Live Free Collective

marinelandanimaldefense: Knowing the history of opposition to...

Mon, 13 May 2013 15:19:14 -0400

Knowing the history of opposition to Marineland, as well as the history of opposition to animal captivity, is an important focus of this campaign.

28 years ago today the MOVE Collective house was bombed by the Philadelphia Police Dept murdering 11, including 5 children.

In the history of the MOVE Collective, predominately known as a radical black liberationist collective, was a long history of protest against vivisection, dog breeding and animal captivity - including campaigns against the Philadelphia Zoo in the early 1970’s.

Their critique of captivity was broad and the tactics they were using to protest against it were way before their time.

Today we remember the MOVE collective, recognize their place in the history of opposing animal captivity, and recognize ourselves that the struggle to free other animals from captivity are never isolated struggles - they are a part of a broader struggle to live freely and to respect all life.

Free the Move 9! Free Mumia!

“All living beings, things that move, are equally important, whether they are human beings, dogs, birds, fish, trees, ants, weeds, rivers, wind or rain. To stay healthy and strong, life must have clean air, clear water and pure food. If deprived of these things, life will cycle to the next level, or as the system says, ‘die’.” - John Africa (MOVE).

deafmuslimpunx: pretendpagan: Trans* activists in Mexico City,...

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 21:58:52 -0400

deafmuslimpunx:

pretendpagan:

Trans* activists in Mexico City, protesting violence against the LGBTQ community.

damn

mehreenkasana: Your favorite Nobel Peace prize winning...

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 20:19:36 -0400

mehreenkasana:

Your favorite Nobel Peace prize winning president. The same guy who is a ‘lesser evil’ to you but not to the thousands of Pakistanis who were never offered a fair trial before or after being bombed to pieces. Yay, Democrats. Yay, liberals.

angry-hippo: This early queer / animal liberation zine was...

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 22:33:44 -0400

angry-hippo:

This early queer / animal liberation zine was produced by two of my favorite 80’s militants! Check it out HERE.

Today is National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 23:30:39 -0400

Today is National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day:

latinosexuality:

Read this PDF fact sheet created by the National Native American AIDS Prevention Center with information about Native communities and HIV and AIDS

specialnights: The Move 9 1985. Philadelphia city police...

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 13:59:30 -0400

specialnights:

The Move 9

1985. Philadelphia city police dropped a bomb on this block (Osage Avenue) and let it burn. Five children and six adults, members of a small radical collective called MOVE, died; 61 homes in a middle-class neighborhood were destroyed. As the nation watched, Philadelphia became the city that bombed its own people.

The firefighters were stopped from putting out the fires based on allegations that firefighters were being shot at, a claim that was contested by the lone adult survivor Ramona Africa, who says that the firefighters had earlier battered the house with two deluge pumps when there was no fire. Police shot at those trying to escape the house and acknowledge firing over 10,000 rounds.

Shadowboxing: An Animal Liberationist Perspective on the Conservative Administration, The Commercial Seal Hunt, and #InuitCounterProtest

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 17:11:00 -0400

Shadowboxing: An Animal Liberationist Perspective on the Conservative Administration, The Commercial Seal Hunt, and #InuitCounterProtest   

Summary

What I put forward below is my sincere belief that the Conservative administration is using the Seal Hunt as manufactured wedge between Inuit communities and Animal Rights activists. What follows is an animal liberationist perspective - a perspective grounded in the knowledge that the liberation of other animal species from human society cannot be achieved in isolation of other forms of oppression, power and domination. Shadowboxing has a dual meaning here - in that the Conservative Administration is pretending to fight on behalf of Inuit communities and as such pitting Inuit communities vs. Animal Rights activists in a fight where no such opponent exists. It is my hope that this will provide a critical counter to the intentions and motivations of the Conservative Administration, lead to direct consultation on the issue between communities and foster a demand for critical understanding of treaty rights, hunting rights, whiteness and settler colonialism within the animal rights movement.

Background

Before I get into the heart of the issue I want to steal something from a friend who I saw talk recently. That talk was about revolution, and specifically, revolution before our countries become “revolt proof” through hyper technological forms of surveillance and repression. Before he got into that talk he gave a background on the his own experience with state repression, his experience in prisons and his organizing. The thinking was that if people are going to speak on serious topics, topics as serious as revolution, then they need to at least be upfront about what gives them the legitimacy to speak on that issue.   

