Indigenous AIDS Awareness Week (IAAW) is a project of the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network (https://caan.ca), and events are organized in each city in collaboration with local organizations and activists. Events are meant to highlight the contributions and realities of our communities in the area of HIV/AIDS, and to spread awareness of important developments in the field. Contributors to the Montreal event include the Black & Indigenous Harm Reduction Alliance (www.blackindigneousharmredux.org) and Indigenous Health Centre of Tiohtia:ke (https://www.ihct.ca), along with activist Doris Peltier (https://sociology.mcmaster.ca/the-feast-centre-for-indigenous-stbbi-research/about-us-1/doris-peltier)
International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers
International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers 2023 - vigil & podcast launch “Nous sommes toujours la”
Ouverture par Indigenous Sex Work & Art Collective
Let's Imagine Together: Black Radical Futures in Community Health Without Policing
Wednesday, February 15 2023
3:30-6:00pm
A discussion reframing the issues of gun violence and policing that are currently criminalized as public health issues, in order to more effectively eradicate them than through the current criminalization approach.
IAAW: Indigenous Women Leading the Way
Indigenous AIDS Awareness Week (IAAW) is a project of the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network (https://caan.ca), and events are organized in each city in collaboration with local organizations and activists. Events are meant to highlight the contributions and realities of our communities in the area of HIV/AIDS, and to spread awareness of important developments in the field. Contributors to the Montreal event include the Black & Indigenous Harm Reduction Alliance (www.blackindigneousharmredux.org) and Projet Autochtone du Québec (https://www.paqc.org/fr/accueil/), along with activist Doris Peltier (https://sociology.mcmaster.ca/the-feast-centre-for-indigenous-stbbi-research/about-us-1/doris-peltier)
A Choosing Real Safety Community Forum: A World Without Policing and Prisons
A Choosing Real Safety Community Forum: A World Without Policing and Prisons
August 26th, 2021
Building New Systems 12:30-2PM EST
Audrey Huntley (No More Silence)
Ashley Avery (Coverdale)
Sarah Jama (Disability Network of Ontario)
Naty Tremblay (Rittenhouse)
Shima Robinson (BLM-Edmonton)
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson (Dechinta)
Facilitation: Jessica Evans
ASL translation
Register in advance for this webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/.../reg.../WN_figgW1qwSl6CtQPN0CBbnw
Building Connections 3-4:30 PM EST
Sasha Simmons (Black Indigenous Harm Reduction Alliance)
Rajean Hoilett (Toronto Prisoners Rights Project)
Randy Riley (Black Power Hour)
Souheil Benslimane (JAIL Accountability and Information Line)
Jessica Quijano (Defund the Police Coalition, Montreal)
Chantelle Spicer (Defund 604 Network)
Heather Jarvis (SHOP Program Coordinator)
Facilitation: Robyn Maynard
ASL translation
Register in advance for this webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/.../reg.../WN_cz4fpIUvTD-xsoXyjXua3w
2021 Prisoner's Justice Day Vigil // Journée de la justice pour les détenu.e.s
Prisoners’ Justice Day / Journée de la justice pour les détenu.e.s
Tio'tia:ke / Mooniyang / Montréal
August 10 2021 / le 10 août 2021
18h30-20h30
Parc Vinet (near CEDA)
Metro Lionel Groulx
***[En français plus bas]***
Join us in a public vigil to commemorate people who have died inside prisons and show solidarity with those who are currently behind bars. This year’s gathering will begin with opening words by Elder Kawennotas Sedalia Fazio.
Every August 10th, prisoners participate in Prisoners’ Justice Day by fasting and refusing to work for 24 hours. The practice dates back to 1975, when prisoners at Millhaven Maximum Security Prison in Ontario organized a day-long hunger strike, work stoppage, and memorial service to honour Eddie Nalon, a prisoner who died in segregation one year earlier.
Though this commemoration traditionally focuses on prisoners in the federal prison system, we intend to mourn all those who have died due to state violence and neglect, including all the Indigenous children whose bodies are being found in unmarked graves outside former residential ‘schools’ across the country. Those ‘schools’ were prisons. We see this commemoration connected to the uprisings of last summer, which were protesting police killings of Black people in particular. Prisons, police, residential schools, psychiatric institutions, and the so-called child welfare system all bring state violence into our communities. Carceral state violence extends to Immigration Detention, where migrant community members are held on administrative hold by CBSA for long periods of time, and once released, live under constant surveillance.
