QPIRG McGill

CURE Coordinator Application Deadline
2022-05-10 | QC
DEADLINE EXTENDED TO MAY 10!
QPIRG-McGill is hiring a part-time CURE Coordinator through the McGill Work Study program! Please see the application form and job posting.
The Community University Research Exchange Program (CURE) is a program which provides students with the opportunity to integrate their academic research with the work of local movements and activist organizations. By connecting students to nonprofit community groups with limited resources, CURE hopes to encourage and support academic research that is socially relevant. This past year, our CURE Coordinator worked with students and community members in assisting the Kanien’keha:ka Kahnistensera (Mohawk Mothers) in investigating McGill’s theft of money from the Indian Land Trust in 1860, as well as the possible presence of unmarked graves at McGill’s Allan Memorial Institute and Royal Victoria Hospital.
This is a part-time position (approximately 10 hours a week). Please contact QPIRG at info@qpirgmcgill.org for more information about the hours, wage, and vacation. The student hired for this job must be approved for McGill Work Study. The 1 year contract will begin in mid-May, with potential to renew the following year. The hours are flexible, but will also fluctuate depending on the events or projects ongoing at the time. Occasional evening or weekend work required. This is a remote (work-from-home) position until it is safe to return to campus. Our office on campus is not currently equipped to be accessible to those with limited mobility, but we are happy to discuss any accessibility accommodations the chosen candidate may require.
To apply, please fill out the application form and upload a copy of your CV by May 10, 2022 @ 11:59pm.

Summer Research Stipends Application Deadline
2022-05-09
QPIRG-McGill’s summer research stipends are intended to provide individuals or groups with a budget/honoraria to work over the summer (June-August), doing research leading towards action and change within the Montreal community. This year we have two $3000 stipends available. We encourage all interested groups or individuals to apply!
Examples of past summer research stipends:

Building a blog about sexuality and disability in Quebec, including articles, interviews, sex-ed information and resources
Creating a radio art project documenting the stories of Black people who have been incarcerated in Canada
Developing a resource guide designed to provide accessible, anti-oppressive mental health skills training for youth aged 16-25
Producing a documentary film on the Live-In Caregiver Program (LCP).
Organizing a bilingual walking tour of Montreal’s southwest neighbourhood that aimed to draw out the history of struggle and present day battles against gentrification.

Please submit your application by Monday, May 9th at 11:59pm via email at info@qpirgmcgill.org with “STIPEND APPLICATION” in the subject line. Please contact us if you would like to explore options for submitting your application in another format.
Find the full callout here.

Annual General Meeting 2022
2022-04-28 15:00 - 18:00 (America/Toronto)
Join us for this year’s Annual General Meeting on April 28th at 3PM! Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUqcu2vpjoqHdHbSpE8d6cdgRYi_Ucmb3Pl

We’re currently recruiting board members for 2022-2023!
As a board member, you will have the opportunity to:
• Learn more about and/or support important social and environmental issues in Montreal
• Make QPIRG-McGill a more active and effective organization
• Work within a collective
• Develop skills like problem-solving, supervision, financial management and event planning
Returning and prospective board members are elected at our AGM each year. To apply, fill out the nomination form:
https://forms.gle/gjf3VQiPGenXbWjAA

or drop by one of our info sessions to learn more about the board:
https://fb.me/e/349JY4Rmj
Email us at info@qpirgmcgill.org if you have any questions.

Board of Directors Info Session
2022-04-11 14:30 - 15:30
We’re currently recruiting board members for 2022-2023!
As a board member, you will have the opportunity to:
• Learn more about and/or support important social and environmental issues in Montreal
• Make QPIRG-McGill a more active and effective organization
• Work within a collective
• Develop skills like problem-solving, supervision, financial management and event planning
Interested in being on the QPIRG board? Returning and prospective board members are elected at our AGM each year. To apply, fill out the nomination form here! Or, drop by one of our info sessions on April 11th at 2:30PM, or April 14th at 6PM to learn more about what being on the board means and to chat with our current board members! Registration links for both info sessions are below.
Registration links:
April 11th at 2:30PM
April 14th at 6PM

