Mumia Abu-Jamal's second contact visit in over 30 years, since his transfer to General Population on Jan 27.
racialization
My open letter to the sex work movement
I wrote this emceeing for Granny Boots Sex Work cabaret tonight in Toronto -- and on the heels of a victory against the state to give more power to sex workers so police stop arresting and jailing us. I feel like it's an important time to be honest about where we are at in the movement if we really want to move ahead strongly and actualize true decriminalization across Canada. (which is a very good thing people!) And yes there are lots of expletives but I'm speaking the English language of the colonizer -- so I don't fucking care.
Dear sex work movement/activists/or people who just don't fucking get it.
I want to talk to you and I want you to try and get what I'm saying here. For real this time.
Crime bill hunger striker concerned about Parliament's silent treatment
OTTAWA -- April 13, 2012 marked the 31st day of my indefinite hunger strike against Prime Minister Stephen Harper's new draconian crime law, deceptively christened "Safe Streets and Communities Act," formerly crime Bill C-10. I'm an Occupy Ottawa activist and progressive blogger. Last week I released a YouTube video, which can be viewed here.
Racial injustice in America: The police killing of Kenneth Chamberlain
"My name is Kenneth Chamberlain. This is my sworn testimony. White Plains police are going to come in here and kill me."
And that's just what they did.
In the early hours of Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011, U.S. Marine veteran Kenneth Chamberlain Sr. accidentally hit his LifeAid medical-alert pendant, presumably while sleeping. The 68-year-old retired corrections officer had a heart condition, but wasn't in need of help that dawn. Within two hours, the White Plains, N.Y., police department broke down his apartment door and shot him dead. Chamberlain was African-American. As with Trayvon Martin, the black teen recently killed in Florida, there are recordings of the events, recordings that include a racial slur directed at the victim.
Bill C-31: Refugee wrongs or refugee rights?
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney recently offered to the press an uncharacteristic opinion about Canada's temporary foreign worker program. He commented that he would like to give temporary foreign workers "a more realistic choice of staying here as permanent residents."
As a group of lawyers, legal workers and law students, this caught us off guard. After all, the Conservative government has actively increased the temporary foreign worker program since it took power, and, along with it, the potential for exploitative and dangerous working conditions. The vast majority of these migrant labourers, hailing from such places as Latin America and the Caribbean, are denied access to permanent residency altogether.
Unpacking the knapsack of race privilege
This article, first published in 1999, was taken from rabble.ca's vaults in time for the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on March 21.
It's several weeks after Black History Month; have you checked your racial awareness recently?
My own awareness received a sharp and exhilarating little jolt when I read an article by Dr. Peggy McIntosh in a journal published by the National Association of Women and the Law.
Black in Latin America
A few years ago a group of us went on a visit to "Ile de Gorée" -- the island was a sunlit 20-minute ferry ride off the coast of Dakar, Senegal. When reaching the shore, my first impression was that we had reached a tropical oasis: brightly coloured pink, brown and yellow buildings, children running along the dock, and vendors selling carved, rotund, wooden hippos. Within a 15-minute walk we came to a church and the guide informed us in elegant French, "In 1992 Pope John Paul II came here and asked for forgiveness."
Dividing lines: The case of Mohamed Mahjoub
Twelve years ago, Mohamed Mahjoub became a victim of one of the most egregious legal measures that can be taken against a person in Canada, a security certificate. Since then, though he was never even charged with a crime, he faced seven years of detention followed by release with draconian conditions. Though his conditions of release were recently loosened somewhat, troubling questions remain about the entire security apparatus in which Mahjoub and others are ensnared.
A visit with Mumia Abu-Jamal in General Population
Heidi Boghosian and I just returned from a very moving visit with Mumia. We visited on Thursday, February 2. This was Mumia's second contact visit in over 30 years, since his transfer to General Population last Friday, Jan 27. His first contact visit was with his wife, Wadiya, on Monday, January 30.
Niqab bans in Canada
After France passed legislation in 2004 banning hijabs or headscarves in schools and then in 2011 banning the burqua (a full body covering revealing only a woman's eyes) from being worn in any public space, discussion amongst activists has come to a boil about what is reasonable accommodation in Canada.
The latest example is Conservative Minister Jason Kenney's new provision that a niqab (a veil that covers a woman's face) cannot be worn when new immigrants are being sworn in as citizens. This isn't the first time Canada has decided women should not wear the niqab.
Bill 94
