Thoughts and musings from a writer, editor, photographer, activist, and musician in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. I believe that faith and social action are intertwined in efforts to positively motivate change in the society around us. We need to be actively involved in our communities to try to effect this change locally and globally. I also love the local Arts scene. Warning: alternative perspectives and strong opinions ahead. Intimidated yet? Good - read on.
I was asked to speak on December 5, 2017 by the organizers of an emergency rally to protest the announcement of the intention to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, and declaring Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Here is the text of my speech as well as the video from the event.
I am a human rights activist. I am a Jewish person. I am a global citizen. But most of all I am someone who wants to see peace for all peoples of the world. The world became a more dangerous place this past week, and we cannot sit idly by.
The decision to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem and to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is nothing less than an act of war, a provocative move that will further destabilize the region and result in unnecessary and inhumane suffering.
It is a decision that is being criticized by people from all three Abrahamic faiths. This is no surprise since Jerusalem is an international city that is sacred to Muslims, Jews, and Christians in Israel, Palestine, and around the world. Resolution 476 of the United Nations Security Council says that altering the character and state of Jerusalem is a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention and has no legal validity.
Such a move will only deepen the oppression of the Palestinian people by giving the Israeli government a clear signal that the US will continue to support and aid the immoral and illegal occupation of Palestine. It will do nothing to achieve a just and lasting peace in Palestine and Israel. Demonstrations have already been happening in the West Bank. Festive lights are being dimmed and seasonal celebrations are being cancelled in Bethlehem, which is the occupied West Bank town where, according to the Christian faith, Jesus was born.
Today is the United Nations' Human Rights Day. How appropriate that we gather here to protest how both Palestinians and Israelis – the majority of whom want peace for themselves and their children – are being used as political pawns. In Judaism, we have a value called Tikkun Olam, which means to heal or repair the world. We cannot support that which will further tear the world apart. In the name of a just and lasting peace, we must say no to the US embassy in Jerusalem, and an end to the occupation.
Is Chanukah really the "Jewish Christmas"? Why do we light candles and eat oily food? If a man converts to Judaism, it's going to hurt in the end, right? These, and other questions, were addressed during my presentation about Chanukah to the Society of Edmonton Atheists on December 5. (Spoiler: the answer to the last question is "most likely, yes.").
On
September 17, 2017, I was invited to speak to Church in the World
monthly session at Garneau United Church. This is a session over
lunch following a Sunday morning service, dealing with some aspect of
social justice. My topic was Reconciliation and what Edmonton United
Churches are doing to address the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission's Calls to Action. I presented my short talk in the
context of Moving Forward with Reconciliation, a group I have been
involved with for a couple of years. Below is a video, as well as the notes from my
talk and a summary of the responses to the questions I was
asked afterwards.
--
My
work: I
have an interest in documentation and communication, particularly
bringing groups together that have a common cause or interest. To
that end, I have been documenting local activism in Edmonton and
posting on social media, which is building greater awareness of
progressive movements in the city. This extends to Indigenous issues
and Reconciliation.
I've
been involved with a group called Moving Forward with Reconciliation
for a couple of years. It's a ministry of Edmonton Presbytery and we
have members from a number of Edmonton United Church congregations. I
got involved with the group through a woman named Debbie Hubbard.
Debbie and I knew each other through Palestine solidarity work, and I
later found out she had formed the Moving Forward group and was
facilitating it at the time. I was also writing for an Indigenous
newspaper (I'm a multi-media journalist by profession) and was
following what the group was doing, which was working on building
bridges between the United Church and Indigenous communities, through
meetings, events, dialogues – all of this was in the planning
stages at the time but I started to attend planning meetings of the
working group.
A
large part of Moving Forward was the building of an email list to
send out announcements concerning events relating to Reconciliation
and Indigenous education that are open to non-Indigenous people. Last
summer, Debbie moved to Kelowna with her husband, and needed someone
to take over the list. She felt I was the natural person to that
given my background with communications and, although I am not of a
United Church background, I am involved with the United Church on a
professional basis as Marketing Project Coordinator with Mill Woods
United Church, where I assist the congregation with its website and
social media. So, I did indeed take over the email list after she
moved.
What
I have built:
The email list has grown quite a bit since last year. I send out more
event notices than in the past, although I try to limit to one per
day because it is quite a large list. I also built a Facebook page
where the events, which mostly have Facebook event pages associated
with them, are also posted. People were requesting this, particularly
younger people who tend to check Facebook more than their email. Some
kind of list of events was also requested, so that people did not
have to go back-tracking through their email to look something up, so
I built a Reconciliation Calendar as part of the Mill Woods website.
(I am paid an honorarium for my Moving Forward work through a grant
that is administrated through Mill Woods, hence it being the logical
connection). Many of the events I post I find on Facebook – I spend
time searching through pages of Indigenous and Reconciliation-related
organizations – and also I am contacted personally with request to
post information and events.
