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Powershift 2019: Young and Rising takes place February 14-18. With environmental and climate problems increasing, it’s good to look back and see what knowledge can still be applied and lessons learned as effective action on climate change becomes increasingly more vital.
Below are three videos from each of the two previous national Powershift Canada youth climate activism convergences, 2012 and 2009, as well as a lead-up article to the 2009 gathering and two related pieces.
Videos are also embedded further below.
Note this year Powershift is livestreaming some video, and using the hashtag #YoungAndRising
2012 videos
- Media session with Winona Laduke (35min)
- Interview with Harsha Walia (10min)
“Anti-oppression, decolonization, and responsible allyship” - Question from media session with Naomi Klein (3min)
“How to sustain a sense of urgency”
2009 videos
- Dead Prez, with Eriel Tchekwie Deranger invited on stage (6min)
- Clayton Thomas-Muller keynote about the Tar Sands (20min)
includes 3min intro video Carbon Chaos/Tar Sands - Post-conference debrief interview – Powershift organizers Tracey Guptill & Ben Powless (33min)
2009 article
Just Green Jobs – Transitioning to an Environmental Economy
“Organizers of the Power Shift Canada 2009 conference are looking to bring hundreds of young activists from across the country to Ottawa, from October 23-26, to discuss climate change in the run-up to the United Nations Climage Change Conference in Copenhagen this December. But along with climate change, the Ottawa conference will also be looking to empower attendees to participate in the transition to green jobs…”
~ Related content ~
2008 article
Environmental Justice – Working Together for Transformative Change
“…the fight for “climate justice” is on the same level as efforts to end slavery, stop genocide, or win the right for women to vote. It’s on the same scale, but perhaps even more profound than any of those. What we’re saying is that climate justice isn’t just a technical thing or an economic thing or a political thing. It’s way bigger than any of that…”
2007 zine
Counterbalance: What sustains us? What stops us? Thoughts on activism and mental health
“… where psychology, ecology, and politics meet… to use the understanding that comes out of this convergence to help inform the creation of healthier activist communities and aid in producing more effective, continuing activism.”
~ ~
Videos, embedded
Print version of this article, 4-page PDF
* A 4-page PDF of this article is available for print distribution
(also a 11″x17″ version) *
With Brazil’s new president Jair Bolsonaro now in office, and his promised far-right fascism beginning to take form, international solidarity will be vital for Brazilian people and social movements. Brazil is the largest and most influential country to choose a leader aligned with the contemporary global rise of the far-right.
After his late October election, he chose his cabinet ministers – including many ex-military and evangelicals – and transformed the Human Rights ministry into the ‘Family, Women, and Human Rights’ ministry.
Now inaugurated, he’s made immediate changes that negatively impact Indigenous, Black, and LGBTIQ+ peoples, diversity in education, the minimum wage, environmental protection, and more. Privatization plans and pensions are amongst other announcements yet to take form. (The Intercept‘s Victor Pougy summarized these changes on Twitter – Jan 1st, Jan 4th – and on WORT radio; since then, The Intercept has reported on a new scandal of the Bolsonaro family’s involvement with money laundering and the militia death squad that killed Marielle Franco.)
In the two months between Bolsonaro’s election and his taking office, what we witnessed includes:
- The assassination of two Landless Workers’ Movement (MST) organizers at an MST camp in Paraiba, December 8th;
- An unprecedented gunfire attack December 22nd directly on a FUNAI (Brazilian Indigenous affairs department) base at Ituí-Itacoaí that protects isolated and uncontacted Indigenous peoples (there are more uncontacted peoples in Brazil than anywhere else);
- A politically-motivated arrest, jailing and filing of impeachment against Rodrigo Neves, the progressive, PDT (Democratic Labour Party) mayor of Niterõi, municipality in the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan area, December 10th-11th;
- And Cuba’s withdrawal of the thousands of its doctors who provided service to Brazilians through the “Mais Medicos” (More Doctors) program, in response to Bolsonaro’s “threatening and dangerous” rhetoric and his interference in the terms of service.
Bolonaro’s statements, both during the campaign and historically, illustrate the potential dangers facing Brazil (see The Intercept‘s compilation of quote highlights).
A December 21st warning statement “In support of Democracy, Human Rights and the Environment in Brazil” was endorsed by 47 prominent US-based organizations; the International Front of Brazilians for democracy and against the coup (FIBRA) also published a manifesto on January 1st. The Workers Party (PT), whose candidate Fernando Haddad finished second in the presidential election, issued a statement boycotting Bolsonaro’s inauguration, rejecting his aim “to impose a police state and tear apart the historic achievements of the Brazilian people.” On January 10th, the largest Indigenous organization in Brazil – APIB – issued a call for international solidarity, translated as “Indigenous Blood: Not One More Drop”; they also released a short video with English subtitles, and led a January 31st Indigenous mobilization #JaneiroVermelho (‘Red January’) that spanned 10 countries, 22 states, and 70 cities.
INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY EFFORTS
On multiple continents, collective organizing is preparing foundations of solidarity and support for the people and social movements in Brazil.
The first weekend in December, New York City hosted the founding meeting of the National Network for Democracy in Brazil. There are groups in Canadian cities of Montreal, Ottawa, and (in initial discussions) Toronto. Actions have been held in London England, with Brazilian Women Against Fascism UK partnering with Extinction Rebellion and others, including a focus on protecting the Amazon rainforest and its importance with climate change. A listing of groups worldwide is compiled at the website fibrabrasil.wordpress.com
The US network has called for a mass day of action on March 14, the one-year anniversary of the assassination of Marielle Franco, a Black bisexual Rio de Janeiro councilwoman, member of the PSOL (Socialism & Liberty Party), from the Maré favela. Her killing prompted protests and vigils across Brazil in honour of her work for social justice, her represention of the Black, LGBTQ, and favela-resident underclasses in the country, and her specific opposition to policies like the extra-judicial killings by militarized police that Bolsonaro campaigned to increase. Similarly, the MST has called for national ‘mobilization of working women on March 8 [International Women’s Day] as guardians of the legacy and memory of Marielle Franco.’
