Social Justice Days
5th Annual Social Justice Days – Feb 7th -17th, 2010
Intended to stimulate an alternative political culture in the McGill University community, Social Justice Days is about to mark its fifth year with a week and a half of workshops, discussions, film screenings, and performances engaging local and global issues. This year we decided to “look at the past to look at the future.” From the war in Afghanistan to the Tar Sands of Alberta; from the legacy of the Olympics to Haiti; from the role of student activism to issues of indigenous self-determination, Social Justice Days testifies to the diversity of critical political engagement on this campus, and offers McGill students concrete opportunities to get active in their global community.
All locations are wheelchair accessible, except for QPIRG McGill.
Translation and childcare available, notify us 48 hours in advance.
Brought to you by QPIRG McGill, the SSMU and the SSMU Equity Committee.
Sunday, February 7th
14:00 “Street Clean-ups, Street Protests: Criminalization and Resistance from ’76 to 2010” Public Lecture & Book Launch
Hosted by Q-team a working group of QPIRG McGill) and QPIRG McGill
SSMU Clubs Lounge, 4th Floor, SSMU Building (3480 McTavish)
With all eyes on Vancouver at the start of the Olympic games this February, speakers reflect on the rise in state policing sparked by Olympic fervor in Canada, both in Montreal in 1976 and in the present. This panel looks at community-based resistance that rises to meet national security campaigns and the increasing criminalization of marginalized communities. What can we learn by linking rich histories of activism to present-day struggles?
This event is also a Book launch of “THE CANADIAN WAR ON QUEERS” by Patrizia Gentile and Gary Kinsman.
The book is a passionate, personalized account of a national security campaign that violated people’s civil rights and freedoms in an attempt to regulate their sexual practices. A path-breaking account of how the state used national security to wage war on its own people, this work offers ways of understanding, and resisting, contemporary ideological conflicts… “The Canadian War on Queers” will be available for purchase at this event.
Speaker Bios:
Patrizia Gentile is the co-author of The Canadian War on Queers (2009) and a professor in the department of Women’s and Gender Studies at Carleton University.
Ross Higgins is a professor in the departments of Sociology and Anthropology and the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema at Concordia University, and co-founder of the Archives gaies du Québec.
Jenn Clamen is a professor at the Simone de Beauvoir Institute at Concordia. She has been active in the sex worker rights movement for the last decade. She remains dedicated to fighting against systemic discrimination and criminalization for marginalized groups, through her teaching, and her activist work with sex workers across Canada and the globe.
Contact: qteam@riseup.net
qteam is a working group of QPIRG McGill and a solidarity group of QPIRG Concordia.
Monday, February 8th
12:00 H2Oil: What’s more important, water or oil? A Guest Seminar on the Tar Sands, Environmental Justice and Resistance.
Featuring the director Shannon Walsh
Hosted and organized by Dr. Aziz Choudry
Faculty of Education room, 233, 3700 McTavish
Thanks to Alberta’s Athabasca oil sands, Canada is now the biggest oil supplier to the United States. A controversial billion-dollar industry is heavily invested in extracting crude from the tarry sands through a process so toxic it has become an international cause for concern. Four barrels of glacier-fed spring water are used to process each barrel of oil, then are dumped, laden with carcinogens, into leaky tailings ponds so huge they can be seen from space. Downstream, the people of Fort Chipewyan are already paying the price for what will be one of the largest industrial projects in history. When a local doctor raises the alarm about clusters of rare cancers, evidence mounts for industry and government cover-ups. In a time when wars are fought over oil and a crisis looms over access to clean fresh water, which resource is more precious? And what price are we willing to pay?
Writer and director Shannon Walsh joins us to screen the film and discuss the local implications here in Quebec, and the growing global movement that understands the links between environmental and social justice.
Shannon Walsh is a Montreal-based filmmaker and writer. H2Oil, a documentary about the human and environmental costs of Alberta’s oil sands is her first feature film. Her films have screened at festivals internationally. She has been the recipient of numerous awards, fellowships and prizes. Walsh recently completed her doctorate in the Department of Integrated Studies in Education at McGill, where her research investigated the rise of social movements in post-apartheid South Africa through the ethnography of everyday practice.
