New Year's Letter Writing Party

Wondering how to bring in the New Year?
How about by asking for New Year's commitments from your representatives on issues that matter to you? Hold a letter writing party!

Why letters?
When you send a letter to government representatives, they count it as more than one voter's opinion, because so few people take the time to actually write letters, so your letter is having a bigger impact than you might expect! For instance your letter to the federal government might be counted as if as many as 50 people felt the way you do! That's pretty effective if you ask me!
Why New Years?
You and your family and friends probably have some time off school and work, are in a good and giving mood, and might even be sick of sitting around doing not much that active. Plus you can make your letters a bit more interesting by asking representatives to make a new year's resolution to make the change you're asking for, or talking about starting 2008 off on the right foot.

How? It's Simple:
1. Find a Place and Time
-part of your New Year's eve party? Something to do on New Years Day in the afternoon? Sometime in the few days before chool starts up again?
-your living room? Church? Community hall? All your really need is tables or clipboards/books for people to write on

2. Invite Friends and Family to start the New Year off right-send emails, invite people when wishing them a happy new year,-offer snacks (simple things like cookies and chips) and music (recorded, or ask a guitar player to play a few tunes)

3. Gather a few supplies
-Print off some fact sheets on a variety of issues you think are interesting and important - several ideas are available here(another page on the blog): http://continentalsac.blogspot.com/2007/12/fact-sheets-for-letter-writing.html
-Print off some tips on effective letter writing: http://www.sierraclub.org/takeaction/toolkit/letters.asp
-get a package of lined paper, some envelopes, a few pens, and some stamps (if you're concerned about how much you're spending on stamps and supplies, put out a basket for contributions toward postage at the party)
-Find out who your representatives (federal, state/provincial, and municipal) are and how to reach them, and print that off as well. Also consider the head of state of other countries as well, as many issues are international (particularly Canada/US).
- http://www.house.gov/writerep/ (US federal representatives)
- http://www.house.gov/house/orgs_pub_hse_ldr_www.shtml (US leadership offices)
- http://canada.gc.ca/directories-repertoires/direct-eng.html (Canada - Government and
Members of Parliament)
- http://canadaonline.about.com/cs/premiers/a/writepremiers.htm (Canada - Premiers of
the provinces and territories)
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_current_United_States_Governors (list of US state Governors, can google their names to get addresses)

4. Follow-up-after the event send the information you collected (fact sheets, addresses for your representatives, and any tips you found) to everyone who did and did not attend, so people have the opportunity to do more, or to participate even if they couldn't make it to your party

Other tips:
Keep it Simple - have fun with it, but don't stress yourself out about it - go with the flow
Don't Stress - even if you don't have the turn out you would have liked, if you send one letter it was worth it! Plus, you'll have put the idea of letter writing in your friend's heads
Make it sound fun - consider watching a movie (either on the issue or just a fun movie) before or after, don't make it sound labour-intensive
Invite others to bring snacks, movies, music etc to take some of the load off yourself

Have fun!If you have any questions, send me an email - continentalsac@gmail.com

Add a comment to let me know if you held one of these parties, and let me know how it went! It's important to share our successes!

Fact Sheets for Letter Writing

Here are some fact sheets on a variety of topics/issues that you might consider writing letters on. Of course you can write a letter about any issue that matters to you, but the more facts you have, the stronger your letter will be.

These sheets are organized by topic/issue, and under the title of each fact sheet, the organization the information is from is listed in brackets.


Housing

MYTHS AND FACTS ABOUT PUBLIC HOUSING IN NEW ORLEANS
(Defend New Orleans Public Housing)
http://www.defendneworleanspublichousing.org/facts.html

Human Rights

Amnesty International’s page of Urgent Appeals (each one has fact sheet)
http://www.amnesty.org/en/how-you-can-help


Support Immigrant Families—Stop the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) Raids (link to UUA's action of immediate witness on this issue)

Stop U.S. Sponsored Torture—A Religious Call to Action (link to UUA's action of immediate witness on this issue)

Women's Rights and Equality

Several actions to put equality back on track in Canada
http://www.womensequality.ca/action.html

Social Support for the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (link to UUA's action of immediate witness on this issue)

Poverty

Sample Letters about living up to Aid Committments - one for each country
(Poverty.com, same people that run Freerice.com)
http://www.poverty.com/printletter.html

More and Better Aid
(Make Poverty History Canada)
http://www.makepovertyhistory.ca/e/aim3.html
more detail:
http://www.makepovertyhistory.ca/e/resources/political-action/general-briefing-note.pdf


End Child Poverty in Canada
(Make Poverty History Canada)
http://www.makepovertyhistory.ca/e/aim4.html
more detail:
http://www.makepovertyhistory.ca/e/resources/political-action/briefing-note-child-poverty.pdf

Cancel the Debt - How rich countries need to cancel the debt owing to them by poor countries(Make Poverty History Canada)
http://www.makepovertyhistory.ca/e/aim2.html

Trade Justice - The importance of fair trade rules between rich and poor countries
http://www.makepovertyhistory.ca/e/aim1.html


Climate Change

General Climate Change Facts (glossary)
(The Great Warming)
http://www.thegreatwarming.com/pdf/ClimateChangeFactSheet.pdf

Climate Change and Poverty
(Make Poverty History Australia)
http://www.childfund.org.au/static/w/X/40498e0830b4d8d41b9724fe899c87a3.pdf


Wildlife/Wilderness

Stop Port Construction; Save Ridley Sea Turtles / India
(Global Response - Environmental Action and Education)
http://www.globalresponse.org/gra.php?i=current

Andy Russell – I’tai sah kòp (Castle) Park - Creating a new park in southwestern Alberta
(Sierra Club of Canada)
http://www.sierraclub.ca/national/programs/biodiversity/wilderness/campaign.shtml?x=309

Boreal Forest Fact Sheet - info on the importance of and threat to the Canadian Boreal Forest
(Sierra Club of Canada)
http://www.sierraclub.ca/img_upload/af38c14d2c65b43c7910bb4fb3317aa7/boreal_fact_sheet.pdf

Democracy

This is Democracy? - Explanation of the need for electoral reform in Canada
(Fair Vote Canada)
http://www.fairvotecanada.org/files/Make%20Every%20Vote%20Count%20-%20Pt%201%20-%20jan%2005.pdf

Sexual Health/GBLTQ issues

-comprehensive sex ed in the States http://www.uua.org/socialjustice/socialjustice/statements/31604.shtml (link to UUA's action of immediate witness on this issue)

-Repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (link to UUA's action of immediate witness on this issue)

-Pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act with Transgender Inclusion and Protection (link to UUA's action of immediate witness on this issue)


Other topics to write letters on
(I don't have fact sheets for these, use your own knowledge and passion!)

-more and better transit systems in your community (a race, class, poverty and environmental issue)

-more comprehensive recycling and composting programs in your community

-real action on climate change from all levels of government
-clean energy sources (wind, solar, geo-thermal, wave technology, etc)
-emissions caps on industry, vehicles, etc
-more incentives for retrofitting of buildings to meet high energy standards
-stop subsidizing fossil fuel industries

-living wages – a minimum wage that is actually enough to survive on, and be above the poverty line

-racism (choose an instance of institutionalized racism and write about that, or check your town’s papers for particular instances you can refer to or write a letter to the editor about)

-representation of women and visible minorities in government positions (specifically that parties choose to nominate these individuals to run, and to run in ridings/constituencies where they are likely to win)



*Remember, you can also send email about any of these things, but letters count more!*

Also, some letters you can sign and send online - not as effective as hand-written and mailed letters, but still better than nothing! You could have a computer connected to the internet at your event so that people can send these letters too:

Americans - find out how your Senators and Reps voted on Key Energy Ammendments, and send them a note:
http://action.sierraclub.org/site/VoteCenter?page=voteList

Help save the Polar Bear
https://secure2.convio.net/sierra/site/Advocacy?JServSessionIdr012=ohd0zu5fh2.app20a&cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=221

Tell President Bush: Take Plan B to the UN
(Save Darfur)
http://action.savedarfur.org/campaign/planb_petition/ies6uus9a65d7ek?


Help Stop the Genocide in Darfur - Tell President Bush and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to take immediate steps to stop the killing in Darfur.
(Save Darfur)
http://action.savedarfur.org/campaign/savedarfurcoalition

Petitions Galore!

Here are some petitions on important issues you can sign. It's quick and easy and they work when lots of people sign them!

The Petition Site - tons of petitions on a variety of issues!
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/

Here are some of the petitions on the Petition site that I've picked out and signed:

Stop Rape and Other Violence Against Women in War-torn Democratic Republic of Congo
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/681212377

End China's Human Rights Abuses in Tibet Before the 2008 Olympics
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/313171490

Support the PAW Act - End Alaska's Aerial Hunting Program!
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/477616584

Stop Deceptive Labeling of "Natural" Meat
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/954533337

Give Darfur Kids Stability Through Education
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/677384362

Restore Affordable Birth Control
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/286534868


There are so many more petitions that are worthy of your signature, so check them out! Search for issues that matter to you! Or even write a petition yourself!

~Chris

Thinking about gifts for this holiday season? Don’t buy stuff, Change the world!

Especially fitting for the day after the biggest spending day all year, Nov 23 (also celebrated as Buy-Nothing Day) – today, think about making your next purchase something that will make a real difference, instead of more STUFF!

As these ads by Oxfam in the UK and New Zealand comically point out, every year most people both give and receive a whole lot of presents that are useless or not needed, usually generic, and just add to the STUFF we all have lying around. This year, use some or all of your gift-buying to change the world a little!

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/content/unwrapped/rubbishpresents_video2.aspx

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0XKE15yNnE

The sites below have great gift ideas that you can purchase through them that will really let you make a difference this year.
Note: These sites are from several different countries, but we live in a connected world, so if there’s something one another country’s site, you can probably still get it, shipping will just take longer for the card (unless you get an e-card) and you’ll need to consider the exchange rate for whatever you’re buying.

