Dear colleagues: Please see below a call-out for a solidarity action this week, in support of the Wet'suwet'en nation.
Urgent call for support: Wet'suwet’en solidarity action and fundraising for the Land Defence Fund
- Where: Vari Hall Rotunda, York University, Keele Campus
- When: Wednesday, March 11 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
- Who: All York University community members
Dear community members, faculty colleagues, students, staff, and friends,
We are reaching out to seek your urgent support for a day of solidarity action in support of Wet'suwet'en land defenders and water protectors. As many of us have been witnessing, the federal and provincial governments, RCMP, and Coastal GasLink/TC Energy (formerly TransCanada) are openly violating Wet'suwet'en, Canadian, and international law. Recently, media reports on a federal and BC provincial agreement to recognize Wet'suwet'en title on unceded lands have caused much confusion. The Wet'suwet'en struggle, however, continues and the call for support and solidarity remains in place and is urgent as ever.
As such, we, as the organizers of the annual International Day for the Elimination of Racism (IDER) in the School of Social Work, are partnering with YUFA's Indigenous Caucus, the Centre for Aboriginal Student Services, the York University Indigenous Council, and community members, in a day-long gathering on Wednesday, March 11 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the Vari Hall Rotunda, in solidarity with the Wet'suwet'en peoples and their longstanding and ongoing struggles for decolonial justice.
We will hand out solidarity and educational materials, collect donations, raise funds for the land defence, play videos from Wet'suwet'en and solidarity actions and blockades across Canada, and host a series of live speakers and performances throughout the day. We will also make space for solidarity messages you can leave, artwork you can create and share, and a Wikipedia edit-a-thon-in station to combat hateful vandalism online.
This is a low-tech action where we will be using our voices, bodies, and command of the space to inspire, educate, and mobilize people. We are relying on the spirit of our community and urgency of the moment to make it possible. We are asking you to join us, bring some spare change to donate, and share space to learn, educate, support, and create together.
The schedule of activities for the event is evolving; if you would like to participate, please contact us. We will be circulating a list of confirmed speakers and performances in the coming days! Should you have further queries, please feel free to write to Soma Chatterjee at [email protected].
We hope to see many of you on Wednesday, March 11!
Warmly,
Nicole Penak
Soma Chatterjee
MJ Rwigema
Kendra Ann Pitt
Please share with your departments, students and networks!