Conflict and Crisis De-Escalation
2022-03-12 13:00 - 15:00
This is an introduction to crisis intervention and de-escalation. In it, I cover: defining crisis, planning for crisis and crisis de-escalation, de-escalating yourself & basic suicide intervention. This workshop is roughly 105 minutes long.
Learning Objectives
* understanding what a crisis is
* learning the basic steps of crisis intervention
* learning different arousal types and understanding one’s own arousal type
Facilitator:
Liz Singh is a frontline worker, harm reduction advocate and trip sitter with more than fifteen years of work and lived experience with substance use and drug policy. You can reach her for harm reduction gear, workshops and information at theofficiallizsingh@gmail.com.

This event is part of Social Justice Days! Find the full schedule here: https://fb.me/e/1I5CYBex4

Register for this event at: https://us02web.zoom.us/…/tZEqfuGopj4vG9FkfnAkfMWqOsQcS…

▼▲▼▲ ACCESSIBILITY INFO ▼▲▼▲
Auto-transcription in English will be available on Zoom for this event
translation from English to French can be available for all events with 48 hours notice unless already provided; please email info@qpirgmcgill.org to request.
La traduction chuchotée de l’anglais vers le francais sera disponible sur demande avec 48 heurs de pré-avis; envoyez un courriel à info@qpirgmcgill.org.

If you have other questions or concerns related to accessibility, please don’t hesitate to get in touch at info@qpirgmcgill.org or send us a message on facebook.

Harm Reduction in Health and Social Services: a Panel Discussion
2022-03-11 15:00 - 17:00
Harm reduction is often talked about in the world of health and social services, but applying it to our daily lives can be more complicated and nuanced than expected. How can we build flexibility and a commitment to accessibility for people who use substances into our work at every level? What needs to be acknowledged or changed in the community sector to make this more possible?
Join us for this moderated panel discussion with community workers from several Montreal-based organizations who ground their work in a harm reduction philosophy. We hope to discuss and learn from each other about the ways that harm reduction can increase the accessibility and sustainability of community programs for service users/clients as well as staff. The panel discussion will be followed by questions from the audience.

Participating organizations:
– Face à Face
– Head & Hands
– Le Frigo Vert

This event is part of Social Justice Days! Find the full schedule here: https://fb.me/e/1I5CYBex4
Register for this event here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/…/reg…/WN_6kDh_DNxQsSTgOsyfQUG5g

▼▲▼▲ ACCESSIBILITY INFO ▼▲▼▲
Auto-transcription in English will be available on Zoom for this event
translation from English to French can be available for all events with 48 hours notice unless already provided; please email info@qpirgmcgill.org to request.
La traduction chuchotée de l’anglais vers le francais sera disponible sur demande avec 48 heurs de pré-avis; envoyez un courriel à info@qpirgmcgill.org.

If you have other questions or concerns related to accessibility, please don’t hesitate to get in touch at info@qpirgmcgill.org or send us a message on facebook.

Supporting prisoners and parolees in their transition as returning citizens
2022-03-10 18:00 - 19:30
“Every year, thousands of people are released from prisons on parole. In most cases, they return to the same social conditions that led to their criminalization in the first place – or even worse conditions.”

For this workshop, we want to focus on sustainability when supporting prisoners and people on parole. We would like to highlight 3 essential tools to bolster ex-prisoners’ chances of success as returning citizens. We refer to this as the D.S.D (drive, support and discipline).

We are committed to supporting our returning citizens who are now subjected to serving long-term/life sentences. This would essentially mean they will often serve decades in prison before eventually serving the remainder of their life sentences in the community. Supporting lifers means being in it for the long haul. This workshop will talk about the basics of life sentences, statistics around who ends up in prison, and what the parole process is like. We will then focus on supporting our returning citizens in these situations through fostering drive, support and discipline networks.
Programs that boost self-worth, in order to enhance these returning citizens’ drive for success.
Programs that create an environment where they feel inclusivity and support.
Programs that create a routine that vicariously create discipline.