Ongoing
work/integration:
The working group itself continues to be dynamic and finding its way
in terms of mission and purpose, while its members are a presence at
many events as participants and volunteers. Why are we doing this? As
we know, the United Church has been responding to the Calls for
Action and there is an excellent section of the main United Church
website that deals with Reconciliation:
The
response to the email list is overwhelmingly positive. A resource
such as the Moving Forward list is a relatively simple, inexpensive
way to make church people aware of events and bring people out in
greater numbers. Reconciliation can't happen in a vacuum – it's
definitely great to have church-based discussion groups because there
are many things that need to be discussed on a church level in terms
of what the role in Reconciliation should be, and people's
experiences and such, but in order to take it to the next level (so
to speak), we really need to be out there at events and learning and
volunteering and taking part.
Speaking
of which, we need people from Garneau to be involved. The church is
on the email list, as are a number of you, and I notice a number of
the items I post make it into your weekly newsletter, but the only
person who was attending meetings regularly was Jim Graves, who as we
all know was very passionate about reconciliation. Since he passed
away in April, there has been no official representation from
Garneau. We miss Jim terribly, and know that he would want someone
from Garneau to be a part of Moving Forward.
Here
are some issues and information that have been raised in previous
talks I have given on this topic.
The
Calls to Action pertaining to the Churches are 58-61.
58.
We
call upon the Pope to issue an apology to Survivors, their families,
and communities for the Roman Catholic Church’s role in the
spiritual, cultural, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse of First
Nations, Inuit, and Métis children in Catholic-run residential
schools. We call for that apology to be similar to the 2010 apology
issued to Irish victims of abuse and to occur within one year of the
issuing of this Report and to be delivered by the Pope in Canada.
59.
“We
call upon church parties to the Settlement Agreement to develop
ongoing education strategies to ensure that their respective
congregations learn about their church’s role in colonization, the
history and legacy of residential schools, and why apologies to
former residential school students, their families, and communities
were necessary.
60.
We call upon leaders of the church parties to the Settlement
Agreement and all other faiths, in collaboration with Indigenous
spiritual leaders, Survivors, schools of theology, seminaries, and
other religious training centres, to develop and teach curriculum for
all student clergy, and all clergy and staff who work in Aboriginal
communities, on the need to respect Indigenous spirituality in its
own right, the history and legacy of residential schools and the
roles of the church parties in that system, the history and legacy of
religious conflict in Aboriginal families and communities, and the
responsibility that churches have to mitigate such conflicts and
prevent spiritual violence.
61.
We
call upon church parties to the Settlement Agreement, in
collaboration with Survivors and representatives of Aboriginal
organizations, to establish permanent funding to Aboriginal people
for:
i.
Community-controlled healing and reconciliation projects.
ii.
Community-controlled culture- and language revitalization projects.
iii.
Community-controlled education and relationship building projects.
iv.
Regional dialogues for Indigenous spiritual leaders and youth to
discuss Indigenous spirituality, self-determination, and
reconciliation.
Apologies
need action.
Saying you're sorry and acknowledging what you did wrong is the first
step – but what are you going to do, moving forward, to effect
change?
Go
to events and listen and learn.
Offer to volunteer, where appropriate.
Have
conversations.
Get to know people as individuals, where they are at. We all have
different backgrounds and stories. When we get to know people, we
stop seeing them as “other.”
Ask
questions.
If you are unsure if something is cultural appropriation, or if you
can take photographs, or in any situation where you don't know how to
proceed – ask. Asking shows respect.
Questions/Answers
I
made my main presentation short on purpose, because Reconciliation
needs to have discussions, not some white person talking non-stop for
an hour. Several people in the congregation spoke about their
experiences learning about residential schools and with Indigenous
people, such as a retired physician who worked for a time in an
Indigenous community and witnessed a high rate of tuberculosis there.
I
was asked what churches are doing specifically to address
Reconciliation in Edmonton, and the answer is that it is really a
church-by-church sort of thing. Each congregation is doing different
things, some more than others, in terms of events and such.
I
was also asked about how seminaries and theological schools are
addressing Call to Action #60. I am definitely not in the loop when
it comes to what is being taught in seminaries, but I did say that
when I was growing up as a student in Edmonton's public school
system, I never learned anything about residential schools. It was
only more recently, when I attended the final TRC event in Edmonton
in 2014 on assignment for a newspaper I was writing for at the time,
that I learned about them. My mind was blown when I found out that
the last residential school closed in the mid-90s. And I felt angry
that such a gap existed in my education, and that what I received was
a sanitized version of history. A younger man in the audience said
that he learned about residential schools, so this is something that
is changing with the generations. Someone added that this has indeed
been added to the curriculum.
The
conversation shifted at one point to the current controversy
surrounding the removal of monuments and the changing of place names
because of a historical figure's attitudes and actions towards
Indigenous people and others. I acknowledged that this is a
complicated issue, and that one way to deal with it is, instead of
removing something, to add to a monument by indicating those negative
actions and beliefs – complete the story, so to speak, instead of
replacing it. Also, the practise of naming places and things after
people is inherently flawed, because in many cases people have
beliefs or have done things that do not stand the test of history. I
discussed this in the context of my involvement with Completing the Story, which seeks to increase the visual representation of women in
public places.