ANALYSIS : AUDIO + TEXT
Two events in Ottawa featured speakers presenting context and analysis to the situation in Brazil and to the kind of solidarity support that may be most needed. Three audio recordings, each approximately a half-hour, are included here followed by accompanying written descriptions.
AUDIO FILES (embedded below): Mendonça/Garcez (29:44) – Levy (27:13) – Fernandes (29:55)
On November 1st , four days after the election, two Brazilian activist-lawyers spoke to about 50 people at an event hosted by Inter Pares along with the Council of Canadians’ Blue Planet Project:
- Maria Lusia Mendonça, a human rights lawyer and executive director of the Rede Social de Justiça e Direitos Humanos (Network for Social Justice and Human Rights) in Brazil; and
- Max Garcez, a labour lawyer with Advocacia Garcez, currently living in Ottawa.
Two weeks later at Carleton University, three academics spoke:
- João Velloso, assistant professor, Common Law Faculty, University of Ottawa; (audio unavailable)
- Charmain Levy, professor, Université du Québec en Outaouais (across the river from Ottawa); and
- Sabrina Fernandes, who completed her PhD at Carleton University in 2017 on the Depoliticization and Leftist Fragmentation in Brazil. She is currently working at the University of Brasilia, is an editor with Jacobin Magazine, has a popular YouTube channel (TeseOnze) and a new book coming soon, Sintomas Mórbidos: a encruzilhada a da esquerda brasileira (São Paulo: Autonomia Literária, 2019).
Presentation from Mendonça and Garcez, November 1st
In the days following the election, Brazilians experienced and witnessed attacks on workers, Indigenous, women, and LGBT people, said Mendonça. She mentioned that the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) had one of their camps set on fire, and that one of Bolsonaro’s first actions had been to establish a military taskforce to classify opposition to the new regime as terrorists.
Mendonça expressed that Bolsonaro is likely to influence neighbouring countries as well, while Garcez also highlighted the global climate change risk that his approach to the Amazon rainforest poses (60% of the Amazon is in Brazil).
Garcez noted that the judge who sentenced former president Lula to jail this past summer, Sergio Moro, has now been appointed by Bolsonaro as Minister of Justice. Lula was the favorite to win the presidency before he was imprisoned, and Bolsonaro was provided a huge advantage with Fernando Haddad, the Worker’s Party (PT) replacement candidate, only doing campaigning for one month before the first vote.
Mendonça described Lula’s jailing as illegal and political, saying there wasn’t evidence to convict him, and further pointing out that the order that kept him from communicating with the media while in jail was illegal and different treatment than for regular prisoners.
Garcez emphasized how bad it will be with Bolsonaro as president, although it is unclear what’s to come. He also explained that many had previously thought Bolsonaro would be unelectable based on what he represents. Garcez said that it’s wrong to think of Bolsonaro in the same terms as Donald Trump or Ontario Premier Doug Ford, even adding that he would gladly campaign for either of them if it was against Bolsonaro! He also noted that far-right European leaders like France’s Le Pen have distanced themselves from Bolsonaro’s positions.
Garcez and Mendonça did acknowledge problems exist/ed aside from Bolsonaro. For example, with the previous progressive Workers’ Party (PT) government, led by Dilma Rousseff until 2016, Garcez described his legal firm working half the day attempting to defend the Rousseff government from the impeachment/ parliamentary coup, and the other half to fight against her government’s privatization policies.
Mendonça – in response to a question about racism in Brazil today and the fact that it is not only with the arrival of Bolsonaro that these problems will suddenly appear and need to be addressed – explained that indeed, there is a historical trajectory of colonialism in the country, but what she was trying to highlight is how “we are now in such an extreme situation of crisis, so what can we do with the situation we are facing now – this is the urgency I was trying to express.”
Mendonça said that Rousseff had been impeached despite no evidence she was involved in corruption. When Bolsonaro voted for the impeachment, he declared to the Parliament that his vote was dedicated to the military commander of the Doi-Codi torture unit who had imprisoned and tortured Rousseff and others in the 1970s.
A number of attendees at the Ottawa event were Brazilians living in Ottawa; some had family members who had voted for Bolsonaro – the majority of Brazilians in Canada do seem to support Bolsonaro.
One Brazilian attendee noted the importance of international validation for the work and ideas of Brazilian activists and academics, as many Brazilians are dismissive of them. Mendonça noted the important role the international media had during the election in confirming that Bolsonaro is fascist, something not necessarily conveyed by domestic Brazilian media.
One of Mendonça’s suggestions was for Canadians to research and pressure Canadian companies that have businesses in Brazil. Her visit to Ottawa was scheduled along with a Food Secure Canada conference in Montreal, where two days later she co-presented on the case of farmland grabs involving Canadian pension funds.
She also emphasized that there will be a continuing need for connections and communication between activists in Canada and elsewhere with Brazilian social movements and alternative media.
*It was from this Nov 1st event that the new group Ottawa-Gatineau Solidarity with Democracy in Brazil OGSDB began. There is audio (8min) of OGSDB member Karla Matias interviewed by CBC radio in advance of the January 7 action at the Brazilian embassy in Ottawa.
Presentation from Velloso, Levy, and Fernandes – November 16th
João Velloso spoke about the ‘anti-enlightenment phenomenon’ that has emerged, where dialogue and mutual efforts at understanding are more and more futile against dominant discourse.
Truth is de-emphasized or marginalized to an unquestionable dogmatic reasoning that is mostly religious or militaristic: “What happened wasn’t mere fake news, but very well designed advertisements targeting sentiments and convictions of parts of the population. The objective was not to convince, but to reinforce beliefs. … And the left was not ready to deal with this kind of propaganda.”
Velloso presented a video as example, of a preacher celebrating Bolsonaro after he’d won the election. The preacher references the Bible’s Corinthians 1:27-28, “Yet God chose the foolish things of the world so He might put to shame the wise; and God chose the weak things of the world so He might put to shame the strong; and God chose the lowly and despised things of the world, the things that are as nothing” as the reason God chose Bolsonaro.