Oxfam Unwrapped Canada – http://www.oxfamunwrapped.ca/
Oxfam Unwrapped US - http://www.oxfamamericaunwrapped.com/
Oxfam Unwrapped UK - http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/Browse.aspx?catalog=Unwrapped&category=UWGifts
-some of the fun gifts you can find on these sites include: male and female condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS, a sanitary toilet for a community or school, safe water, chicken donkey or goat, hygiene kits, emergency kits, training or tools for women, peer education training on HIV/AIDS prevention

Good Gifts Catalogue (based in the UK) - http://www.goodgifts.org/
-check out their stocking stuffers for cheaper gifts that still make a difference
-wide range of useful gifts, sorted by interest for animal lovers and gardeners, music lovers, food lovers and book lovers

Ten Thousand Villages Living Gifts (Canada) - http://www.tenthousandvillages.ca/cgi-bin/category.cgi?category=living_gift
-plant trees, send children to school, or give livestock

Quick and Easy Ways to Fight Poverty

Poverty.com - a website that gives quick and easy to understand summaries of the major problems contributing to poverty. You can also download an print a letter to send to each (a differnt letter for each) of the countries that have not yet delivered on their 0.7% aid - including Canada! Send a letter today!

Free Rice - a website that helps you your English vocabulary, and for each word you get right, the sponsors donate 10 grains of rice to help end world hunger. It's extremely addictive and fun(i'm serious about this!), plus you know you're making a real difference.

The Hunger Site - this is a simple click-to-donate site, where sponsors donate cups of rice each time you click on the button on the main page. Only one click per day allowed, but there are several related sites such as the breastcancer site and the literacy site, and you can click on each site's button once a day.

Press Releases for Interfaith Fast for Peace

Hopefully some of you get this soon enough to be able to use them! good luck with your fasts!

Please feel free to change/add to these press releases, especially if you want to add a quote from yourself about why you're doing it, or your experience of it for the later ones. Or, if you'd like to talk to the media yourself, replace my name and number with yours.

To all Americans: sorry, as a Canadian i don't feel I know enough to write out a whole press release for the American fast... so you need to either quote yourself and/or your friends (and feel free to change any other parts of the press release!!!) in order to flesh it out (it's below the canadian version)


Canadian Press Release to be sent out Saturday, Sunday or Monday:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Canadian Teenagers to Turn Down Food on Thanksgiving Day

Teens and young adults are known for their appetites, but a group of more than 10 Unitarian Universalist youth and young adults across Canada will be fasting for peace from dawn to dusk this Thanksgiving Monday instead of eating; and they’re encouraging their peers in other faith communities to do the same. Almost 500 youth and young adults across North America are planning to participate in the fast, as well as many adult faith communities.

“Peace and justice are really important to me as a Unitarian Universalist” said 20 year old Christine Michell from Lethbridge Alberta “so when I heard of this idea to fast for peace, I was really excited. I think the fact that it’s on Thanksgiving is quite fitting, since we’re so lucky as Canadians to live in peace.”

“We’ll still be having Thanksgiving dinner after sunset to break the fast, but the act of fasting for a specific purpose all day will help us to both reflect on the need for peace, and make a statement about how war and conflict need to end” added Sanford Kome-Pond, age 19 from Calgary.

This is all part of the Canadian Interfaith Fast for Peace, an extension of a similar event in the US which is sponsored by the Shalom Center, and focuses specifically on ending the war in Iraq.

For more information contact on youth and young adult involvement in this event contact Christine Michell (403) 382-0723, christine.michell@uleth.ca
For more information on the American event, see the website: http://interfaithfast.org

###

American Press Release to be set out Saturday, Sunday or Monday:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

American Teenagers to Turn Down Food this Columbus Day

Teens and young adults are known for their appetites, but a group of almost 500 youth and young adults across North America will be fasting for peace and an end to the War in Iraq, from dawn to dusk this Columbus Day; and they’re encouraging their peers in other faith communities to do the same. Many adult faith communities will be participating as well, many in large interfaith gatherings.

******insert 1-3 quotes from youth or young adults about the importance of this fast, why they’re doing it, and about their plans for October 8th*********

The Interfaith Fast for Peace is sponsored by the Shalom Center.

For more information on the larger event, see the website: http://interfaithfast.orgFor more information on youth and young adult involvement contact Christine Michell (403) 382 0723

###

Press releases to send out later (monday, tuesday, wed, thurs) - change all italic parts to apply to you and/or your group.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Local youth/young adult spent Thanksgiving/Columbis Day fasting for peace

Teens and young adults are known for their appetites, but your name and and age here abstained from food on Thanksgiving/Columbus Day this year to make a statement about peace. Almost 500 youth and young adults across North America were planning to participate in the fast, as well as many adult faith communities.

****quotes here from you about what it was like, what it meant to you*******

This is all part of the Interfaith Fast for Peace, an extension of a similar event in the US which is sponsored by the Shalom Center, and focuses specifically on ending the war in Iraq.

For more information contact on youth and young adult involvement in this event contact your name/contact info
For more information on the American event, see the website: http://interfaithfast.org

###

hope these are helpful!
~Chris

Canadian Racism and AR/AO

I have been aware for some time now that nothing was really being done in the Canadian UU youth community to deal with racism and oppression. Some of this has to do with the fact that a lot of the material that has been developed in the UU youth community has been largely US-centric, coupled with the Canadian cultural tendency to believe that the US and Canada are SO different that our problems aren’t alike. I know Canadian UU youth care about racism and justice, but it really hasn’t been talked about, and there is even less diversity in our youth community than in the American youth community.

As both the National Social Action Coordinator for Canada(a position I held from 2004 until may 2007), and the Continental Social Action Coordinator, I have struggled with this reality, and have been trying to figure out how to bring effective and transformative AR/AO training and work to Canadian youth, without initiating the knee-jerk rejection reaction. This shift has to be done intentionally, and in a caring and strategic way, so that we do not end up turning all (or even a large portion of our extremely small community) Canadian youth away from this work as a result of bad experiences.

So far I’ve done the following:

-I’ve been a part of the CUC’s Racial and First Nations Equity Monitoring Group (Monitoring groups are volunteer committees that discuss, strategize around and take action on a particular social justice issue/area, these groups are mostly adults, though there are occasionally youth who are members), which has been adapting American AR curriculums, as well as other diversity curriculums made by Canadian UUs, to be used in Canadian congregations. These curriculums are available online here: http://www.cuc.ca/social_responsibility/diversity.htm

-I’ve tried to examine why so many Canadians have had bad reactions with American AR/AO trainings, so that we can address those issues – and I wrote an essay earlier this summer about this issue,( as well as a couple of other issues I have become aware of in the way YRUU does AR/AO) which can be found earlier in my blog.

-I’ve applied and been accepted to become a Groundwork trainer, and hope to help Groundwork in their efforts to become more continental and to produce Canadian-relevant content and materials.

Since the powerful and inspiring AR/AO trainings I experienced at Youth Council 2007, the group of Canadians who were present at Youth Council (YCRs, the Canadian At Large, a member of last year’s YRUU Steering Committee, one of the Groundwork Trainers, and myself) have committed to forming a strategy to bring exciting, relevant, transformative AR/AO training to Canadian youth. We are reviewing materials already available to us (such as groundwork materials, materials from the UN Association of Canada, and the curriculums developed by the CUC’s Racial and First Nations Equity monitoring group), creating our own programs and workshops, and forming a strategy that addresses youth at the congregational, regional and national levels.

I’m extremely excited about this process, and the possibilities it has for real change. This is clearly an area of weakness, and I’m really looking forward to addressing that weakness, and hopefully turning it into a strength instead. I hope that some of the materials we develop and/or discover will also be applicable to American youth, and can further strengthen the Continental AR/AO work.

Oh, and in case you want to check out the GREAT resource from the UN Association of Canada, the Kit, here it is: http://www.unac.org/yfar/education_e.htm

~Chris

Powerful Art/Photography

I've been exploring Taking IT Global(reviewed earlier this month) a bit more recently, and have discovered that the Global Gallery - where youth all over the world post their artwork/photos on several SJ themes/issues, and comment on each other's work. Some of the stuff is phenomenal, especially the monthly contests on specific issues.

Here's the link to the whole Global Gallery:
http://www.takingitglobal.org/express/gallery/

Contests:
http://www.takingitglobal.org/express/gallery/contests/view.html

Check out, in particular:
Recognizing the Resistance of Indigenous Peoples:
http://www.takingitglobal.org/express/gallery/contests/contest.html?contestID=371

Belonging to the Body (disability and the body):
http://www.takingitglobal.org/express/gallery/artwork/collections.html?collectionID=865&type=contest

Women's Rights: To be a Woman
http://www.takingitglobal.org/express/gallery/artwork/collections.html?type=contest&collectionID=629

Millennium Development Goals: Vision 2015 - Your Future
http://www.takingitglobal.org/express/gallery/artwork/collections.html?collectionID=696&type=contest

...there are lots of great other ones.. just thought iId give a sampling...

I think sometime we forget how powerful it can be to express ourselves through artwork - it can really help each of us to understand people from vastly different parts of the world, different cultures. And through respectful understanding we can break down stereotypes, prejudice, and really begin to deconstruct racism and other forms of descrimination and oppression. That's how we start to create the world we want

~Chris

Why I haven’t made many posts about AR/AO on this Blog

When I set up this blog, my intention was for it to be a place for me to share thoughts, concerns, resources, ideas etc with as many youth as possible, without needing to spend a lot of time planning and worrying about format, etc. However, I have not really used it in that way. I’ve been struggling with several things:

I’ve been torn back and forth about whether I should use it to talk about whatever issue is on my mind because that’s where the passion and energy lies in that moment, and seeking a balance of issues and emphasis.

I’ve also felt like I know a lot more about some issues than other issues (clearly this is true, it’s true of all of us) and that I should stick to what I know so I don’t make a fool of myself/make a mistake that might hurt someone. Additionally, some issues that I know something about (like AR/AO), but don’t feel like an expert on, and yet feel should be done “right” I have avoided - again, not wanting to mess up in a big way.