I grew up on the Haldimand Tract, in Dunnville, On (Port Maitland to be more specific). I grew up in a family that had generations of business relationships and friendships with Haudenosaunee of the Grand River folks (Six Nations). My grandfather would sell fish and trade in hunted animals with friends on the reserve and this relationship was carried on by my father. In both instances it drew ire from other local business leaders and settler community members. My fathers small business has proudly flown the Unity flag, hired consistently from the Reserve and done so even in the face of serious business consequences. In turn, the relationships he has developed have been there when called on to help mitigate and stop property disputes, illegal development and counter attempts by the Canadian Government to tax my father’s waterfront business (he runs a small shipyard). I was raised with the knowledge that I am a settler. That I am obligated to respect the Haudenosaunne and to respect treaty rights if I am to share this land and that I am to do this not just when convenient.  

As I got older I began to act on these issues locally by organizing film screenings of the documentary Six Miles Deep - a chronicle of the reclamation of Douglas Creek Estates, now known as Kanonhstaton “The Protected Place.” I screened the film numerous times in Dunnville - which is in the Six Miles area that was granted to the Haudenosaunee. I was not connected to an academic institution, or union, or even solidarity group or collective. I did this, along with another local friend Eric Smith, because we realized our position on stolen land. A while longer after these screenings Eric and I both got involved in solidarity organizing at Kanonhstaton, through the more established solidarity networks. Since that time I have been involved in organizing the April 28th Coalition march, doing court support and fundraising for Haudenosaunee Land Defenders, organizing speaking events for Haudenosaunee activists, organizing marches, answering the call out for allies as much as possible at bridge closures, school supply demos and work site shut downs and also tried to do what I can to provide direct support for folks like providing transport for folks back and forth across the Border. I don’t mention these things to gain credit, or because I feel like I should be complimented, but to hopefully illustrate that I am drawn to these issues not as an academic drive by ethnographer, or as some passing activist fad, but out of a life long commitment to recognizing my position as a settler and my obligation to honouring the Guswenta (Two Row Wampum). I also do not want to convey that these communities are homogeneous - they are not. Solidarity organizing will look radically different within each community, and obligations to enter a relationship will be different. I have not organized directly, or indirectly, with Inuit folks in Northern communities affected by the seal hunt. I give this background to hopefully illustrate that if I err I am earnest in trying to understand treaty rights, respect autonomy and sovereignty. I take these issues extremely seriously.   

Aside from this organizing, my primary organizing has been in the animal and earth liberation movements. Aside from my experiences I have spent a good amount of time trying to learn the history of those movements. I know that these are movements that are largely acritical of whiteness, privilege, and devoid of a larger critique of power and domination. I know that many experiences that folks have had with members of my community have not been positive. In doing solidarity organizing I have made bringing these issues into these movements a priority - physically bringing vegans and animal liberationists to Kanonhstaton, site shut downs, the Cayuga Courthouse, and bringing Haudenosaunee folks up to this community to do speaking events and shows. I do not particularly enjoy online writing, but I have tried my best in those situations to chart a new course as well and have always tried to use the Guswenta as a guide. Many of the animal liberation folks in my community have a synthetic felt Guswenta sewed onto their jackets and through this organizing my community in Niagara has developed a reputation for having a broad based critique of power and domination and also for walking the talk.

When #IdleNoMore took off we called on animal liberationists to support; when the local Sun Media paper tried to create a settler panic in response to a traditional Haudenosaunee hunt we responded with a statement and we joined with others and marched a Giant Two Row through the largest downtown in the Niagara Region.

The relationships have not been without a share of blowback - everything from dismissive settler allies (settler leftists who are uncomfortable and incapable of understanding of other animals as living, breathing, sentient creatures), to folks on all sides falsely assuming we are “pro-life” or that we will betray them whenever an issue concerning animal use arises. Solidarity is built over the span of decades, and destroyed and built anew each and every night. We recognize this.

Correcting the past behaviors and mistakes of a movement with no critique of settler colonialism, erasure, and genocide, is not going to happen overnight but through acknowledging the land we are on and working in solidarity as a condition of our participation as allies to other animal species also on this land.

We have experienced something extremely powerful in both communities finding common ground. Many Onkwehonwe communities have a traditional critique of capitalism and the commodification of other animals species (or nations). “All my relations.” Where many vegans and “animal rights” activists focus on domesticated farmed animals, many Onkwehonwe communities have a much stronger critique of habitat destruction and the real drivers for the destruction of animals and wildlife. There is immense power in these communities understanding the specificity of each issue - and also the ways in which these issues intersect (more on that later).