Charmain Levy gave an overview of what constitutes fascism, drawing on Umberto Eco’s work (Ur-Fascism, 1995) as well as Leon Trotsky’s (Fascism, 1938) to explore how they may apply to Brazil’s situation, particularly during the election campaign. She mentioned the “Escola sem Partido” (‘Education without Party’) push to remove progressive ‘ideological’ ideas from the school system, especially in terms of sexuality and gender issues, that has been given more life by Bolsonaro; this is happening in the country where Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed originated. She referenced Bolsonoro for being known as the ‘Mito’ (myth/legend), which was reinforced by his surviving a stabbing assassination attempt during the campaign, and how this fits with the non-rational and ‘symbolic’ strength of the ascension of fascism. The popularity of his ‘finger guns’ gesture also fit with the strength of symbol recognition. One primary aspect of fascism is the creation of an enemy to society: here it is the ‘communist red threat’, which does include, in this case, gays and feminists, progressive or leftist university professors, as well as those who identify with the PT party, among others.
Her analysis of what contributed to his election victory consisted of four main aspects. The first was the economic problems that had beset the country, including their mismanagent by the PT party and president Dilma Roussef’s appeasal attempts to work with the centre-right opposition parties at the time. The second was the media – both the corporate/mainstream media’s agenda to attack the PT, and the very successful and heavy use of social media to spread inaccurate political information during the campaign. Third were the efforts, similar to the corporate media, of the centre-right political parties to attack and discredit the PT – not realizing that much of the public would also discard the centre-right as ‘typical corrupt politicians’ and instead support the far-right. Fourth was the role of conservatives and churches in the campaign and in the country overall – a large proportion are highly religious and many were receptive to Bolsonaro’s proposals to ‘take a leap backwards’ to a time with more traditional and prominent roles of church, family, and discipline. Levy also mentioned Bolsonaro’s ability to harness popular sentiments, such as around the country’s high levels of violence, and said she thought his presidency will continue such campaign-style communication.
Sabrina Fernandes provided context and details of the situation of the leftist parties and political movements in Brazil, including the need for self-critique amongst the left. This includes how the PT could have helped build more of a public political and class consciousness while in government, whereas it wasted that opportunity and now there is a huge ‘loss of meanings’ including concepts of class struggle, democracy, the left and right, etc. Some public mis-understandings are of the Nazis as left socialists, of Marx as a satanist who practiced witchcraft, of democracy defined as a change of presidents (that it would be anti-democratic if the same president/party were voted in again). She explained how this was helped with the public discourse of Bolsonaro and the far right, with their campaigns of fake news and ‘fire hosing’ to reduce the credibility of their opponents, their bait-and-switch announcements to further support this, and the exploitation of ‘moral panics’ such as with the education system – the supposed agenda to push homosexuality and ‘gender theory’ on children – and with the communist threat.
She described the context, of a military dictatorship that ended less than 40 years ago, that has not been reconciled properly for the general population to understand the dangers, and with a constitution created 30 years ago, resulting in a fragile democracy. She also explained the process of depoliticization and demobilization that has occurred with a leftist government in power. This included a reduced focus of grassroots organizing in favour of more energy simply of holding marches, that has resulted in lessened political capacity. Her analysis included the far right ‘fakenews’ and ‘firehosing’ attacks, but also the real damaged credibility of the PT from corruption and other areas where they didn’t live up to their ideals. There was also what Fernandes explained as the mismanaged election strategy and failure of the left to work together. She applied the concept of Gramsci’s “crisis of authority” (Prison Notebooks, 1929-35) along with the PT’s loss of hegemonic power, and also an updating of an early Zizek concept of “ultra-politics” (The Ticklish Subject, 2009) with respect to the relative lack of antagonism against those who oppress, exclude and exploit the masses. The buy-in of many in Brazil to Bolsonaro’s rhetoric around ‘communists’ as criminals and the need to rid society of them is something she identified as part of the troubling trajectory the country is now on – with the looming danger of the systematization of the violence and repression that has until now only been random.
—
Greg Macdougall is based in Ottawa, unceded Algonquin territory, with close to two decades involvement in independent media and grassroots organizing. Website: www.EquitableEducation.ca
This article in PDF format (/11×17″) is intended as an organizing tool, to be printed and distributed at events, actions, classrooms, community spaces, and otherwise.
Marcelo Sabuc and supporters in Wolfville NS.
Photo via Just Us! Coffee
Presentation/Q&A of Marcelo Sabuc Xalcut, national coordinator of the Highlands Committee of Small-Farmers (CCDA) in Guatemala, building solidarity for circumstances where 21 human rights defenders have been killed this year amidst an escalating political crisis.
Full writeup to come…
These audio of Marcelo Sabuc, CCDA, from tour of Canada are posted for timeliness with both the Ottawa event November 14 (7pm at 233 Gilmour St) and Vancouver visit later this week.
See relevant links: Maritimes press release – Petition to Minister Freeland – Comments re Migrant Caravan – Buy Café Justicia to support CCDA
Presentation by Marcelo Sabuc, November 13, translation by Louise Casselman – 37min mp3 file
Responses to questions from Greg Macdougall – 8min mp3 file
Rough Draft Description:
The presentation explained the work of CCDA, with 30,000 members, to grow food on the land for self-sufficiency and then if possible to sell for $ to re-invest in the farming as well as community education, health, etc. The CCDA has been successful in increasing their land holdings for various communities. Half of Guatemala’s population is in extreme poverty and malnourishment.
In Guatemala, the mining, hydro-electric dams, and large agricultural industries create problems for communities, especially pollution and displacement.
Corruption in the country is a huge problem and the current president works with narco-traffickers, corrupt business interests, and gangs/mafias, and is attempting large-scale changes of institutions to install and insulate his/their positions of power.
There has been a wave of repression this year, especially in the spring/summer, that has left 21 human rights defenders killed.
Check-back for full write-up…
AUDIOS of mayoral candidate Clive Doucet and of Chief Harry St. Denis. VIDEOS of Carleton PhD student Kanatase Horn and of Algonquin Anishinabekwe and grandmother Verna McGregor.
*Note that ‘the views expressed in these recordings are those of the speakers themselves’ and are independent of each other and of this website.
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Osprey above Chaudiere Falls.
