This morning when I got up, feeling exhausted again from the on-going 30-year stint of sleeplessness and insomnia, I thought, I should take a day off – considering I pretty much never take a day off. (Some people imagine that writers and philosophers sit around all day staring at their
Continue readingTag: Colonialism
We Pivot: WePivot Is Back!
It’s been a healthy hiatus. Over 3 years ago, after over 1,000 blog pieces since just after 9/11, I evolved Politics, Re-Spun into WePivot.net. I wrote about why. A couple years ago I hit pause on WePivot.net, with my last … [Read more]
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Stephen Buranyi laments the reality that the public’s increased awareness and concern about our ongoing climate breakdown isn’t being reflected in political decisions. And Noah Smith writes that while the rapid drop in prices for renewable energy may help us avoid the worst
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Guns & The British Empire – Protect the Homeland, Hamstring the Colonies.
The armament industries have lead the way in the conquest and modernization of the world. One of the key policies of British Empire was to keep manufacturing technology out of the hands of her far flung colonial conquests while denaturing and appropriating any of the native craftsmanship/technology solely for the
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Why is a quarter of Canada’s prison population Indigenous?
The recent decision by an all-white jury to acquit Gerald Stanley, the killer of Colten Boushie calls on us all to confront systematic racism and demand reforms to Canada’s justice system, which “works against Indigenous people at every level”. The post Why is a quarter of Canada’s prison population Indigenous?
Continue readingWe Pivot: An Easy Test of Cultural Appreciation Not Appropriation, Oluo 11/18
Chapter 10 of Ijeoma Oluo’s deeply valuable So You Want to Talk About Race focuses on the how to appreciate culture instead of appropriate it. It debates whether white people can/should rap. It’s not about Vanilla Ice versus Eminem or … [Read more]
Continue readingWe Pivot: Not Being Defensive About Racist Police Brutality, Oluo 7/18
Despite the statistics that police treat people of colour and indigenous people more unfairly and brutally, a reflexive defensiveness exists to discount that experience. When people who aren’t white complain about driving while black, etc., is our initial impulse to … [Read more]
Continue readingWe Pivot: White Men Need Intersectionality Expertise, Oluo 6/18
Intersectionality needs to become the most understood word as we wind down this decade. I’ve been thinking that for a few years now, but chapter 5 of Ijeoma Oluo’s So You Want to Talk About Race deeply reinforces that. My … [Read more]
Continue readingWe Pivot: The Racism-Power Intersection, Day 3/18
Let’s get into chapter 2 of Ijeoma Oluo’s So You Want to Talk About Race! It’s been hard in recent year to talk about reverse racism, which I don’t believe exists. Racism is prejudice based on race, but there’s always … [Read more]
Continue readingWe Pivot: Oluo, Race, Class and Priorities: Day 2/18
Chapter 1 of Ijeoma Oluo’s So You Want to Talk About Race is called “Is It Really About Race?” In the debrief of the 2016 election, many folks have concluded that if we paid more attention to poor white people … [Read more]
Continue readingWe Pivot: So You Want to Talk About Race, Day 1/18
Ijeoma Oluo’s new book is out: So You Want to Talk About Race. I first encountered her writing in Medium and was quite gripped by her wisdom. So I pre-ordered her book and started it today. Every day for the … [Read more]
Continue readingWe Pivot: Horgan Insults Delgamuukw with the Site C Debacle
20 years ago yesterday came the Supreme Court’s Delgamuukw ruling, ensuring that this “Canada” recognizes pre-existing aboriginal sovereignty, especially in BC where virtually none of the land was ever ceded to the British Crown. This is a pathetic day for … [Read more]
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Lessons from the front lines of anti-colonial pipeline resistance
The recent Standing Rock standoff over the Dakota Access Pipeline and eight-year Unist’ot’en resistance camp in northern British Columbia are a manifestation of “indigenous resurgence” against colonialism and fossil fuel developments, including pipelines. The post Lessons from the front lines of anti-colonial pipeline resistance appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingWe Pivot: Trudeau’s Empty “Yes We Can” Moment
Obama’s “Yes We Can” mantra made many question, yes we can do what exactly? That was its brilliance. He became whatever to whoever. Trudeau’s commitment to a national inquiry on murdered and missing indigenous women has become the same emptiness, … [Read more]
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Canada 150: Reconciling who we are with who we want to be
Today, on the occasion of Canada 150, we should be asking ourselves tough questions relating to the role of public policy in Canada’s ongoing efforts at reconciling with Indigenous people. According to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives: “Above all, we must deliberately put Indigenous voices and lived experiences at
Continue readingWe Pivot: Feminism and Intersectionality, LIVE!
Feminism, intersectionality, activism in a world spinning out of rationality? Need to some grounding, inspiration and joy? Want to see the woman who invented the word “intersectionality”? Here’s what should be on your plate tomorrow night at 730pm PST! Tony … [Read more]
Continue readingWe Pivot: Let’s Change BC’s Racist Street Names
The World Economic Forum is not the most progressive organization in world history. They’ve been part of pushing a neoliberal privatization agenda on many poor countries for decades. But they’re going through what appears to be at least a salon … [Read more]
Continue readingWe Pivot: Listen to Refugees; Don’t Ban Them
Canadians are awesome, tolerant, opening and welcoming. Sure. To a degree, but even to the point of self delusion. We often feel morally superior to the Americans, particularly now as they slide from proto-fascism to soft fascism to jackboot fascism. … [Read more]
Continue readingWe Pivot: My Speech to the HUMA Commons Committee on Poverty Reduction
I was honoured to receive an invitation to speak to HUMA later this morning, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities. They are studying poverty reduction strategies, … [Read more]
Continue readingWe Pivot: How Many Dead Kids in Care Is too Many?
How many thousands of dead, injured and abused kids in the care of the BC government are OK for BC Liberal Party voters? None? Try thousands over 16 years. And how many more thousands of dead, injured and abused kids … [Read more]
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