  The Conservative Agenda

The Conservative Administration has been long focused on a strategy of leveraging the well-being of Inuit hunting communities in response to the European Union Commercial Seal Hunt Ban. Since the passing off the ban in 2010, the Conservative Government and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans have presented Inuit Hunters as a face for the issue, even though the EU ban makes an exemption for traditional Inuit hunting as well as commercial Inuit use. Inuit hunters themselves represent 3% of the seal hunt market, and similar to other “resource extraction” that percentage is largely at the kill level - far removed from the mark-up and profit of industries farther along the product chain.

The Conservatives have spent large sums of money attempting to introduce seal meat (for the first time) into the Chinese market, fighting the EU ban at the WTO, monitoring seal hunt opposition, as well as using advertising and online disruption. These strategies have also been used by this administration to disrupt opposition to the Tar Sands, and for example by Immigration Minister Jason Kenney to do damage control for his retrograde immigration policies. In this instance, the Conservatives have been more successful in their strategy of ‘divide and conquer’ - presenting the Inuit Hunt (which is not banned) as the face of the issue and pitting Inuit vs. “Animal Rights” activists. This was highlighted when earlier this week the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) - which supports the EU ban, cancelled their “International Day of Action for Seals” event when an #InuitCounterProtest event was organized. The March 16 event, which was to be held on what is typically the International Day of Action for Seals, was intended to be a family-friendly event in celebration of seals and to show support for the citizens of the European Union and their ban on the sale of commercial seal products and the Atlantic settler commercial industry. IFAW organized and intended it to be a peaceful and positive show of support – not a protest. However, this planned “counter-protest” was intended, by its very nature, to be confrontational.

I have also witnessed intense blowback against animal rights activists on social media and on list-serves. This blowback has conflated opposition to the Commercial Settler Atlantic Seal Trade with opposition to Inuit traditions. What is missing is that animal rights organizations involved in opposing the Commerical Settler Atlantic Seal Trade purposefully do not target or focus or criticize the Inuit Hunt and treaty rights. When pressed, all of the folks pushing the blowback are either incapable of providing examples, relate back to the overall inability of the animal rights movement to broadly respect treaty rights, or simply ignore the request.

One particular list serve email called the anti-sealing movement a “purely colonial enterprise” and went on to list numerous instances where the Canadian state has used other animal species as a way to inflict damage on Inuit communities. It is completely lost on this person, and many others, that the Conservative administration is, at best, leveraging Inuit communities to shield and support the settler hunt, and at the worst purely posturing and shadowboxing - pretending to fight hard on the issue for political capital and using AR communities as a scapegoat to wedge.  

The United States banned Commercial Seal Hunt products back in 1972. Many countries have enacted bans since. The Conservative administration, and many others, have seen the writing on the wall on this issue for some time. The commercial seal hunt is in collapse. The EU ban, if fought and won at the WTO, will be brought forward again with language that will pass any legal challenge. Also, there is no proposed new golden market in China. The Conservative Government has knowingly misrepresented this industry to communities in order to extract political capital - electoral votes on the East Coast and leverage in Northern Communities. Their shadowboxing allowed them to gain this political capital - while focusing the fall out and backlash on the collapse on animal rights activists and organizations. They have known, for at least three years at this point, that this industry’s demand has dried up completely.

They have done nothing substantive to transition or ensure alternative economic options for folks on the East Coast, or for Inuit communities in the North. With all of the development projects currently slated for the resource rich North, the collapse on the Inuit seal hunt industry is political gold for the Conservatives. If they can collapse the economy, pit traditional communities against environmentalists and animal rights activists, and walk away looking like the good guy they have pulled off a major political victory. With the latest flare up, these interests are using the power of #idlenomore to push the issue - playing off of the grassroots groundswell and the historic inability of these communities and movements to find a solid coalition politic.

Four main lies uphold this work 1) that the AR movement and groups like IFAW do or have ever campaigned against Inuit hunts for seals 2) that the EU seal ban is an attack on Inuit traditional way of life 3) that if Inuit folks fight hard enough against these groups the market will return, and that 4) the Conservatives are doing “everything they can” to ensure the long term economic sustainability of Northern and Atlantic communities. That so many solid and critical folks on the left have accepted these lies and acritically adopted the Conservative administration strategy is terrifying and has extreme long term implications for two communities who need to work together.

  A Coalition Politic

More work needs to be done, at a rapid pace, in animal advocacy at the global and grassroots level to understand treaty rights, settler colonialism, and how whiteness and privilege surround issues of animal use. I am committed to this work no matter how the successful the Conservatives are at pitting these communities against each other. More work also needs to happen in regards to direct consultation. These groups need to be talking to each other directly, not through the Conservative administration, the press or social media. It is not enough for AR groups to merely point out that their position, and the position of these bans, makes explicit exception for the Inuit Hunt.