From instagram video by Greg Manley, ManleyArt.com
The Zibi developers have announced that the first occupancies of their project (on the Gatineau shoreline, then the two islands closest to the waterfalls) will happen this fall and winter, while the full development will still have several years until completion.
These recordings are posted here for those who would like to understand more about the need to protect the site, the failure of development-approval and Indigenous rights processes for these circumstances, its situating within the larger colonial project of the Canadian state, and the significance of the site for the Algonquin nation.
For previous coverage (articles, and multi-media) click here
The first recording is especially timely with the Ottawa municipal election on October 22.
There is also an upcoming panel discussion – “Reconciliation: Re-Membering Creator’s First Pipe” – taking place in Ottawa the afternoon of Saturday October 27 for those interested in learning more. The planned speakers are Lynn Gehl, Albert Dumont, Lindsay Lambert, and Randy Boswell. Tickets are required, at $22, and approximately two-thirds of the 100 seats have already been taken, as of Oct 15.
AUDIO
Clive Doucet, former Ottawa city councilor and current mayoral candidate, speaking at the June 2016 Stop Windmill panel discussion (the other two speakers were Douglas Cardinal and Cathy Remus). He speaks mainly about general issues around development approval. mp3 file (10min)
&mbsp;
Wolf Lake Chief Harry St. Denis, who led the successful AFN-QL and AFN (#49) resolutions of 2015 that call for the government to protect the sacred site, speaking at an INAN parliamentary committee hearing in October 2017. This audio is mostly about the Algonquin land claim and federal policy; the Chaudiere Falls/Akikodjiwan discussion starts at around 6:00. mp3 file (29min)
*The Q&A section includes some responses from Timiskaming Chief Wayne McKenzie as well. This audio is compiled from the full hour+ session (click for full transcript)
Short highlight video made with excerpts of the above audio:
VIDEO
Kanatase Horn (PhD candidate; Mohawk from Kanawake/Kanesatake) presentation at Carleton University CIRCLE / ICGC conference March 2017, “Unsettling settler colonialism’s spatialities: Indigenous claims to land in urban spaces” (21min)
Full talk description included at YouTube, Facebook, or in the conference program
Verna McGregor (Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg) – “The Importance of Sacred Sites” at The Walrus Talks: The Indigenous City – in Gatineau, April 2017. “The significance of Ottawa because of the meeting of four rivers and the clan system that is based on the watershed” (7min) YouTube link
“Dying To Please You” co-authors Roland Chrisjohn and Shaunessy McKay look to capitalism and colonialism as root causes, while We Matter organization empowers youth and MP Charlie Angus puts forward motion for national plan.
[Article with PDF, audio, video, and resource links]
The 2000-word article is
- online at ricochet.media and/or counterpunch.org
- available as 4-pg PDF version to print/read offline or use as handouts for schools, offices, events, etc.
Article summary:
This article features the perspectives of Roland Chrisjohn and Shaunessy McKay, co-authors of the 2017 book “Dying To Please You: Indigenous Suicide in Canada”, as well as looking at: the work of the We Matter organization; the child welfare situation and the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society’s advocacy; and MP Charlie Angus’s private members motion for a National Suicide Prevention Action Plan. The link to free full PDF of ‘Dying To Please You’ is included. The article also mentions Tanya Talaga’s five-city CBC Massey Lectures, based on this topic, that were upcoming at the time of publication.
See below for links to the references in the article and embedded multi-media (audio and video).
This is the first in a series. Feedback/suggestions? Please email greg (@) equitableeducation.ca
Related links and multi-media:
Book – Dying to Please You: Indigenous Suicide in Contemporary Canada
Book webpage from publisher, Theytus Books
Full book as free PDF on researchgate.net (also on academia.edu)
ADDITIONAL (not in article): Presentation by co-authors Roland Chrisjohn and Shaunessy McKay, from 2014. 110min talk (mp3) + 30min Q&A (mp3). Credit: Asaf Rashid, From The Margins podcast
Also ADDITIONAL (not in article): Talk by Roland Chrisjohn, “The Psychiatrization of Indigenous Peoples as a Continuiation of Genocide” from Sept 2018. 60min, the last 3min are specifically re the book.
Statistics sources
Overall: The Human Face of Mental Health and Mental Illness in Canada (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2006), via Suicide Among Aboriginal People in Canada (Aboriginal Healing Foundation, 2007)
Inuit: National Inuit Suicide Prevention Strategy (Inuit Tapirit Kanatami, 2016)
Two-spirit/LGBTQ: Suicide Prevention and Two-Spirited People (National Aboriginal Health Organization, 2012)
vs Murders: Homicide survey, number and percent of homicide victims, by Aboriginal identity (Statistics Canada. Table 35-10-0156-01), via “Expanding the Conversation – Addressing MMIMB: Murdered and Missing Indigenous Men and Boys” (EquitableEducation.ca, 2018)
We Matter organization (WeMatterCampaign.org)
Videos: page on website, or “We Matter Campaign” on YouTube
Hope Forum (January 2018) report and Calls To Action.
Toolkit (versions for youth, teachers, and support workers) – with short explanatory video
ADDITIONAL (not in article): Interview (mp3 – 13min) from first day of Hope Forum, with We Matter co-founder Kelvin Redvers (first 2min) and participants Olivia Haines and Natasha Cunningham.
(See Natasha’s and Olivia’s videos. UPDATE: Olivia is now a member of We Matter’s new Hope Council)
Hope Forum , January 22 2018 livestream session (2 hours):
Child Welfare / Foster Care
Federal Government six-point action plan after emergency roundtable, 26 January 2018
Federal Government action letter to service providers after fifth Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruling, 01 February 2018
First Nations Child and Family Caring Society’s webpage on Canadian Human Rights Tribunal case
ADDITIONAL (not in article): Alanis Obomsawin’s film about the CHRT case, “We Can’t Make the Same Mistake Twice” (2hr42min) on YouTube or NFB site. Trailer:
Charlie Angus’ motion for National Suicide Prevention Action Plan, plus INAN committee report
Charlie Angus’ webpage promoting motion M-174 (includes link to full text of motion)
National Suicide Prevention Action Plan, launch video (39min, May 22 2018)
Charlie Angus with: Randall Crowe (mental health worker from the Deer Lake First Nation); Natan Obed (president, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami); Grand Chief Jonathan Solomon (Mushkegowuk Council); Chief Isadore Day (Ontario Regional Chief); Julie Campbell (executive director, Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention); Dr. Laurent Marcoux (president, Canadian Medical Association); Mike Villeneuve (CEO, Canadian Nurses Association); and Marilee Nowgesic (executive director, Canadian Indigenous Nurses Association).