Finally,
someone mentioned about having to be careful when it comes to
building things where it is known there are sacred burial grounds, as
well as building tributes to Elders. My response is that any project
that is about Indigenous people should involve Indigenous people.
I am the Marketing/Social Media Coordinator for Mill Woods United Church. On September 3, I presented a reflection on my faith journey and the work I do for the church.Subtitle: Activism and Spirituality, or, “What’s a Nice Jewish Girl Doing In the United Church?”
I was asked to make a presentation about my spiritual journey, activism, and accomplishments, in the context of what exactly I do for Mill Woods United, in approximately 20 minutes or less. So, please fasten your seat belts. Here we go.
I recall my job interview in the spring of 2016 with Ian, Brian, Mary-Anne, and Janice. It was going pretty well, but there was something I had to fess up to: I wasn’t from a United Church background. In fact – get ready for it – I’m Jewish. “That’s okay,” replied Ian, “So is our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” I tell this story quite often and it always elicits laughter.
Many of you also know me as being involved as the email list and social media coordinator with the Moving Forward with Reconciliation group which is comprised of members from a number of Edmonton’s United Churches. So, how did a nice Jewish girl end up working with the United Church?
I was raised in a fairly traditional Modern Orthodox family. Saturday was the Sabbath. We observed all of the Jewish holy days: the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashana (also known as the “Jewish New Year”) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement and the holiest day on the Jewish calendar), but also Passover and the other feasts and festivals as well. It was fun – I got to take a lot of days off of school for “religious observance.” We also strictly observed the dietary laws, the most well-known of which are no pork products and no shellfish (Levitical restrictions), both of which I still observe to this day.
Then came the teenage years of rebellion, and I, like many of my peers, fell away from the faith of my family. I still always identified as being Jewish but stopped being as observant. Saturday became just another day. I considered myself secular. I didn’t need a spiritual life as such. And so my teens became my 20s and I started to feel a spiritual longing that led me on a path that included everything from east to west, from Buddhism to even a time spent in the Messianic Jewish movement, which is basically Evangelical Christians who celebrate the Jewish roots of Christianity, and Jewish people interested in exploring Christianity in a Jewish context.
It was ironically during my time in this extremely right-wing, Zionist movement that I became interested in getting involved in Edmonton’s activist community – and by activist, I mean of the politically progressive kind. I had always been interested in issues of human rights and social justice but never found a way to connect. Enter the Internet, which I had been spending a lot of time on since my university days. I taught myself how to make web pages, and was starting to learn the ways of what was going to be known as social media.
Eventually, I connected with local groups that dealt with independent media, peace, the environment, women, and Indigenous issues, and as I left organized religion behind yet again I felt more affirmed in my Jewish identity as ever. There is a value in Judaism called Tikkun Olam, which roughly translates to “healing or repairing the world.” In many ways, activism has become a form of spiritual expression for me.
My role as an activist has largely been documenting local social movements through photography and video, posting my work online on my blog RadicalCitizenMedia.com as well as on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and more recently, Instagram. As a result, I have gained a large following online while learning the ins and outs of social media, which I have been able to apply to my work as a communications consultant who works largely with non-profits and NGOs.
For example, in my (just a little over a) year with Mill Woods, I have helped fix up the website, make sure it is updated regularly, while ensuring timely and relevant posts on Facebook, Twitter, and the Instagram account that I set up for the congregation. Ian’s reflections go up every week, announcements are posted, events are promoted, and at the same time I curate material to go online that pertain to the work of the congregation and the wider United Church, particularly concerning Reconciliation and LGBTQ issues, since we are an affirming congregation. Numbers on social media are growing and hopefully this is translating into both communication to congregational members, and inspiring others to attend. In addition, I help proof newsletters and print/promotional materials when required. You get all of this and more, packed into what is now five hours per week.
I heard about the position, which was called Marketing Project Coordinator but is now simply referred to as Social Media, through my involvement with the Edmonton Interfaith Centre for Education and Action, where I am a board member. The building that hosts the Interfaith Centre’s office also houses Garneau United Church, where I occasionally attended as a guest, particularly to video the sermons of a friend of mine who occasionally led services as a layperson. Quite simply, I saw a posting for the job on the communal bulletin board and I applied. And so, here I am.
Last summer I also began working with the group Moving Forward with Reconciliation, which is made up of people from several Edmonton United Churches. I took over the email list announcing events in Edmonton and area pertaining to Reconciliation and Indigenous educational opportunities when the original founder of the group moved to another province. I wanted to enhance and augment the position, and created a Facebook page for the group, as well as a Reconciliation calendar that is now part of the Mill Woods website.
