The organizers of the annual International Day for the Elimination of Racism (IDER) in the School of Social Work are partnering with the Indigenous YUFA Caucus, the Centre for Aboriginal Student Services, the York University Indigenous Council, and community members, in a day long gathering on March 11th in the Vari Hall Rotunda from 10am to 4pm in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en peoples and their long standing and ongoing struggles for decolonial justice.
As many of us have been witnessing, the federal and provincial governments, RCMP, and Coastal GasLink/TC Energy (formerly TransCanada) are openly violating Wet’suwet’en, Canadian, and international law. Recently media reports on a federal and BC provincial agreement to recognize Wet’suwet’en title on unceded lands have caused much confusion. The Wet’suwet’en struggle however continues and the call for support and solidarity remains in place and is urgent as ever.
The gathering in Vari Hall will include handing out solidarity and educational materials, collecting donations and raising funds for the land defense. There will also be videos from Wet’suwet’en and solidarity actions and blockades across Canada, and a series of live speakers and performances throughout the day. There will be space for solidarity messages, artwork you can create and share, and a Wikipedia edit-a-thon-in station to combat hateful vandalism online.
This is a low tech action where you will be using your voices, bodies, and command of the space to inspire, educate, and mobilize people. We are relying on the spirit of our community and urgency of the moment to make it possible. We are asking you to join us, bring some spare change to donate, and share space to learn, educate, support, and create together.
The schedule of activities for the event is evolving, if you would like to participate please contact the organizers They will be circulating a list of confirmed speakers and performances in the coming days! Should you have further queries please feel free to write to Soma Chatterjee at schat@yorku.ca.
We hope to see many of you on March 11th.