Facilitators:
The workshop will be hosted by Christophe Lewis, who is currently on parole, and the Prison Radio Show.

This event is part of Social Justice Days! Find the full schedule here: https://fb.me/e/1I5CYBex4
Register for this event at: https://us02web.zoom.us/…/tZYsc-Cgrj4uHtavMzzp…

▼▲▼▲ ACCESSIBILITY INFO ▼▲▼▲
Auto-transcription in English will be available on Zoom for this event
translation from English to French can be available for all events with 48 hours notice unless already provided; please email info@qpirgmcgill.org to request.
La traduction chuchotée de l’anglais vers le francais sera disponible sur demande avec 48 heurs de pré-avis; envoyez un courriel à info@qpirgmcgill.org.

If you have other questions or concerns related to accessibility, please don’t hesitate to get in touch at info@qpirgmcgill.org or send us a message on facebook.

Embedded: Creating boundaries within interwoven communities
2022-03-10 11:30 - 13:30
This interactive workshop will be discussing the complex situations that community members often find themselves in when collaborating, working with, and organizing together. How do our personal relationships with each other impact the sustainability of our communities and movements?
Together we will define what sustainable community means to us. While we highlight the importance of community, we will also dive into the challenges that can arise for queer and trans folks of colour when navigating community spaces. What can we do to identify the power dynamics at play and create healthy boundaries?

Let’s break down what works and what doesn’t as we continue to build sustainable, interwoven communities together.
Please note that this workshop will be a closed space for QTBIPOC folks, and will touch upon abuse of power, sexual assault, racism, queer and transphobia, ableism, as well as other systems of oppression that impact our communities.

Facilitators:
My name is Jo, I’m Muslim, Lebanese and I use They/Them pronouns. I’m a sex educator, a community organizer and a shisha connoisseur. As a Pisces, I’m constantly daydreaming of thrifting, eating, and the liberation of Palestine.
Charissa is a queer adoptee from Cambodia trying to navigate their mid-twenties. They have worked as a medical secretary, workshop facilitator, line cook, soccer referee, childcare worker and more. Some topics they are learning more about right now include abolition, mutual aid, anti-capitalism, food security, and how to better care for their houseplants.

This event is part of Social Justice Days! Find the full schedule here: https://fb.me/e/1I5CYBex4

Registration Required: https://us02web.zoom.us/…/tZUvcu6qqD4tGdECoT3IGrVCjkZXk…

▼▲▼▲ ACCESSIBILITY INFO ▼▲▼▲
Auto-transcription in English will be available on Zoom for this event
translation from English to French can be available for all events with 48 hours notice unless already provided; please email info@qpirgmcgill.org to request.
La traduction chuchotée de l’anglais vers le francais sera disponible sur demande avec 48 heurs de pré-avis; envoyez un courriel à info@qpirgmcgill.org.

If you have other questions or concerns related to accessibility, please don’t hesitate to get in touch at info@qpirgmcgill.org or send us a message on facebook.

Building Care Into Anti-Violence Advocacy That Sustains Us
2022-03-09 18:30 - 19:30
This session is a one-hour discussion between three people who are involved in various aspects of the movement against colonial, gender-based, and sexual violence in Canada and beyond. They are excited to share with others about how the work of centering care is integral to all forms of social and environmental justice as care is the antithesis of colonialism and capitalism. Rather than a panel or presentation, this is an opportunity for these experienced activists and organisers to talk about the ways that they engage in anti-violence movements in survivor- and healing-cenetered ways that enliven the communities of care we are trying to build. After discussion, all participants will engage in reflective activities and discussion to better understand how we can all grow care in our work.

Facilitators:
Connor Spencer: is a white organizer interested in building and participating in communities, and solidarities between anti-violence, anti-capitalist, and justice movements across Turtle Island. Chair of Students for Consent Culture Canada (SFCC) from 2018 to 2020, and having gone through the experience that was a BA at McGill, she is intensely interested in holding institutions accountable for the violence and power structures that they perpetuate and uphold, and building spaces to dream and create new worlds. She currently lives, or ganizes, and works as a national strike and mobilization officer in the national labour movement and as a SFCC Board of Directors member on unceded Algonquin territory.

