A weekend of activism

[sabotabby]

I'm technically off work except not really, but you wouldn't know it from the amount of downtime I've had. Friday was relaxing, but I was up bright and early on Saturday for the Families Belong Together protest. Ours was sedate—lots of stuffed toys covering the traffic island in front of the US Consulate, lots of folks in white for the cameras—but the speeches were good and drew connections to local issues, such as the ongoing separation of indigenous children from their families and the migrant families in detention in Rexdale under conditions that differ from America only by degree, not kind.

Oh, did I mention it's 42°C with the humidex? So like everyone else in the city, I went to the Island after and had a nice day on the beach.

Then it was up slightly less bright and slightly less early to make it to the Justice 4 Jon Styres rally at Queen's Park. Jon Styres was yet another indigenous man murdered by a white guy and acquitted by a settler jury. I missed the most dramatic bit, where they interrupted Doug Ford's brief Canada Day address, but I caught most of the speeches and songs.

Then one of my friends had organized a get-together at Disgraceland to write letters and consolidate petitions around migrant detentions here and down south, so we made a dent in that and also I had vegan ribs and feel a bit ill now. I do not do well with prolonged exposure to the burning daystar, it seems.

I don't know how useful any of it was, but at least when the arc of history swings slightly more towards justice and some young person asked me what I did during these dark times, the answer won't be "fuck all."

Comments

[minoanmiss]

Your answer will be long and glorious, because you are amazing.

[sabotabby]

Thanks. But it'll probably amount to: "I picked up every weapon at my disposal and fought like fuck." Which, incidentally, is my problem with both my electorally minded and ultraleftist friends; the former is not willing to imagine direct action as a possibility, and the latter don't want to get their hands dirty.