[Sjsall] upcoming opportunities and causes

Details: Published on Sunday, 29 November -0001 16:00; Written by editor

Dear Friends of SJS,

Today, June 17th, at 8 PM EST (5 PM PST) AAPF will host a special episode of Under The Blacklight titled “#SayHerName: Telling Stories of State Violence Public Silence.” Host Kimberlé Crenshaw will speak with family members of Tanisha Anderson, Sandra Bland, Michelle Cusseaux, Shelly Frey, Korryn Gaines, India Kager, and Kayla Moore.

Supporting the families of women whose lives were taken by police is a core tenet of AAPF’s #SayHerName campaign. Part of that support is uplifting the stories that have been silenced. Tomorrow night, the leaders of #SayHerName will not only tell their stories, they will speak to what could be different in this country; they’ll dig into the changes that could be made that would’ve prevented the killing of their daughters and sisters. We look forward to holding this space, and building out from it.

https://mailchi.mp/aapf/todays-podcast-tomorrows-live-utb?e=807d2a304f

Please circulate widely…diverse youth voices are so necessary and great skills are being offered!

STORYTELLING FOR CHANGE: A FILMMAKING CAMPAIGN

Calling all youth creators across Canada! Share your story by making a short film this summer.

The... Campaign runs from June 18, 2020–August 1, 2020

As part of the Storytelling for Change: A Filmmaking Campaign, experts from the filmmaking community are offering two virtual mentorship webinars in June.

Storytelling for Change: A Filmmaking Campaign

Storytelling & Production: Storytelling for Change Webinar

Led by Suparna Gupta, Adetola Tamunokubie, and Rama Hamid

Thursday, June 18, 2020, 12:00pm–1:00pm PDT

Direction & Editing: Storytelling for Change Webinar

Led by Lama Alkarad, Lara Şarlak, and Rama Hamid

Tuesday, June 23, 2020, 12:00pm–1:00pm PDT

All self-identified youth across Canada are welcome to join. The recordings will be made available on the UBC Migration website following each webinar.

Learn more and register now: http://migration.ubc.ca/storytellingforchange

This campaign is co-sponsored by: MOSAIC, Options Community Services, UBC Migration, UBC International Student Development, UBC School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, and UBC Community Engagement

From Dr. James Rowe:

This week myself and Bill Carroll in Sociology along with two students from Divest UVic (Elora Adamson and Jason Hemmerling) released new research with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives documenting the entanglements between the fossil fuel industry and UVic’s governing boards. We have been working towards divestment for some time and yet were still taken aback by the extent to which oil and gas companies and their main financiers have seats around the Board of Governors and the UVic Foundation Board (which oversees the endowment).

This industry influence goes some distance towards explaining why the divestment push has been so challenging here. After UBC announced that they were moving towards full divestment we decided to examine their Board of Governors and found NO entanglements with the fossil fuel industry or their financiers.

As we report in the piece, UVic continues to lose millions of dollars on their fossil fuel investments and yet remains opposed to divestment. We think that industry influence helps to explain why.

It is good news that we recently elected two strong supporters of divestment to the BOG (Monica Prendergast and Adam Monahan). But this new research helps to clarify that we need to be more proactive to ensure that government appointees to our BOG are supportive of the just energy transition so desperately needed.

We will be seeking to place a short op-ed about the research soon. In the mean time, here is the longer version (2000 words, so not too much of a slog :). Please consider giving it a read and sharing on social media.

https://www.policynote.ca/divest-industry-influence/

Many thanks,

James

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James K. Rowe

Associate Professor

School of Environmental Studies

University of Victoria

Office - Turpin A143

Phone - 250.853-3574

Preferred pronouns: he/him/they

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CJPME: Canada’s Loss at UNSC Shows It Must Change Course

For Immediate Release

Montreal, June 17, 2020 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) believes that Canada’s defeat in its campaign for a seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) proves that Canada’s failure to demonstrate leadership on human rights and international cooperation has isolated it from world opinion. Canada lost in the first ballot to both Norway (population 5.3 million) and Ireland (population 4.9 million.) CJPME suggests that Canadian foreign policy must be critically re-examined if Canada wants to improve its international reputation and be a viable UNSC candidate in the future.

In particular, CJPME notes that the Trudeau government continues to sell arms to Saudi Arabia, despite that country’s horrible human rights record. In addition, Canada consistently declines to pressure Israel to comply with international law. With its signing of the updated Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement in 2019, Canada fails to comply with UNSC Resolution 2334 (2016), which mandates that countries distinguish in their dealings between Israel and its illegal “settlements.” In recent months, Trudeau has also been relatively quiet on the threats of Israeli annexation, especially when compared to the vocal and long-standing condemnations from competitors Norway and Ireland.

Like many Canadians, CJPME was extremely concerned when in 2018, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland told an Israeli audience that if Canada won a UNSC seat it would serve as an “asset for Israel.” CJPME was also shocked to learn that earlier this year, Canada had threatened to withdraw its funding for the International Criminal Court (ICC) if the Court proceeded with an investigation of Israeli officials. “This loss should give Canada an opportunity to rethink its approach to foreign policy,” said Thomas Woodley, President of CJPME. “By voting against Canada, UN Member States made it clear that they do not want an ‘asset for Israel’ on the Security Council.” CJPME believes that Canada can rebuild its credibility by ceasing to provide cover for violations of international law by Israel and others.

CJPME’s position is reinforced by a new poll published Tuesday, which shows that Canada’s foreign policy is out of touch with the views of Canadians. The poll, conducted by EKOS Research Associates, and co-sponsored by CJPME, Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV), and the United Network for Justice and Peace in Palestine-Israel (UNJPPI), revealed that many Canadians want the government to increase its contribution to international peacekeeping and combating climate change, and to increase its support for Palestinian human rights. The poll also found three out of four Canadians want their government to express opposition to Israeli annexation, while almost half support going so far as to impose sanctions on Israel.

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For more information, please contact:

Michael Bueckert, VP CJPME

Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East

613-315-7947 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Email CJPME - CJPME Website

Margo L. Matwychuk, PhD

Director, Social Justice Studies

c/o Dept of Anthropology

University of Victoria

PO Box 1700, STN CSC

Victoria, BC V8W 2Y2

Office: Cornett B210

PH: (250) 721-6283

FAX: (250) 721-6215

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

http://web.uvic.ca/socialjustice/

We acknowledge and respect the Songhees, Esquimalt and WSÁNEĆ peoples on whose unceded territory the university stands and whose relationships with the land continue to this day.