Sunday 25, 2016
by Brett
This week I saw a baby blue El Camino, exactly the same as the one Beyoncé rides in “Formation,” driving around Saskatoon, and I really thought for a second it might be her. It wasn’t. My whole week has been this underwhelming. I hope yours was better.
- More than fifty Indigenous nations have entered into the Treaty Alliance Against Tar Sands Expansion, an alliance against oilsands expansion in their territories.
- If you’re on Musqueam territory, you’ll want to attend Decolonizing Rape Culture.
- Wonder what kids learnt at Black Lives Matter Toronto’s Freedom School? Well you’re in luck because Zahra has let us in on some of her experiences and radical learning.
- Pride Toronto has issued a statement following their behaviour towards Black Lives Matter Toronto at this year’s pride parade. janaya khan, a member of Black Lives Matter Toronto, has responded saying, “As a team we recognize that a statement from Pride Toronto naming anti-Black racism in its practice and society at large is important.” You can read khan’s response here. Al Donato wrote an excellent and thorough response to the apology, reminding us “Challenging institutions we want to love hurts.”
- Through ongoing, systemic anti-Blackness it is necessary for white people to speak up. And this is a really tangible list of how we can begin to do that work.
- Remember last week when everyone was so excited about how women staffers in the Obama administration were making their voices heard during meetings? Well, here are some pointers on how women can amplify each other’s voices within academic spaces.
- It was another sad week for feminist and queer women’s media, as we said goodbye to AfterEllen. In this piece Autostraddle’s Editor-in-Chief Riese Bernard morns AfterEllen and thinks about the future of queer women’s media.
- Room Magazine is printing an anthology of diverse Canadian literature; if you’ve got twenty dollars, a passion for CanLit and a love for feminist publishing, pre-order your copy now.
- Anita Anderfield on fairy tales and consent.
- Poet Claudia Rankine has won the MacAuthor grant, read about her vision.
- Hari Ziyad wrote about how white women and white cisgender gays have access to systemic power and perpetuate systemic racism.
- Islamophobia is real and here’s a guide to being a Muslim ally.
- Transgender Health Information Program is doing a survey on people’s experiences with gender affirming surgery in what is now known as Canada, participate if you’re trans and feel like it.
- Kyle T. Mays wrote “The Souls of White-Indians: A Letter to My White Indian Friend,” an important piece about the intersections of whiteness and blackness with Indigeneity.
- Happy Fourth Birthday to Decolonization! Celebrate with a revisit to their first issue.
- It is Bisexuality Awareness Week! If you’re bi and want to talk about it, I am so here to listen. I really love this piece by Zahra Noorbakhsh on coming out as bi when you’re married, monogamous, and Muslim.
- There’s going to be a sequel to Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection, and you can read an interview with some of its contributors!
- Annie Pootoogook passed away, and you can remember her through her incredible art practice.
- Learn about resistance to Line 9!
- You’ve read GUTS, nows your chance to listen to GUTS. Hear Cynthia and Rebecca talk about building a thriving Canadian feminist media empire.
- Come to our party HAPPENING THIS FRIDAY! My BFF is djing and she’s got the sexiest set list in Toronto, so it might just be the perf. environment to meet the feminist queer babes of your dreams.
