AW@L Radio - 2018-05-11 - Resisting Racists and Free Speech Warriors (again...)
as anti-racists plan to counter a far-right march in Quebec, anti-racists in Ontario challenge racist academic francis widdowson as she was hosted by the "laurier society for open inquiry". also the canadian anti-hate network (CAN) has launched and will work to track far-right movements.
on this AW@L Radio:
1. a call-out for the May 19th mobilisation against racists at the "Roxham Rd" border crossing point.
"A callout by Solidarity Across Borders, Montreal Antifasciste and allied groups and individuals.
Far-right racists are again mobilizing to try to intimidate refugees who are crossing the border from the US to Canada at Roxham Road. Their racist organizing is being supported, directly and indirectly, by sensationalist media and demagogic politicians.
Migrant justice anti-racists in the Montreal-area are calling for a large-scale mobilization at Roxham Road to show our support for open borders and to welcome migrants. Our presence — festive, diverse, and in large numbers — will also effectively block the far-right racists from getting anywhere near the border (similar to mobilizations undertaken last year at both Roxham Road and Lacolle) and prevent their harassment of asylum seekers."
"A callout by Solidarity Across Borders, Montreal Antifasciste and allied groups and individuals.
Far-right racists are again mobilizing to try to intimidate refugees who are crossing the border from the US to Canada at Roxham Road. Their racist organizing is being supported, directly and indirectly, by sensationalist media and demagogic politicians.
Migrant justice anti-racists in the Montreal-area are calling for a large-scale mobilization at Roxham Road to show our support for open borders and to welcome migrants. Our presence — festive, diverse, and in large numbers — will also effectively block the far-right racists from getting anywhere near the border (similar to mobilizations undertaken last year at both Roxham Road and Lacolle) and prevent their harassment of asylum seekers."
for more info and updates check:
2. canada's negotiations with america to turn the entire land border into a "crossing" to make it easier to reject asylum seekers.
from @hussansk: https://twitter.com/hussansk/status/992436108666523650
and the story here:
hussan also goes on to question the canadian government's construction of a 500 person migrant processing facility near the Lacolle and Roxham Rd border crossings, reminding folks that this could become a detention center unless pressure is kept on the canadian government and it is shown that all asylum seekers are welcome.
https://twitter.com/hussansk/status/993486116396380161
hussan also questions to canada's immigration minister's position on the safe third country agreement:
"Minister @AhmedDHussen says Safe Third Country Agreement is "good" for Canada. Doesn't explain how. Why can't refugee seekers decide where they want to live? Why must they apply and stay in the US just because they landed there first? Freedom to choose is critical."
3. an update on the laurier society for open inquiry event with prof frances widdowson, which cost a bunch (https://twitter.com/AlliRothberg/status/994431390732058624), made lauier look like a shoddy low-security prison, was met with protest outside, an indigenous led pipe ceremony (with 200 people -https://twitter.com/AnnieBearBee/status/994628867670212608) and few participants inside (some of which were only there to dissent). laurier administration followed the lead of uWaterloo and told the world we need to really listen to racists and fascists if we are ever going to understand them...
@andterry went to the event and reported an overall "nothing burgar" with a healthy dose of racism.
"I can't stress this enough. The speaker offered zero evidence or data to back up her claims and offered o ly personal andecdotes and some drivel about laywers being the only ones benefiting from indigenious study."
4. a new article from mtlcounterinfo.org on outing of nazi scumbags. we do not get to reading it, but here it is: https://mtlcounterinfo.org/montreal-meet-your-local-alt-right-nazi-scumbags/
5. the canadian anti-hate network (CAN) has launched and will work to track far-right movements and people in canada similar to the SLPC in the states. anti-racistcanada.blogspot.ca says: "The Canadian Anti-Hate Network will be another incredibly useful tool in the fight against bigotry in Canada."
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music from Evan Catalano, with a cover of End Game's boy named me from the rebels sing tribute album to the rebel spell.
for more AW@L Radio including many of our past shows, check out grandrivermc.ca