rabble.ca - Anit-Racism

Globalizing resistance: Marxism conference this weekend in Toronto

derrick — Thu, 24 May 2012 13:16:07 -0400

This time last year, the effects of the Arab Spring had already inspired millions of people around the world to think about the possibility of revolution - and the role that they themselves could play in creating a better world.

While political pundits and right-wing leaders argued that the revolutions would never last (and that they had no connection to what was going on over here), activists had other ideas.

Occupy shines light on capitalism's inequality

Escalating migrant and refugee repression in Canada - Panel

migrant matters — Thu, 24 May 2012 03:03:16 -0400

The panel of the May Day potluck, which has been celebrated in Guelph, Ontario for four years now, illuminates the experiences of working-class migrants and immigrants in relation to Canada's continually failing immigration and labour legislation. Guest speakers at this year's celebration include: Juan, Melissa Paciulan, Lizzie Neale and Teresa Edge.

Juan works as a migrant farm worker in Waterloo, Ontario. He talks about his experience living and working under Canada's Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program.

Solidarity in the streets: An interview with Judith Butler

derrick — Wed, 23 May 2012 09:57:29 -0400

Award-winning author and prolific feminist scholar Judith Butler will be speaking tomorrow night at the Vogue Theatre in Vancouver. Dr. Butler will be presenting a talk entitled 'A Politics of the Street' in which she will examine the different forms of public resistance, protests and their implications for contemporary politics.

The event, which is being presented by The Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies as part of their public forums for converging minds to explore freely, sold out 1100 tickets in just three hours.

Media and the new student movements

Refugee and Immigrant rights groups demand Bill C-31 be scrapped

johnbon — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:20:39 -0400

Members of No One is Illegal Toronto and Occupy Toronto protested outside Conservative MP Joe Oliver’s office on Wednesday morning, demanding that the Conservatives cancel, what has come to be known as, the Refugee Exclusion Act.

Listen to an interview with Katie Berger of Occupy Toronto and Syed Hussan of No One is Illegal Toronto.

From the press release:

Occupy Toronto and No One Is Illegal Toronto have shut down MP Joe Oliver’s office at 511 Lawrence Avenue West to demand that the Refugee Exclusion Act, Bill C-31, be discarded.

Simultaneously occupations at Conservative MP offices are underway in London, ON, while a banner was dropped in Ottawa as part of a coordinated and escalating campaign.

Refugee and Immigrant Rights groups shut down Conservative MP offices for second time

No one is Illegal — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:48:46 -0400

Breaking News: Refugee and Immigrant Rights groups shut down

Conservative MP offices for a second time, carry out further actions to scrap Bill C-31

No One Is Illegal - London is carrying out a sit-in at MP Susan Truppe’s office at 546 King Street, London while Occupy Toronto has joined No One Is Illegal - Toronto in shutting down MP Joe Oliver’s office at 511 Lawrence Avenue West to demand that the Refugee Exclusion Act, Bill C-31, be discarded. A banner was also dropped in Ottawa as part of this escalating, coordinated campaign against Bill C-31.

Banner Drop Pictures at www.twitter.com/NoOneIsIllegal

Hill Dispatches: EU Ambassador displays his ignorance at House Immigration Committee

karl nerenberg — Tue, 08 May 2012 16:57:37 -0400

It may be going far to say that the European Union’s Ambassador made a fool of himself in his testimony on Monday before the Commons Immigration Committee studying proposed refugee system reforms, Bill C-31.

But His Excellency Bernhard Matthias Brinkmann certainly did not do service to the cause of truth and candor, let alone compassion.

The subject was the "safe country of origin" provision of C-31, which would allow the Minister of Immigration to designate some countries, especially those in the European Union (EU), as safe and thereby deny asylum seekers from those countries full access to the Canadian refugee determination system.

The Government has been using the Hungarian Roma refugees as the poster children for this new restrictive measure.

Smash the State Report: Indigenous resistance and Quebec student strike

dan kellar — Sun, 06 May 2012 22:10:53 -0400

Friday April 27, 2012 - This Smash the State Report starts off with info on the re-opening of the abortion debate in Canada, then jumps into the Quebec student strike with a critique from Stefan Christoff of mainstream coverage, before an update of the April 28th Walk for Peace Respect and Friendship .