We call for abolition now—of police, of prisons, of the carceral state that produces violence and harm.
This year the gathering feels especially important in the wake of a long year for prisoners who have been confined to their cells due to constant lockdowns and the government’s refusal to release more people during a pandemic. We remember Robert Langevin, who died of COVID-19 in Bordeaux prison, and the unnamed prisoner who died at the Federal Training Centre in Laval, also of COVID-19.
Prison administrations have increasingly suppressed PJD-related actions on the inside. They have also suppressed the dozens of hunger strikes that occurred at prisons across the country in the last year. With that in mind, we want to come together, share experiences, raise awareness, and publicly oppose state violence.
This year’s gathering will include speakers talking about the history of PJD, lived experiences with incarceration, and conditions inside prisons and detention centres. We’ll also collectively create a banner listing the names of people who have died inside Canadian prisons.
This is a family-friendly event. There will be drinking water on-site, but no food out of respect for those who are fasting on PJD. There are wheelchair-accessible bathrooms on site, and bus/metro tickets will be available. If you have any other accessibility needs, please contact anticarceralgroup@riseup.net.
A note on taking precautions during the COVID-19 pandemic: we’ll provide hand sanitizers, antiseptic wipes, gloves, and extra masks. Please stay home if you’re displaying COVID-19 symptoms.
*****
VIGILE
Journée de la justice pour les détenu·e·s/Prisoners’ Justice Day
Tio’tia:ke/Mooniyang/Montréal
Le 10 août 2021/August 10, 2021
18 h 30 - 20 h 30
Parc Vinet (CEDA)
550 Rue Vinet, Montréal, QC H3J 2L5
Métro Lionel-Groulx
Venez participer à une vigile publique pour commémorer celleux qui sont mort·e·s en prison, et pour exprimer votre solidarité envers celleux qui sont présentement derrière les barreaux. Le rassemblement de cette année commencera par les mots d'ouverture de Elder Kawennotas Sedalia Fazio.
Tous les ans, le 10 août, des prisonnier·ère·s jeûnent et refusent de travailler pendant vingt-quatre heures dans le cadre de la Journée de la justice pour les détenu·e·s. La tradition remonte à 1975, lorsque des prisonniers à la prison à sécurité maximale Millhaven, en Ontario, ont organisé une grève de la faim et une interruption du travail pendant toute une journée, ainsi qu’une cérémonie commémorative pour rendre hommage à Eddie Nalon, un détenu qui était mort en isolement l’année précédente.
Si ce jour vise traditionnellement à commémorer les détenu·e·s du système carcéral fédéral, nous souhaitons cette année rendre hommage à toustes celleux qui sont mort·e·s à cause de la violence et de la négligence étatiques, y compris les enfants autochtones dont les dépouilles sont découvertes dans des tombes non identifiées sur les terrains des pensionnats autochtones partout au pays. Ces pensionnats étaient, de fait, des prisons. Nous relions également cette commémoration aux soulèvements de l’été dernier en réponse à l’assassinat de personnes noires par la police. Les prisons, la police, les pensionnats, les institutions psychiatriques, et le système de soi-disant protection de l’enfance sont autant d’éléments qui amènent la violence étatique dans nos collectivités. La violence d'État carcérale s'étend à la Détention d'Immigration, où les membres de la communauté migrante sont maintenus en détention administrative par l'ASFC pendant de longues périodes et, une fois libérés, vivent sous une surveillance constante.
Nous demandons l’abolition maintenant : de la police, des prisons, de l’État carcéral qui produit la violence et les maux sociaux.
Ce rassemblement est particulièrement important dans la foulée d’une année très longue pour les détenu·e·s, qui ont été enfermé·e·s dans leurs cellules en raison de mesures de confinement constantes dans les prisons et du refus du gouvernement de libérer des gens en pleine pandémie. Nous honorons la mémoire de Robert Langevin, décédé de la COVID-19 à la prison de Bordeaux, et celle du détenu qui est mort, aussi de la COVID-19, au Centre fédéral de formation à Laval, et dont le nom n’a pas été divulgué.