Chantelle Spicer (she/they) has a master’s degree from Simon Fraser University and is the current Co-Chair of Students for Consent Culture Canada. As a person of Mizrahi Jewish and Mi’kmaq ancestry on the stolen lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Səl̓ílwətaʔ, Skwxwú7mesh nations, their commitments in activism lie in accountability, care in and between social movements, and Indigenous sovereignties and futures.

Tiara Cash (she/her) Tiara Cash (she/her) is a Queer Black American woman with Indigenous heritage in the Chahta nation. She is a graduate student at Simon Fraser University and certified Koru Mindfulness Instructor with a 20 year personal practice of mindfulness and meditation. As a practitioner for the last six years, she has worked in various settings including higher education, athletics, and the non-profit sector. Her research and career focuses include delving into the intersections of mindfulness in marginalized and unrepresented populations, and life transitions.

This event is part of Social Justice Days! Find the full schedule here: https://fb.me/e/1I5CYBex4
Register for this event at: https://us02web.zoom.us/…/tZMtd-iorToiG9cXtsK1f…

▼▲▼▲ ACCESSIBILITY INFO ▼▲▼▲
Auto-transcription in English will be available on Zoom for this event
translation from English to French can be available for all events with 48 hours notice unless already provided; please email info@qpirgmcgill.org to request.
La traduction chuchotée de l’anglais vers le francais sera disponible sur demande avec 48 heurs de pré-avis; envoyez un courriel à info@qpirgmcgill.org.

If you have other questions or concerns related to accessibility, please don’t hesitate to get in touch at info@qpirgmcgill.org or send us a message on facebook.

UnPAC Healing the past now: Building sustainable futures
2022-03-09 13:00 - 15:00
A 1.5 hr semi-structured online discussion circle on sustainable practice through the lens of culture and ancestry. We will be unpacking how to approach sustainable practice in a way that recognizes our histories as marginalized communities while building towards a future that meets our present needs. Un(pac)k events are intended to be supportive and educational spaces for BIPOC folks to gather in a spirit of mutual support and care. This is a space for our community to engage in peer to peer sharing of experiences. Un(pac)k events are not a classroom, nor a site of group therapy or professional mental care. All participants are expected to help cultivate a safe space for discussion from a wide range of individuals.
PAC is a non-hierarchical community of Asian-identifying people that aims to create a space that recognizes the diversity Asian experiences and build solidarity within and across marginalized communities. We are a working group of QPIRG and are based in tio’tia:ke.

This event is part of Social Justice Days! Find the full schedule here: https://fb.me/e/1I5CYBex4
Register for this event at: https://us02web.zoom.us/…/tZwpd…

▼▲▼▲ ACCESSIBILITY INFO ▼▲▼▲
Auto-transcription in English will be available on Zoom for this event
translation from English to French can be available for all events with 48 hours notice unless already provided; please email info@qpirgmcgill.org to request.
La traduction chuchotée de l’anglais vers le francais sera disponible sur demande avec 48 heurs de pré-avis; envoyez un courriel à info@qpirgmcgill.org.

If you have other questions or concerns related to accessibility, please don’t hesitate to get in touch at info@qpirgmcgill.org or send us a message on facebook.

The Labour Crisis at McGill
2022-03-09 12:00 - 13:00
As the principal departs the university with a very generous package, those who keep the university running on a daily basis are left to pick up the pieces. This panel explores issues unions and workers are grappling with during the pandemic through the lens of the ongoing labour crisis at McGill.

This event is part of Social Justice Days! Find the full schedule here: https://fb.me/e/1I5CYBex4

Registration link: https://us02web.zoom.us/…/reg…/WN_0dhXMGi8SgS9NV6gxcjIhg

▼▲▼▲ ACCESSIBILITY INFO ▼▲▼▲
Auto-transcription in English will be available on Zoom for this event
translation from English to French can be available for all events with 48 hours notice unless already provided; please email info@qpirgmcgill.org to request.
La traduction de l’anglais vers le francais sera disponible sur demande avec 48 heurs de pré-avis; envoyez un courriel à info@qpirgmcgill.org.

