PSN is once again pleased to be an endorsing group for Solidarity Week. Solidarity Week is a grassroots endeavour at the University of Alberta initiated by various campus and community groups. Our aim is to create a space and an opportunity for people from different backgrounds to come together and to learn about each other’s struggles against colonialism, imperialism, and various forms of domination and oppression. The first Solidarity Week at the U of A was held in March 2010. Through a number of panel discussions and other activities, the week highlighted issues of gender, colonialism, and leadership. These broad issues were also linked to current local struggles in Edmonton and Canada as a whole.
Solidarity Week 2011 Schedule of Events
Saturday, October 8th, 2011
Sisters in Spirit Walk/Rally
Alex Taylor School Gymnasium
9321 Jasper Avenue
1:00 pm
Facebook event page
On Saturday October 8th 2011, concerned citizens, artists, community groups and organizations in Edmonton will be hosting the SIS (Sisters in Spirit) Walk/Rally. Please gather with us to honour our lost sisters and show support to their families & friends. We gather to show we are a united front. We gather to shed light on a crisis that affects every Canadian. The epidemic of racialized and sexualized violence against Indigenous/Aboriginal Women is a national tragedy (‘Aboriginal’ identified in Canada as First Nations, Non Status, Métis and Inuit).
Tuesday, October 11th, 2011
Anti-Oppression Workshop: What is White Privilege?
APIRG and Centre for Race and Culture
Education North 2-103 (Kiva Room), U of A Campus
5:00 pm
Join us for an interactive session where we explore the complexities of oppression in our world, and the meaning of white privilege.
Solidarity Week Rouge Poetry Night
Rouge Lounge
10111-117 Street
9:00 pm
$6 cover at the door
Facebook event page
Come and participate in Edmonton’s most chillin’ hot spot on Tuesday nights and watch Solidarity Week Poets drop experiences from the soul that help us grow in the decolonizing process.
Solidarity Week will be featuring:
Mariam Salloum
Rumbie Zinyemba
Nana Asabere
Dougal MacDonald
Chelsea Taylor
and more.
The Breath in Poetry Collective is also super Excited to have Tanya Davis feature at Rouge. If you have never heard of her before you probably need to! Click this link and be entertained. She is the author of How to Be Alone.
There will be a $6 cover for the event to cover Tanya Davis’ travel expenses.
Wednesday, October 12th, 2011
Decolonizing Ourselves: Settler, Immigrant, and Refugee Cultures in relation to First Nations Peoples
Aboriginal Student Council Lounge
220 North Power Plant, U of A Campus
6:00 pm
Facebook event page
Join us in a discussion that is sure to guide you in questioning where you come from and where you are going. This evening people from diverse backgrounds will share in how we can begin to reverse the process of colonization and breakdown the myths and stereotypes created to oppress one another within the dominant socio-political and economic framework.
Thursday, October 13th, 2011
También La Lluvia (Even the Rain)
Film Screening
Central Academic Building, CAB 269, U of A Campus
2:30 pm
Facebook event page
The politics of the past and present begin to merge during the making of a motion picture in this drama from director Icíar Bollaín. Spanish movie director Sebastián (Gael García Bernal) and his producer Costa (Luis Tosar) have arrived in Bolivia to shoot a picture about Columbus’ exploration and exploitation of the New World. While Sebastián has come to Bolivia for realistic scenery, Costa has chosen the location for the cheap and abundant supply of labor. An open casting call for extras attracts far more people than the picture needs, but when Costa tries to send them away, one would-be actor, Daniel (Juan Carlos Aduviri), makes a strong and eloquent case for fair treatment of the locals, and Sebastián casts him as Hatuey, the chief of a native tribe who fought the invading Spaniards. As Sebastián stages scenes of revolt against would-be colonists, a real battle is brewing in Colombia — the government has privatized the national water works, and the price of water has jumped by 300 percent, leading to protests and riots in the streets of Cochabamba. Daniel is one of the activists protesting price gouging for something as essential as water — will Sebastián and his colleagues join him in speaking out against this injustice?
Haudenosaunee Frontlines
Film Screening and Discussion
Central Academic Building, CAB 229, U of A Campus
6:00 pm
Facebook event page
Get an inside look as Haudenosaunee (Six Nations) defend their right to their traditional territory against the continued colonial encroachment of settlers on their land. This rare documentary film tells the story of centuries old struggle for justice in a current setting.
Friday, October 14th, 2011
Book Reading and Presentation:
Academia and the Dynamics of Transformative Leadership: the experience of the University of Zimbabwe in the first decade after Zimbabwe’s independence (1981- 1982)
Central Academic Building, CAB 229, U of A Campus
2:00 pm
Facebook event page
Justice 4 Janitors: One year later – Lessons Learned
Central Academic Building, CAB 229, U of A Campus
4:00 pm
Facebook event page
Join us as we reflect back on last years Justice For Janitors Campaign and discuss the collective learning of workers, union organizers, students and staff of the university and community members. What was the context of this struggle and what is happening currently.
Saturday, October 15th, 2011
INQUILAB/ERNESTO CHE GUEVARA PARTY
Maharaja Banquet Hall
9257-34A Avenue
7:30 pm
Tickets $10 in advance, $15 at the door
Facebook event page
For tickets and information contact:
Harpreet 780-267-8284 (University of Alberta)
Rod 780-293-8496 (University of Alberta)
Manit 780-297-4881 (Grant MacEwan City Centre)
Sanam 780-660-3315 (NAIT)
Deep 780-200-3337 (Concordia)
Calgary Contacts:
Arvinder Sahans: 587-433-7368
Manjot Sandhu: 403-401-3276
Email: sikhstudentssociety@gmail.com or rosouljah@gmail.com for more information.
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Check out solidarityweek.wordpress.com for more info on Solidarity Week or visit Solidarity Week on Facebook.
Solidarity Week 2011 is organized and endorsed by African Students Association, Alberta Public Interest Research Group, Breath in Poetry Collective (BIP), Cinema Politica – Edmonton, Edmonton Sisters in Spirit, Memoria Viva Society of Edmonton, Music is a Weapon, People’s Poets, Palestine Solidarity Network, Sikh Students’ Society, Solidarity with Iran’s Democratic Movement-Edmonton (SIDME)
PALESTINE SOLIDARITY NETWORK 