Les directions d’établissements carcéraux répriment de plus en plus les actions de la Journée de la justice pour les détenu·e·s organisées à l’intérieur des prisons. Les dizaines de grèves de la faim organisées dans les prisons aux quatre coins du pays au cours de la dernière année ont aussi été réprimées. En gardant cela en tête, nous voulons nous rassembler, partager nos expériences, sensibiliser les gens, et nous opposer publiquement à la violence de l’État.
Cette année, la vigile mettra de l’avant des intervenant·e·s qui nous parleront de l’histoire de la Journée de la justice pour les détenu·e·s, de leurs expériences d’incarcération, et des conditions dans les prisons et centres de détention. Également, nous fabriquerons collectivement une bannière sur laquelle nous écrirons tous les noms des gens qui sont morts à l’intérieur des prisons canadiennes.
Il s’agit d’un événement familial. De l’eau potable sera offerte sur place, mais il n’y aura pas de nourriture, en solidarité avec celleux qui jeûnent à l’occasion de la Journée de la justice pour les détenu·e·s. Il y a des toilettes accessibles en fauteuil roulant sur le site, et des billets d’autobus/de métro seront distribués. Si vous avez des besoins en matière d’accessibilité, prière de nous en faire part au anticarceralgroup@riseup.net.
Une remarque quant aux précautions nécessaires dûes à la pandémie de COVID-19 : nous fournirons du désinfectant pour les mains, des lingettes nettoyantes, des gants de plastique, et des masques de protection au besoin. Veuillez rester à la maison si vous présentez des symptômes de la COVID-19.
Tobacco & Sage Distro 2021
We are super happy to announce this great 2021 Summer Project! The Black Indigenous Harm Reduction Alliance partners with folks at the the Club Populaire's Greenhouse in Pointe St Charles to grow medicinal plants and to make them accessible to Indigenous individuals, families and organizations. *We'll adapt all of our activities to the health and sanitation measures in place.
Please fill out this form and we will contact you very soon!
//
Nous sommes très heureux.euses d'annoncer ce beau projet d'été 2021 ! La Black Indigenous Harm Reduction Alliance s'associe avec les gens de la serre du Club Populaire à Pointe St Charles pour cultiver des plantes médicinales et les rendre accessibles aux individus, familles et organisations. *Nous adaptons toutes nos activités au mesures sanitaires en vigueur.
Veuillez remplir ce formulaire et nous vous contacterons très bientôt !
Holiday Care Packages for Prisoners
This week we're organizing a drop-off of holiday care packages for each of the 168 people currently living at Leclerc Institution (the provincial women's prison in Laval). Each package will include all or most of the following items (depending on availability): pencil crayons & colouring pages, nail polish, chocolate bar, handmade soap, blank holiday cards, hair scrunchie, playing cards, harm reduction resource pamphlet. After many months of very little visitation or programming due to the pandemic, we know it will mean A LOT to our incarcerated community members to receive some love from the outside. Not to mention some new reading material :)
If you'd like to donate, every $ helps! Please send an e-transfer to bi.harmredux@gmail.com with the password "carepackage". Any extra funds received will be directed towards our ongoing street outreach programming this winter. Thank you for reading & sharing.
Wishing you a relaxing and joyous end of 2020, whatever this time means to you.
xoxo, BIHRA
Each package was a little different, but here’s an example of what was inside!
Testimonial Cultures Screening @ Social Justice Days 2020
March 13, 2020
6-8pm
3521 rue University
We invite community members to join us in screening a compilation of testimonials from sex workers to express their truth and experiences regarding stigma, discrimination and criminalization as well as different issues face by sex working folks. Discussion will follow with Maria Nengeh Mensah from Testimonial Cultures.
Coffee, tea and bannock will be served.
Facilitators/Co-organizers:
The Black Indigenous Harm Reduction Alliance is a group of community workers of diverse experience who wish to draw attention to the need for access to self-determined and holistic health services within our communities. Through peer-to-peer discussions, harm reduction education, and advocacy within mainstream harm reduction spaces, we aim to work with our communities to build kinship, empowerment, and leadership and strengthen ties between Black and Indigenous individuals and communities.
Please contact us by email: bi.harmredux@gmail.com
The Indigenous Sex Work and Art Collective is a group of diverse Indigenous folks with lived experiences in the sex industries that got together to access culturally safer support within their community. We mostly organize retreats and participate in sharing circles with community workers, peers and organizations.