My work in social media, combined with my involvement in activism, started to receive recognition from my community in 2012, when I received the Salvos Prelorentzos Peace Award, an award annually given by Project Ploughshares Edmonton (historically an ecumenical Christian peace organization), to an individual or organization in Edmonton working for the cause of peace, who has not previously been honoured for their work. Around this time I began working with the founding steering committee for the annual Daughters Day event, held in City Hall to honour women and girls for their achievements, the first Daughters Day being held in September of 2012. In 2014, I was named one of the Daughters of the Year at that year’s Daughters Day event for my leadership and being an example to women in activism. Most recently, I was named a Human Rights Champion by the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights in December of 2016, and was a co-organizer of the Women’s March on Washington Edmonton “sister march” on January 21, 2017, which saw over 4000 people converge at the Alberta Legislature grounds to proclaim and affirm that women’s rights are human rights.
Most recently, I have become involved with an initiative called Completing the Story. We’re a grassroots group of women who came together last year to address the lack of visual representation of women in public spaces, not only in Edmonton, but throughout Canada and elsewhere. It was a logical move from my experiences with Daughters Day and the Women’s March, to work on projects that work towards an equitable society.
So even though I don’t come from a United Church background, I have always been attracted to the United Church of Canada’s commitment to social justice and a better world. I’ve often told people that if I was Christian by birth, I would have chosen the United Church as my spiritual home. From peace to reconciliation with Canada’s First Nations, to a just resolution to the conflict in Israel/Palestine, the United Church has been a part of all of these struggles, and I am very grateful to have been welcomed into this congregation and to be able to serve you in the capacity of Social Media/Marketing Coordinator.
On August 22, 2017, I presented this workshop on Documenting Activism for the conference Ignite Change: Global Gathering for Human Rights, organized by the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights. The session was attended by people from Edmonton, Vancouver, and Toronto. Below is a video recording of my presentation, as well as my notes.
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Ignite
Change Presentation
Documenting
Activism: A Practical Guide for Organizers
Overview
of Me and My Work
How
and why I started doing this
I
showed up to my first peace rally in September of 2005 and asked
permission to take photos. I just thought it might be an interesting
thing to do. I posted the photos later on, on a blog I had, and the
reaction to them online was so huge, the server crashed. I realized
that I might be on to something – that no one at that point was
documenting the local activist scene and that there was a demand for
it – a desire to see photos from events afterwards. I got a better
website with more server space, and began to hone my skills in
photography and social media, and a short time later, videography. I
document through photography and videos, and share my work using
social media.
Why
documentation is important
The
importance of documentation has several facets. First of all, it is
capturing history, perhaps a part of Edmonton's history that is not
and has not been widely examined. It keeps a record of what happened,
when, and why. It creates something tangible that can be shared with
others, both locally and elsewhere, and perhaps even help to form
connections between organizations and individuals. I also view what I
do as having an artistic element to it – art and activism are very
closely connected in my beliefs, as both communicate messages in
visual ways. Also, documenting visually, unless someone intentionally
sets about using photoshop or some other program in nefarious ways,
are ways of presenting the truth of what happens. For example, I
videoed Jane Fonda's talk during a panel discussion on pipelines. A
number of people expressed their dismay to local media that a
celebrity should come up here and be disrespectful, and were
basically criticizing what she said, without actually listening to
what she said. I gave them that opportunity.
What
I use
I
use YouTube and Flickr for videos and photos, respectively. I find
them both intuitive to use and make my work easy to share. I post my
work, then share it on Twitter and Facebook. The sharing/retweeting
capacities of these social media platforms help spread my work to a
wide number of people in a relatively short period of time. I have
been using Instagram more and more, because I like how it enables
someone to take a photo then send it out to a number of social media
platforms at once. For blogging and simple websites, I really like
Wordpress because it is so intuitive, but I have also used Blogger.
Documentation
conversations
There
have been conversations about the efficacy of the use of social media
when it comes to activism. There is agreement about it being a great
way to get messages out, but also it's important to be cautious: such
as, not accepting any and all friend requests, being careful about
sharing personal information, and issues of privacy and permission
(photographing people in public places taking part in public events
in fair game in Canada (mostly – laws are different in Quebec), but
there may be times when it would be appropriate to ask permission.
Also, photographing the police is fine as long as you're not
interfering with their ability to do their work. Laws can be
different in different parts of the world – be sure to research and
know before you whip out a camera at a protest somewhere else, to
avoid getting into legal trouble.). And there have been conversations
about the subject matter itself, discussing different sides of the
issues, which is really what we want to do: foster discussion about
issues concerning conflict and human rights.
