Category Archives: Vancouver Politics
The Far-Right Grift: Ex-Muslim Edition
For Islamophobes, there are few people more useful than Yasmine Mohammed. And it is a somewhat mutually beneficial relationship—at least for now. For ex-Muslims willing to ignore or even defend bigotry, the temptation to accept a lucrative home among a growing community of far-right grifters appears to be almost irresistible. Yasmine’s story is compelling. A […]
UBC’s Alternative Orientation Booklet: Resisting the University 2019/2020 (Downloadable PDF)
At the Social Justice Centre and the Women’s Centre, we are reviving old traditions with this year’s new alternative orientation booklet. We envision this booklet as an opportunity to situate students, introduce them to powerful groups, both on campus and off, and speak to the myriad ways that resistance and resurgence is taking place in and around us. We invite you to engage in and reflect on your roles on this campus, recognizing that this is unique to each person, and to broaden your imagination of what is possible. We wish that this booklet sparks hope and empowers our communities.
Back off, TERFs
Note: The author recognizes that this piece was written on the ancestral, traditional and unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples, specifically the sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh), and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) nations. It is important to recognize the ways in which settler colonialism has attempted to impose gender binarism and cisheteropatriarchal gender roles. The author would […]
I accuse UBC of complicity with fascists
I was shocked to learn last month that UBC’s Chan Centre was planning on hosting an event with white supremacists Stefan Molyneux and Lauren Southern, organized by the so-called ‘Free Speech Club’.
Cedar George-Parker speaks at “Students for Climate Action”
This speech took place on the unceded, traditional and ancestral lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) peoples at the University of British Columbia at an event called “Students for Climate Action” on September 7th, 2018. The event was organized by UBCC350, the Social Justice Centre, Vegans of UBC, and Common Energy UBC. Please view the transcript […]
Worse Than Prison: How Vancouver Detains Non-Citizens (Excerpts from post 9/11 Canada)
In post 9/11 Canada, it is legal to detain non-citizens—including children—without formal trial or criminal charges. Immigrants, International Students, Permanent Residents, Refugees, & Undocumented peoples can be subject to indefinite immigration detention (think incarceration but without a stated length of detention, no criminal trial, no judges or jury weighing in).
Space Campaign Update | Eviction Delayed | SFSS Rejects meeting with the Rotunda Community
December 13, 2018 Hello SOCA Followers and Supporters, We have some great news regarding our current space campaign. After multiple months of advocacy and campaigning against SFSS’ harmful decision to evict us on December 14, 2018, we have successfully got the eviction delayed to coincide with when the head lease of the current space ends. […]
“Police don’t make us safe”: Surrey residents rally against skyrocketing police budgets
When: Saturday, Nov. 24 at 2:00pm Where: Surrey City Hall, 13450 104 Avenue Longtime Surrey resident and APPS member, Lenée Son, explains, “We’re told the police make us safe, but in our experience, they are a threat to our safety. They surveill and harass homeless people, enforce the catastrophic war on drugs, and terrorize racialized and […]
Collectively Speaking: A Teach-In On Free Speech
Title: Collectively Speaking: A Teach-In on Free Speech Date: October 31, 2018 Location: Outside the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts Description: A gathering outside the Chan Centre, where the Free Speech Club hosted American conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro. While our event is not a direct protest against Shapiro, it is a logical civic […]
Unearthing: A Mining Justice Zine
Dear Readers, This zine is the collective effort of the 2018 iteration of the class: “Geography 495: Social Movements in the Americas: The politics of North-South solidarity in theory & practice” taught by Dr. Juanita Sundberg. As we moved through the class we learned about “extractivismo or the (re)turn to resource extraction as development and […]
