Click here for the Facebook event of the full schedule!
MONDAY, MARCH 9TH
Waging War on the Poor: A Film & Presentation on the Philippines President Duterte’s “War on Drugs”
Monday, March 9th
6:30 – 8:30 pm
United Theological College
3521 rue University (Metro McGill)
*Content warning*: This film shows real-life footage of murder, death and violence. There will be a debrief and members of the groups available throughout and after the film for further support.
Join Anakbayan Montreal and members of McGill’s Filipino student community as they screen Nightcrawler and present on the current situation of the War on Drugs (War on the Poor) and the resistance of the peoples.
Nightcrawler: “With unprecedented access, The Nightcrawlers is an unflinching exposé of Philippines President Duterte’s war on drugs, in which some claim over 20,000 people have been killed. RL, a former staff photographer for a prominent newspaper, leads the Manila Nightcrawlers, a small group of determined photojournalists on a mission to expose the true cost of the violent campaign. Through covering both sides of the conflict, The Nightcrawlers reveals a harrowing twist behind Duterte’s deadly crusade.”
Facilitators/ Co-Organizers: Anakbayan Montreal are affiliates of Lakkas Paggawas a QPIRG working group focused on labour and worker’s rights in the Filipino community. AB Montreal is an overseas chapter of the mass organization Anakbayan – Filipino/a/x youth fighting in the national democratic movement for a just and lasting peace in the Philippines. Anakbayan unite with the masses to oppose bureaucrat capitalism, feudalism, colonialism and imperialism. Other Filipino groups on campus will be collaborating on this film screening, their confirmations to be determined by their members.
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/533190673978555/▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁
Abolissons la détention, abolishing detention: Film Screening w Solidarity Across Borders
Monday March 9th
7 – 9 pm
Casa del Popolo
4873 St Laurent Blvd (Metro Laurier or Bus 55)
Join us for an evening of exchange and reflection on the subjects of migrant detention, the criminalisation of people of colour, and movements for prison abolition.
We’ll have the opportunity to watch “To the Living”, a film by Pauline Fonsny that tells the story of Semira Adamu, a Nigerian migrant who was killed by police during her deportation from Belgium in 1998. The projection will be followed by a panel discussion (panelists will be confirmed shortly!) and a banner-making session.
Facebook event:
https://www.facebook.com/events/207070997323694/
TUESDAY, MARCH 10th
Invasion: Climate Change and Settler Colonialism in Wet’suwet’en territory
Tuesday, March 10th
6:30 – 8:30 pm
CEDA
2515 Rue Delisle (Metro Lionel-Groulx)
Climate change and environmental injustice can not be understood solely through greenhouse gas emissions, but rather as a result of imperialist, colonial, and capitalist systems. To bring attention to indigenous land and water defenders on the front lines of the climate crisis, Climate Justice Action McGill will be hosting a screening of Invasion (2019) by filmmakers Michael Toledano, Sam Vinal, and Franklin Lopez. This short documentary tells the story of the Unis’tot’en camp, Gidimt’en checkpoint, and the larger Wet’suwet’en Nation standing up to the Canadian government and corporations who continue colonial violence against indigenous people and future generations. Join activist, chef, and Elder Marlene Hale of the Wet’suwet’en Nation, members of the Kanien’keha:ka Nation, and others for a discussion on the intersections of settler-colonialism and climate change as well as engage with narratives of anti-colonial struggle and tensions within Canadian reconciliation. Topics of discussion may include colonialism, resource extraction, ecological degradation, and the historic solidarity between the Wet’suwet’en and Mohawk chiefs. There will be a question period at the end if the audience has anything to ask the panelists.
The Supreme Court of Canada’s 1997 Delgamuukw decision ruled that the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs have the legal jurisdiction over their unceded land in what is now known as northern British Columbia. Despite this, the Canadian government is currently forcing through the Coastal Gaslink pipeline project without Wet’suwet’en consent and sending in the RCMP to arrest Wet’suwet’en matriarchs who are defending their land. The violence, environmental destruction, and disregard for human rights following various injunctions and colonial state invasions have been devastating to bear, but this fight is far from over, and Indigenous resistance is stronger than ever (check out the hashtags #ShutDownCanada #WetsuwetenStrong). Join us to learn more about the importance of indigenous resistance, solidarity, and wisdom in the context of the climate crisis.
This event will be by donation, with all funds raised going to the Unis’tot’en legal fund (suggested donation: $10, but everyone is welcome regardless of their ability to pay!) We also encourage you to donate online at https://unistoten.camp/support-us/donate/
Bio: C-JAM is the group on the McGill campus that uses non-violent direct action to demand climate justice from the McGill administration and Canadian governments.
Panelist biographies will be updated shortly!
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/472960460253746/
THURSDAY MARCH 12th
Greenwashing & Colonization
Thursday, March 12th
4:30 – 6:00pm
QPIRG-Concordia
2100 Guy St, Suite 205 (Metro Concordia or Bus 24)
Although environmental and climate movements have become prominent in the past few years, too little attention is being paid to the ways in which global systems of racism and colonialism structure environmental devastation and human suffering around the globe. In this comparative case study, Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) and Students in Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) will talk about how environmental racism and colonial ideologies fuel the destruction of land and the erasure of indigenous peoples in both occupied Tibet and occupied Palestine. They will also discuss the phenomenon of ‘Greenwashing’, whereby states seek to present their destructive and racist policies as “eco-friendly” or “progressive”.