Concrete
examples of my work and its impact
a)
In June of 2015 Justin Trudeau was in Edmonton to help launch the
campaign of Amarjeet Sohi, who was running for MP as a Liberal in
Edmonton-Mill Woods (he was subsequently elected). The Edmonton
Coalition Against War and Racism (ECAWAR for short), of which I am a
part, was organizing a series of pickets against Bill C-51, which the
Liberals voted in favour of, with the promise that if elected, they
would revise some of the more problematic parts of the bill (we're
still waiting for this to happen). All of the media was inside the
banquet hall – except me. I was filming the protest. All of a
sudden, I heard a lot of screaming coming from behind me, and I
turned around, and there was Justin Trudeau himself. He engaged in an
argument with Peggy Morton, and ECAWAR organizer, and I got the whole
thing on video and it went viral across the country – I was doing
interviews about it with media outlets, and that video is still doing
well. This experience really hit home to me the importance of what I
was doing – no one else captured this moment – and also how a
large part of doing this job I am doing is simply showing up and
being in the right place at the right time.
b)
I was a co-organizer of the Women's March on Washington – Edmonton
Solidarity Event on January 21. If anything shows the power of social
media, it is this. Combined with the international media coverage the
sister marches were getting (the main march was in Washington, of
course), our event page, Twitter, and Instagram went viral.
Documenting this was also important to us, so I was doing triple duty
as an emcee, videographer, and photographer (we did have an official
photographer as well). We saw the numbers on Facebook getting bigger
and bigger up until the day itself, when over 4000 people packed the
north side of the Legislature grounds. I and one of the other
co-organizers, have decided to try to keep the momentum created by
the march going and are using social media with a new Facebook page,
new Twitter and Instagram accounts (@wmwyeg), and a website
(wmwyeg.org).
Documentation,
the way that I do it, gives every day citizens a voice and a platform
they may not otherwise have had. Mainstream media often does not
cover progressive and activist events at great length, if at all. I
am putting up entire speeches or at least more than just 30-second
soundbites. This also impacts the community in that it creates
resources for future actions and the ability to start dialogues on
the different issues presented.
Documentation:
The Practical Stuff
Why
document?
To
have an historical record
To
protect yourself/colleagues by having recorded details that the
memory may otherwise lose
To
share your movement and experiences online and connect with
like-minded groups/individuals and grow beyond your borders
Helps
build grassroots community locally and beyond through the sharing of
resources.
Helps
attract others to the movement by presenting who you are and what
you do. Pictures (and videos) speak volumes beyond just written
descriptions (but writing is important too, as we will discuss
later).
Be
the media: cover important gaps in coverage. Citizen journalism is a
“thing” - there are unprecedented opportunities in today's world
for our voices to be heard.
For
yourself: just like there are those people who always take pictures
at family gatherings, events and protests can make important
memories for us as well.
Photos
and Videos
Can
be an issue of access/privilege (equipment – you need a camera,
and ideally you need a computer)
However,
one does not need a fancy camera – a smartphone/tablet can
suffice. Technology has come a long way.
Most
phones can also take video, most cameras (DSLR and point-and-shoot)
can take video, and some video cameras can also take decent stills.
Benefit
of the above: items can be shared immediately via data or wifi (be
careful about eating up data plan). You can even edit in your phone
or tablet now with apps.
Instagram
& Flickr, Facebook & Twitter, YouTube – all places to post
immediately. Don't forget to tag and add hashtags. Tags are like
keywords; hashtags use the # symbol and also work as keywords that
can be clicked on to be taken to materials using that same term. Eg.
#yeg in Twitter for Edmonton-related posts.
Photos
should tell a story. Include backdrops, crowds. Don't always focus
in one individuals without context or else you end up with photos
that look like they could have been taken anywhere. Eg. Festival
photo of family on grass that could have been taken anywhere.
No
issues in Canada taking photos and videos at and posting photos from
public gatherings on public space. However, respect it if a
colleague does not want his/her photo taken and posted. Could be a
job-related issue, family issue etc. Or, maybe they just don't like
their picture being taken. Legal issues vs. moral/ethical issues in
this case err on the side of caution.
Children:
if singled out in a photo, always a good idea to get permission from
parents/guardians. Again, morality/ethics should take precedence
over legality.
In
Canada, police/law enforcement can be photographed. They, nor anyone
else, have the right to tell you to delete photos.
I'm
not a lawyer – my information comes from my experience and what I
believe to be true, but don't take anything I have said here as
legal advice.
Editing:
I try to shoot in a way that would require minimal editing, if at
all, afterwards. Depends what you are trying to do. Documentation,
to me, means being true to what I see, so I don't want to change or
enhance it much. You can crop and make some adjustments right in
your phone. Most computer operating systems come with a basic photo
editor (as well as a video editor).
Writing
Captures
the moments, describes them, another way of sharing information.
Photo
captions/descriptions
Blogs:
Wordpress, Blogger. Wordpress is better for making full-fledged
websites. If you just want a plain blog, Blogger might be more
intuitive to use for some.
Facebook
posts: keep succinct, add hashtags (a more recent development on FB)
You
don't have to be an English major or wonderful writer.
Be
descriptive, be succinct.
Letters
to the Editor at newspapers – don't be surprised if you don't get
published or it gets edited way down. Keep as short as possible –
increases chances of getting printed.
Contributions
to activist websites. Usually are hungry for submissions because
they can't pay.
Work
as a team; have someone edit your work
Be
careful what you write: “say it and forget it, write it and regret
it.” Nothing ever really permanently vanishes from the Internet
(eg. Deborah Drever). You don't want something coming back at you
down the road.