Members of those Inuit communities understand the importance of the Hunt on their local economy and do not trust the intentions of an animal rights movement that they have felt to be at best unresponsive and at worst overtly racist. However, it will be impossible to stop the Conservative administration from wedging this issue if we don’t build relationships. The long term implications of an outright split could be disastrous to confronting large scale resource extraction in the North and transition for Northern (and even Atlantic Settler) communities dealing with the fall-out from the commercial seal hunt collapse.

As the larger #idlenomore movement makes this issue a focus, the wedge is driven further between communities who should be organizing together against environmental racism, factory farms, pollution, habitat destruction, capitalism and more.

A similar process is playing out right now in the migrant justice community as the Kenney administration is pitting the labour movement against the migrant worker community and elements of the Canadian labour movement are taking the bait. It should come as no surprise that the Conservative administration intends to create wedges to isolate and focus different social justice communities against each other. We should be highly critical and suspicious when our own organizing matches their policies and objectives. Are we to really believe that the Conservative administration takes Inuit treaty and hunting rights seriously? If we don’t at least ask that question we are walking down a very dangerous path.

  If anyone would like to discuss this further please don’t hesitate to contact at dylanjamespowell@gmail.com . Thank you to everyone who provided comments, edits and criticism. Feel free to repost or host elsewhere.

queeractionniagara: Michael, great activist and great person,...

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 14:56:06 -0500

queeractionniagara:

Michael, great activist and great person, is fundraising for his Top Surgery. Queer Action encourages you to donate to his cause. This is not important only because it is personal and Michael is loved member of the Niagara Community. The issue is political as cissexual/gendered people have similar surgeries that are covered due to “medical reasons” all the time, simply because their body (“medically”) aligns with their gender. All trans people should have access to the same procedures as cis people and access to the bodies and genders they know they are. The Medical Industrial Complex, nor any Government Official, will ever create social change in regards to this. Community response to these issues are the only thing that ever will. All trans struggles our are struggles as a queer community and allies.

http://www.gofundme.com/15w2xg?pc=fb_cr

queeractionniagara: Join Neil and Brent of Aids Action Now for...

Sat, 02 Mar 2013 23:56:53 -0500

queeractionniagara:

Join Neil and Brent of Aids Action Now for a screening of “United in Anger: A History of ACT UP”. “

“United in Anger: A History of ACT UP is an inspiring documentary about the birth and life of the AIDS activist movement from the perspective of the people in the trenches fighting the epidemic. Utilizing oral histories of members of ACT UP, as well as rare archival footage, the film depicts the efforts of ACT UP as it battles corporate greed, social indifference, and government neglect.”
http://www.unitedinanger.com/

After the film, their will be a community discussion about Aids Action Now and how we can provide support and Solidarity in Niagara.

For more info on Aids Action Now: https://www.facebook.com/AidsActionNow
http://www.aidsactionnow.org/
https://twitter.com/AIDSActionNow

Endorsed by:
Queer Action Niagara
(http://queeractionniagara.tumblr.com/)
The Dark Circle Collective
(http://thedarkcirclecollective.tumblr.com/)
The Niagara Animal Defense League
(http://niagaraadl.com/)
The Live Free Collective

(https://www.facebook.com/livefreecollective)

Photo

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 20:55:13 -0500

The Live Free Collective has been doing plant based food...

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 22:19:25 -0500

The Live Free Collective has been doing plant based food servings at the RAFT at risk youth shelter in St. Catharines since 2011 as a way to make healthy vegan food accessible to at risk youth in community.

What began as a donation based program has now shifted to a potluck style program with members preparing healthy, plant based meals and dropping them off during the day, or before the serving. If you can help out and are interested in providing vegan meals please get in touch! Our servings at the third Thursday of every month.

weeptowaterthetrees: Today marks the 1 year anniversary of the...

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 18:03:25 -0500

weeptowaterthetrees:

Today marks the 1 year anniversary of the Hampstead tragedy where 13 migrant workers - chicken catchers who were heading home after an extremely long day - collided with a flat bed truck killing the truck driver and 11 of the migrant workers. Although the accident was horrific and exposed the structural racism and exploitation involved in the migrant worker/temporary foreign worker program - no inquest was held. My thoughts today are with those across this country toiling in exploitative settings hoping for the chance of a better life - and facing routine disrespect and unsafe work in return. I also think today of my friends organizing in the migrant/refugee communities in Canada and the struggles they are facing against one of the most hostile Governments in Canadian history.

Justice for Migrant Workers, J4MW is calling on Kathleen Wynne today to make good on the memories of these men. I’d also highly suggest tuning into No One Is Illegal - Toronto and supporting their Act Now: Access Not Fear motion about to reach City Hall.

*Migrant workers are a spot of willed ignorance for many in the “animal rights” community who equate plant based foods = “cruelty free.” This is a wake up call - many of the foods eaten at dinner tables across the country (vegan or not) was grown, harvested, picked and/or packaged in sweatshop like conditions by migrant workers in rural Canada.

fantasticalradicals: this poster is seriously gorgeous and...

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 17:21:22 -0500

fantasticalradicals:

this poster is seriously gorgeous

and people need to credit the artist: Ernersto Yerena, 2011

juneisnice: The incredible screen printed posters of Melanie...

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 14:02:20 -0500

juneisnice:

The incredible screen printed posters of Melanie Cervantes and Jesus Barraza, a graphic arts collaboration based out of Oakland. You can find their stuff at Dignidad Rebelde.

weeptowaterthetrees: The Giant Two Row March is only days away....

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 21:38:08 -0500

weeptowaterthetrees:

The Giant Two Row March is only days away. Friggin’ stoked! Facebook event page is below. “Keep Calm” design will be on shirts for folks to buy on Saturday - fundraising shirts for the event.

WHEN I SAY TWO ROW YOU SAY WAMPUM - TWO ROW - WAMPUM - TWO ROW - WAMPUM!

http://www.facebook.com/events/536505619701012/

weeptowaterthetrees: Join us on Saturday February 2nd for a...

Sat, 12 Jan 2013 20:34:36 -0500

weeptowaterthetrees:

Join us on Saturday February 2nd for a Giant Two Row march through the downtown of St. Catharines!

2013 is the 400th anniversary of the “Two Row Wampum Belt” - the Gushwenta - and represents the oldest living treaty between Haudenosaunee folks and settlers. It is the foundation for a relationship of peace, respect, and friendship as well as non-interference. We hope to educate settlers in the area about the Two Row and celebrate a relationship based upon honouring treaties.

For more background on the Two Row Wampum
http://www.akwesasne.ca/tworowwampum.html

This event is a coalition event with organizers from each row. If you would like to endorse the event, or get involved in organizing - please have a good heart and a good mind and message admins!

http://www.facebook.com/events/536505619701012/

harmreduction: Where Things Stand (for authors of color) We...

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 11:48:14 -0500

harmreduction:

Where Things Stand (for authors of color)

We looked at 742 books reviewed, across all genres. Of those 742, 655 were written by Caucasian authors (1 transgender writer, 437 men, and 217 women). Thirty-one were written by Africans or African Americans (21 men, 10 women), 9 were written by Hispanic authors (8 men, 1 woman), 33 by Asian, Asian-American or South Asian writers (19 men, 14 women), 8 by Middle Eastern writers (5 men, 3 women) and 6 were books written by writers whose racial background we were simply unable to identify.Read more at ONTD Political.

- Disturbing and unacceptable, but unfortunately, not surprising.

Niagara Animal Defense League: Statement on Haudenosaunee Hunt at Short Hills

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 17:37:08 -0500

Niagara Animal Defense League: Statement on Haudenosaunee Hunt at Short Hills :

niagaraadl:

So our silence would not be interpreted the wrong way - we wanted to issue a statement in regards to the manufactured “controversy” over the planned Haudenosaunee Council hunt at Short Hills Provincial Park.

SunMedia - a corporation known for it’s right-wing inflammatory content - has long…

"The Police and the State consistently justify their systemic racist violence by saying they are..."

Sat, 29 Dec 2012 23:45:39 -0500

“The Police and the State consistently justify their systemic racist violence by saying they are protecting women. Patriarchy, the dominance of men over women and gender nonconforming people, happens everywhere in our society, but the state tries to convince us that Black men are the main perpetrators. This racist lie helps the state justify their violent control over “uncontrollable” communities. The police’s shooting of Harding is one instance of the way the state terrorizes a community that is a threat to the current social order, that has been historically attacked and barred from access to stable employment, etc. It’s no longer politically correct to lynch Black men, but the police can shoot down Black and Brown people in the street and justify it through demonizing them.”

- SFPD: Don’t Even Try to Front, We Know You Didn’t Kill Harding to “Protect Women”, 2011 (via ninjabikeslut)

Photo

Sat, 29 Dec 2012 16:52:40 -0500