All welcome to attend. Organized by Dr Aziz Choudry, Assistant Professor, International Education, Department of Integrated Studies in Education. Phone: 514 3982253/Email: aziz.choudry@mcgill.ca
Tuesday, February 9th
19:30 Rhythms and Resistance in Indian Country. FILM SCREENING: DetermiNATION Songs & Discussion
Hosted by Barrier Lake Solidarity
Leacock 232, McGill University, 805 Sherbrooke St. West
DetermiNATION songs brings to the screen the stories of three Indigenous singer/songwriters – Samian, Cheri Maracle, and CerAmony – who are inspired by the realities and struggle of their communities. To view a trailer of the film, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEuYS9xEycg&feature=player_embedded
A rising star on the Quebec music scene, Algonquin hip hop artist Samian gives voice to a generation of dispossessed youth and forces Quebecers to confront their historical relationship with First Nations. Cheri Maracle recently returned to her community of Six Nations, and she sings about the life of First Nations women, paying homage to the hundreds of missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada. Cree rockers Pakesso Mukash and Matthew Iserhoff, members of CerAmony, air the concerns of their people, disenchanted with the selling off of Cree land to Hydro Quebec and big industry.
The film revolves around a benefit show the musicians played for the Barriere Lake Algonquins, who have been involved in a multi-generational struggle of their own to protect their lands and way of life from clear-cut logging.
For more info: www.barrierelakesolidarity.blogspot.com
Wednesday, February 10th
12:30 One Man’s Struggle against Ableism and Immigration Controls in Canada. A Talk by Refugee Abdelkader Belaouni and his lawyer Jared Will.
Hosted by the Human Rights Working Group – Immigration and Refugee portfolio, in collaboration with Radical Law Students’ Association, Community Law, Pro Bono Students Canada and HRWG – Disability and the Law portfolio.
Moot Court, New Chancellor Day Hall
Living in a Montreal church sanctuary for almost 4 years, refugee Abdelkader Belaouni, describes his personal struggles as a blind man escaping a civil war in Algeria. Years of repeated refusals by the Canadian government to grant him status left him secluded in St. Gabriel’s Church, entirely dependent on the community for care and support. His lawyer, Jared Will, will discuss Abdelkader’s struggles for legal status as a disabled man within Canada’s immigration/refugee
13:00 Let’s share the food! A potluck for Social Justice Groups on Campus.
Hosted by SSMU Equity Commissioner and QPIRG McGill
QPIRG McGill (3647 University St, 3rd Floor)
Thursday, February 11th
13:30 QPIRG McGill’s Library celebrates its 1000th Title! (With tea and cookies!)
Hosted by QPIRG McGill Library
QPIRG McGill Library (3647 University St, 3rd Floor)
Join us for tea and cookies as QPIRG McGill celebrates the 1,000th addition to its library of resources. Browse through our collection of books, zines, films and other resources covering topics such as social justice, activism and community organizing, environmental justice, anti-oppression, political thought, and more! With a chance to win a gift certificate to a local bookstore or a book from our list of titles in our raffle. There’s no shhshing in this library!
18:00 Missing Justice. Panel Discussion on Injustices committed against Indigenous Women in Canada with Jessica Yee, Janie Jamieson and Rachel Alouki Labbe.
Hosted by Missing Justice and Co-sponsored by QPIRG McGill
Exode, CEGEP du Vieux Montreal, 255 Rue Ontario E.
With Guests:
Jessica Yee – Sex education and violence prevention
Rachel Alouki Labbé – Director of the documentary Désert de Croix about violence against women in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico
Janie Jamieson – Mohawk land rights activist, Six Nations, and Niece of Cynthia Jamieson (murdered)
***FOR MORE INFORMATION***
visit www.missingjustice.ca
Missing Justice is a grassroots solidarity collective that works to eliminate violence and discrimination against Indigenous women living in Quebec.
Friday, February 12th
12:00 Workshop: Third World debt: Who Owes Whom?
Hosted by the Social Justice Committee
Lev Bukhman room, SSMU building (3480 McTavish, 3dr Floor)
This workshop delves into the history and origins of debt and poverty in the Third World. Through popular education and engaging illustrations, the audience participates in uncovering the complicated dynamics behind how the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and historical events contributed to Third World debt. This informative, interactive and engaging workshop presents both problems and solutions by instilling a sense of awareness, responsibility and action into the participants
16:00 You Don’t Play with Revolution: The Legacy of C.L.R. James. A Guest Seminar on Globalization, Education and Change
Featuring David Austin, Alfie Roberts Institute, Editor, You Don’t Play With Revolution: The Montreal Lectures of C.L.R. James (AK Press, 2009)
Hosted by Dr. Aziz Choudry.
