http://www.cinemapolitica.org/]
Friday October 30th, 2009
11:30am-3:30pm
Conversation Pit
UBC Student Union Building,
6138 Student Union Boulevard.
**Finding Dawn**
Acclaimed Métis filmmaker Christine Welsh presents a compelling
documentary that puts a human face on a national tragedy: the murders
and disappearances of an estimated 500 Aboriginal women in Canada over
the past 30 years. This is a journey into the dark heart of Native
women's experience in Canada. From Vancouver's Skid Row to the Highway
of Tears in northern British Columbia to Saskatoon, this film honours
those who have passed and uncovers reasons for hope. Finding Dawn
illustrates the deep historical, social and economic factors that
contribute to the epidemic of violence against Native women in this
country.. Written and directed by Welsh and produced by Svend-Erik
Eriksen.
**Kanehsatake - 270 Years of Resistance**
In this documentary about the Oka crisis of 1990, renowned director
Alanis Obomsawin places the conflict within the larger context of age
old Mohawk struggles for land rights. The barricades might have come
down, but the issues have not gone away.
Organized by UBC Colour Connected Against Racism.
Colour Connected Against Racism is an AMS resource group that provides
support and information to students who feel alienated and
disempowered due to discrimination. We organize events on various
issues pertaining to ‘Peoples of Colour’, and lobby the University and
other institutions to implement necessary changes.
For more information, email cconnect at club.ams.ubc.ca or call 604-264-8954
15)
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MADE IN LA FILM SCREENING
Friday, October 30th 6:00pm to 8:00pm
Rom 1800
SFU Harbour Centre,
515 West Hastings Street
FOLLOWED BY PANEL WITH
* Almudena Carracedo: Emmy-award winning Director and Producer. Her
previous documentary on Tijuana as a border town Welcome, A Docu-Journey
of Impressions received the Sterling Award for Best Short Documentary at
Silverdocs Documentary Festival. Almudena is the 2008 recipient of NALIP's
(National Association of Latino Independent Producers) ESTELA Award.
* Guadalupe Lupe Hernandez: left Mexico City at the age of 17 to join
her sister in Los Angeles, where she quickly adapted to life working in
garment factories. In 2000 she got involved in the Garment Worker Centers
Forever 21 campaign, continues to actively fight for the rights of her
fellow workers, and is highly involved with the outreach campaign of Made
in L.A.
* Joann Lo: has worked as an organizer for SEIU Locals 399 and 1877 and
was the Garment Worker Center lead organizer in the boycott campaign
against Forever 21. She currently works as the co-Executive Director of
Enlace, a strategic alliance of low-wage worker centers, unions and
organizing groups in the U.S. and in Mexico.
ABOUT MADE IN LA:
Made in L.A. is an Emmy award-winning feature documentary (70 min in
English and Spanish with subtitles) that follows the remarkable story of
three Latina immigrants working in Los Angeles garment sweatshops as they
embark on a three-year odyssey to win basic labor protections from trendy
clothing retailer Forever 21. Made in L.A has received critical acclaim
and international awards, including an Emmy Award, a Henry Hampton Award
and a Special Mention of the Jury at the Valladolid International Film
Festival.
Sponsored by: Hospital Employees Union, Pacific Northwest Labour History
Association, Canadian Union of Postal Workers, Justicia for Migrant
Workers, No One is Illegal-Vancouver, UBC Department of Sociology, UBC
Centre for Women's and Gender Studies, SFU Latin American Studies Program,
SFU Department of Geography, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, and
others.
For more information about the event, contact madeinlavancouver at gmail.com.
Watch the trailer!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5J5_orlSac&feature=player_embedded
16)
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CLIMATE ACTION CAMPS
Training Activists to Stop Climate Change
Politicians talk about climate change, but do nothing. Tired of all
the hot air? Now you can do something!
Register for a Greenpeace Climate Action Camp and learn how peaceful
civil disobedience can make Canada a climate leader.
The Next Climate Action Camps will be held near Vancouver, British Columbia
November 6-8, 2009
All camps are on weekends - Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday. We
encourage participants to car pool to the camps & organizers will help
link up participants for this purpose. Depending on registration,
group transportation may be organized.
To register online and for more information:
http://www.greenpeace.ca/en/action-camp
For more information, contact:
Angela Woodcock
angela.woodcock at greenpeace.org
t: 416-597-8408 X 3048
Background - In December 2009, the fate of the earth will be decided
at the United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen. We must
demand leadership from our government to make Canada part of the
solution, rather than part of the problem.
At the Climate Action Camps, experienced trainers will give workshops
on climate change, peaceful civil disobedience, environmental justice,
art and activism, action planning, and getting the message out to the
media.
Suggested donation for the weekend is $20 - $50 (including meals) but
no one will be turned away due to lack of funds.
17)
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TAKE ACTION: Support Bill C-300:
Corporate Accountability for the Activities of Mining, Oil or Gas Corporations in Developing Countries
There is an important bill that is being proposed called the Bill C-300 Act Respecting Corporate Accountability for the Activities of Mining, Oil or Gas Corporations in Developing Countries . For more info about it, click here: http://www.miningwatch.ca/en/bill-c-300-corporate-accountability-activities-mining-oil-or-gas-corporations-developing-countries
Show your support by taking a couple of minutes of your time to email a letter to your local MP (please see sample letter below)
Click here to find contact info for your local MP: http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Compilations/HouseOfCommons/MemberByPostalCode.aspx?Menu=HOC
As Canadians, it is important for us to understand the environmental, social and cultural impacts that extraction practices have not only on developing nations, but also to the First Nations peoples living in Canada.
PLEASE ENSURE YOU CC THE INDIVIDUALS LISTED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE LETTER
****SAMPLE EMAIL BELOW - EDIT TO SUIT YOUR PERSONAL NEEDS***
Date
[Name of your local MP]
Dear Mr./Ms. ____________:
SUPPORT BILL C-300 ON CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY
As your constituent, I am writing to let you know that I strongly support Bill C-300, an Act respecting Corporate Accountability for the Activities of Mining, Oil and Gas Corporations in Developing Countries, which will be taken up again when parliament resumes in the fall.I am writing to urge you to cast your vote in favour of this bill.
As a Canadian, I am appalled by regular reports that Canadian mining, oil and gas companies are involved in human rights and environmental violations around the world and by the fact that these companies often receive the direct support of the Canadian Government. The current government's response to these concerns, which have been raised by many Canadians, is its 'Building the Canadian Advantage' strategy. This voluntary approach is inadequate.
Bill C-300 responds to the need for a stronger regulatory framework to hold Canadian mining, oil and gas companies accountable, in Canada, for human rights and environmental violations overseas. Bill C-300 has garnered a huge amount of support across the country. It is supported by Canadian Network for Corporate Accountability (CNCA), an organization which includes Amnesty International Canada, the United Church of Canada, the Canadian Council for International Co-operation, Friends of the Earth, the Steelworkers Humanity Fund, the Canadian Labour Congress, KAIROS Ecumenical Justice Initiatives, MiningWatch Canada and many other organizations. Bill C-300 has my support as well.
As my elected MP, I urge you to stand firm for environmental and human rights by supporting Bill C-300.
I would like to thank you for your attention to this matter and look forward to hearing from you regarding your support for Bill C-300.
Yours truly,
[Your name]
[Your address, telephone or email address]
cc:
Kevin Sorenson, Chair, Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development, SorenK at parl.gc.ca
John MacKay, MP. Liberal Party of Canada, MckayJ at parl.gc.ca
Angela Crandall, Clerk, Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development, faae at parl.gc.ca
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