November 2011
14 posts
It’s been three weeks since Attawapiskat First Nation took the extraordinary step of declaring a state of emergency. Since then, not a single federal or provincial official has even bothered to visit the community.
No aid agencies have stepped forward. No disaster management teams have offered help.
Meanwhile temperatures have dropped 20 degrees and will likely drop another 20 or 25 degrees further in the coming weeks. For families living in uninsulated tents, makeshift cabins and sheds, the worsening weather poses serious risk.
Two weeks ago I travelled to this community on the James Bay coast to see why conditions had become so extreme that local leaders felt compelled to declare a state of emergency. It was like stepping into a fourth world. […]
This is Canada, people. CANADA. The blatant racism in these actions is astounding. The way our government treats the first nation peoples is disgusting,
Anyone we can write to? Let them know the world (or at least our little corners of it) is watching?
There’s some contact info in this related post here, http://intercontinentalcry.org/attawapiskat-state-of-emergency-ignored/
What you Can DoTwo petitions are being circulated if you’d like to support the community of Attawapiskat:
- Calling on Chuck Strahl to live in Attawapiskat for one month
- Calling on the government to build a school
You may also want to write a letter to:
- Prime Minister Stephen Harper: pm@pm.gc.ca
- Indian and Northern Affairs (INAC): CNAP-NACC@ainc-inac.gc.ca
- INAC Minister Chuck Strahl: StrahC@parl.gc.ca.
For background and more information, please visit attawapiskat.com, www.attawapiskat-school.com, and Attawapiskat support on facebook
made one minor change - Attawapiskat is the name of the reserve…not the Nation itself
Please take a few minutes to bug the Canadian government and support this First Nations community. Signing a petition on the internet is the absolute least we can do. Tell your friends, family & neighbours!
j4mw:
Sex at the Margins: Migration, Labour Markets and the Rescue Industry
Thursday, November 24, 2011
7:30pm at The Raging Spoon, 761 Queen Street West
Maggie’s: Toronto Sex Workers Action Project is proud to host Laura Agustín, an internationally renowned sex worker rights advocate and an…
International Transgender Day of Remembrance
November 21, 2011 - 6:30-9pm
Location: 21 King St., St. Catharines
Join us on November 21st for a documentary screening and discussion in recognition of 9th annual Transgender Day of Remembrance. Let’s remember those who have lost their lives because of anti-transgender hatred or prejudice and also celebrate the diverse Transgender community in Niagara who continue to make strides to improve the quality of life for all.
For more information call:
(905) 984-8684 ext. 120 or 113
Sponsored By:
AIDS Niagara, PFLAG, Quest Community Health Centre, Queer Action Niagara, Transgender Niagara & Transparent Canada
Guernica / Trans-Formative Change
Dean Spade is the first openly trans law professor. Meaghan Winter interviews him for Granta.
FUCKING READ THIS SHIT. NEXT TIME ANYONE THINKS IT’S OKAY TO RAG ON TRANS* PEOPLE (BECAUSE LOLOL THEIR EXISTENCE IS JUST SO FUNNY, ISN’T IT FUNNY THAT SOME PEOPLE AREN’T EXACTLY LIKE ME), I AM GOING TO PRINT THIS QUOTE OUT AND STAPLE IT TO THE ASSHOLE’S FOREHEAD. Fucking read this shit and think hard, think as hard as you can, about how tragic this is. Your tittering and joking and mocking and bullying — which is, painfully obviously, motivated by an indoctrinated discomfort that you are too ignorant or complacent to question the morality of — is what facilitates violence against the trans* community. No, you don’t have to personally pull the trigger, or raise your fist, or deny care and shelter.
All you have to do is systematically dehumanize. All you have to do is deny the weight of your words and the pedestal of your privilege, ignore the suffering that you can conveniently shrug off after an insensitive SNL skit or forum post because what does it matter to me if these people are dying?
(via gadgetry)
If you are not foaming-at-the-mouth angry right now, read that first sentence again (unless you’d like to protect your blood pressure, in which case have a soothing non-invasive hug from me right now).
(via mumblingsage)
There are no words…only rage right now.
(via theangryhippie)