Published
work online usually has a unique link that can be shared on social
media.
Best
Practices
Photos:
General (this can be applied to video as well)
Seems
like common sense: make sure batteries in phone and cameras are
charged.
Carry
charger and battery packs for phones.
Some
camera batteries are proprietary; have a spare (if economical)
and/or make sure it is charged in advance.
Photos:
Instagram
Good
descriptions
Lots
of hashtags
Settings
to share on other social media like FB and Twitter
Photos:
Facebook
Don't
tag people who are not in photos. Pet peeve of many; good way to get
defriended.
Respect
it when people don't want to be tagged. Easier now that people can
remove tags themselves.
Photos:
Flickr
Same
as the above with regard to descriptions, keywords, sharing, adding
people (the equivalent of tagging).
Writing/Blogging
Keywords
Have
someone else edit your work
Fact
check
Share
links to your work on social media
Questions
& Answers
-->
Workshop:
Ask how many people have smartphones. Break into pairs, with those
who don't have smartphones teamed with those who do, where
applicable. Take pictures of the room, each other, whatever is going
on, video each other talking about what aspects of social justice are
important to them. Upload to the social media platforms of your
choice, with the hashtag #ignitechange2017.
On
June 18, 2017, I was invited to speak to the Mission and Outreach Pod
at Robertson Wesley United Church, a group that meets periodically
after the service on Sundays. My topic was Reconciliation and what
Edmonton United Churches are doing to address the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action. I presented my short
talk in the context of Moving Forward with Reconciliation, a group I
have been involved with for a couple of years. Below are the notes
from my talk, as well as a summary of the responses to the questions
I was asked afterwards.
My
work: I have an interest in documentation and communication,
particularly bringing groups together that have a common cause or
interest. To that end, I have been documenting local activism in
Edmonton and posting on social media, which is building greater
awareness of progressive movements in the city. This extends to
Indigenous issues and Reconciliation.
I've
been involved with a group called Moving Forward with Reconciliation
for a couple of years. It's a ministry of Edmonton Presbytery and we
have members from a number of Edmonton United Church congregations. I
got involved with the group through a woman named Debbie Hubbard.
Debbie and I knew each other through Palestine solidarity work, and I
later found out she had formed the Moving Forward group and was
facilitating it at the time. I was also writing for an Indigenous
newspaper (I'm a multi-media journalist by profession) and was
following what the group was doing, which was working on building
bridges between the United Church and Indigenous communities, through
meetings, events, dialogues – all of this was in the planning
stages at the time but I started to attend planning meetings of the
working group.
A
large part of Moving Forward was the building of an email list to
send out announcements concerning events relating to Reconciliation
and Indigenous education that are open to non-Indigenous people. Last
summer, Debbie moved to Kelowna with her husband, and needed someone
to take over the list. She felt I was the natural person to that
given my background with communications and, although I am not of a
United Church background, I am involved with the United Church on a
professional basis as Marketing Project Coordinator with Mill Woods
United Church, where I assist the congregation with its website and
social media. So, I did indeed take over the email list after she
moved.
What
I have built: The email list has grown quite a bit since last
year. I send out more event notices than in the past, although I try
to limit to one per day because it is quite a large list. I also
built a Facebook page where the events, which mostly have Facebook
event pages associated with them, are also posted. People were
requesting this, particularly younger people who tend to check
Facebook more than their email. Some kind of list of events was also
requested, so that people did not have to go back-tracking through
their email to look something up, so I built a Reconciliation
Calendar as part of the Mill Woods United Church website. (I am paid an honorarium
for my Moving Forward work through a grant that is administrated
through Mill Woods, hence it being the logical connection). Many of
the events I post I find on Facebook – I spend time searching
through pages of Indigenous and Reconciliation-related organizations
– and also I am contacted personally with request to post
information and events.
Ongoing
work/integration: The working group itself continues to be
dynamic and finding its way in terms of mission and purpose, while
its members are a presence at many events as participants and
volunteers. Why are we doing this? As we know, the United Church has
been responding to the Calls for Action and there is an excellent
section of the main United Church website that deals with
Reconciliation:
The
response to the email list is overwhelmingly positive. A resource
such as the Moving Forward list is a relatively simple, inexpensive
way to make church people aware of events and bring people out in
greater numbers. Reconciliation can't happen in a vacuum – it's
definitely great to have church-based discussion groups because there
are many things that need to be discussed on a church level in terms
of what the role in Reconciliation should be, and people's
experiences and such, but in order to take it to the next level (so
to speak), we really need to be out there at events and learning and
volunteering and taking part.
So,
I am going to leave it at that and just through the discussion open,
in terms of where we're at and where we may be going.
In
the discussion that followed, I was asked numerous questions about
the United Church and Reconciliation. Here is an attempt to summarize
them for future reference.
The
Calls to Action pertaining to the Churches are 58-61.
58.
