Thursday, February 12th

Victims of the State: Police Violence & Non-Status Youth in Montreal 
11am-1pm, Room B30 of the SSMU (3480 rue McTavish)

This workshop will discuss state violence, in particular the violence experienced by youth living in the intersection of youth and citizenship status. Race and police brutality in North America have received a lot of attention in the past few months following the deaths of Mike Brown, Eric Garner, and other Black folks and people of color in the US. While some parallels can be drawn between the American and Canadian contexts, this workshop will address the specific threats faced by young people of color without status or with precarious status in the Canadian context.

The workshop will be facilitated by Mutatayi Fuamba, Montreal Youth Ambassador for the Canadian Council for Refugees Youth Network, and made possible through a collaboration between CCR and Solidarity Across Borders. An open discussion and question period will follow.

*The building is wheelchair accessible (check the « Accessibility » menu for maps).
*This workshop will take place in English, with whisper translation into French.
*The lighting in room B30 is fluorescent.
*Childcare will be available for all events with 24 hours notice; please call 514 398 7432 or email qpirg at ssmu dot mcgill dot ca.
* All events are scent free (see here for more info).
* ASL interpretation is available with 3 days notice. Please email qpirg@ssmu.mcgill.ca to request ASL interpretation

The Facebook event is here! 

The Face of 21st Century State Violence and Police Brutality in Palestine
12:30-2:30pm, Lev Bukhman (Room 201) of the SSMU (3480 rue McTavish)

Facilitated by members of Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights, this workshop offers an overview and discussion of how state violence and police brutality are used by Israel against Palestinians as part of a larger apartheid project. The workshop will cover tactics like the arrests of civilians and children, the tactics of the Israeli police and Israeli Defence Forces, the use of home demolitions, check points, late night raids, curfews and airstrikes.

This workshop will make use of video clips of some of the tactics reference above, many of which are graphic or violent.

Zahra Habib-Zahra is a U1 student in Urban Planning and Middle East Studies, who strongly believes that the responsibility to eradicate all suffering, oppression, and injustices all over the world is a collective one.

Maggie Gilligan is a social justice activist and in her final semester at McGill. She will graduate with a BA in Islamic studies and Hispanic studies ISA.

*The building is wheelchair accessible (check the « Accessibility » menu for maps).
*This workshop will take place in English, with whisper translation into French.
*The lighting in Room 201 is fluorescent but dim.
*Childcare will be available for all events with 24 hours notice; please call 514 398 7432 or email qpirg at ssmu dot mcgill dot ca.
* All events are scent free (see here for more info).
* ASL interpretation is also available for all other events with 3 days notice. Please email qpirg@ssmu.mcgill.ca to request ASL interpretation

The Facebook event is here!

Accessibility & Ableism in Activist Communities
2:00-4:00pm, Room B30 of the SSMU (3480 rue McTavish)

While accessibility is something that anti-oppressive organisations are theoretically committed to, it is often either an afterthought or a prohibitive expense for groups with a limited budget. This means that whether it’s in meetings, decision-making, resource allocation, social events or political protest, the needs of disabled activists and community members are frequently left to the wayside and forgotten. Consequently, spaces that should be inclusive and welcoming for disabled folks can often feel quite marginalising and inaccessible.

The first part includes an overview of different models of disability (beyond the well-worn medical and social model) and explores some of the ways in which disabled voices are silenced in mainstream and radical communities. We’ll also talk about calling out/in ableism and ableist language and how folks with invisible disabilities are marginalised.

In the second part of the workshop, participants will break out into groups to conduct an accessibility audit of a community event they are or were involved in as a participant or organiser. This part of the workshop will also involve brainstorming budget-friendly ways of improving accessibility for community-based organisations and discussions around creating events that are accessible to people with a wide range of disabilities.

This workshop is coordinated by Lili Lemieux. Lili is a queer femme crip who loves talking about disability, accessibility, queer things, education, and self-care. She is a moderator for an online forum and support group for chronically ill and disabled folks of all genders, and one of the founders of a soon-to-launch online sexuality resources for disabled folks.

*The building is wheelchair accessible (check the « Accessibility » menu for maps).
*This workshop will take place in English, with whisper translation into French.
*The lighting in room B30 is fluorescent.
*Childcare will be available for all events with 24 hours notice; please call 514 398 7432 or email qpirg at ssmu dot mcgill dot ca.
* All events are scent free (see here for more info).
* ASL interpretation will be available for this workshop.

The Facebook event is here!

What’s That Got To Do With Us? Building Unlikely Alliances in Radical Queer and Trans Politics
7-9pm, Chez Boris, 5151 Avenue du Parc

The evening will consist of a screening of the 2014 film Pride with members of the Prisoner Correspondence Project. The screening of the film will be followed by a discussion about Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) and other instances of radical queer/trans organizing around issues that aren’t explicitly on gender and sexuality, and in particular the work done at the Prisoner Correspondence Project.

The Prisoner Correspondence Project is a collectively run initiative based out of Montreal. It coordinates a direct-correspondence program for gay, lesbian, transsexual, transgender, gendervariant, two-spirit, intersex, bisexual, and queer inmates in Canada and the United States, linking these inmates with people part of these same communities outside of prison. The PCP will also help attendees who are interested in becoming pen pals get matched up, if they’re interested!

* It is possible to enter Chez Boris in a wheelchair, but there is no automatic button on the front door. The bathrooms are not wheelchair accessible.
*This workshop will take place in English, with whisper translation into French.
*The lighting in Chez Boris is not fluorescent
* Childcare will be available for all events with 24 hours notice; please call 514 398 7432 or email qpirg at ssmu dot mcgill dot ca.
* All events are scent free (see here for more info).
* ASL interpretation is available for all events with 3 days notice. Please email qpirg@ssmu.mcgill.ca to request ASL interpretation.

The Facebook event is here!

Friday, February 13th

Bombs, Drones, and Twitter: The University’s Complicity in War

1:30-3pm, Lev Bukhman (Room 201) of the SSMU (3480 rue McTavish)

This workshop will given an overview of Demilitarize McGill’s research on, and action against, military research on the McGill campus, with a particular focus on recent work that sheds light on the University’s complicity in surveillance and colonialism.

In particular, this will include discussion of McGill’s ties to Israeli colonialism, the Canadian state’s surveillance of communities of colour and Indigenous communities, and the use of social media technology as a tool of surveillance and repression. We hope that this workshop will also provide a space for discussion of ways to disrupt this, and so we especially welcome groups and individuals mobilizing, or who would like to mobilize, around connected issues.

This workshop will be facilitated by members of Demilitarize McGill. Demilitarize McGill organizes to interrupt the University’s history of complicity in colonization and imperialist warfare by ending military collaboration at McGill. We are students and community members who have used research, popular education and direct action to impede military research at McGill. We strive to be anti-hierarchical, anti-oppressive, and self-critical in our organizing. We welcome new members, new ideas, and any questions you might have!

For more info on our group and military research at McGill: demilitarizemcgill.com

Or send us an email at: demilitarizemcgill@riseup.net

*The building is wheelchair accessible (check the « Accessibility » menu for maps).
*This workshop will take place in English, with whisper translation into French.
*The lighting in Room 201 is fluorescent but dim
*Childcare will be available for all events with 24 hours notice; please call 514 398 7432 or email qpirg at ssmu dot mcgill dot ca.
* All events are scent free (see here for more info).
* ASL interpretation is available with 3 days notice. Please email qpirg@ssmu.mcgill.ca to request ASL interpretation. 

The Facebook event is here!

Dangerous Spaces: Trauma-Informed Facilitation Skills for Holding Triggering Conversations
3:00–5:00, Madeleine Parent (Room 203) of the SSMU (3480 rue McTavish)

Politically active communities thrive and grow when they are able to openly explore social issues that are not only politically significant, but also deeply emotionally challenging: transmisogyny, racism, sexual assault, intimate partner violence, colonial atrocities, and so on.  Awakening these stories of personal and collective oppression is an essential part of community healing and transformation, but can also be extremely painful for community members.  Workshops and events dealing with trauma must be carefully and intentionally facilitated, or participants may be nonconsensually « triggered » or re-traumatized.  In this interactive, skills-based workshop, we will explore definitions of trauma and emotional safety, and practice strategies for creating safety and room for consent in triggering or emotionally difficult dialogues.  We will also discuss the possibility of opening « dangerous » spaces – spaces for art, activism, and growth that are once painful, powerful, and liberating.

Biography: Kai Cheng Thom is an artist, facilitator, and therapist whose work has always aimed to open dangerous and magical spaces.  Some of their current organizing projects include Asian Arts Freedom School Montreal and Monster Academy Montreal.  

*The building is wheelchair accessible (check the « Accessibility » menu for maps).
*This workshop will take place in English, with whisper translation into French.
*The lighting in Madeleine Parent is fluorescent but dim
*Childcare will be available for all events with 24 hours notice; please call 514 398 7432 or email qpirg at ssmu dot mcgill dot ca.
* All events are scent free (see here for more info).
* ASL interpretation is available with 3 days notice. Please email qpirg@ssmu.mcgill.ca to request ASL interpretation.

The Facebook event is here!