Category Archives: Capitalism & Class
Social Justice Synonyms #16: “Illegal Immigrant”
Welcome to the sixteenth segment of Social Justice Synonyms, a column at The Talon that discusses harmful and oppressive language embedded in our culture and provides ways to unlearn this language. This week’s term is illegal immigrant. This piece pulls from the work of Harsha Walia, a local South Asian activist, whose book Undoing Border […]
Why Gupta’s Casual Racism Should Worry You
Gupta has said the right things about UBC’s role in society, but his actions from the Band Aid video to his allocation of tens of millions in research funding at a time when the Board of Governors is hiking students fees and complaining about a lack of funding for the university, say far more about his plans.
Gupta’s Twitter Townhall: One Hour of Neoliberalsplainin’
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Razor-sharp Professionalism: Your LinkedIn Photo is Ready for Download
Last night, I got an email from Centre for Student Involvement and Careers. The subject line was: Your LinkedIn Photo is Ready for Download. On October 1st, 2014, the last day of UBC Career Days, I headed to the Party Room to get my photo taken for LinkedIn. As I walked into the room, a […]
#ReasonsToResist at UBC: Fossil Fuel and Mining Investments
When mining companies like Goldcorp use the auspices of “Responsible Mining” to invest millions into our Mineral Research Deposit Unit, our Earth Systems Science Building, or a Women in Engineering initiative, the University and its students become indebted to companies and industries wholly designed to profit from the continued destruction of our environment. SFU doesn’t have a Goldcorp Centre for the Arts out of the generosity of a mine manager’s heart. UBC’s Goldcorp Inc. Teaching and Learning Wing isn’t an investment in students’ futures as much as it’s an investment in Goldcorp’s future. These are institutional investments to secure the field-specific knowledge base and specialized labour necessary to expand resource extraction.
I Lowered My Hands to Write This
“He was the leader of the pack for my [children]. He was meek. He was humble. He was tall. He was a man. He loved dogs. He loved people. He loved anything that had life in it; a plant. And that’s why I can’t understand why that happened to my child.” – Lesley McSpadden, Michael […]
The Communist Who Ruled the AMS: An Interview with Blake Frederick
Five years ago today, on November 27th, 2009, news broke in The Ubyssey of a scandal that would polarize campus for months to come. Two incumbent members of the AMS Executive, President Blake Frederick and Vice President External Timothy Chu, had gone behind the backs of AMS Council and taken drastic action to try to […]
Ayotzinapa Protest and the Importance of Solidarity
These atrocious acts of censorship and abuse of institutional and political power mirror the recent Burnaby Mountain protests and the acquittal of Darren Wilson. There are clearly many layers of injustice here; why has there been so little investigation on the whereabouts of these 43 students? Why is police brutality still so prevalent when they are meant to protect us? Why does the Canadian government still consider Mexico a “safe country” for refugees? Why have so few Vancouver publications reported on the protests that happened in the heart of Downtown?
#ReasonsToResist at UBC: Finance and Labour
This is Part Two of a Five-Part series from The Talon on Reasons to Resist at UBC. See Part One: Tuition and Housing here. The focus of this series is to reflect and extend the current state of activism on campus, by evidencing yet more potential issues related to financial and negotiating power at the […]
Kelly Gerlings’ #WeOppose Protest Speech: “UBC, Can You Hear Us Now?”
This speech was given by Kelly Gerlings of #IAmAStudent at the AMS Trek for Tuition and Housing. Hello UBC! My name is Kelly Gerlings and I am a student. I want to tell you a few things. I am a domestic student, a settler here. I am graduating this year, in May (let’s not talk about […]