I really want to be an effective support person/advocate for all uu youth who are interested in social justice work, and I wanted to make sure that any AR resources I give out are equally useful for youth of colour as they are for white youth. This is a commitment I really want to make, and live up to, but I’m worried I’ll mess it up…so I find I wont’ give a resource at all if I think it will only be useful to white youth, but I don’t feel that I know yet where to look for good resources for youth of colour.

And, even when I do come across a great resource, I wonder if I should go and find several others and present it as a package of resources, instead of just talking about something I think is cool and great.

My life has also been extremely busy, and it seems like when I have an AR/AO issue in mind I’d like to write about, I don’t have the time - I know that this is not an acceptable or even reasonable thing to blame these shortcomings on, and probably has more to do with what I make time for and what I don’t, which is probably a manifestation of internalized racism.
So basically, I think I’ve messed up considerably. Yes, balance is important, but so is being enthusiastic about what I’m writing about, and being authentic and honest is more important that trying to get it perfect, I think.

So I’m going to try to return to the original purpose of this blog, try to squash my internalized racial supremacy tendency of perfectionism, and make time for all the issues I feel are important. I’m going to try not to freak out if the blog isn’t perfectly balanced all the time, and try to trust that there are naturally waves – times when one issue is on my mind more than others, and so I write about it disproportionately – and each issue will hopefully have it’s own wave or two, and over time this blog will achieve that balance on it’s own (as long as I do make time for everything in time). Weird… some sort of let-it-be mixed with intentionality… trying not to force it, but trying not to forget about it… well, we’ll see how it works.

I think I’ll also allow myself to be short posts that are half-formed ideas, instead of feeling that I need to write an essay for every entry. Hopefully that will help with the making time for everything objective…hopefully.

I really invite your comments/suggestions. I’m struggling through this, and trying to be as open and transparent about my struggle as I can. After all: “struggling together’s what solidarity’s about” –Ethan Miller and Kate Boverman, White Lies

Thanks for listening to my struggle
~Chris

Resource Profile: YRUU website

There really is a wealth of resources on the YRUU website, but I think most people(including me!) don't use them very often because they don't have any idea what's there - which is a total shame! So I thought I'd point out some great Social-Justice related stuff that's on there (by no means an exhaustive list!!!):

Great summary of what's going on with the Genocide in Darfur, and what you can do about it:
http://www25.uua.org/YRUU/resources/online/Darfur.html

Tons of stuff on sexuality - sexuality education, sexualized violence, linked identities, resources for queer youth, gender identity:
http://www25.uua.org/YRUU/synapse/2005-1/theme15.html

The SWAT PoAT - resources on the Working Action Issue: Education Reform and Multiculturalism
http://www25.uua.org/YRUU/justice/pdfs/SWATPoAT.pdf

AMAZING list of SJ links:
http://www25.uua.org/YRUU/justice/links.html
which includes many links on each of the following topics:

Education Reform and Multiculturalism
Progressive Coalitions & Organizing
Non-Corporate News & Media
Racial Justice
Accessibility & Health
GLBTQ Issues
Women's Issues and Reproductive Freedom
Human Rights
Prison/Legal Reform
Environmental/Animal Justice
Globalization/Economic Justice
Hunger and Poverty
Youth Empowerment
Anti-Slavery
US Military and War
UU Social Justice Resources
Democracy & Voter Registration
Miscellaneous Social Justice Links


So go check out the YRUU website!
~Chris

Queer Rights - all over the map

Clearly the state of GBLPT2QQI rights is not clear-cut(3 articles):

A story about persistent homophobia in Canada....

Canadians still have 'a long way to go' on gay issues
SIRI AGRELL
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
August 9, 2007 at 8:59 AM EDT

On a Los Angeles stage tonight, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards will gather for the first debate among U.S. Democratic Party presidential candidates focused solely on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues.

With same-sex marriage a protected right in Canada, it can be tempting to regard the United States' continuing political struggle over gay issues as painfully behind the times. But a recent string of intolerant events and blatant displays of homophobia in this country suggests that Canada may not be as progressive as Canadians believe.

"Everyone likes to think that we're so far ahead of the Americans," said Helen Kennedy, executive director of the LGBT advocacy group Egale Canada.
"But we're constantly being reminded through human-rights complaints that we have a long way to go in Canada."

In Ontario alone, 68 complaints were made to the province's human rights commission on the grounds of sexual orientation between April 1, 2006, and March 31, 2007, with $243,599.23 paid out in monetary damages.

Other reminders of discrimination have been coming regularly of late.

The town council in Truro, N.S., voted last week against flying the rainbow flag at town hall during pride activities.

Last month, the Quebec Human Rights Commission awarded $10,000 to a gay couple who were being harassed by young people in their neighbourhood.

And in Saskatchewan, the mother of an 11-year-old boy who was kidnapped and sexually assaulted last year by pedophile Peter Whitmore recently told a sentencing hearing she is pulling her son out of school because a classmate keeps calling him "faggot."

These incidents will continue until tolerant attitudes and practices are incorporated into the country's schools, health-care system and general consciousness, Ms. Kennedy said. "We have great legislation but we don't have societal views that reflect it."

Egale is currently doing a survey of school boards across the country to gauge their policies toward LGBT bullying and what resources are available to young people questioning their own sexuality.

The group is also analyzing provincial human-rights complaints, which range in nature from employment discrimination to verbal abuse and incidents of violence, Ms. Kennedy said.
"I was talking today to someone whose friend was beaten up with a baseball bat," she said. "But the case never got filed because he wasn't out to his parents."

The number of complaints tied to sexual orientation have increased in several provinces over the years, said Miriam Smith, a professor at Toronto's York University who studies gay and lesbian rights in Canada, but not because there is more discrimination.

"It's because people feel they are able to come out and complain that it's unfair," she said.
Ms. Smith said Canada has made great gains in attitudes toward gay and lesbian individuals, noting that it was a Halloween tradition in Toronto during the 1960s and 1970s to go to Yonge Street and yell homophobic epithets.

In an effort to reinvigorate the discussion, Egale has invited the leaders of Ontario's provincial parties to an LGBT debate on Sept. 9, although only the Green Party has so far accepted the offer.

"We want to see what they are going to do to address some of our concerns as a community," said Ms. Kennedy, who hopes to play host to similar debates in other provinces and among federal party leaders.

An action alelert from the National Council of Jewish Women on legislation to address discrimination...
Help Stop Employment Discrimination
It's been more than three decades since Congress first considered the issue of employment discrimination based on sexual orientation, yet there has been no federal action on this issue. Although some states have passed laws to protect such workers, in 33 states, it is still legal to fire or refuse to hire someone because of their sexual orientation. And in 42 states, people can be fired or denied employment due to their gender identity.

For all too many lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in this country, the reality is that they are denied the basic right to be free from employment discrimination, despite their qualifications for a job. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) would rectify this ongoing injustice by extending fair employment practices under federal law to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals. ENDA would not create any special rights but would simply level the field for those potential victims of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in hiring or firing practices.

When Congress returns in September, ENDA stands its greatest chance of passage yet with wide public support and with its recent reintroduction in the House of Representatives.

Contact your senators and representatives to urge them to support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.

To take action go to: http://action.ncjw.org/campaign/ENDA_Aug2007/w3bd3bw41ij5djd?


Good news from the Reform Jewish movement - acceptance of Trans persons...
New Reform manual adds blessings for sex changes
By Ben Harris
Published: 08/08/2007
NEW YORK (JTA) -- In a groundbreaking move to recognize the experiences of transgender Jews, the Reform movement has published several prayers for sanctifying the sex-change process.

The Union for Reform Judaism this week released the second edition of Kulanu, the union's 500-page resource manual for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender inclusion. The guide includes two blessings authored by Rabbi Elliot Kukla for transitioning genders.

Kukla, who was known as Eliza when ordained in 2006 by the movement's New York seminary, originally wrote the blessings for a friend who wanted to mark each time he received testosterone therapy. Still, Kukla believes they are appropriate for multiple moments in the sex-change process, including "moments of medical transitions."

Broad sections of the Jewish community now accept gays and lesbians serving as rabbis and cantors, and many support rabbinic officiation at same-sex commitment ceremonies. But the Reform movement, the country's largest synagogue denomination, had never gone as far as to say that it is kosher to recite a blessing for a sex change.

"There was a conversation about what we should include and what we shouldn't include," said Rabbi Richard Address, one of Kulanu's editors and the director of the union's Department of Jewish Family Concerns. "This was going to be a little bit out there."

The first Hebrew blessing praises God as "the Transforming One to those who transform/transition/cross over." A second blessing, intended to be said after completing the transition process, praises God, "who has made me in his image" -- a reference to the description in Genesis of the creation of Adam.

A final blessing is the familiar Shehechiyanu, traditionally recited to mark special events or notable firsts."The midrash, classical Jewish exegesis, adds that the adam harishon, the first human being formed in God's likeness, was an androgynos, an intersex person," Kukla writes in a brief introduction. "Hence our tradition teaches that all bodies and genders are created in God's image whether we identify as men, women, intersex, or something else."

First published in 1996, the original version of Kulanu was a 150-page collection of texts intended as a resource for gay and lesbian inclusion. The updated version is significantly expanded, and includes liturgy for same-sex union ceremonies, a divorce document for same-sex couples and a prayer for coming out regarding one's sexual identity.

The new volume also includes a section on the history of Reform Judaism's response to the challenge of sexual and gender identity, documenting a 40-year period of increasing willingness to normalize the status of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals in the movement.
The issue of transgender Jews was first addressed in 1978 when the Central Conference of American Rabbis deemed it permissible for one who had undergone a sex-change operation to be married according to Jewish tradition. In 1990, the CCAR allowed such individuals to be converted. And in 2003, the union retroactively applied its policy on gays and lesbians to the transgender and bisexual communities. "It's a logical next step in this process," Address said of the new liturgy.Still, those involved in designing Kulanu -- Hebrew for "all of us" -- wondered if the movement, even with its trailblazing history on these issues, was prepared to sanctify sex-change procedures.

