Hugo Chavez died of cancer on March 5, 2013. He represented an ideological pushback against neoliberal globalization. He pursued a progressive hemispheric trade agenda. He raised oil royalties dramatically to improve the social capacity of people in and around Venezuela. He revolutionized and democratized Venezuela’s constitution. He attracted the ire
Continue readingTag: Colonialism
The Canadian Progressive: Aboriginal leader: “We’ve to acknowledge that Australia has a Black history”
by Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive, Feb. 4, 2013: “We’ve to acknowledge that Australia has a Black history”, an Aboriginal leader said last week as he “reflected on pain, and hope, of Australia Day”. Steve Widders is asking indigenous people in Australia not to forget a painful colonial past dominated by oppression,
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Stephen Harper Launches Major First Nations Termination Plan
As Negotiating Tables Legitimize Canada’s Colonialism by Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive, Feb. 3, 2013: The following is a prophetic editorial detailing a major plan by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservatives to terminate First Nations in Canada “as negotiating tables legitimize Canada’s colonialism”. The editorial originally appeared in the June-October 2012 edition of the First
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Ontario Regional Chief Welcomes Superior Court Decision Regarding Residential School Records
by The Chiefs of Ontario, Jan. 31, 2013 TORONTO – Yesterday the Ontario Superior Court published a decision which made clear the federal government`s obligation to turn over its archival records on Indian Residential Schools to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada. “The First Nations in Ontario welcome this
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: CASWE and CASW joint statement supporting Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island
A Canadian Association of Social Work Education (CASWE) and Canadian Association of Social Workers (CASW) joint statement supporting the aspirations of Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island and their aspirations, currently being articulated by #IdleNoMore. by CASWE and CASW, Jan. 31, 2013: As social work educators and practitioners the members of the
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Fractured Land: A Dene warrior battles Big Oil and neo-colonialism
by Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive, Feb 1, 2013: This is the trailer of Fractured Land a film that tells the story of Caleb Behn, a young Dene warrior from northeastern British Columbia, “taking on Big Oil and Gas to protect his ancestral land and people from the ravages of neocolonialism.” I met Behn
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: What If We Treated Harper Like We Treated Haiti’s Aristide?
Supporters of former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide chant and display signs outside the courthouse in Port au Prince on Wednesday, Jan. 9. When they learned that the prosecutor, Lucmane Delille, had gone to Aristide’s home to question him, a river of tens if not hundreds of thousands of people marched
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Attawapiskat Audit is Merely a Distraction
Green Party leader Elizabeth May published a well-thought out and clear article on Wednesday, breaking down the reasons why the ongoing media banter about Attiwapiskat fund mismanagement and Chief Theresa Spence are merely distractions from an ongoing legacy of government failure to protect indigenous people and the environment. Twitter and
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: How Us Settlers Can Be In Solidarity With #IdleNoMore
Twitter / suzhawkins: As settlers… #idlenomore …. York University’s Suzanne Hawkins is my hero today for showing us all this amazing poster that succinctly describes how us non-indigenous settler folk can stand alongside with the world’s indigenous people seeking redress for generations of racism and discrimination. Solidarity matters! Dialogue matters!
Continue readingkirbycairo: Chief Spence and Our Quiet Racist Traditions. . . . .
Unfortunately racism is an incredibly powerful and shockingly nefarious thing. It seeps into people’s blood and bones in ways that they don’t even notice. Racism is not just a conscious and blatant force. Rather, like many aspects of human relations, racism often lies in the background of people’s conscious feelings. I once saw an illustration of
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: United Church of Canada implores Harper to meet with hunger striker Chief Spence
by United Church of Canada: December 19, 2012 The Right Hon. Stephen Harper Prime Minister of Canada House of Commons, Ottawa, Ontario Fax: 613-941-6900 Dear Prime Minister Harper: We write with urgency to implore you to meet with Attawapiskat First Nation Chief Theresa Spence, as soon as possible. We are
Continue readingSketchy Thoughts: Sexual Violence Against Indigenous Women
i am reposting this horrific news, without commentary except to say that obviously i do not share the authors’ insistence on nonviolence, but equally obviously that is not the most important thing here in this post. Sexual violence, from India to Turtle Island, has always been used by the powerful
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: For Idle No More, A solidarity statement from the gates of Buckingham Palace (Video)
For Idle No More, from Idle No More London: solidarity statement from the gates of Buckingham Palace in London urges resistance to the budget implementation bill C-45 and other assimilation plans of the Harper government. WATCH: This video is available on Idle No More London RELATED: Idle No More: Canadian
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Idle No More Movement’s Manifesto
The Idle No More grassroots movement has taken Canada by storm. On Monday, it held peaceful protests in major cities across Canada, calling for progressive action on aboriginal and land treaty issues. On Twitter, hashtags associated with the movement, such as #idlenomore and #nativewinter, are gaining in popularity. The movement’s
Continue readingRedBedHead: Israel Blind To Its Own Isolation
I wrote less than two weeks ago that Israel was in an accelerating decline as a result of changed geopolitical realities in the Middle East, most recently and acutely the Arab Spring. That Arab Spring is now in the throes of a 2.0 reawakening and reconstitution of last year’s settlements,
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Musqueam Burial Ground Win Makes the Developer Look Brutally Ignorant
The provincial government has finally relented in its dignity-crushing stance of continuing to allow a developer to pursue building condos on top of a Musqueam burial ground. And while this change of provincial policy does not extend to a solution of land ownership, this is a critical first step to
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Fair Weather Friends: Western Reaction(s) to the Middle East Protests
The ongoing protests in the parts of the Middle East and North Africa, ostensibly in the wake of a Z-list anti-Islam film produced in the US, have elicited the same tired, hackneyed response on the part significant portions of Western audiences and commentators. “Savages,” the refrain has been, “uncivilized barbarians!”
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: What Has Changed Since September 11, 2001?
What Has Changed Since September 11, 2001? W2 Media Cafe and Siraat invite you to a public forum on Monday, September 10, 2012, looking at Canada’s racist legacy, as we mark 11 years after the events of September 11, 2001. 7pm at 111 West Hastings Street, Vancouver. Invited Panellists: Kat
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Let’s Watch Where Quebec Leads Us All
Less than 12 after being elected to a minority government in Quebec, the PQ has announced it will cancel the socially and economically regressive tuition fee hikes and repeal the flagrantly unconstitutional Bill 78, which trampled on expression and assembly rights. Quebec, long one of the most progressive socially and
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Historical Revisionism: A Balkan Cottage Industry?*
*My apologies to the good hard-working people of the global cottage and cottage cheese industries and the good people of the Balkans for once again being sullied by Western analyst-cum-charlatans. Followers of the Politics, Re-Spun Facebook page may have been keeping up with my recent debate(s) with one Charles Crawford, who “served
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