Education Bldg room 233, 3700 McTavish
You Don’t Play With Revolution: The Montreal Lectures of C.L.R. James (AK Press, 2009), brings together never-before published lectures that Trinidadian socialist theorist, historian and writer C.L.R. James delivered to Caribbean students in Montreal in 1967-68. Ranging in topic from Marx and Lenin to Shakespeare and Rousseau to Caribbean history and the Haitian Revolution, these lectures demonstrate the staggering breadth and clarity of James’ knowledge and interest. Editor, David Austin, of the Alfie Roberts Institute will speak about the legacy and significance of James’ work for today – and Montreal’s connections to this remarkable thinker.
All welcome to attend. For more information, please contact Dr Aziz Choudry, Assistant Professor, International Education, Department of Integrated Studies in Education, McGill University. Phone: 514 3982253 or email: aziz.choudry@mcgill.ca
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KEYNOTE
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18:30 HAITI: THEN AND NOW.
Featuring David Austin from the Alfie Roberts Institute and Jean St-Vil.
Co-Sponsored by QPIRG McGill and the Alfie Roberts Institute.
Leacock 232, McGill University, 805 Sherbrooke St. West
A panel discussion on disaster relief in Haiti.
David Austin is the co-founder of the Alfie Roberts Institute, an independent education and research centre based in Montreal working with African and Caribbean diaspora communities. He is also the editor of A View for Freedom: Alfie Roberts Speaks on the Caribbean, Cricket, Montreal, and C.L.R. James. David Austin has contributed to various progressive publications and is currently working on his second book.
Jean St-Vil was born in Haiti. He is an Ottawa-based activist within the Haitian diaspora in Canada. He has been a featured commentator on CBC Television’s Counterspin, CPAC’s Talk Politics, and CBC Radio’s The Current. He is also a community radio journalist, author of several books, and a founder of the Canada Haiti Action Network a solidarity network which works on public education issues. He is also a co-founder of the non for profit organization AKASAN which mobilizes resources to support worthy initiatives undertaken by and for Haitians.
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Sunday, February 14th
14:00 – 16:00 ANNUAL MEMORIAL MARCH. In memory of the missing and the dead with Odaya.
Parc Émilie-Gamelin to Parc D’Amerique
***FOR MORE INFORMATION***
visit www.missingjustice.ca
Monday, February 15th
15:00 The Role of Students in Social Justice Movements: Moving beyond Charity Work.
Facilitated by Eric Shragge
Hosted by QPIRG McGill
Lev Bukhman room, SSMU Building (3480 McTavish, 3rd Floor)
This interactive workshop will encourage students to engage around issues of privilege and voluneerism. Students will also be able to discuss their role in social justice movements, outside of the student movement
Tuesday, February 16th
18:00 Moving away from the Ivory Tower: the CURE project and IndyClass
Hosted by QPIRG McGill, CURE and Indyclass
QPIRG McGill (3647 University Street, 3rd Floor)
A presentation by those coordinating the Community University Research Exchange (CURE) project, a joint project between QPIRG McGill and QPIRG Concordia, and the founders of IndyClass, an independent study course at McGill. Come find out how to make your research applicable to the community and how to get involved!
Wednesday, February 17th
2 pm Workshop: Activism 101
Hosted by QPIRG Concordia and QPIRG McGill
Lev Bukhman room, SSMU Building (3480 McTavish, 3rd Floor)
An interactive workshop about the basics of community organizing and activism, campus and community-based. This is a co-presentation of QPIRG Concordia and QPIRG McGill.
17:00 SOLIDARITY IDS: THE RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINED IDENTITY
Shatner Building, Lev Bukhman Room (3480 McTavish, 3rd floor)
A Workshop hosted by the Solidarity ID Project (bilingual)
This workshop will look at both gendered and cultural identity issues tackled by such advocacy groups as the Solidarity ID Project. What does it mean to have a chosen name? How do we deal with administrative procedures when it comes to our chosen names?
Co-presentation of the Solidarity ID Project and QPIRG McGill
EVENT CANCELED:
AFGHANISTAN: OCCUPATION AND RESISTANCE. A look at the current realities and student opposition to War over the Years
Feature speakers Peggie Mason (ex-diplomat), Cleve Higgins (former McGill Student and activist)
Hosted by QPIRG McGill
Leacock 219, McGill University, 805 Sherbrooke St. West
This panel will focus on the occupation of Afghanistan and current resistance to the war, both student based and outside of the campus. Peggy Mason, who formerly worked in Foreign Relations and who recently returned from Afghanistan, will critique the international occupying forces through first-hand accounts of the situation in Afghanistan. Cleve Higgins, a former student activist on McGill campus, will look at current student opposition to war. An historical perspective will also look at where we’re at today in terms of student opposition to war.