Along with the liturgy, the new version also includes essays by Kukla and Reuben Zellman, who in 2003 became the movement's first transgender rabbinical student, aimed at making congregations more sensitive. The material instructs congregants in matters of using the proper pronoun and encourages synagogues to install a gender-neutral rest room.

"We are living in the midst of one of the greatest transitions in American Jewish life," Address said. "And this is part of it."

Resource Profile: Taking IT Global

Here is an example of a great organization/portal that encourages youth from around the world to get involved in issues that matter to them:

Taking IT Global - http://www.takingitglobal.org/
This site is all about youth empowerment, connecting youth from around the globe, helping them to express themselves, build networks, get informed about issues, start projects, etc. It uses a widerange of technologies to bring people together, and thereis a HUGE community of youth already involved, so it’s obviously working!

The site includes:

Making Connections - blogs, discussion boards, find other memebrs, e cards,groups, member stories, newsletters
Take Action - workshop kits, action guides, projects, open forums, and Voice(a set of tools to help youth participate in decision-making processes at manylevels
Browse Resources - events, organizations, professional opportunities,financial opportunities, toolkits and publications
Express Yourself - artisitic expression, online publications,
Understand Issues - information to help you understand global issues and featured themes
Explore the World -interactive map that allows you to see where countries stand on a broad range of stats
AND: games, resources for educators….. this site has got it all

Here’s what the website says about Taking IT Global:

“TakingITGlobal is an international organization - led by youth and empowered by technology.TakingITGlobal connects youth around the world to find inspiration, information and get involvedin improving their local and global communities.
Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, with a growing worldwide presence, the organization’s flagshipprogram’ TakingITGlobal.org, serves as the most popular online community for young people interestedin connecting across cultures and making a difference, with hundreds of thousands of visitors each month.
TakingITGlobal works with global partners – from UN agencies, to major companies, and especially youthorganizations – to build the capacity of youth for development, artistic and media expression, makeeducation more engaging, and involve young people in global decision-making.
Here you can learn about our programs, get information on our organization, and find ways to get involved.”

Every time I check out this site I’m surprised at just how much is going on, and how comprehensive it is. So many issues are covered, in so many ways, and there are so many ways for youth to get involved! And if you ever start feeling like you’re alone and no one else cares about the issue you’re worried about, check out this site and you’ll find you’re probably wrong - there are probably tons of amazing youth around the world worried about it too. And if there isn’t? Well then just post your issue on a blog or discussion board and you’ll soon find someone else who cares!It’s also available in 11 languages, making it one of the most truly international websites I’ve seen.

~Chris

Why is Pride Week at the End of June?

The following is an article sent to me by a friend of mine which gives some important background to why June - and particiularly the end of June - is when most Pride events take place. It’s important to know the history of such occasions, and to remember such atrocities so we can hopefuly prevent them in the future.
~Chris


Statement of Solidarity on the Anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion
by Amber R. Clifford-Napoleone Convener, Queer Commission of the SPUSA http://www.sp-usa.org/

In the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, the New York City police raided a Greenwich Village bar: The Stonewall Inn. The Stonewall Inn, a gay and lesbian neighborhood bar with a large number of African American and Latino patrons, was also well-known as a safe space for those who did not conform to gendernorms: butch lesbians, effeminate gay men, and transsexual and transgendered persons before the terms were in popular use. All of these factors brought the police to Stonewall in 1969 for the purpose of illegally raiding the bar, and arresting its occupantsan action not unknown in New York in the 1960s. On that fateful day, however, the Stonewall’s patrons had enough. Nobody knows who threw the first bottle that day. It may have been Sylvia Rivera, a transgendered activist and later a founding mother of political movements on behalf of transgendered and transsexual Americans. It may have been a still unidentified butch lesbian arrested in the bar. Over 2000 GLBTQ Americans clashed with 400 police officers on June 28. Arrests and beatings were concentrated among Stonewall’s African American, Latino, butch and trans patrons. What ensued was known in the New York press and among the police as the Stonewall riots. For gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, transsexual and queer Americans, and later the world, that fateful day marked the beginning of the Stonewall Rebellion. With shouts of “Gay Power,” the rebellion that lasted five days in New York began to spread across the country. Gay, lesbian, trans and other queer Americans took to the streets to protest their continued oppression, objectification, and criminalization. This singular event, the Stonewall Rebellion, marked the beginning of the modern GLBTQ liberation movement, and brought GLBTQ political and social struggles out of the closets on onto American streets. Using this date as the flashpoint, cities across America and around the world continue to celebrate the last week of June as Pride Weekend, a weekend where we remember the Rebellion, organize to continue the fight for queer liberation, and celebrate our culture, community, families and history. Today, the struggle for queer liberation continues. GLBTQ persons in the United States are still denied over 1,000 Federal rights guaranteed to heterosexuals. GLBTQ Americans continue to live daily with violence, both verbal and physical, and this violence continues to escalate despite years of work to pass poorly enforced hate crimes legislation. In August 2006, in Greenwich Village not far from the famous Stonewall Inn, four African American lesbian women were verbally and physically attacked on the street. These women were convicted of assault on their assailant, a man who ripped the hair from the women’s scalps and threw lit cigarettes at them. For defending themselves, these four young women have received sentences ranging from 4 years to 11 years. Fred Phelps, the ultra-conservative religious leader from Topeka, Kansas, continues to protest at the funerals of GLBTQ Americans, harassing their families and claiming that their deaths were deserved punishments. Police across the country continue to raid bars and sweep streets after parades. Thousands of young GLBTQ people are homeless, left to live on the street because their own families could not accept them. This summer, in solidarity with GLBTQ people across the country, remember Stonewall and continue its legacy by working for queer liberation. Recognize the capitalist roots of oppression based on gender and sexuality, refuse to force others to conform to heteronormativity, resist and call attention to homophobia in all its forms, and join the Socialist Party and its commissions in the continued struggle for a just world for everyone.

Zero Waste

I just read the following article, and it really struck me, because this is all stuff I’ve been thinking about for quite a while - for instance I have a whole drawer full of pens that have run out of ink that they don’t sell refills for, that I intend to ship back to the company with a letter requesting that they either make refills for the pens so they can be reused, or that they recycle the pens themselves. I ’ve heard that there are some companies that are taking responsbility for their waste, and also that this is more common in Europe than North America (hmm…. it seems to me that many progressive, especially environmentally progressive projects are more common in Europe - let’s change that!), but didn’t know there was an organization in North America working toward Zero Waste. I’m definitely very pleased, and plan on getting in touch with them to see if they work in Canada or just in the US. And if they don’t operate in Canada, maybe I’ll encourage them to start!
The other cool thing that is mentioned in this article is stuff swaps, or freecycling, which i’m also a big fan of. In my region (Western Canada Region), our last conference was “green” themed, and we held a stuff swap where everyone brought good quality stuff they no longer had a use for, and then got to take home someone else’s “junk”. Some colleges and universities do large scale stuff swaps too- my university has set up a “shop stop” where again, people drop off their unneeded used goods, and can pick up something new to them at no charge.Maybe you can do a stuff swap with your youth group, or at your next conference - it’s a great way to stimulate discussion about consumerism, buy nothing day, globalization, etc.
Anyways, here’s that great article! Enjoy and happy reducing, reusing and recycling!
~Chis


Can We Create A World Without Waste?
By Andi McDaniel, Conscious ChoicePosted on January 9, 2007, Printed on January 9, 2007