If you have other questions or concerns related to accessibility, please don’t hesitate to get in touch at info@qpirgmcgill.org or send us a message on facebook.

Environmentalism beyond green capitalism
2022-03-08 13:00 - 14:30
We are told that environmentalism is about buying green, organic products, or using smarter and more efficient technology. This logic has been extended to argue that we can make cruise ships and mansions “green” and that we can save nature and the climate by buying carbon credits. But you can’t buy sustainability. Climate resilience isn’t an add-on to a holiday package deal. In this workshop, we begin with a guided exercise on different strategies for being an environmentalist. We then discuss the difference between green capitalism and an ecological approach, and what world-changing, decolonial environmentalism can look like. Based on a forthcoming book published with the New Press, this workshop is aimed at those who aren’t satisfied with mainstream proposals for “saving the planet”, and are looking for alternatives that connect back to a desire for meaningful and care-ful relationships with others living in the world.

Facilitators:
Vijay Kolinjivadi is a post-doctoral fellow at the Institute of Development Policy at the University of Antwerp, has been published in Al Jazeera, New Internationalist, Truthout, The Conversation, and Mongabay, and is an editor at Uneven Earth.
Aaron Vansintjan is a writer and researcher focusing on green gentrification and an editor at Uneven Earth.
The workshop will be co-presented by Uneven Earth, a website focusing on environmental politics.
Length: 30 minute group exercise, 30 minute presentation, 30 minute discussion.

This event is part of Social Justice Days! Find the full schedule here: https://fb.me/e/1I5CYBex4

Register at: https://us02web.zoom.us/…/tZUvdu2uqD8vHt3RS…

▼▲▼▲ ACCESSIBILITY INFO ▼▲▼▲
Auto-transcription in English will be available on Zoom for this event
translation from English to French can be available for all events with 48 hours notice unless already provided; please email info@qpirgmcgill.org to request.
La traduction chuchotée de l’anglais vers le francais sera disponible sur demande avec 48 heurs de pré-avis; envoyez un courriel à info@qpirgmcgill.org.

If you have other questions or concerns related to accessibility, please don’t hesitate to get in touch at info@qpirgmcgill.org or send us a message on facebook.

Harm Reduction and Drug War Resistance 101
2022-03-07 13:00 - 15:00
This is an introduction to harm reduction theory and safer drug use under Prohibition. This 105 minute workshop will include a basic history of harm reduction and drug policy in Canada, how to recognize and respond to different kinds of overdose and how to maximize the benefits of the substances you’re using while mitigating the risks.

Learning Objectives:
* understanding the basics of overdose and overdose response
* understanding the basics of harm reduction and the failings of Canadian “drug” policy
* understanding why Liz put “drug” in quotes

Facilitator:
Liz Singh is a frontline worker, harm reduction advocate and trip sitter with more than fifteen years of work and lived experience with substance use and drug policy. You can reach her for harm reduction gear, workshops and information at theofficiallizsingh@gmail.com.

This event is part of Social Justice Days! Find the full schedule here: https://fb.me/e/1I5CYBex4

Register for this event here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/…/tZ0scOqqrzMiE9RDpnHExRebJWbvp…

SELL-OUT: Exploring the Commodification of Asian Cultures through Storytelling
2021-03-19 17:30 - 19:30
This workshop will consist of an exploration of the ways in which culture is commodified within a Chinese, Indian and Tibetan context. Facilitators will touch upon and offer structure on the following themes: the commodification and appropriation of certain Asian cultures, the negative impacts of this commodification on local communities as well as the legacies and effects of colonization, globalization and neoliberal capitalism. This will be followed by an open discussion with guiding questions!
The goal of the event will be to facilitate a safe space for attendees to share their experiences and to visualize as a group sustainable futures for cultural preservation and appreciation, in an era of rapid globalization. The first half of the workshop will consist of a short presentation while the second half will take the form of a guided group discussion. Attendees are encouraged to share their thoughts and ways in which commodification has impacted their respective cultures and communities!