Bios
Andreas Iakovos Koch is a fourth year undergraduate majoring in Political Science and minoring in History and Arabic. He is an active member of SPHR McGill, as well as Vice-President External of the World Islamic and Middle East Studies Students’ Association.
Tara Chökyi Langri is a second year student majoring in Sociology and double minoring in Political Science & Religious Studies. As a Tibetan, she has been a longtime supporter of Tibetan human rights and is an active member of the local Tibetan community. She is also an active member of SFT McGill. Her research interests include ethno-religious oppression and state-society relations.
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/193117468423075/
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Being a Good Neighbour in Milton-Parc
Thursday, March 12th
6pm-8pm
United Theological College
3521 rue University (Metro McGill)
Milton-Parc, the neighbourhood directly east of McGill campus, runs from Rue University to Blvd Saint-Laurent, and From Rue Sherbrooke to Ave des Pins. In the past 20 years an increasing number of students have moved into the area, starting the misnomer “the McGill Ghetto.” This name ignores the realities of permanent residences, and glosses over the neighbourhood’s history of collective action. Tension between students and residents revolve around pollution, both physical and noise.
In 2010 the Citizen’s Committee of Milton-Parc (CCMP), Student’s Society of McGill University (SSMU), and McGill administration pioneered the Community Actions and Relations Endeavour (CARE) agreement, outlining these tensions and the ways in which stakeholders can act to ease them. 10 years later, the struggle of being a “good neighbour” is still ongoing.
This panel and discussion will feature an introduction to the history of Milton-Parc, a presentation of the issues both caused by and faced by students, followed by a discussion on how to be a better neighbour in the future.
Bios
Dimitri Roussopoulos is a long time community activist and current president of the CCMP. He has written on the history of Milton-Parc, ecology, and politics.
Claire Grenier is the current Community Affairs Commissioner at SSMU, undergraduate student at McGill, and resident of Milton-Parc. Her work focuses on strengthening and maintaining community relationships, student awareness and engagement with their surroundings, in addition to organizing community centred events.
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/234934834193163/
FRIDAY MARCH 13th
Sin City: Sex Work, the Law, and Labour Rights in Montreal, 1970-2020
Friday, March 13th
3pm-5pm
United Theological College
3521 rue University (Metro McGill)
This 2-hour workshop will explore contemporary realities of sex work through historical analysis. It will outline the precedents which led to the development of a vibrant and complex landscape of commercialized sex in Montreal, pointing to a multitude of legal and social factors. Ultimately, it will point to the ways in which labour conditions in the sex industry have been historically constituted through the interplay of stigma, criminalization, precarity, and surveillance.
Bio
Bee Khaleeli is a student and writer, living and working on unceded Mohawk territory. They spent much of their undergraduate degree working in sexual violence prevention. Their work has appeared in The McGill Daily and Briarpatch Magazine, and they are particularly interested in the experiences of student sex workers and the casualization of sexual labour.
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/186881232581533/
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BIHRA & Indigenous Sex Work and Art Collective – Sex Work Compilation Screening
Friday, March 13th
6pm-8pm
United Theological College
3521 rue University (Metro McGill)
We invite community members to join us in screening a compilation of testimonials from sex workers to express their truth and experiences regarding stigma, discrimination and criminalization as well as different issues face by sex working folks. Discussion will follow with Maria Nengeh Mensah from Testimonial Cultures.
Coffee, tea and bannock will be served.
Bios:
The Black Indigenous Harm Reduction Alliance is a group of community workers of diverse experience who wish to draw attention to the need for access to self-determined and holistic health services within our communities. Through peer-to-peer discussions, harm reduction education, and advocacy within mainstream harm reduction spaces, we aim to work with our communities to build kinship, empowerment, and leadership and strengthen ties between Black and Indigenous individuals and communities.
Please contact us by email: bi.harmredux@gmail.com
The Indigenous Sex Work and Art Collective is a group of diverse Indigenous folks with lived experiences in the sex industries that got together to access culturally safer support within their community. We mostly organize retreats and participate in sharing circles with community workers, peers and organizations.
Please contact us by email : indigsexworkartcollective@gmail.com
Maria Nengeh Mensah est professeure titulaire à l’École de travail social de l’UQAM. Elle dirige, depuis 2010, l’équipe de recherche-action Cultures du témoignage | Testimonial Cultures [www.culturesdutemoignage.ca]. Chercheure engagée dans la défense des groupes minorisées, ses travaux unissent les milieux associatifs, académiques et artistiques autour des défis liés à la reconnaissance et à la participation sociales des communautés sexuelles et de genres. La « Compilation de témoignage sur le travail du sexe » (2012) est le fruit d’un travail collectif avec des personnes qui exercent le travail du sexe, membres de Stella, l’amie de Maimie (à Montréal) et POWER (à Gatineau). La compilation présente des extraits de vidéos et de films, réalisés au Canada entre 1981 et 2011, et vise à défaire les préjugés en mettant à l’avant plan la parole des travailleuses et travailleurs du sexe qui demandent la décriminalisation de leur vie et de leur travail.
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1440594476115390/
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