[van-announce] Feb Anti Olympic Convergence!

[Harsha W.]

ALL OUT AGAINST THE 2010 WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES!

* New promo video! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoLQ6ThezTk

The 2010 Winter Olympics will take place in Vancouver & Whistler, on
unceded Indigenous land, from February 12-28 2010. We call on all
anti-capitalist, Indigenous, housing rights, labour, migrant justice,
environmental, anti-war, community-loving, anti-poverty, civil
libertarian, and anti colonial activists to come together to confront this
two-week circus and the oppression it represents. We are organizing
towards a global anti-capitalist and anti-colonial convergence against the
2010 Olympic Games.

* BASIC SCHEDULE:

The Convergence is called for Feb 10-15:

- Wed Feb 10- Thurs Feb 11: Olympic Resistance Summit from noon until 10
pm. Workshops and speakers discussing Impact of the Olympics on Indigenous
Communities and Land Defence, Corporatization of the Games, Legal Rights,
Housing and Poverty Impacts, Creative Resistance, and Struggle beyond
2010. Childcare and Food will be provided. Wise Hall (1882 Adanac St) and
nearby Centre For Socialist Education (706 Clark Dr). Details:
http://olympicresistance.net

- Fri Feb 12: Take Back Our City! “Welcome” the 2010 Olympic Torch with
Free Games, Free Speech, and Free Food! Beginning with a festival at the
Vancouver Art Gallery at 3 pm, followed by a parade and protest to BC
Place Stadium. Details, including childcare, at:
http://2010welcoming.wordpress.com/

- Sat Feb 13. 2010 Heart Attack: Street March to Clog the Arteries of
Capitalism. Arrive at 8:30 am in Thornton Park (Main and Terminal). This
demonstration will respect diversity of tactics and aims to disturb
"business as unusual" on the first day of the Games! Details at:
http://olympicresistance.net/content/2010-heart-attack

- On Sun Feb 14th, we will be standing with the 19th Annual Women's
Memorial March to honour all the missing and murdered and women in the
DTES (this is not an anti-Olympic protest).
Details at: http://womensmemorialmarch.wordpress.com/

- Mon Feb 15: Noon at Pigeon Park (Carrall and Hastings). No empty talk,
no empty lots! March & Defend a Tent City. Organized by DTES-based,
anti-poverty, and housing rights groups.

ADDITIONAL EVENTS:

We will be updating our facebook group and our website with additional
anti-Olympic events occurring during the entire month of February:

- Wednesday Feb 3 from 7-9 pm. The Olympics are Coming, Let's Yack! WISE
Hall, 1882 Adanac Street. Planning, sharing Olympic resistance activities.
Organized by Community Olympics Watch.

- Friday Feb 5 till Monday Feb 8: Indigenous Peoples Assembly in Secwepemc
Territories. For Indigenous people only. For information email
nymcommunications at gmail.com. Full callout posted at:
http://mostlywater.org/indigenous_peoples_assembly_2010

- Saturday Feb 6. Empowerment 2010 Tour at the HD Lab (1814 Pandora St).
Performances by The Outspoken Wordsmiths, Testament, Illogik and El Vuh.
Doors at 8pm show at 9pm. $5 to $10 suggested donation no one turned away.
A benefit for the Vancouver Media Co-op.

- Sunday Feb 7. 3rd Annual Poverty Olympics in the DTES. Relay starts at
12:30 at VANDU (380 East Hastings St.), 1-3 pm at Japanese Hall (487
Alexander St) Free, family event. http://povertyolympics.ca/

- Sunday Feb 14. People's Prom. The most kick ass antidote to Valentine’s
Day in the city. You like funk and frolic? Love and revolution? Perfect.
All money raised goes toward grassroot, direct action and creative
resistance groups engaged in the resistance to the 2010 Olympics.
http://peoplesprom.resist.ca/

- Saturday, Feb 20. Rally for a National Housing Program from noon-2 pm,
north Side of Vancouver Art Gallery. The UN now calls Canada's housing
crisis, 'a national emergency.' Come join this rally to pressure the
federal government to once again re-establish a national housing program
in Canada. Organized by Impact on Communities Coalition.


* LOGISTICAL INFORMATION:

1) Crossing the border:
http://olympicresistance.net/content/crossing-border-canada

2) Need housing? http://olympicresistance.net/content/housing-request-form

3) Legal updates, food and childcare arrangements, community spaces,
welcome package, and more, please check http://olympicresistance.net
frequently for updates.


* SUPPORT THE CONVERGENCE AND GET INVOLVED!

1) NEW Wish List: Callout for support and supplies:
http://olympicresistance.net/content/orn-wish-list

2) Sign-up for our low-traffic list (1-2 emails per week) to stay updated
on upcoming events, meetings, and actions. Please email
olympicresistance at riseup.net and ask to be added to our announcement list
or subscribe directly at https://lists.riseup.net/www/info/orn-announce.

3) If you are part of another group (artist, activist, community, union,
campus etc) and are planning any kind of activity or event to oppose the
Games during Feb 2010, please do let us know and stay in touch.

4) Host an anti-Olympic educational on your campus or at your next
conference. Or invite a speaker to your next meeting to discuss what your
group can do. We are able to provide educational materials including
films, tshirts, comics, buttons, stickers and more!

5) Get involved in the Olympic Resistance Network or other anti-Olympic
groups in your neighbourhood or campus. The ORN has regular General
Meetings on Sundays as well as many committees.

6) Spread the word about the convergence! Forward this notice to your
contacts, download posters and flyers about the convergence from our
website and pass them on!

7) Please donate! Hosting this convergence requires significant funds,
including legal defence funds. You can donate securely through PayPal on
our website: http://olympicresistance.net/content/send-us-money or cheques
can be made out to Olympic Resistance Network and mailed to ORN, 6 - 1857
Kitchener St, Vancouver, BC, V5L 2W5. Email ornfundraise at riseup.net to
arrange direct deposits or other queries.


* WHY OPPOSE THE GAMES:

The 2010 Winter Olympics will take place on unceded Indigenous land. Far
from being simply about sport, the history of the Olympics is one rooted
in displacement, corporate greed, and repression. As Olympic promoters and
sponsors seek to present their sanitized corporate brand image to the
world, the real impacts of the Games are apparent to everyone:

* Expansion of sport tourism on Indigenous lands
* Increasing homelessness across the province and especially in
Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside
* Misdirected public spending and debt totaling $6 billion while funding
for the arts, educations, and health care are suffering cutbacks
* Corporate bailouts and profits for companies with some of the worst
social and environmental records.
* Threats to basic civil liberties and free speech
* Union-busting and vulnerable working conditions for migrant labour *
Unprecedented destruction of the environment
* Unparalleled $1 billion police and security spending that is turning our
city into a militarized zone.

Watch: Eight Reasons to Oppose the 2010 Winter Olympics:
http://vimeo.com/4872922


* ABOUT US:

The ORN supports the international resolution passed by over 1500
Indigenous delegates at the Intercontinental Indigenous Peoples Gathering
in Sonora, Mexico to “boycott the 2010 Olympic Games” based on Resolution
#2 of the Gathering which states “We reject the 2010 Winter Olympics on
sacred and stolen territory of Turtle Island–Vancouver, Canada”. Based on
this call, our organizing as natives and non-natives alike is largely
being done under the slogan of "No Olympics on Stolen Native Land".

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WEBSITE: olympicresistance.net or no2010.com
FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=232784728970&index=1
EMAIL: olympicresistance at riseup.net