About the Pan-Asian Collective (PAC):

Dorothy, Sarah, and Tara are members of the Pan-Asian Collective. PAC aims to increase meaningful engagement in Asian history and culture in a way that recognizes the diversity of the Asian experiences. We want to empower and grow the Asian community in Montreal ~and beyond~ and build a network of support, learning, and friendship. PAC is based in Tiohtiá:ke, colonially known as Montreal. We acknowledge that this island is located on unceded and unsurrendered Indigenous land of the Kanien’kehá:ka, the Nation recognized as the custodians of the land and water on which we gather today.
Dorothy Yip (they/them) is a McGill student hailing from Hong Kong. She is a new member to Pan-Asian collective Montreal.
Sarah Dhanani (she/her) is a McGill School of Environment alum who is working in Montreal as an environmental professional at Bombardier. She is currently chasing after different artistic endeavours in her free time and enjoys chatting about the intersection between environment and race.
Tara Chökyi Langri (she/her) is a McGill student majoring in sociology and double-minoring in politics and religion. She is currently a member of McGill Students for a Free Tibet and of the Pan-Asian Collective Montreal. She is additionally a member of the Chyssem Project which is a grassroots community effort to create a permanent archival record about the first Tibetans who arrived in Canada in the early 1970s.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
Live closed captioning in English will be available on Zoom for this event.
Whisper translation from English to French will be available for all events with 24 hours notice unless already provided; please email info@qpirgmcgill.org to request. // La traduction chuchotée de l’anglais vers le français sera disponible sur demande avec 24 heurs de pré-avis; envoyez un courriel à info@qpirgmcgill.org.

How to Plan a Research Project
2021-03-18 12:00 - 14:00
This two-hour long workshop will go over the skills you will need to be successful in research. Topics will include:

How to solidify your research topic
How to find and choose a supervisor, especially if you have a less conventional topic
How to apply for funding
How to recruit participants
How to manage your time and stay organized
How to share your research outside of academia.

Click here to register.

This workshop will be led by Max Jack-Monroe (he/they) who is currently working on his thesis on non-binary identity and language in Montreal. Max is dedicated to gender, racial, and sexual justice and inclusivity and educating others on these topics.

Live closed captioning in English will be available on Zoom for this event.
Whisper translation from English to French will be available for all events with 24 hours notice unless already provided; please email info@qpirgmcgill.org to request. // La traduction chuchotée de l’anglais vers le français sera disponible sur demande avec 24 heurs de pré-avis; envoyez un courriel à info@qpirgmcgill.org.

Film Screening: Our Dance of Revolution
2021-03-17 18:00 - 20:30
Join QPIRG-McGill and Queer McGill for a special screening of Our Dance of Revolution.

“We are people of revolution. We’re here because others have rebelled. Because others have stood in solid resistance!” Listening to Angela, a Black lesbian feminist who is rousing a crowd, we understand that, no, this particular revolution wasn’t televised. Rather, from out of the shadows, it was hugged, chanted, marched, and danced into existence. Our Dance of Revolution tells the story of how Black queer folks in Toronto faced every adversity, from invisibility to police brutality, and rose up to become a vibrant, triple-snap-fierce community.
Capturing first-person accounts across a span of four decades, this feature-length documentary is more than a previously untold oral history, more than a reclamation of unsung people and events. Our Dance of Revolution is a human-scale reckoning of how audacious individuals find themselves by finding others, and how they muster the courage, tenacity, and creativity to prevail against the forces of marginalization.
***Content Warnings for police brutality, racism, and queerphobia.

Registration details can be found here. If you have any trouble accessing the link, please send a message to info@qpirgmcgill.org and we will provide you with a link on the day of the event.