Please contact us by email : indigsexworkartcollective@gmail.com
Maria Nengeh Mensah est professeure titulaire à l’École de travail social de l’UQAM. Elle dirige, depuis 2010, l’équipe de recherche-action Cultures du témoignage | Testimonial Cultures [www.culturesdutemoignage.ca]. Chercheure engagée dans la défense des groupes minorisées, ses travaux unissent les milieux associatifs, académiques et artistiques autour des défis liés à la reconnaissance et à la participation sociales des communautés sexuelles et de genres. La « Compilation de témoignage sur le travail du sexe » (2012) est le fruit d’un travail collectif avec des personnes qui exercent le travail du sexe, membres de Stella, l’amie de Maimie (à Montréal) et POWER (à Gatineau). La compilation présente des extraits de vidéos et de films, réalisés au Canada entre 1981 et 2011, et vise à défaire les préjugés en mettant à l’avant plan la parole des travailleuses et travailleurs du sexe qui demandent la décriminalisation de leur vie et de leur travail.
This event is part of Social Justice Days! Find the full schedule here: www.facebook.com/events/635202883947788/
▼▲▼▲ ACCESSIBILITY INFO ▼▲▼▲
Childcare:
Childcare can be requested at this event with 24 hours notice; please call 514 398 7432 or email info@qpirgmcgill.org
Language:
Whisper translation from English to French will be available for all events with 24 hours notice unless already provided; please call 514 398 7432 or email info@qpirgmcgill.org to request.
La traduction chuchotée de l’anglais vers le français sera disponible sur demande avec 24 heurs de pré-avis; apellez 514 398 7432 ou envoyez un courriel à info@qpirgmcgill.org.
Physical Accessibility:
The United Theological College is wheelchair-accessible by a ramp through the back entrance. To access, head north on University (the building will be to your right). You will be able to turn into the alley a few buildings past the 3571 University. Follow the alley to the right, to the parking area for the United Theological College. Enter through the gate and proceed into the building. Washrooms are also wheelchair accessible and gender-neutral.
All events are scent free. This means that all attendees should refrain from using any scented products prior to the event or bringing them to the event, including (but not limited to) perfume, cologne, shampoo, conditioner, soap, hairspray, or lotion. This scent-free policy is put in place to minimize risk for people with environmental sensitivities. For more information on this policy: http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/hsprograms/scent_free.html
If you have other questions or concerns related to accessibility, please don't hesitate to get in touch at 514 398 7432, info@qpirgmcgill.org, or send us a message on facebook.
***
Land Acknowledgment:
This event takes place on the traditional territory of the Kanien'kehá:ka. The island called "Montreal" is known as Tiotia:ke in the language of the Kanien'kehá:ka, and it has historically been a meeting place for other Indigenous nations who are a part of the Haudenosaunee confederacy. For those of us at QPIRG, acknowledging the keepers of these territories is part of a process of reminding ourselves that our lives are only possible because of the land that we live on, and that most of us benefit from these territories as settlers, and it is also about reminding ourselves of how deeply important it is that our work, as a social-justice organization, be deeply and profoundly informed by the context of colonization. We would encourage everyone to seek out more spaces for learning and understanding the history of these territories
Social Justice Days 2018: Community conversation with Chelsea Vowel
Undoing Harm: Surviving White Supremacy in Quebec by Taking Care of Each Other
6pm-8pm
Centre Culturel Georges-Vanier
2450 Workman
(Metro Lionel-Groulx)
This event is part of the event series Social Justice Days, presented by QPIRG-McGill. For additional information, visit the main facebook event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/731712037038303/
How can we apply the lens of harm reduction to the pain caused by white supremacy? How can we begin to support each other to better reduce the impact of this harm on our lives? How can Indigenous and Black communities collaborate meaningfully to move forward together? What would we say to each other if whiteness wasn’t in the room?
The Black Indigenous Harm Reduction Alliance invites you to join us for a discussion on these questions with author Chelsea Vowel. Chelsea, Robyn Maynard, and Lindsay Nixon will talk about their recent work and what inspired them to write, as well as where they hope conversations about white supremacy, Black and Indigenous identities, and collaborations between these communities will go next. Afterwards the discussion will open up to the room, to invite the experiences and knowledge of those in attendance into the conversation. Our goal is not to propose definitive answers to these huge questions, but rather to begin to build the necessary trust for Black and Indigenous peoples to grapple with complex issues that affect us outside of the white gaze.
**This is a closed event for Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour.**