INAN (Indigenous & Northern Affairs) parliamentary committee report Breaking Point: The Suicide Crisis in Indigenous Communities, with all of the committee’s study activity on the issue.
Tanya Talaga / 2018 CBC Massey Lectures
Tanya Talaga’s Massey Lectures will examine suicide crisis among Indigenous youth
In five cities the second half of October, book version available in October, broadcast on radio in November.
Immediate Help: Phone lines and other support resources
Kids Help Phone 1-800-668-6868
We Matter’s Get Help resource page
First Nations and Inuit Hope for Wellness Helpline: 1-855-242-3310
Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention’s Need Help resource page
(USA) The Mighty’s Suicide Prevention Resources page
International Association for Suicide Prevention’s list of crisis centres by continent
Video and audio of a talk by the recently-passed Indigenous broadcasting trailblazer, plus: review of “We Interrupt This Program: Indigenous Media Tactics in Canadian Culture” (M.Brady & J.Kelly)
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Les Carpenter passed away July 3, 2018. He was most recently CEO of the Native Communications Society of the Northwest Territories, including CKLB radio. Earlier, he was with CBC radio in Univuk; he was also the first Mayor of Sachs Harbour (at age 16), the first chair of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, the Chief Negotiator to establish two Canadian Parks, and a member of the United Nations Special Task Force on Aboriginal Peoples. Read and hear more at the memorial post on CKLB’s website.
Image: Les Carpenter presentation, June 2017
This presentation is from June 2017, at The Future of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Broadcasting gathering in Ottawa.
* If anyone would like to volunteer to transcribe this talk, for captioning to the video and making a text version of the talk available, please email greg (@) equitableeducation.ca
AUDIO for podcast, download, broadcast: Les-Carpenter-2017.mp3
VIDEO – posted on Youtube and Facebook
—
Related is this book/ book review, looking at some different aspects of Indigenous media in Canada:
We Interrupt This Program: Indigenous Media Tactics in Canadian Culture
By Miranda Brady and John Kelly; UBC Press, published fall 2017 with paperback version June 2018.
Reviewed by Greg Macdougall, for Briarpatch Magazine (July/August 2018)
We Interrupt This Program is a hopeful title for a timely book.
Focusing on the past 10 years, authors Miranda Brady and John Kelly examine how Indigenous media-makers of various forms are disrupting the neocolonial Canadian media terrain to assert Indigenous priorities, cultures, and aesthetics. Both authors are professors at Carleton University; Brady is a settler who studies Indigenous identities and media; Kelly is Haida from Skidegate, and worked in journalism prior to academia.
The authors chose to look primarily at interventions within dominant (non-Indigenous) media spaces, particularly established institutional frameworks. One perspective they present – referencing Taiaiake Alfred, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, and Glen Coulthard – argues that Indigenous priorities of reasserting sovereignty and nationhood are incompatible with working within settler-controlled institutions. But the authors explain that they’re interested in interventions that combine acceptance with refusal, and tactics of media-making that “may not lead to a radical transformation […but] can elicit results.”
Most of the chapters centre around case studies. The first two cases, of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and IsumaTV, discuss residential school testimonies, methods of documentation, and archives. The authors contrast the short “wrongdoing-focused” public testimonies of the TRC with IsumaTV’s hour-plus online recordings of Inuit residential school survivors. In the latter, testifiers were encouraged to discuss in depth the impacts of the schools on collective life. In contrast, the TRC testimonies had strict time limits – causing one commissioner to remark, “We’re starting to pick up the habits of our white brothers.” The IsumaTV testimonies were an external method for Inuit people to assert their needs within the framework of the TRC, and helped get an Inuit sub-commission in the TRC. These chapters also discuss the uncertain futures of the archives, in part due to challenges with funding.
The third chapter highlights three Indigenous artists who are challenging non-Native representations of Indigenous peoples: Dana Claxton, Jackson 2bears, and Kent Monkman. Their work acts to remediate existing media norms and historical art, exposing the mechanics behind settlers’ stereotypical representations of Indigenous peoples.
The fourth chapter focuses on the imagineNATIVE Film & Media Arts Festival in Toronto and filmmakers Jeff Barnaby, Terril Calder, and Shane Belcourt. The festival’s success is attributed to its ability to build community and supportive, inclusive networks, and to provide essential exposure for diverse media-makers. The festival helps Indigenous filmmakers confront their main barriers within the film industry: financing, cultural misconceptions, access to industry partners and networks, and distribution.
The final chapter looks at mainstream journalism, via the perspective of Duncan McCue, a long-time CBC reporter and a journalism professor at the University of British Columbia. McCue discusses the under- and misrepresentation of Indigenous peoples in mainstream journalism, and the need to move beyond reporting that evokes pity, or pits Indigenous people against settlers. For journalists covering Indigenous issues, McCue advises, “If you could boil down my whole course down to one thing, it’s to act with respect.”
The book doesn’t explore social media, though it was conceived and grew rapidly in the decade this book covers. Without it, the book has less sense of the real-time implications of Indigenous media-making, including its role in facilitating social movements like Idle No More and #NoDAPL.
As the authors note, Indigenous peoples’ relationships to media have evolved as “colonization happened synchronously with the development of a number of media technologies, including photography and motion pictures.” The recent and dramatic collective shift in our relationships to media has occurred alongside a significant shift in Indigenous relations with settler society – during an age of so-called “reconciliation” and increased visibility of Indigenous perspectives, including dissent. The book provides an analytical perspective to help readers reflect on what types of new interruptions may be brewing – or to plan the interventions themselves.