Starting, Sustaining, and Strengthening a Community Collective
2021-03-17 14:00 - 16:00
Imagining a better future, one beyond this point of current struggle, requires empowering communities with the resources needed to create this future by themselves and for themselves. But what is a community? How does one build or partake in a community? What are the resources needed by a community? How does one offer or distribute resources within a community? And how does one instigate collective communication and action within a community?

Community Cooks Collective is a mutual-aid organization founded in April 2020 in response to the exacerbated food insecurity experienced by many in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic. Through months of growth and adaptation, the organization has developed into the hub of an expanding community revolving around passions for cooking and for acting in solidarity with those experiencing food insecurity. It is currently run by a group of dedicated volunteers who coordinate the cooking, collection, and transportation of meals to local Indigenous shelter Resilience Montreal on a weekly basis.

Drawing on my experience co-founding and co-managing this collective, I will guide workshop attendees to finding their own answers to the questions posed above and provide tangible steps to addressing these responses. Many practical facets of community organizing will be explored in detail, such as recruiting new collective members, facilitating meetings, applying for funding, keeping record of finances, using social media effectively, and planning for long-term sustainability. Points of discussion will include:

how to maximize accessibility
how to prioritize Indigenous solidarity
how to function in a non-hierarchical manner
how to use mixed-media for educational purposes
how to emphasize mutual-aid.

The objective of this workshop will be to empower community members to explore and realize their own potential in instigating the change they wish to see in their immediate environment.

Tomo (she/they) is a community organizer and musician originally from Vancouver, now based in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal. In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, she co-founded Community Cooks Collective, a mutual-aid organization that co-ordinates the weekly cooking and delivery of meals in bulk to local shelter Resilience Montreal. In December 2020, she graduated from the Schulich School of Music at McGill University with a master’s degree in violin performance, where she previously completed her bachelor’s degree and a graduate diploma. When she is not organizing with fellow collective members or practicing and teaching violin, she can be found working at the local women’s shelter Chaînon, volunteering through the Generations Program at the Yellow Door, and preparing for her next triathlon.
Click here to register.

Live closed captioning in English will be available on Zoom for this event.
Whisper translation from English to French will be available for all events with 24 hours notice unless already provided; please email info@qpirgmcgill.org to request. // La traduction chuchotée de l’anglais vers le français sera disponible sur demande avec 24 heurs de pré-avis; envoyez un courriel à info@qpirgmcgill.org.

Being Black @ McGill
2021-03-16 17:00 - 19:00
Being Black at McGill can be exciting, frustrating, joyful, lonely, and so many other things. Join us to connect with other Black students and staff and learn about the supports available on campus and in the community for Black students! The facilitators of Being Black @ McGill will lead us in a discussion about our experiences, survival strategies, and future dreams as Afro-diasporic students at McGill. We will end with a visioning activity that will help us move towards building a safe community.

Vanessa Richardson is a U1 undergraduate student at McGill University. She is currently completing her Bachelor of Arts degree with an Honours in Philosophy and Double Minor in Cognitive Science and Canadian Studies. Vanessa works as a Student Skills Assistant at Teaching and Learning Services. She has facilitated workshops such as Introduction to Anti-Racism, Introduction to Anti-Oppression and Fostering Inclusive Communities.
Khan Bouba-Dalambaye is McGill alumni, having completed both a Bachelors and Masters degree (Counselling Psychology). He has just under a decade’s worth of experience working as both a clinical counsellor, and high school guidance counsellor, here in Montreal. Khan has also recently emerged as one of the city’s leading experts in the area of EDI. He is happy to be working with McGill to help design and implement the university’s Anti-Black Racism Action Plan.
Shaquiera Hamilton is a 4th year student studying International Development with a double minor Psychology and GSFS (Gender, Sexuality, Feminism, Social Justice). She has been facilitating student workshops for over 3 years now for multiple McGill clubs and student groups. She is very excited to help facilitate this upcoming workshop and further engage with McGill’s Black community.
Antoine-Samuel Maufette Alavo is the Black Student Affairs Liason at McGill.
Melissa-Anne Cobbler is a bonafide 80’s baby who is made up of Montréal winters, Caribbean roots, and Audre Lorde quotes. She identifies as a Black womxn womanist who has lived and worked in Southern Africa and the Caribbean. Melissa holds an MA and MSW respectively from Concordia and McGill Universities, and works from the pillars of intersectionality and narrative to support individuals in cultivating their own stories. She currently is a Wellness Advisor at McGill.