We call upon the Pope to issue
an apology to Survivors, their families, and communities for the
Roman Catholic Church’s role in the spiritual, cultural, emotional,
physical, and sexual abuse of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis
children in Catholic-run residential schools. We call for that
apology to be similar to the 2010 apology issued to Irish victims of
abuse and to occur within one year of the issuing of this Report and
to be delivered by the Pope in Canada.
59.
“We call upon church parties
to the Settlement Agreement to develop ongoing education strategies
to ensure that their respective congregations learn about their
church’s role in colonization, the history and legacy of
residential schools, and why apologies to former residential school
students, their families, and communities were necessary.”
60.
We call upon leaders
of the church parties to the Settlement Agreement and all other
faiths, in collaboration with Indigenous spiritual leaders,
Survivors, schools of theology, seminaries, and other religious
training centres, to develop and teach curriculum for all student
clergy, and all clergy and staff who work in Aboriginal communities,
on the need to respect Indigenous spirituality in its own right, the
history and legacy of residential schools and the roles of the church
parties in that system, the history and legacy of religious conflict
in Aboriginal families and communities, and the responsibility that
churches have to mitigate such conflicts and prevent spiritual
violence.
61.
We
call upon church parties to the Settlement Agreement, in
collaboration with Survivors and representatives of Aboriginal
organizations, to establish permanent funding to Aboriginal people
for:
i.
Community-controlled healing and reconciliation projects.
ii.
Community-controlled culture- and language revitalization projects.
ii.
Community-controlled education and relationship building projects.
iv.
Regional dialogues for Indigenous spiritual leaders and youth to
discuss Indigenous spirituality, self-determination, and
reconciliation.
Apologies
need action.
Saying you're sorry and acknowledging what you did wrong is the first
step – but what are you going to do, moving forward, to effect
change?
Go
to events and listen and learn.
Offer to volunteer, where appropriate.
Have
conversations.
Get to know people as individuals, where they are at. We all have
different backgrounds and stories. When we get to know people, we
stop seeing them as “other.”
Ask
questions.
If you are unsure if something is cultural appropriation, or if you
can take photographs, or in any situation where you don't know how to
proceed – ask. Asking shows respect.
Below is a meditation I wrote for an email list I manage concerning Reconciliation.
I wanted to share something relating to Reconciliation and Easter that came to my attention this morning.
A friend of mine admitted that she said some hurtful things to a friend of hers, and she was reflecting upon it today on her way to Easter services, and this Scripture verse came to her:
Matthew 5:23-24 "Therefore if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift."
It reaffirmed my position that in order to have Reconciliation on a larger scale, we need to work towards Reconciliation in our own lives. Today, on Easter, and I hope at all times throughout the year, we remember those we may have hurt and wronged, and do our best to try to mend those relationships.
I hope you all have a Happy and Meaningful Easter.
As one of the organizers of the Women's March on Washington - Edmonton Solidarity Event, I was invited to speak on "The Language of Resistance" at the Sociology Undergraduate Students' Association Speakers Series on March 5, 2017. Here is a video of my talk, as well as my notes.
I've been an activist for over a decade (synopsis of how I got involved with #WMWYEG).
How I've seen and heard language change.
With the rise of the "alt-right," language is more divisive, more vicious, and often misleading.
"Alt-right" is itself a misnomer, deceptive. "Alternative" can be seen as a good thing (alternative music or films).
What it really is: racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, Anti-Semitism, hatred.
Has led to what we've seen in AB, threats against women who are politically active, either in office or who are prominent. An irony is that a motivation for me to get involved with #wmwyeg was because of women being threatened, to find myself the target of such threats in the days following the march.
We on the Left have shifted to greater inclusion. Used to talk about "gay" or "queer" community, now LGBTQ with more added.
Use of pronouns (asking what pronouns a person wants used, for eg.).
Making a conscious choice to have People of Colour involved (we wanted a short, but diverse program at #wmwyeg and we achieved that).
All About LOVE! The Language of resistance is the language of love.
I was invited to address the Peacebuilders group of the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights at their meeting on February 7, to discuss documenting social movements to further discussion about peace and non-violence. Here is a video of my talk, as well as my notes.
Why
did you start documenting events in your city?
I
showed up to my first peace rally in September of 2005 and asked
permission to take photos. I just thought it might be an interesting
thing to do. I posted the photos later on, on a blog I had, and the
reaction to them online was so huge, the server crashed. I realized
that I might be on to something – that no one at that point was
documenting the local activist scene and that there was a demand for
it – a desire to see photos from events afterwards. I got a better
website with more server space, and began to hone my skills in
photography and social media, and a short time later, videography. I
document through photography and videos, and share my work using
social media.
Why
did you think it is important?