http://www.alternet.org/story/46335/
Aside from Oscar the Grouch, few people would argue that trash is a good thing. In addition to being stinky, ugly and a pain to lug out to the curb, the detritus of modern life causes problems on a far grander scale. Landfills and incinerators have been linked to a host of human health issues, and as for the environment — you don’t have to be an ecologist to know that lingering piles of plastic, metal and toxic goo are bad news all around.
Yet, we continue to throw things away — and how could we not? What else would we do with that annoying cellophane packaging? The to-go boxes? The packing peanuts? The after-dinner scraps that even the dog won’t touch?
Part of the solution is as simple as a blue bin. Curbside recycling is still an incredibly effective way to save energy and divert tons of plastics, cans and glass away from landfills. Another answer is composting, which would address more than 60 percent of what ends up in residential dumpsters.
But in addition to getting the word out about these tried and true solutions, a new movement is taking a more holistic approach. Rather than focusing solely on what to do with existing waste, the “Zero Waste” movement looks at a product’s entire life cycle — and redirects the conversation toward usable options for every step along the way. The ultimate goal is to eliminate waste as a concept entirely — a lofty aspiration indeed. But Zero Wasters say loftiness is part of the point — after all, creating a trash-free world is going to take nothing short of revolution.
Starting from Zero
The idea behind Zero Waste is simple: basically, nothing with a second use should be thrown away. And if something doesn’t have a second use, it shouldn’t exist. The Berkeley Ecology Center, a West Coast leader in the Zero Waste movement, puts it this way, “If it can’t be reduced, reused, repaired, rebuilt, refurbished, refinished, resold, recycled or composted, then it should be restricted, redesigned or removed from production.”
While Zero Waste depends on careful attention to what we do or don’t toss in our home trashcans, its ultimate task is to take a bigger view of how waste is handled on an industrial level. According to the Grassroots Recycling Network (GRRN), an international Zero Waste advocacy group, “The goal applies to the whole production and consumption cycle — raw material extraction, product design, production processes, how products are sold and delivered, how consumers choose products and more.”
It’s one thing to tell consumers to stop throwing banana peels in the trash bin, but quite a larger task to convince industry to adopt Zero Waste. Still, Eric Lombardi, executive director of Eco-Cycle, a Zero Waste-oriented non-profit based in Boulder, Colo., says that industry is more amenable to the concept than you’d think. “Waste is money, and industry gets that better than anyone,” he explains. In addition to offering various recycling services, Eco-Cycle consults businesses on how to reduce their overall waste. That means spending time peering into the dumpster, where they’ll notice trashed items that could have been avoided through smarter purchasing decisions. “We’ll agree to pick up those hard-to-recycle items like computers and plastic bags and shoes,” he says, “and then what’s left? Mostly junk plastics. That’s when we talk with the people who do the purchasing to stop buying the things that end up in the dumpster.”
You Make It, You Buy It
Of course, industry interest in Zero Waste isn’t generally motivated by goodness of heart. One of the principal tenets of the Zero Waste strategy is Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), which, although new to the United States, is already well established in Europe — in part due to the pressing problem of limited landfill space. In an article for GreenBiz.com, Guy Crittenden explains, “True EPR connects producers with the downstream fate (and costs) of their products and packaging… [which] drives eco-efficiencies up the value chain, culminating in design for the environment.”
The beginnings of an EPR policy in the US are visible in the growing number of landfill bans on toxic products, such as cathode ray tubes, large appliances, tires and electronics. In anticipation of future regulations on waste, some companies are voluntarily devising initiatives for reclaiming their waste, such as Sony’s and Apple’s takeback recycling programs. Of course, such programs also provide companies with that increasingly precious public relations commodity: green street cred.
At the very least, Zero Wasters are set on halting incentives to make waste. According to GRRN, “Markets today are heavily influenced by tax subsidies and incentives that favor extraction and wasteful industries.” It’s mainly for this reason — and not for lack of the appropriate technology — that waste has persisted, even in the wake of increasing environmental awareness. GRRN estimates that we have the existing technology to redirect 90 percent of what currently ends up in landfills.
Which begs the question: If we didn’t send it to landfills, then where would it go? To recycling centers and municipal compost heaps, partly. But Zero Wasters say we shouldn’t just be asking how to get rid of our waste. Just as fungi turn rotting logs into fertile growing material, we should be able to do better than piling up our waste and covering it with dirt.
And while it’s fun to conceive of wackier and wackier recycled products — corn husks turned into countertops! pencils made from recycled paper money! water bottles morphed into cozy fleece outerwear! — Brenda Platt, of the DC-based Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), stresses the importance of finding the highest use for recyclables, to allay the energy wasted in production. In the case of glass bottles, for example, that would mean refilling them (such as with milk bottles), followed closely by turning them into new bottles, transforming them into art glass, and then maybe making “glassphalt,” a material that has been used as an alternative to conventional asphalt since the ’70s.
Such efforts can be facilitated by the existence of local “Resource Recovery Parks” where manufacturing and retail businesses share space, equipment and services, as well as reuse, recycling and composting facilities. In some cases, waste from one business becomes a resource for another business within such parks, creating a closed loop.
There’s no doubt that Zero Waste is an idealistic — if not near impossible — goal. But whether or not it can be done in every instance, says Eric Lombardi, is really beside the point. “Being on the path to zero is the point,” explains Lombardi. “Because once you have established zero as the goal — you being the government, you being a CEO — then you have a benchmark against which you can measure your future actions.”
Perhaps one of those future actions will be recycling your trashcan.

****
Seven simple steps to trashing your trash
Let’s face it — we know better than to dispose when we should be Reusing, Reducing and Recycling. But we’re busy, forgetful and, well, does it really make that big of a difference? You know the answer. So clip out these friendly reminders on how to bring your personal waste closer to zero. Just think: you’ll never have to take out the trash again!
1. Feed the garden
Think like nature for a moment — why would you throw away all those food scraps, when they could be transformed into beautiful, nourishing garden compost? Over 60 percent of municipal waste could be composted — so find a more productive resting place for your banana peels.
2. Have bag, will shop
Of course, this one we know by heart. And it’s still true. Carry canvas bags everywhere you go — put them in your car, tie them to your bike — and you’ll have a final answer to the “paper or plastic” question.
3. Sort it out
Recycling rates have taken a downturn recently. Are we losing faith in the power of recycling? It still works! If you want your recyclables to be put to the highest possible use, sort them well. “Single stream” recyclables — as opposed to glass bottles mixed with paper — make for better recycled materials.
4. Think bulk
Brenda Platt of ILSR makes a point of buying groceries in bulk. Rather than buy single-serve applesauce cups for her kids, she opts for the big jar and scoops it into smaller containers herself. Simple? Yes. But simple is key.
5. Positive reinforcement
It’s the same technique we use for supporting fair trade companies and organic farms. Support those companies that are making a point to reduce their waste — and avoid the rest. Eric Lombardi, of Eco-Cycle, says we’ve got to “reward the recyclers. The clean companies must win the profits.”
6. Shrink wrap
What better motivation to waste less than reducing the size of your trash receptacle at home? Substitute a small plastic grocery bag for your trashcan, and wiser purchasing habits will follow naturally.
7. Your Trash, Their Treasure
Repeat after me: there is no “junk,” there’s only useful stuff yet to find a home. Before you look to the landfill, consider giving your broken fridge or over-lounged loveseat a chance at a happier second life by posting it for giveaway on websites like Freecycle.org or SwapThing.com. And PlanetGreenInc.com will actually buy your spent ink-jets, conked-out laser cartridges and defunct cell phones for their recycle program, giving the money generated to charity.

******
Top Five Trash-free Towns
Searching for a waste-free world? Start looking for property in one of these enlightened locations. They’ve got big plans for creating less waste.
Berkeley, CA
In Berkeley, the birthplace of curbside recycling, the Berkeley Ecology Center’s fleet of recycling trucks runs completely on biodiesel, and Urban Ore, a local for-profit “total recycling” center, rehabs and resells items that people would otherwise pay to send to the landfill.
Boulder, CO/Santa Monica, CA
You won’t find trashcans at some weekly farmers’ markets in these towns. Santa Monica’s Main Street (Sundays only) and Boulder’s Zero Waste farmers’ markets offer patrons a choice between composting and recycling their waste — an ultimatum that prompted vendors to offer compostable to-go materials and patrons to bring their own canvas bags.
Seattle, WA
The Wasteless in Seattle program includes bold new measures to reduce waste — such as mandatory recycling with fines for violations — and the Take-it-Back Network, which sent 600 tons of computer monitors and other components back to retail stores in 2004.
New Zealand
In 1999, the New Zealand government launched the Zero Waste New Zealand Trust, an initiative that offered $25,000 (NZ) funding to councils that adopted a Zero Waste resolution. Since then, 48 of 74 (66 percent) of all local councils have made the switch.
Germany
In response to a 1991 German packaging law requiring suppliers to take back and recycle up to 70 percent of their packaging, the Green Dot program was created, in which consumers deposit Green Dot-certified packaging refuse in specially designated bins. It then gets picked up and recycled — all paid for by the manufacturers.


Andi McDaniel is a Minneapolis-based freelance writer and regular contributor to Conscious Choice. Her work has appeared in Utne, Ode and Experience Life.
© 2007 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/46335/

HIV/AIDS Treatment for Kids

Before a few minutes ago, I’d never thought about the fact that HIV/AIDS treatment drugs which are available all over the world (though still at prohibitively high costs for people in many countries or regions), are made for adults and not children. Once you think about it it makes sense - I mean the bottle of tylenol or advil or whatever that’s probably sitting in all of our medicine cabinets at home is only for adults and children over the age of 12 (or over a certain weight), and you have to get the one specifically labelled for children (or at the very least, cut the adult does in half) to avoid overdosing a child. So of course the same would apply for drugs to treat HIV/AIDs. Also, most kids aren’t able to swallow pills very easily, and so ususally need something that can be dissolved in water for them, or that they can chew.
Apperently Past US President Bill Clinton is working with several companies and organizations to make a child-appropriate drug for treatment of HIV/AIDS available to children in developing countries, at a fairly reasonable price - approximately 16 cents a day - which is great!
As I said, I hadn’t really thought about this issue until I read the article stating what was being done about it - which I think is a fairly nice way to find out about a problem.. to hear about it’s solution. However, it does make me wonder how make issues and problems are out there that are serious (as in making people suffer and die every day), that very few people know about, and so cannot organize and try to find solutions to them. It is depressing to hear about all these issues and problems…. but knowledge is power, and so once you know about something, you can start to take steps to help solve it.
So… hurrah for people like Bill Clinton and the organizations and companies he is working with who are making this breakthrough possible, and improving the lives of so many children; but I’d also like to remind everyone (including myself!) to keep your eyes and ears and hearts open, so that you can know about problems, and become part of the solution!
~Chris

Water and Sanitation

I recently made a display on the Millennium Development Goals and Water for my University’s Water Week, so I want to share with you some of what I’ve learned while making the display.

To read all the Millennium Development Goals and the specific targets for each one, please see my post on The Millennium Development Goals.

One of the Targets of Goal 7 is “To halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation”. A progress report on this target was done in 2005, and that’s where most of the information below is from. You can see the whole report at http://www.unicef.org/wes/mdgreport/
These two targets are particularly important, both because of the direct positive effects of millions more people having access to safe drinking water, and proper sanitation facilities and education; and because they will significantly affect on our ability to achieve the other Millennium Development Goals.

What struck me, when I was reading this report, was how far reaching the effects of improper sanitation facilities and lack of access to safe drink water have, particularly on women and girls:“In some cultural settings where basic sanitation is lacking, women and girls have to rise before dawn, making their way in the darkness to fields, railroad tracks and roadsides to defecate in the open, knowing they may risk rape or other violence in the process. In such circumstances, women and girls often go the whole day without relieving themselves until night affords them the privacy of darkness. Sometimes, they limit their daytime intake of food and water so that they can make it until evening. Without toilets in schools, girls must go in the open – that is, if they are even allowed to attend. For many girls, the onset of adolescence means the end of school.”

Contribution of improved drinking water and sanitation to each Millennium Development Goal:

GOAL 1:Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger
The security of household livelihoods rests on the health of its members; adults who are ill themselves or must care for sick children are less productive.
Illnesses caused by unsafe drinking water and inadequate sanitation generate high health costs relative to income for the poor.
Healthy people are better able to absorb nutrients in food than those suffering from water-related diseases, particularly helminths, which rob their hosts of calories.
The time lost because of long-distance water collection and poor health contributes to poverty and reduced food security.