Click here to register.
Live closed captioning in English will be available on Zoom for this event.
Whisper translation from English to French will be available for all events with 24 hours notice unless already provided; please email info@qpirgmcgill.org to request. // La traduction chuchotée de l’anglais vers le français sera disponible sur demande avec 24 heurs de pré-avis; envoyez un courriel à info@qpirgmcgill.org.

Afropresentism: "Time -Traveling Desire and Reservoir Knowledge" in the #DigitalDiaspora
2021-03-15 18:00 - 20:00
“Facing devastation again and again, Black folks need in and for each other becomes both time-traveling desire and reservoir knowledge”. This assertion by Jessica Marie Johnson and Mark Anthony Neal serves as the departure point for this keynote presentation which explores the Afropresentist practices of Black diasporic creatives on social media. First defined in 2017 by Neema Githere as “a digital genre fusing archival, documentary, and fine arts on and through new media in the expression of an Afrofuturist lived reality”, Afropresentism has since come to encompass a broader spectrum of embodied practices both on and off-line. This keynote invites attendees along a non-linear journey investigating how Afropresentism challenges and alchemizes the complexities of modern-day digital enmeshment.

Neema Githere is a guerrilla theorist and curator hailing from Nairobi, Kenya whose work explores indigenous cybernetics and love as a method of transportation. Their experimental practice termed ‘data healing’ seeks to illuminate the links between technology, nature and spirituality to investigate how working from this intersection can combat the data trauma – a term coined by Olivia M. Ross – that saturates our virtual worlds. Other projects of theirs include Afropresentism – a term they coined in 2017 to articulate digital diasporic cultural production in the here and now – and Radical Love Consciousness, a collective that focuses on re-indigenization through grassroots learning networks.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
Live closed captioning in English will be available on Zoom for this event.
Whisper translation from English to French will be available for all events with 24 hours notice unless already provided; please email info@qpirgmcgill.org to request. // La traduction chuchotée de l’anglais vers le français sera disponible sur demande avec 24 heurs de pré-avis; envoyez un courriel à info@qpirgmcgill.org.

(Postponed) Street Medic 101: An Intro to Protesting Basics
2021-03-12 14:30 - 16:30
∗ Due to unforeseen circumstances, this event has been postponed. Please keep an eye on this event page for more updates. Thanks so much for your understanding and we can’t wait to bring you this awesome event at a later date <3

Join the Montreal Street Medic Collective (MSMC) for our very first training workshop!
As protests against various injustices are on the rise in Canada and around the globe, we thought it was important to take a moment to talk about how our community can protest safely in a time of growing police aggression towards protesters. This workshop will cover some first-aid and protester safety basics. It will also be an opportunity to learn more about the collective.
Click here to register.

This workshop will be facilitated by Andrea. Andrea is a Latinx queer with over 15 years of experience in community organizing Tio’tia:ke. She is a nurse and director of health services at Head & Hands and a community worker at Cactus SIS. She is passionate about harm reduction, decolonization, anti-authoritarianism, and queer family.
The MSMC is a new collective that aims to provide first-aid training and first-aid support at various demonstrations for Black, Indigenous and other communities who have been disproportionately targeted by police. Our services are free and open to the public. For anyone interested in volunteering with MSMC please email mstreetmediccollective@gmail.com for more information.

Live closed captioning in English will be available on Zoom for this event.
Whisper translation from English to French will be available for all events with 24 hours notice unless already provided; please email info@qpirgmcgill.org to request. // La traduction chuchotée de l’anglais vers le français sera disponible sur demande avec 24 heurs de pré-avis; envoyez un courriel à info@qpirgmcgill.org.
