Category Archives: Decolonization
Speech Given at Portal Park, February 5th, 2017, at the Stand Against the Ban Rally
As-salamu alaykum, peace be upon you all, friends, comrades. Today I stand here in solidarity with the victims of the terrorist attack in Quebec. I stand here with the victims of Trump’s ban, and with all the victims of Trump’s America. I stand here in solidarity with all those who live their lives in fear, […]
Indigenous and settler students hold UBC president accountable for reinstatement of Furlong
Dear Dr. Santa Ono, We are writing this letter to demonstrate our opposition to the reinstatement of John Furlong as the keynote speaker at the University of British Columbia’s upcoming 18th Annual ZLC Millennium Scholarship Breakfast on February 28, 2017. As both Indigenous and settler students studying at UBC on the unceded, ancestral, and traditional […]
UBC’s Second Chance to Stand for Justice: the 2017 BDS Referendum
Two years have passed. In the past two years the world has been marked by attacks, peace deals, attempted and successful coups, tragic diasporas, referendums and elections. Often times change has been for the worse, yet sometimes for the better. Those who have been following the Middle Eastern vicissitudes may agree with me that the […]
Reflections on Raising and Burning Flags…
As a queer man, the recent burning of the gay rainbow flag at the University of British Columbia has not caused me any lost sleep. I can assure you, however, that I’m not impervious to homophobic threats or attacks, nor am I apathetic to the struggles of the several marginalized communities that I navigate and […]
Busting the myth of Northern exceptionalism – CIRDI and Lundin’s colonial corporate (ad)ventures
The story I am going to tell is not one of a “few bad apples”, but rather a problem that resides at the core of what we call “development”. In any case, let me begin with the analogy of apples: a particularly bad apple called Lundin. Lundin is a conglomerate of extractive companies based in both Sweden and Canada headed by the Lundin family. Lundin Mining is based in Vancouver, whereas Lundin Petroleum trades on the Swedish stock exchange. The founding myths of the Lundin Foundation, ostensibly a philanthropic organization, are also based on the myth of northern exceptionalism. The foundation states that it helps create sustainable livelihoods. It was established by the Lundin brothers who dreamed up the idea on a motorcycle trip through Africa.
Public Statement on Campus (Un)safety
University of British Columbia xʷməθkʷəy̓əm Musqueam Territory socialjustgradstatements@gmail.com / socialjustgradstatements.wordpress.com Note: The views in this statement are solely of the authors. They do not reflect the views of all faculty, staff, and students at the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Social Justice Research. Recently gaining public attention, student activism at UBC has illuminated the […]
seasons of gender: reflections on trans day of remembrance
gender can be a daunting topic – daunting for trans and cis people alike. for the latter, discussing gender can seem difficult. anxiety-provoking. tentative to engage, cis people often avoid asking about pronouns, avoid trying with pronouns, avoid learning about gender altogether. all this employed in the spirit of fragility: as if it is better […]
No, UBC, I won’t be white for you
Last week I was perusing the shops in our beautiful new $107 million, horizon-obliterating, architectural giant, also know as the AMS Student Nest. In one cute, somewhat bizarrely placed boutique, I discovered something very shocking: Cake Soap. Cake Soap is what I – with a penchant for Vybz Kartel and some Jamaican ancestry – would […]
Not In Our Name: UBC’s new Progressive Jewish Alliance
The Silencing of Jewish Progressive Voices In recent years there has been an explosion of Jewish groups breaking away from the mainstream Jewish community’s discourse on Israel/Palestine, seeking to reclaim the history of radical Jewish politics. As young Jews we have witnessed a silencing of perspectives that critique Israel and its actions. Slogans such as: […]
Gupta and the state of transparency and democracy at UBC
If you’re anything like me, you spent August closely watching the unfolding drama at the highest echelons of UBC’s administration: a President who left unexpectedly and without explanation, the Board of Governors Chair cracking down on a professor, the AMS’s response, and now a call for transparency in the new Presidential Search process. As the […]