GOAL 2:Achieve Universal Primary Education
Improved health and reduced water-carrying burdens improve school attendance, especially among girls.
Having separate sanitation facilities for girls and boys in school increases girls’ attendance, especially after they enter adolescence.

GOAL 3:Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
Reduced time, health and care-giving burdens from improved water services give women more time for productive endeavours, adult education and leisure.
Water sources and sanitation facilities closer to home put women and girls at less risk of assault while collecting water or searching for privacy.

GOAL 4:Reduce Child Mortality
Improved sanitation and drinking water sources reduce infant and child morbidity and mortality.

GOAL 5:Improve Maternal Health
Accessible sources of water reduce labour burdens and health problems resulting from water portage, reducing maternal mortality risks.
Safe drinking water and basic sanitation are needed in health-care facilities to ensure basic hygiene practices following delivery.

GOAL 6:Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases
Safe drinking water and basic sanitation help prevent water-related diseases, including diarrhoeal diseases, schistosomiasis, filariasis, trachoma and helminths.
The reliability of drinking water supplies and improved water management in human settlement areas reduce transmission risks of malaria and dengue fever.

GOAL 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability
Adequate treatment and disposal of wastewater contributes to better ecosystem conservation and less pressure on scarce freshwater resources. Careful use of water resources prevents contamination of groundwater and helps minimize the cost of water treatment.

GOAL 8:Develop a Global Partnership for Development
Development agendas and partnerships should recognize the fundamental role that safe drinking water and basic sanitation play in economic and social development.

Overall, if current trends continue, the global drinking water target will be reached by 2015 (although not all regions will meet the target on their own), but the global sanitation target will be missed by more than half a million people. This means that more pressure needs to be put on governments to follow through with their commitments - both in developing countries where the change needs to happen, and in developed countries who need to cancel the crippling debts of the poorest countries, as well as provide more aid, which fewer strings attached.

TAKE ACTION NOW! Send an email, or better yet a snail-mail letter (they have more impact), to your Head of Government (President or Prime Minister) letting them know that you support the Millennium Development Goals, and that you want them to live up to their promises. Also let them know why this target in particular is crucial to the success of all the other goals.

Prime Minister of Canada:
pm@pm.gc.ca
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa K1A 0A2

President of the United States of America:
comments@whitehouse.gov
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

~Chris

Beginning an SJ Reading List

I've been thinking for some time that there are so many great books and articles about social justice issues, but most people only know of one or two! So I thought it would be very useful for SACs (and everyone else interested in social justice) to have a list of lots of these books and articles that they can turn to when they want to educate themselves or others, start a social justice reading group, etc.
So here are the books and articles that I know of that are on Social Justice topics. Thanks to all the SACs who attended the YSJT 2007 who helped me compile this list so far.
This is simply meant to be a very beginning, and I hope that you will let me know of any others you know of, and that we can make this list grow! Also, if you have read any of these books or articles and would like to send in a little blurb so others know what it's about, that would also be great! Once this list has become a bit longer and more comprehensive (with several books/articles on lotsof different topics), I will post in on the YRUU website!

The Party’s Over (climate change/energy crisis)

Assata: An Autobiography (racism)

Sister Outsider (racism)

The Color of Violence

Loving in the War Years

Uprooting Racism (racism)

Why do all the Black Kids sit together in the cafeteria (racism)

Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack (white privilege)

Future: Tense (Iraq War, the coming world order)

Disappearing Moon Café (novel on racism and sexism in British Columbia)

Ten Thousand Roses (Canadian Women’s Movement)

Massive Change (globalization)

The Last of Ancient Sunlight (climate change/energy crisis)

Letters from Young Activists: Today’s Rebels Speak Out

Shake Hands with the Devil: the Failure of Humanity in Rwanda (Genocide)

No Logo (globalization)

A Promise and a Way of Life: White Antiracist Activism

Beginning a SJ Video List

I’ve been thinking for some time that there are so many great movies and documentaries about social justice issues, but most people only know of one or two! So I thought it would be very useful for SACs (and everyone else interested in social justice) to have a list of lots of these videos that they can turn to when they want to educate themselves or others, have an easy workshop at a conference, etc.
So here are the movies/documentaries that I know of that are on Social Justice topics. Thanks to all the SACs who attended the YSJT 2007 who helped me compile this list so far.
This is simply meant to be a very beginning, and I hope that you will let me know of any others you know of, and that we can make this list grow! Also, if you have seen any of these movies and would like to send in a little blurb so others know what it’s about, that would also be great! Once this list has become a bit longer and more comprehensive (with several movies on lots of different topics), I will post in on the YRUU website!

Drumbeat for Darfur (genocide)

The Wilderness Journey (racism, civil rights movement)

Born into Brothels

People Like Us (Classism)

Iraq for sale

When the Levees Broke (racism, Hurricane Katrina)

Race: The Power of an Illusion (racism)

Crash (racism)

Wal-Town (Walmart in Canada)

An Inconvenient Truth (climate change)

Kilowatt OursThe Take (worker-owned cooperatives)

The Corporation

Juvies

Shake Hands with the Devil (Genocide in Darfur)

Slammed

Front Line Anova

Through a Blue Lens

Abstinence comes to Albuquerque (Sex Ed)

Live from Deathrow

Thirst

Eyes on the Prize – mini series

Murder ball

Blood diamonds

Who Killed the Electric Car

The End of Suburbia

Manufactured Landscapes

The Red Pill

The Walkout (racism)


I look forward to hearing your additions/comments
~Chris

Flushing Trees Down the Toilet?!

How much sense does it make to flush trees down the toilet, or blow your nose on a tree? It makes pretty much no sense as I see it, but most toilet paper, facial tissue, paper towels, napkins, etc are made from “virgin” paper - that is paper that was made directly from trees made into pulp, as opposed to recycled paper, which is getting more than one use out of the trees that were cut down to produce it. One of my major pet peeves is using disposable products that were not already put to use at least once before. I’m not advocating for us all to stop blowing our noses or using toilet paper - lets get that straight. However, I do think that we should be a lot smarter and more concious of what paper it is that we’re using.

First off, why is it so important that we don’t cut down lots of trees? Aren’t they a “renewable resource”?Yes, trees are classified as a renewable resource, because trees grow back in a number of years (when logging companies re-plant them),as opposed to the millions of years it takes to produce coal, oil and natural gas. However, it does take some time for trees to grow back (the length of time varies with the species of tree and the climate), and in the mean time ecosystems are severely damaged by the disturbance by the act of cutting down the trees, erosion, which is worsened because the roots of the trees are no longer there to hold the soil in place, and the loss of habitat for many animals. In addition, trees provide oxygen and contribute significantly to the carbon balance - keeping the amoung of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in check - by using up carbon dioxide and producing oxygen. Therefore, cutting down large number of trees also contributes to global warming! So obviously it is important to reduce the number of trees that get cut down.
I doubt that we’ll actually eliminate the need for paper any time soon, but we can do a significant amount to reduce the impact that our paper usage has on the planet.
But How?

1)Reduce Paper Usage - Print double-sided whenever possible, send things (especially rough drafts) to others electronically when possible, write on the backs of pages in notebooks and lined paper whenever possible, etc.

2)Re-use paper - GOOS (good on one side) paper is a goldmine! How many times have you had to print something multiple times before actually reaching your final copy? How many things do you print but only need for a short period of time, and then no longer need it? If you save paper that has only been used on one side, you can use it again later to print off that rough draft or that page of directions to so-and-so’s house. I got through almost my entire first year of university on one pack of (30% recycled) printer paper! It was quite easy: Every time I went to recylce a stack of printed pages I would quickly sort through them, pulling out the pages that were blank on one side and were still in good shape (not folded or dog-earred), and kept them in a special pile, and recycled the rest. Then when I had to print a rough draft or something that didn’t need to be professional-looking, I would use that paper instead of new paper. In fact, I kept GOOS paper in my printer as the default, and only changed to good paper when I really needed it. When I was running low on GOOS paper I would raid nearby paper recycling boxes, which are always full of GOOS paper. Extra perk of this tactic - save money too!

3)Recycle paper - always recycle paper! (unless the paper is too soiled to be recycled that is)

4)Buy recycled paper products, especially for “disposable” products like tissue, toilet paper (I promise, it’s just as nice as the non-recycled stuff), paper towels, paper plates, etc. Also, get the highest percentage recycled material printer, notebooks and lined paper you can find, it’s ususally impossible to tell any difference in quality. Look for high post-consumer content (stuff that’s been recycled by consumers like you), which encourages the recycling industry to expand becausethere is a market for their products. Pre-consumer material(ususally scraps from the production process) isn’t bad, in fact it’s great that producers are recycling as well, but again, post-consumer content is what drives the recycling industry. Without a market for recycled products, recycling becomes unprofitable (and we know how much society tends to do things if they’re not profittable), so fewer facilities will be opened, and less recycling will take place.

4)Encourage others to do the same! Tell your friends about all these tips - think of it as payiing it forward, if you can get three friends to change their habits, and they can get three friends to change their habits….imagine the impact we could have!

5)Demand eco-friendly options and practices from your school, church, workplace, etc. Do they recycle paper? Are the recycling bins accesible? Is everyone encouraged to make use of them? Are people encouraged to save GOOS paper (a clearly labelled bin beside the recycling bin is a simple way to do this)?Do they use recycled paper to print notices, newsletters, orders of service, flyers, etc? Can they switch to recycles toilet paper, paper towel and facial tissue?

6)Demand eco-friendly options from stores and companies - if you can’t find recycled lined paper for instance (ususally quite difficult to find actually), talk to the manager of the store or drop off a comment card or letter letting them know that you would certainly buy paper (or more paper) from them if they provided recycled paper. Also, contact companies that make the product that you’re looking for, and let them know that you want that product to come in a recycled version - or better yet, for only recycled versions to be offered. Get a group of people together and all write letters to the same company asking for the same product to be offered.