What follows is a compilation of links to resources – including printable handouts & zines, audio/video interviews, reviews of books, notes from talks and group sessions, and more – on community/political organizing for social, economic and enviromental justice and postive change, spanning the individual and interpersonal to the institutional and systemic.
There is a pilot event Tuesday July 10 afternoon in Ottawa hosted by the new Community Mobilization in Crisis project.
It is with this project in mind that I’ve compiled this list of resources – mainly from EquitableEducation.ca – as a contribution to their “Co-Creating Digital Open Educational Resources for Community Mobilization.” They have further pilot events scheduled for Lebanon in August/September and Brazil later in the fall, and potential events for other countries to be confirmed.
Putting these resources together here in one place gives you – and anyone interested – the ability to look at different aspects or areas of community organizing, for consideration on what to prioritize* in improving what you’re currently doing or looking to do.
I’ve had unpleasant experiences where I’ve made efforts to have some of these aspects/resources included by people, groups, and organizations in collective work, only to meet with different forms of resistance to what (to me) seem important principles for collective work, especially when specifically relevant to what those situations involved.
This approach of making this collection accessible to those receptive / desiring of them – who through applying what’s here will be able to do things in a better way, leading to better feelings, relations and results – is an antidote to pushing these principles and approaches on those who resist their implementation.
* Note that a recommended approach is to choose and implement a small number of changes at a time
The list of resources included here is:
(and scroll down for fuller descriptions)
* Intro – with The Revolution Will Not Be Funded’ excerpt
* Anti-Oppressive Facilitation Guide
* Activism Course Zine/E-Book
* BOOK: Joan Kuyek’s Community Organizing: A Holistic Approach
* BOOK: Chris Dixon’s Another Politics: Talking Across Today’s Transformative Movements
* Anti-Authoritarian Leadership: Chris Dixon interview and handout
* Notes from talk by Joaoa Pedro Stedile of MST: Landless Peasants’ Movement, Brazil
* From The Ground Up & Healthy Roots: notes from conferences
* Organizing For Justice: community consulta notes
* Disability Justice & Transformative Justice: Mia Mingus interview, BATJC links
* and more to come
RESOURCES
Here are a variety of resources; from ‘how-to’ practical guides through to more ideas/theory and analysis on approaching organizing.
Intro
“To our surprise, most organizations could not point to an analytical tool used within their organization to direct their work or strengthen their strategies for change” (Amara H Perez, Sisters In Action For Power).
This quote speaks of organizational needs to create better understandings of their situation/ problem/ approach, which most organizations apparently don’t take seriously. It’s from The Revolution Will Not Be Funded book (2007, edited by INCITE Women of Colour Against Violence) which in part examines issues of how funding sources and paid staff often have different priorities and needs than the people or cause that the project/ organization is purportedly for. Perez goes on to explain the four-aspect definition of colonialism their group developed to base their work and analysis upon.
That type of analysis/analytical tool might be more overall important than a ‘how-to’ guide, but at the same time a good ‘how-to’ is needed to effectively work collectively to create better understandings. For instance, how to have good meetings:
ANTI-OPPRESSIVE FACILITATION GUIDE
This guide is mostly content from AORTA (Anti-Oppression Resource and Training Alliance).
There’s also an article from a facilitation training in Kitchener-Waterloo, by someone in the Fellowship for Intentional Communities: “We don’t grow up learning these [facilitation/meeting] skills, so a lot of us actually need to learn from a workshop or a book or practice or something, because a lot of us don’t grow up in institutions that really encourage this way of relating to each other” – Tree Bressen.
LINK TO THE GUIDE: https://equitableeducation.ca/2014/anti-oppression-facilitation
Format: PDF “front-to-back” or folded zine versions
These tweets from @prisonculture emphasize the importance of learning to have good meetings:
ACTIVISM COURSE booklet/zine/e-book
Collected notes written up after a six-week introductory-style grassroots course on community activism. It includes ideas and discussion of concepts from the course, as well as explanation and appendixes on pedagogy (/learning approach) used in the course & principles for other educational initiatives, plus an annotated reference list.
Table of Contents:
* About the course
* About this booklet (and, Session #0)
* Sessions:
Introductory exercises / values / going deeper
Change activities that work…
Concept brainstorming
Community Organizing with Joan Kuyek
Back to the values / even deeper
* Appendices:
Book review: Community Organizing
Postive Learning Environments
Case Study: Independent Media Organizing
Edge-U-cation
* Resource List: Links / Books / Podcast / Videos
* Final Remarks: A bit about the Pedagogy / Andragogy
LINK TO THE BOOKLET: https://equitableeducation.ca/2012/activism-course-ebook
Format: PDF ebook, “front-to-back”, and folded zine versions
BOOK REVIEW : JOAN KUYEK’S COMMUNITY ORGANIZING
“Kuyek examines the creation of positive social change based on a coherent and wide-ranging analysis of the context in which the work is done and the principles needed to make it effective” based on her decades of involvement in various communities and organizations.
The following quote from the book speaks to what Rosina is saying in this screenshot
“In my early years as an activist, I would have argued that we must start making change by organizing around environmental, economic or political questions. I no longer believe that is how we do it. Unless we consciously resist it our practice will be shaped by the destructive corporte paradigm of “power-over.” To free ourselves from the systems that hold power, we have to build a culture of hope. And that beings in our own lives and the lives of our neighbours and friends. It’s like gardening: if we want strong, beautiful and healthy plants, we have to build up the soil.”
LINK TO THE REVIEW: https://equitableeducation.ca/2011/kuyeks-community-organizing-book
LINK TO THE INTERVIEW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nr5BfAJ9zA
Annotated resource list prepared to accompany the book: https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/community/
BOOK REVIEW: CHRIS DIXON’S ANOTHER POLITICS
This book has three main sections: politics, strategy and organizing. It’s based on in-depth interviews with 47 anti-authoritarian activists and organizers in major Canadian and U.S. cities who organize around principles that are anti-capitalist, anti-oppressive, and anti-imperialist, as well as pre-figurative in that the ways in which the organizing is done in the present already contain elements of the social relations and other aspects of the world that we are working to build.