The
importance of documentation has several facets. First of all, it is
capturing history, perhaps a part of Edmonton's history that is not
and has not been widely examined. It keeps a record of what happened,
when, and why. It creates something tangible that can be shared with
others, both locally and elsewhere, and perhaps even help to form
connections between organizations and individuals. I also view what I
do as having an artistic element to it – art and activism are very
closely connected in my beliefs, as both communicate messages in
visual ways. Also, documenting visually, unless someone intentionally
sets about using photoshop or some other program in nefarious ways,
are ways of presenting the truth of what happens. For example, I
recently videoed Jane Fonda's talk during a panel discussion on
pipelines. A number of people expressed their dismay to local media
that a celebrity should come up here and be disrespectful, and were
basically criticizing what she said, without actually listening to
what she said. I gave them that opportunity.
What
are your favourite platforms on social media to use? Why?
I
use YouTube and Flickr for videos and photos, respectively. I find
them both intuitive to use and make my work easy to share. I post my
work, then share it on Twitter and Facebook. The sharing/retweeting
capacities of these social media platforms help spread my work to a
wide number of people in a relatively short period of time. I have
been using Instagram more and more, because I like how it enables
someone to take a photo then send it out to a number of social media
platforms at once. For blogging and simple websites, I really like
Wordpress because it is so intuitive, but I have also used Blogger.
What
kinds of conversations have started due to your documentation?
There
have been conversations about the efficacy of the use of social media
when it comes to activism. There is agreement about it being a great
way to get messages out, but also it's important to be cautious: such
as, not accepting any and all friend requests, being careful about
sharing personal information, and issues of privacy and permission
(photographing people in public places taking part in public events
in fair game, but there may be times when it would be appropriate to
ask permission). And there have been conversations about the subject
matter itself, discussing different sides of the issues, which is
really what we want to do: foster discussion about issues concerning
conflict and human rights.
If
you could provide 2 examples of your documentation (mini case
studies) that have greatly impacted the work that you do?
a)
In June of 2015 Justin Trudeau was in Edmonton to help launch the
campaign of Amarjeet Sohi, who was running for MP as a Liberal in
Edmonton-Mill Woods (he was subsequently elected). The Edmonton
Coalition Against War and Racism, of which I am a part, was
organizing a series of pickets against Bill C-51, which the Liberals
voted in favour of, with the promise that if elected, they would
revise some of the more problematic parts of the bill (we're still
waiting for this to happen). All of the media was inside the banquet
hall – except me. I was filming the protest. All of a sudden, I
heard a lot of screaming coming from behind me, and I turned around,
and there was Justin Trudeau himself. He engaged in an argument with
Peggy Morton, and ECAWAR organizer, and I got the whole thing on
video and it went viral across the country – I was doing interviews
about it with media outlets, and that video is still doing well. This
experience really hit home to me the importance of what I was doing –
no one else captured this moment – and also how a large part of
doing this job I am doing is simply showing up and being in the right
place at the right time.
b)
I was a co-organizer of the recent Women's March on Washington –
Edmonton Solidarity Event on January 21. If anything shows the power
of social media, it is this. Combined with the international media
coverage the sister marches were getting (the main march was in
Washington, of course), our event page, Twitter, and Instagram went
viral. Documenting this was also important to us, so I was doing
triple duty as an emcee, videographer, and photographer (we did have
an official photographer as well). We saw the numbers on Facebook
getting bigger and bigger up until the day itself, when over 4000
people packed the north side of the Legislature grounds. Myself and
one of the other co-organizers, have decided to try to keep the
momentum created by the march going and are using social media with a
new Facebook page, new Twitter and Instagram accounts (@wmwyeg), and
a new website (wmwyeg.org).
Do
you think the voices of everyday citizens through your documentation
have impacted the community? In what do you think the community has
been impacted?
My
documentation gives every day citizens a voice and a platform they
may not otherwise have had. Mainstream media often does not cover
progressive and activist events at great length, if at all. I am
putting up entire speeches or at least more than just 30-second
soundbites. This also impacts the community in that it creates
resources for future actions and the ability to start dialogues on
the different issues presented.
How
important is the freedom of speech for you in Canada?
For
all of our protests and rallies, I do acknowledge that we are lucky
to be living in a country like Canada where there is freedom of
speech. I think that what I am doing amplifies that – by taking
words and actions, and bringing them to different and wider
audiences.
Any
words of advice for people who are wanting to start creating
dialogues or using social media as a platform to create a more
peaceful and respectful community?
Here
are some best practices I always encourage. I already mentioned being
careful about accepting friend requests and giving out too much
personal information.
Photos/Videos
Seems
like common sense: make sure batteries in phone and cameras are
charged.
Carry
charger and battery packs for phones.
Some
camera batteries are proprietary; have a spare (if economical)
and/or make sure it is charged in advance.
Instagram
Good
descriptions
Lots
of hashtags
Settings
to share on other social media like FB and Twitter
Photos:
Facebook
Don't
tag people who are not in photos. Pet peeve of many; good way to get
de-friended.
Respect
it when people don't want to be tagged. Easier now that people can
remove tags themselves.
Writing/Blogging
Keywords
Have
someone else edit your work
Fact
check
Share
links to your work on social media
Keep
your emotions in check: say it and forget it, write it and regret
it.