Cutting Down Ancient Forests
Another issue you should be aware of is the fact that some companies are cutting down old-growth forests - forests that have been in place for decades or even over a century - to make into disposable products. Greenpeace is doing a major campaign agasint the use of ancient forests in this way, specifically targetting Kimberly-Clark which is one of the largest paper products companies in North America. Their website http://x.cuc.ca/CSAC/wordpress/www.kleercut.net has much more information about the issue, and how to take action, including the following:

Don’t purchase Kimberly-Clark tissue products:
To send a strong message to Kimberly-Clark that ancient forest destruction doesn’t pay, only buy ancient forest friendly tissue products. If your local grocery or corner does not stock these products, talk to the store manager and ask that they do.

Ancient Forest Friendly Tissue Products - Canada

Toilet Paper: Fiesta, April Soft, Ambiance, Atlantic, Basic Choice, Basics for Less, Best Buy, Cascades, Fluffs, Equality, Earth Friendly Products, PC Green, Merit Selection, Econochoice, Safeway Recycled, Smartchoice, Seventh Generation, Super C, Twice as SoftFacial Tissue: Cascades, Seventh Generation
Paper Towels: Fiesta, Atlantic, Cascades, Cascades Ultra, Equality, Earth Friendly Products, PC Green, Econochoice, Merit Selection, Safeway Recycled, Seventh Generation, Smartchoice, Super C
Napkins: Champion, Décor, No Name, Econochoice, Merit Selection, Seventh Generation, Smartchoice, Super C

Ancient Forest Friendly Tissue Products - USA
Toilet Paper: CVS Bathroom Tissue 1000, Cascades, Marcal, Natural Value, Earth First, Seventh Generation, Trader Joe’s, 365 Everyday Value
Facial Tissue: Marcal Fluff Out, Seventh Generation, Trader Joe’s
Paper Towels: Marcal Bella, Natural Value, Seventh Generation, Trader Joe’s, 365 Everyday Value

Kimberly-Clark brands of tissue products to AVOID
Canada: Kleenex

United States: Kleenex, Scott, Viva, Cottonelle

Global: Kleenex, Cottonelle, Cottonelle Puppy, Andrex, Scottbrand, Hakle, Scottex

Send an Email to Kimberly-Clark
http://kleercut.net/en/sendtokc
For more information and more ways to take action on this campaign, check out http://kleercut.net/en/exit/1


Well I hope that will convince you to change some of your ways (or encourage someone you know to change their ways)
~Chris

Women’s Day in Iran

From the Amnesty International Canada website:

“Women’s Day in Iran
On March 8th the world celebrated the 98th anniversary of International Women’s Day. The government of Iran marked the coming of this day by arresting 33 women activists. 2 continue to be held with no word on their possible release A demonstration for women’s rights held in front of Iran’s parliament on 8 March was forcibly broken up by security forces who are said to have injured several women.

The two women still in prison
Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh is the editor of the Zanan, a quarterly journal and is a key member of the “Stop Stoning Forever” Campaign, launched in September 2006 to end the practice of stoning to death in Iran.
Shadi Sadr, a lawyer and journalist, is the director of Raahi, a legal advice centre for women. She founded the first website dedicated to the work of Iranian women’s rights activists and she has written extensively about Iranian women and their legal rights.
Mahboubeh is said to suffer from arthritis and migraine, and Shadi from chronic stomach pain, possibly an ulcer. It is feared that neither woman is receiving adequate medical treatment. Mahboubeh has not been allowed to contact anyone since her arrest; Shadi has been allowed to telephone her husband twice. Amnesty fears they will be tortured.

Human rights in Iran
Amnesty International continues to document serious human violations in Iran. Iran has one of the highest number of recorded executions of any country in the world. Amnesty is particularly concerned about the execution of children and minors. In one case, an 18-year-old girl, Nazanin, was sentenced to be executed for having, at age 17, stabbed to death one of three men in a park who were attempting to rape her and her younger niece.

The bigger picture
As Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, Amnesty International knows there is a direct relationship between peace, justice and respect for human rights. As long as women are denied human rights, anywhere in the world, there can be no justice and no peace. Recognizing women’s equal rights is an essential requirement for the creation of strong, sustainable and stable societies and ensuring that women enjoy equality with men in all areas of life is a key step to making human rights a universal reality.”

Since I originally posted this article on my previous blog(the one with technical difficulties) in March, the following update has been posted on the website:

"Thank you to the more than 2,300 Canadians who responded immediately to Amnesty International’s urgent plea last week to write on behalf of these two courageous human rights campaigners in Iran .
Prisoners of conscience Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh and Shadi Sadr were released on Tuesday March 19 from Evin Prison, Tehran , on bail over US$215,000. They were among 33 women detained on 4 March during a protest in Tehran. Mahboubeh and Shadi had been held in solitary confinement between 6 and 15 March.
Amnesty welcomes the news that Mahboubeh and Shadi have been released on bail, and will continue to call for all charges to be dropped against anyone charged in connection with the peaceful demonstration on 12 June 2006, or in connection with the peaceful protest on 4 March 2007.
Thank you to all of our dedicated members who took time to write on behalf of these courageous women! "

Just goes to show how much power petitions and letter campaigns can have - so next time you hear about one, get involved, it really does help!

~Chris

YSJT 2007

Held in New Orleans in February 2007, the Youth Social Justice Training (YSJT) 2007 was a great success!
Although there were only about 20 participants total, there was a great sense of community, great discussions, workshops, Anti-racism/Anti-Oppression trainings, media and lobbying skills training, worships, and Identity groups. The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee partnered with the Youth Office to put on this annual event, and some local activists were brought in to talk to the participants, including ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now - http://www.acorn.org/ ) and ReThink (middle school kids working to reform New Orleans public schools). We also watched the 4-part documentary about Hurricane Katrina "When the Levees Broke" during the conference, which was very powerful.
We also did an action project, where we helped to gut a couple of buildings and worked on a garden, all in the Lower 9th Ward (one of the hardest-hit areas of the city), where there is going to be a tool-lending library and a information a center about building more sustainable and eco-friendly homes cheaply for residents returning to re-build (through re-using materials in their old homes that were in good shape, etc).

Does anyone who was there want to say anything else about the YSJT?

Anyways, it was a blast, and I hope many of you will come to the next YSJT. Most of the details about the next YSJT are still up in the air, but I'll let you know when I know more.