LINK TO REVIEW: https://equitableeducation.ca/2015/another-politics-review
LINK TO INTERVIEW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=be6kOAjaTHU
ANTI-AUTHORITARIAN LEADERSHIP
Also with Chris Dixon, an interview from before his book was published – and a two-page handout.
“In this model, leadership is a set of capacities and activities, including skills, knowledge, confidence, experience, and responsibilities. The aim is to develop and share these capacities and activities in order to deepen democracy and widen participation.
The three “C’s” of anti-authoritarian leadership:
1. Clear: identifying actually existing leadership roles and practices in our work.
2. Conscious: intentionally designating leadership responsibilities, and being accountable and transparent about what we say and do as leaders.
3. Collective: organizing responsibilities and training so that leadership is shared and dynamic.”
LINK TO POST: https://equitableeducation.ca/2012/anti-authoritarian-leadership
LINK TO INTERVIEW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uhvhqkRvCc
STRATEGY FROM THE MST / LANDLESS PEASANTS MOVEMENT
In 2005, Joao Pedro Stedile of the MST was on a speaking tour and these notes are from his Ottawa talk. According to him, there is a need for the following three things, and the notes presented here hopefully help with this:
“Sharing experiences and ideas with others
Listening to others’ experiences and ideas
Discussion and dialogue:
learning from each other, what lessons we’ve learned about how to advance forward”
LINK TO NOTES: https://equitableeducation.ca/2003/social-movements-joao-stedile
FROM THE GROUND UP & HEALTHY ROOTS
From The Ground Up was a series of over two years 2002-2003 in Kitchener-Waterloo, focused on creating healthy communities.
There are some rough notes from an overall strategy discussion, and also specifics: Diversity & Making Membership Accessible; Decision-Making; Environmental; Partnership-Building.
LINK TO OVERALL STRATEGY NOTES: http://equitableeducation.ca/2003/from-the-ground-up-notes
LINK TO SPECIFIC TOPICS NOTES: http://equitableeducation.ca/2003/ftgu-breakout-notes
Also see the organization’s report-back: http://temp.waterlooregion.org/healthy/2002/report/index.html
Healthy Roots was a conference held in nearby Guelph. It was focused on community-building and the notes here cover the following discussions: Anti-poverty organizing – Community Gardening – Media – The Native experience – Building Communities – Urban Sprawl.
One highlight, from John Clarke of OCAP (Ontario Coalition Against Poverty):
“They’ve found the key to organizing in poor communities is to be able to consistently demonstrate the ability to provide something of value to that community. When people need food for their kids or help to keep from being evicted, being told about a march happening next week is not going to meet their needs.”
LINK TO NOTES: http://equitableeducation.ca/2003/healthy-roots
ORGANIZING FOR JUSTICE
Collected notes from ideas, discussion, process, and individual+community activist needs – at the 2011 May Day community consulta in Ottawa for activism on social, economic, and environmental justice and healthy communities.
LINK TO THE COLLECTION: https://organizingforjustice.ca/?p=760
Format: online notes in text, also with PDF ebook, “front-to-back”, adn folded zine versions
DISABILITY JUSTICE & TRANSFORMATIVE JUSTICE
This resource on Disability Justice, an interview with Mia Mingus, gives context to discussion of access and inclusion and goes beyond. It’s important to recognize ableism and other oppressions are located within our movements as well as in the institutions and systems we’re working to change.
Description: “Disability Justice deals with the oppression of disability, but at the same time deals with other systems of oppression and injustice – it is a ‘multi-issue politic.’ It moves beyond rights- and equality-based approaches, beyond access and inclusion in unjust systems, instead working towards collective justice and liberation, towards transforming society as a whole.”
LINK TO WEB POST (incl transcript): https://equitableeducation.ca/2013/mia-mingus-disability-justice
LINK TO INTERVIEW (incl captions): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cJkUazW-jw
Mia is also part of the Bay Area Transformative Justice Collective.
Areas such as accountability, violence, harm, abuse, support, safety, healing, and resiliency, are important to deal with in community work.
Pods are a concept that BATJC uses to designate specific relationships able to support people in such processes – versus the vague term ‘community’: https://batjc.wordpress.com/pods-and-pod-mapping-worksheet/
Values, principles, and practices, are important guides for the work: https://batjc.wordpress.com/batjc-values-principles-practices/
Mia Mingus was interviewed re Transformative Justice and Healing, on KPFB We Rise radio/podcast: https://www.mixcloud.com/WeRiseRadio/12-17-17-we-rise-mia-mingus-of-the-bay-area-transformative-justice-collective/
The following screenshot is four tweets from this thread of Mia’s
… more resources to come …
This version was published 4pm Monday July 9th
There are some more resources that will be added.
Any feedback or suggestions please email greg Ⓐ equitableeducation . ca
…
MORE on the COMMUNITY MOBILIZATION IN CRISIS project
The CMIC project – which I’m not a member of – is a collaboration between people at the University of Ottawa and the American University of Beirut. It was started to support Syrian refugees in Lebanon – but has grown to be an ongoing collaborative effort to research, develop, and use open-access online learning materials for and with individuals and communities around the world, in order to hone their skills in collective action (cooperation), coping, and communication. Part of this is about capturing a real cross-context dialogue, and ensuring materials are accessible both linguistically and culturally. More info at cmic-mobilize.org
Short video from the Spirituality is Unity walk June 22, and audio report from the Ottawa City Council meeting’s $61-million grant to the Zibi development June 13. Also transcripts of both.
Walk to protect sacred site at Chaudiere Falls Translation of Radio-Canada newscast
Ottawa City Council grants record payout to Zibi developers to decontaminate land at sacred site Groundwire Radio News segment
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Transcripts:
Walk to protect sacred site at Chaudiere Falls
June 22, 2018 – Translation of Radio-Canada TV News broadcast segment
[Daniel Bouchard, Radio-Canada]: The Algonquins and other Indigenous people and Faith leaders are concerned about the future of the Chaudière Falls. For this reason, today a few hundred people walked from Victoria Island to the Parliament to call for their protection for future generations.