Canada and Israel: allies in apartheid, allies in colonialism

rabble staff — Sat, 05 May 2012 15:06:05 -0400

How does the Canadian government's support for Israel relate to Canada's own historical and ongoing colonization of indigenous people here? What are the implications for supporters of the Palestinian struggle in carrying out solidarity work from within a 'fellow' settler society? Listen in to this event recorded in Vancouver on March 5, 2012 to find out. Speakers include Charlotte Kates, Glenn Coulthard and Mike Krebs

Smash The State Report: Walks, evictions, occupations and Wente

dan kellar — Thu, 03 May 2012 13:05:07 -0400

The Smash the State Report updates on the Walk for Peace, Respect, and Friendship, a piece from Julian Ichim on Legitimacy in movements, looks into the #occupytoronto eviction of #ranoufthegoof, looks at #occupy Venezuela - Chavez style, updates us on the Canadian gov't support for

On Islamophobia: An Interview with Daniel Tutt

amjohal — Thu, 03 May 2012 12:57:20 -0400

Daniel Tutt from the Unity Productions Foundations shares his views on combating Islamophobia in the United States.

Am Johal: You've been engaging in dialogues around Islamophobia and the general representation of Muslims in American society in a post 9-11 context for some time now. How would you describe the current context for Muslims in America, more than 10 years after the trauma of that event?

Hill Dispatches: Hungarian thugs who intimidate Roma -- can they be stopped?

karl nerenberg — Wed, 02 May 2012 22:56:28 -0400

Without meaning to, a representative of the Hungarian Government confessed to a Canadian Parliamentary Committee, on Wednesday, that his government has had a great deal of trouble controlling extreme right "militias" that persecute and intimidate the Hungarian Roma people.

The Hungarian official is Imre Helyes, head of the consular section at the Hungarian Embassy in Ottawa, and he was testifying before the Commons Immigration Committee that is considering the new refugee reform, Bill C-31.

Mr. Helyes made that remarkable admission in response to a question from a Conservative member who asked if there was "discrimination against the Roma in Hungary."

Roma face persecution in Central Europe

rabble staff — Tue, 01 May 2012 13:22:44 -0400

Can Roma ("Gypsies") from "liberal, democratic, EU countries" really be refugees, fleeing persecution? I am no expert on refugee law, but if I were a Roma person living in Central Europe I know I would not feel safe.

Last year, while we were filming the documentary Never Come Back, Malcolm Hamilton and I visited Roma enclaves in the Czech Republic and Hungary. At first glance, it seemed to us that those communities were not that different from poor and under-serviced First Nations communities in Canada. Maybe that's why some Canadian politicians argue that the Roma who come here are really fleeing poverty, not persecution.

Bill C-31 and the federal budget's migrant worker commodification

dan kellar — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 00:31:54 -0400

We read two pieces from No One Is Illegal (http://nooneisillegal.org) one looking at #billC31, and one about the federal budget's further entrenchment of the exploitation of migrant labour as a means for economic growth.

Budget 2012: Tories commit to treating im/migrants as labour, not people | rabble.ca

NOII Alert: Axe the Refugee Exclusion Act! | rabble.ca

For more information from NOII on the "Refugee Exclusion Act, check http://noii-van.resist.ca/?p=4717

A few tunes from the UK's Lowkey - @LowkeyBLOG round ot the show.

Indigenous resistance across Ontario

dan kellar — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 00:48:34 -0400

This show features updates on Indigenous Resistance from Grassy Narrows (http://freegrassy.org), #Attawapiskat, KI's fight against God's Lake Resources, and more actions from Six Nations land defenders.

Check http://april28.net for more information about an upcoming rally, walk and community celebration in Caledonia and @Kanonhstaton, Southern Ontario.

from allies at Six Nations: “We are not the criminals” | AW@L

from our allies up north: Grassy Narrows marks 50 years of mercury poison | AW@L

Hill Dispatches: 'Never Again!' (except for the 'Gypsies')

karl nerenberg — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 10:29:53 -0400

The Prime Minister spoke eloquently at a Holocaust Memorial event at the Canadian War Museum, on Monday.

He talked about the "sheer scale of the Holocaust," about how remembering the Holocaust was a "cause of great importance to our country," and about how "anti-Semitism is a disease" -- a disease that turns into more generalized "hatred" and becomes a "threat to us all."

He told his audience,which included Jewish survivors of the concentration camps and descendants of "righteous Gentiles" who had risked all to save Jewish lives, that some of those same threats engendered by the Holocaust "exist today" and vowed that we in Canada must learn the lessons of the Holocaust.

We must, the Prime Minister said, "defend the vulnerable and confront evil."

Respecting historic agreements with the Haudenosaunee and walking to Kanonhstaton for peace: A discussion with Luke Stewart

dan kellar — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 12:54:21 -0400

The feature of today's show is our discussion with radical historian Luke Stewart on the upcoming Rally, Walk, and Community BBQ taking place on April 28th in Grand River Territory of the Six Nations, hosted by the April 28th Coalition (http://april28.net). This discussion looks at the the intentions of the event organizers (both indigenous and settler), respecting historical friendships and honouring our treaties (such as the Silver Covenant Chain, The Two Row Wampum, and the Haldimand Proclamation) and the resistance to the event from business interests and white citizens' councils, among other topics.

Confronting Canada's colonialist past

alex — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 14:26:22 -0400

In Orienting Canada, John Price, professor of history at the University of Victoria focuses on 20th century racism and on Canada's role as junior partner in British and U.S. imperialism. This is a work of scholarship and an engrossing narrative that should be widely read.

Anti-Asian racism in Canada in the first half of the 20th century has been well documented. Immigrants from China, Japan, and India faced head taxes and outright prohibitions. Laws excluded Canadians of Asian origins from neighbourhoods, post-secondary education and professions. Japanese Canadians were forcibly removed from coastal areas during World War II.

Activist Toolkit Occupy roundup: The tools you'll need to #occupyspring

The Activist Toolkit — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 17:18:21 -0400

Occupy Wall Street is back this spring and with it, occupations of cities and towns across Canada are popping back up. Occupiers may have been busy working underground but now it's time to rise up and organize. The activist toolkit is going on a spring break but not without a bang. Here's a roundup of tools for occupiers to take you through the hiatus. Best of all, every tool and app featured is free.

Social media, apps and blogging have helped keep the movement alive. Now that protesters are organizing physical Occupy camps again, there are tons of new tech tools to help you organize.

New film tells about the Roma or 'gypsies' Canada wants to keep out

M.Gregus — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 07:04:45 -0400

They call them "gypsies," "gitanes," "tziganes," "ciganes," "nomadi" -- and sometimes such nasty epithets as thieves, pickpockets, vagrants and "inadaptables" (a favourite term in the Czech Republic).

They are the Roma, Europe's perennially unwelcome minority.

They are shunned just about everywhere on the continent, whether in Hungary or Spain, the Balkans or Iberia, the Mediterranean or Scandinavia.

Historians and anthropologists say they migrated from Rajasthan, in India, more than a thousand years ago.

In India, the Roma had been itinerant musicians, performers, merchants -- and sometimes slaves -- and they carried on some of those traditional occupations in their new lands.

Fighting racism across Turtle Island

dan kellar — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 22:14:51 -0400

The response to white power #boneheads organizing in Edmonton and London is strong as hundreds of anti-racists and #antifa warriors drive neo-nazis back under the rock they came out from under. These actions occur as communities in Vancouver come together to march for the elimination of racial discrimination and as Canadian minister of censorship and deportation Jason Kenney uses question period to have his government attack No One Is Illegal (http://nooneisillegal.org) as "more than just a noisey protest group."

Refugee and immigrant rights activists occupy Conservative MP constituency offices

johnbon — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 18:10:25 -0400

Listen to an interview with Sardar Saadi, No One is Illegal Toronto, from Conservative MP Ted Opitz's office on Wednesday afternoon.

From the press release:

In a coordinated effort, members of refugee and immigrant rights groups including No One Is Illegal are occupying Conservative MP offices in Ottawa, Toronto, St. Catharines, Edmonton, and Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories. Banners have also been dropped in Montreal and Halifax. These actions coincide with April 4, Refugee Rights Day, and are being organized to demand that the Refugee Exclusion Act, Bill C-31, be discarded.

Live updates and pictures are being streamed through: www.twitter.com/NoOneIsIllegal

Bill C-31 will destroy key aspects of Canada's refugee system

M.Gregus — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 07:15:51 -0400

On February 16, 2012, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney introduced legislation "to protect the integrity of Canada's immigration system." The Harper government minister proposed measures to" include further reforms to the asylum system to make it faster and fairer, measures to address human smuggling, and the authority to make it mandatory to provide biometric data with a temporary resident visa application."

Minister Kenney said in the prepared press release that "Canadians take great pride in the generosity and compassion of our immigration and refugee programs. But they have no tolerance for those who abuse our generosity and seek to take unfair advantage of our country."

Bill C-31: Refugee wrongs or refugee rights?

M.Gregus — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 09:06:21 -0400

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.

Constructing Change: Challenging racism

The Activist Toolkit — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 11:32:54 -0400

Ottawa celebrated the International Day for the Elimination of Racism this past weekend with a march around the city to expose and oppose racism. More than fifty protesters walked in solidarity along with folks representing Moe Harkat, Students Against Israeli Apartheid, POWER, Independent Jewish Voices and OPRIG Ottawa.

I spoke with protesters throughout the march and found that although they support different causes, racism affects all struggles. Look for tools on the toolkit to help challenge racism!

Intro song: "The Revolution will not be Televised" by Gill-Scott Heron

"Hahahahaha jk" by Das Racist

'Forever' by ATheAcademic: Anthem for the Trayvon Martin tragedy

M.Gregus — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 09:39:50 -0400

"Forever" asks the question, "How can we forget?" How can we forget those who came before us in the struggle for civil rights? How can we forget the unsung heroes.. Forgetting is the worst crime..