~Chris

How AR/AO work in YRUU can be more effective and inclusive

An Essay by CSAC Christine Michell, Summer 2007


Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression (AR/AO) is the most visible and addressed social justice issue at the Continental level of YRUU, as well as the one to which the most time, energy, resources, and funding is allocated. This tremendous emphasis on AR/AO within the youth movement at this level has had some positive effects and some negative ones: it has led to some remarkable strides toward greater inclusivity and accountability in YRUU and the larger UU movement, but it has also alienated many youth, created divides within the youth community, and has failed to be adopted by many youth at the district, regional and local levels. In this essay I will endeavour to point out why I feel that AR/AO work is extremely important in YRUU and should be continued, and also what I feel some of the weaknesses are that have lead to the above difficulties, and how I feel they can begin to be addressed.
I recognize that my own identity and experience have brought me to my current views and conclusions, and I can only really speak from my own experience and so I will give a short explanation of where I am coming from. I am a white female heterosexual Canadian who grew up UU. I am currently 19 years old, attending University, and I hold the position of Continental Social Action Coordinator (C*SAC). For several years I was involved with my Regional YAC, the RRYSC, and with the Canadian national Youth Advisory Group. While I have been interested and engaged in social action work since I was very young (most notably as one of the creators of the Pride Rainbow Project which worked for Equal Marriage in Canada), I only attended my first AR/AO training at YSJT 2006. Since then I have experienced AR/AO trainings and workshops at the Basic Advisor Training of Trainers, at Youth Council 2007, and at YSJT 2007. I have joined the fledgling white allies association Allies for Racial Equity, and was recently accepted to train to become a Groundwork Trainer. I do not feel I have a long history with AR/AO within YRUU, but I have experienced a fairly varied collection of AR/AO trainings and workshops, which I feel vary dramatically in quality and applicability/inclusivity.
I feel that the fight to end racism and other forms of oppression in the world is extremely important, and it is essential if we are ever to live peacefully together on this tiny planet of ours. Almost every problem humanity has faced has its roots in racism or sexism or religious intolerance or xenophobia…in some fear or hate for people unlike oneself. Human beings have treated each other very, very badly, and not only the symptoms (war, genocide, violence, etc), but the root causes need to be addressed, if we are to have any chance of surviving as a species, and any hope of becoming a peaceful human family.
I am also very aware that racism and other forms of oppression are quite prevalent in UU communities, though it is often hidden under the surface. Our communities are products of the society we live in, and our Western culture that is built on patriarchal, white supremacist, euro-centric, heteronormative (the list goes on) structures. UU communities have made some significant strides when compared to mainstream North American society, as our abundance of female ministers, our overwhelming support of equal marriage, and even the existence of anti-racism committees, groups, trainings, and resolutions, can attest. However cultural misappropriation is rampant in our churches, as well as within the youth movement; and systemic and cultural racism and oppression manifests itself in many different ways in our communities, which are too numerous and pervasive to list.
Therefore I feel AR/AO work is clearly needed, both by society at large, and within our religious community as a whole, and the youth movement more specifically. No matter what else I say in the rest of the essay, I want it to be very clear that I believe AR/AO is very, very important, and this essay is meant as constructive criticism, NOT an attack on or a call to end AR/AO trainings and work.
The concerns I have the AR/AO as done in YRUU currently, are not universal. They are trends I have witnessed on more than one occasion, but I have also experienced workshops put on by very skilled, talented trainers, who overcome all of the concerns I will mention. However these trends are quite widespread (I know this from personal experience, as well as from speaking with other youth and adults who have similar personal experiences with AR/AO), and can have quite negative consequences, and so I feel is it necessary to bring the continental YRUU movement’s attention to them.
I have three major concerns with the way YRUU currently does AR/AO work: too often it is alienating to newcomers to AR/AO work, not inclusive of Canadians, and generally keeps blinders on with respect to the way AR/AO issues play out in other parts of the world, and in global conflicts.
My first concern is that the way we do AR/AO work is often threatening and alienating to youth who are experiencing it for the first time, and we need to find ways to support inexperienced youth so they will stay and continue to be involved. When I had my first experience with AR/AO, I knew it would be a new experience, and I tried to keep my mind open, and was doing my best to understand these totally new models. However when I got confused and had questions about the models and definitions, I was shut down and made to feel not only stupid, but that I was obviously not really committed to AR/AO because I didn’t simply accept the models in silence without questions. I have seen this happen several times, where youth who are more experienced in the models and theory - sometimes those leading workshops and identity groups, and sometimes other participants – treat youth who are seeing all of this for the first time with disgust when they have any confusion or make any mistakes. This tendency was recently described to me as internalized anti-racist superiority, and I think that is exactly what it is.
The concepts dealt with in AR/AO workshops and ID groups are quite complex and often go against society’s accepted analysis, which requires a certain amount of re-programming of one’s own assumptions and analysis. This is not something that happens effortlessly, or immediately. Youth need to be encouraged and supported in this difficult process, not attacked or treated with disgust and disdain.
Some of the concepts may even be too complex for youth (especially younger youth) to grasp as they are, and so may need to be simplified, and explained in several different ways, in order to help youth to understand.
While some youth will be able to move past these first negative experiences, and continue to be involved with AR/AO work, many youth will decide to avoid AR/AO workshops and trainings in future as a result of feeling so attacked. They may also tell their friends to avoid those workshops and conferences because people are so mean and they make you feel stupid and evil. Obviously if we are to make any real progress in fighting racism and other forms of oppression, we can’t have large numbers of new youth - especially young youth who could be the new generation of leaders in this work – deciding to stop educating themselves, and telling others to stay away because of their own bad experiences. This is clearly counterproductive.
Therefore workshop leaders and trainers, and identity group leaders in particular, need to discuss internalized anti-racist superiority amongst themselves, and strategize how to prevent it, before every conference. ID group leaders should be given skills and strategies to effectively support new youth, and to prevent other more experienced youth from jumping on those struggling new youth. Anti-racist superiority also needs to be discussed with participants to help encourage more experienced participants to be gentle with and supportive of less experienced youth.
In addition, having new youth and quite experienced youth in mixed ID groups might not be the best strategy: more experienced youth often feel anxious to move past the stuff that now seems so simple, in order to work on more complex and advanced issues and topics; and so get impatient with newer youth, giving these youth the impression that they are stupid or bad people because they haven’t “gotten it” yet, and often moving the conversation along before the newer youth have finished processing.
Perhaps if ID groups are intentionally made up so that the least experienced youth are with the ID group leader(s) who are the most skilled at supporting new youth through their processing, and the more experienced youth are put together with a leader suited to encouraging them to move on to more complex, deeper analysis, then some of this could be prevented. Of course there are also benefits to having groups with participants of differing experience levels, but it might not be the best model for all the time.
The second concern I bring up is the unwillingness among those leading workshops and trainings, to ensure that content and language are inclusive of and relevant to Canadian youth participants. With very little effort, the same workshop that Canadian youth would feel alienated and confused by, can become relevant and impactful for Canadian youth.It is important for us as a movement to remember that YRUU is a Continental organization, and so Canada needs to be included. Canadians have just as much of a right to hear information that directly applies to them as American youth do. I’m not trying to say that Canadians are disadvantaged to the same extent that other oppressed people are, because that is simply untrue. However Canadians do often get ignored or forgotten in this organization, and that should not be acceptable in a movement that seeks to include and welcome everyone.
As someone who grew up in Canada, I was taught in school about the horrors of slavery and the Holocaust, and how courageous Canadians helped slaves escaping through the underground railroad from the southern United States, and how Canadian troops fought bravely against the Nazis in World War II to end the Holocaust. I learned about how Canada is officially multicultural – a cultural mosaic to the US’s assimilationist melting pot. With this kind of education, many Canadians come to believe that racism doesn’t exist in Canada, or that if it does, it’s still much better here in Canada than in the States.
However, I was also taught - to a lesser extent than the above lessons, and I know many other students in Canada were not taught this in school – about the inhuman treatment of aboriginal children in the Residential School system, and the approximately 1500 labourers brought from China to finish the Canadian Pacific Railway who were given the lowest wages and the most dangerous jobs. I heard my East Indian and Chinese friends called horrible names in elementary school, have seen disproportionate numbers of First Nations individuals homeless and on the streets, and I learned that my boyfriend, whose parents emigrated to Canada from India before he was born, was beaten by skinheads as a teenager. So I am very much aware that racism exists in Canada, both historically and today.
I would say that most Canadian UU youth are aware to some extent of the racism in Canada, but they are also brainwashed by notions of Canada as multicultural, and by the society-wide Canadian knee-jerk reaction of “we’re not like Americans.” Therefore, I feel that it is precisely because of this illusion that racism doesn’t exist in Canada, or at least that it “isn’t as bad;” that anti-racism work is desperately needed in Canada, and for our Canadian youth.
That being said, transplanting Canadian youth into American-centered AR trainings, or giving American AR trainings in Canada, can often be difficult, even counter-productive for the youth concerned. Canadians are used to defining ourselves as not-American (just as we UU’s are used to defining ourselves as not-Christian), and so it takes a lot of mental work to read American statistics, or listen to examples that only deal with black-white relations, and find the kernel of meaning that goes beyond numbers and specific examples, and can be applied to any city, and country, any race relation, any oppression.
I’m not saying it can’t be done, that Canadian youth can’t do that mental translation and get a lot out of even extremely American-centered workshops – obviously it can be done. I know of many examples of Canadian youth who have been and are currently very involved in AR/AO, who have attended workshops and trainings that weren’t necessarily inclusive of their experiences, and learned a lot, and put it to use in their lives. However, for every one Canadian who is able to translate and make the necessary connections, many others put up the old “I’m not American” wall and stop listening; or even worse, come away with the message that racism-is-alive-and-well-in-the-US-and-isn’t-it-nice-to-live-in-Canada - because they were listening, and when they didn’t hear any statistics or examples from Canada, or that included Canada, they had no evidence that racism does exist in Canada. This is what I mean when I say that AR work that is not inclusive can in fact be counter-productive. I find this extremely saddening, and frightening. I worry about Canadian youth who are exposed to AR training from the States, because I don’t want this to happen to any more youth, as it takes us two steps backwards!
Making our AR/AO trainings more relevant to and inclusive of Canadian youth and their experience will not only benefit Canadians and the fight against racism and oppression, as more people get educated and stay involved; but hearing Canadian statistics and examples and more broadly applicable concepts will also help Americans and Canadians to understand how universal patterns of oppression really are, and to understand their shared history as North Americans. Although it is obviously most important to make the following changes for trainings where Canadians will be participating, it is probably easier for trainers to make such inclusion a habit, rather than having to specially prepare when Canadians will be present, and falling back into habits from when no Canadians are present.
The difference between a workshop that does speak to Canadians, and one that does not is often fairly small in terms of what the leader does, but it makes a huge difference. Comments like “in our nation” should be reserved for statements that only affect the one country, and should be replaced with “in western society” or “in North America” or even “in our nations.” It’s amazing how much of a difference this can make. I’ve sat through workshops where topics that should have been broadly applicable were portrayed as only applying to the US, even though there was a very high percentage of Canadians in the room, and it continued to happen after myself and others spoke with the trainers about this issue. This was a very frustrating experience, and even with a relatively high amount of experience with AR/AO that I had by that time, I had to fight with myself to keep myself from putting up that wall again.
In most parts of Canada the racial minorities are of a variety of races, and people of African decent are fairly uncommon. Therefore using examples of racism that either do not name the race or ethnic background of the people of colour involved, or making sure that the examples used include a variety of races, instead of just people of African descent can also help Canadians to relate to the situations.
Not every example or statistic needs to be inclusive of Canada, but some certainly do. Or, if the trainer/workshop leader focuses on broad over-arching systems that exist everywhere (government, media, education systems, etc), instead of specifics, the training instantly becomes inclusive of all those participating.
I’d like to note that I am aware that Groundwork is currently moving toward providing trainings that include Canadian examples and history and well as American ones, and I know that a Groundwork training that was run recently in BC region was extremely successful in making the material relevant to the all-Canadian participants. This is a great step forward, and I hope workshop leaders who are not part of Groundwork will follow Groundwork’s lead and work toward giving workshops that are inclusive and broadly applicable.
My recent experience with trainings and models/strategies used by The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond (a non-UU organization that has been doing AR/AO work for a long time in many contexts) were extremely positive, and hopefully AR/AO leaders within YRUU can learn from them as well.
A third concern I have with YRUU AR/AO trainings is that they rarely look outside the boarders of the US (and sometimes Canada), to analyze how both systemic and cultural oppression play a role in our increasingly globalized interactions. For instance how the AIDS epidemic is impacted by racism and other oppressions, how the increased Islamophobia and the threat of terrorism has been used to justify racial profiling and war, how vulnerable women are to the effects of poverty, violence, and war, how important fair trade is to giving people a chance at a life of dignity. Global issues are tied very closely in with the issues we deal with in AR/AO, if we are willing to look beyond our own borders. We only have one planet, and our interactions and behaviours here in North America, affect those in other parts of the world. We need to talk about those connections so that we can be good global citizens, and fight these systems of oppression wherever they arise.
I recognize that we can usually have more impact close to home, and it is obviously important that we address the issues within our own communities – but we can do both. We can find a balance where most of our energy is focused on addressing our own issues, but we also examine how these issues play out in other parts of the world, and how we can change or impact them.
I feel that YRUU’s focus on Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression is important and vital. I hope that by raising my specific concerns about the way we do AR/AO, we can continue to do this important work, but in a way that is more inclusive, responsible, and effective. I hope this perspective will help to inform any changes being made as a result of the Consultation on Ministry To and With Youth.