[Gilles Taillon, Radio-Canada]: Women, children and Faith leaders joined with numerous Indigenous people to draw attention to the majestic beauty of the Chaudière Falls. It is a jewel of nature in the heart of what has been an industrial site for two centuries. However, the neighboring islands will soon be taken over by a new condo and commercial complex, straddling Ottawa and Gatineau, named the Zibi project.
[Rachèle Prud’homme, Algonquin]: We never ceded our lands so I don’t understand how a government can sell lands that don’t belong to them. This is our temple. We are here to protect the sacred waters, where our ancestors performed ceremonies since time immemorial.
[Gilles Taillon, Radio-Canada]: The symbolic meaning of the three Chaudière islands were on everyone’s mind.
[Alex Akiwenzie, Chief]: What’s at stake here is really based on spirituality and pride and protection of a sacred place.
[Gilles Taillon, Radio-Canada]: We must free the Falls affirm the activist, even if development has begun.
[Anne-Marie Hogue, Ally of Indigenous people – Free the Falls]: This is not a done deal because these lands are federal lands, lands that are for all Canadians.
[Larry Rousseau, Canadian Labour Council executive VP]: This land was always occupied by industrialists for industrial purposes, and now that the industrial era is over, the government has given permission to develop a residential project on Crown land. This makes absolutely no sense.
[Gilles Taillon, Radio-Canada]: In closing, architect Douglas Cardinal reminded the gathering that it is the Indigenous women who have always taught the importance of living in harmony with nature. Those opposing the condo project promised to return and demonstrate again next year.
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More information at – www.FreeTheFalls.ca – www.ItIsSacred.ca – www.AlbertDumont.com – www.Asinabka.com – www.EquitableEducation.ca/tag/chaudiere-falls
This video is on Youtube, on Facebook, and on Twitter
Translation by Anne-Marie Hogue. Original video in French from Radio-Canada (‘fair use’) was broadcast on the Gatineau/Ottawa 6pm TV newscast, 22 June 2018.
Original transcription in French / en Francais:
[Denis Bouchard, Radio Canada] : L’avenir des Chutes de la Chaudière inquiète les autochtones et les communautés religieuses de la région de la capitale nationale, alors c’est pourquoi il a eu quelques centaines de personnes qui ont marché de l’Île Victoria aujourd’hui jusqu’au Parlement afin de réclamer leur protection pour les générations futures.
[Gilles Taillon – reporteur Radio Canada] : Des femmes, des enfants, des prêtres se sont joins à de nombreux autochtones pour souligner la beauté majestueuse des Chutes de la Chaudière, un joyau de la nature au cœur d’une exploitation industrielle depuis deux siècles. Mais les îles environnantes feront bientôt place à un nouveau quartier résidentiel à cheval entre Ottawa et Gatineau, notamment le projet Zibi.
[Rachèle Prud’homme, Algonquine] : On a jamais cédé nos territoires donc je ne comprends pas comment un gouvernement peut vendre ce qui ne lui appartient puis, c’est notre temple ici. On est là pour protéger les eaux sacrées où nos ancêtres ont toujours fait nos cérémonies.
[Gilles Taillon] : La signification symbolique des trois îles de la Chaudière était sur toutes les lèvres.
[Alex Akiwenzie, Chef] : What’s at stake here is really based on spirituality and pride and protection of a sacred place.
[Gilles Taillon] : Il faut libérer les chutes affirment ces militants même si l’aménagement des îles a déjà commencé.
[Anne-Marie Hogue, Free The Falls] : Nous disons : « Ce n’est pas un fait accompli, parce que d’abord ces terres là ce sont des terres fédérales et ce sont des terres qui sont là pour tous les Canadiens.
[Larry Rousseau, Canadian Labour Council VP executif] : Ce terrain a toujours été occupé par des industriels à des fins industrielles et maintenant que cette époque est révolue le gouvernement accorde une permission sur des terrains de la Couronne pour faire un développement résidentiel. Ça n’a aucun sens.
[Gilles Taillon] : L’architecte, Douglas Cardinal a eu le mot de la fin, en rappelant que les mères autochtones ont toujours enseigné à vivre en harmonie avec la nature. Les manifestants ont promis de revenir à la charge l’an prochain.
Ici Gilles Taillon. Radio-Canada. Ottawa.
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Ottawa City Council grants record payout to Zibi developers to decontaminate land at sacred site
June 19, 2018 – Segment from bi-weekly 1/2-hour GroundwireNews.ca. Piece by: Michael Welch CKUW | Host: Susan Huebert CKUW | Files from: Greg Macdougall EquitableEducation.ca
Defenders of an Indigenous sacred site were dealt another blow on June 13th when Ottawa City Council approved a record $60.9 Million grant to Windmill Development Group for the decontamination of land on two islands at Chaudiere Falls. The islands on the Ottawa River near Parliament hill had been left derelict and toxic after a century of industrial activities there. It is also unceded Algonquin territory and considered sacred to the Algonquin and all Anishinaabe peoples. Windmill’s ZIBI development in construction clashes with an existing Indigenous vision for Asinabka to have Indigenous healing, as well as peace-building and environmental harmony, at the traditional spiritual gathering site.
Supporters of that vision briefly disrupted the Council meeting…
(clip from June 13 Ottawa City Council meeting: https://youtu.be/-ncSFT5o6HM?t=1h43m34s)
Lindsay Lambert is a historian, and one of 5 people who attempted unsuccessfully to appeal the rezoning of the islands to the Ontario Municipal Board 4 years ago. He had expressed his objections at the previous week’s Finance and Economic Development Committee hearings on the issue.
(clip from June 5 Ottawa Finance & Economic Development Committee meeting https://youtu.be/r1CccAjN8VE?t=1h52m5s)
Public messaging from Windmill before the rezoning approval suggested that the developer would take on the full costs of the clean up. On Friday June 22nd, faith leaders will hold the third annual Spirituality Is Unity Walk: Walk For Our Sacred Site, Akikodjiwan, in support of restoring the site to the Algonquin Anishinaabe. More details can be found on the event’s facebook page, or at www.AlbertDumont.com
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Interdependent media & in-person learning opportunities for those who are inspired to be part of movements for social justice.EqEd on social:
