Call for proposals: "Capturing our History: Feminisms in Canada and Quebec 1960-2010"

Capturing our History: Feminisms in Canada and Quebec, 1960-2010 /
Retracer notre histoire : le mouvement féministe au Canada et au Québec, 1960 à 2010

The project:
To publish a series of books - one per year beginning in 2010 - that depict the richness and diversity of feminist activity in Canada and Quebec between 1960 and 2010. They will be written by different authors and may include autobiographies, biographies, single- and multi-themed volumes, edited collections, plays, novels, etc.

The complexities of gender, race, class, geography, culture, dis/ability, language, sexual identity and age are central to the project. The topics may include:
· history of feminist groups (local, regional, national, service, topical etc.),
· autobiographies/ memoirs/ biographies of individuals involved in the movement,
· feminism in politics and the public service,
· feminists in business, the professions, the workplace, unions,
· feminism in art and sports,
· feminism in social and human sciences,
· feminism in reproductive issues and health,
· feminism in education, religion, science, international affairs,
· feminism and the media, etc.

We expect that all books will be published in both hardcover and paperback and intend to make some or all of the books available in digital format on the internet. The hardcover “collection” will be marketed as a series, like a “book of the year club.” We hope to sign up thousands as members of "Our Feminist History Book Society", a built-in purchasing group for the books, who for an annual fee of $75-100, would receive the “book of the year.” The paperback books will be sold separately in bookstores and outlets.


How to Participate:
Comment on how the project should be developed; propose writing a book, or part of one: M. Elizabeth Atcheson meatcheson@sympatico.ca
or Constance Backhouse backhous@uottawa.ca
or you can contact the NB Advisory Council on Status of Women for more info at acswcccf@gnb.ca

Who Is Involved:
The project is in formation and has benefited from the assistance of: Marguerite Andersen, M. Elizabeth Atcheson (Co-Editor), Constance Backhouse (Co-Editor), Monique Bégin, Mary Breen, Susan G. Cole, Margaret Conrad, Shelagh Day, Francine Descarries, Margrit Eichler, Ursula Franklin, Lorraine Greaves, Sylvia D. Hamilton, Danielle Juteau, Linda Kealey, Michele Landsberg, Tracey Lindberg, Meg Luxton, Diana Majury, Lorna Marsden, Maureen O’Neil, Francine Pelletier and Judy Steed.


hahaa

Excerpts from PM's Apology to First Nations People

See also:
Video of PM Apology
Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Indian and Northern Affairs info on resolutions.


Excerpts from Harpers' Apology:
(More on what this means later)


Mr. Speaker, I stand before you today to offer an apology to former students of Indian residential schools. The treatment of children in Indian residential schools is a sad chapter in our history.

In the 1870's, the federal government, partly in order to meet its obligation to educate aboriginal children, began to play a role in the development and administration of these schools.

Two primary objectives of the residential schools system were to remove and isolate children from the influence of their homes, families, traditions and cultures, and to assimilate them into the dominant culture.

These objectives were based on the assumption aboriginal cultures and spiritual beliefs were inferior and unequal.

Indeed, some sought, as it was infamously said, "to kill the Indian in the child."

Today, we recognize that this policy of assimilation was wrong, has caused great harm, and has no place in our country.

Most schools were operated as "joint ventures" with Anglican, Catholic, Presbyterian or United churches.

The government of Canada built an educational system in which very young children were often forcibly removed from their homes, often taken far from their communities.

Many were inadequately fed, clothed and housed.

All were deprived of the care and nurturing of their parents, grandparents and communities.

First Nations, Inuit and Métis languages and cultural practices were prohibited in these schools.

Tragically, some of these children died while attending residential schools and others never returned home.

The government now recognizes that the consequences of the Indian residential schools policy were profoundly negative and that this policy has had a lasting and damaging impact on aboriginal culture, heritage and language.

While some former students have spoken positively about their experiences at residential schools, these stories are far overshadowed by tragic accounts of the emotional, physical and sexual abuse and neglect of helpless children, and their separation from powerless families and communities.

The legacy of Indian residential schools has contributed to social problems that continue to exist in many communities today. It has taken extraordinary courage for the thousands of survivors that have come forward to speak publicly about the abuse they suffered.

It is a testament to their resilience as individuals and to the strength of their cultures.

Regrettably, many former students are not with us today and died never having received a full apology from the government of Canada.

The government recognizes that the absence of an apology has been an impediment to healing and reconciliation.

Therefore, on behalf of the government of Canada and all Canadians, I stand before you, in this chamber so central to our life as a country, to apologize to aboriginal peoples for Canada's role in the Indian residential schools system.

To the approximately 80,000 living former students, and all family members and communities, the government of Canada now recognizes that it was wrong to forcibly remove children from their homes and we apologize for having done this.

We now recognize that it was wrong to separate children from rich and vibrant cultures and traditions, that it created a void in many lives and communities, and we apologize for having done this.

We now recognize that, in separating children from their families, we undermined the ability of many to adequately parent their own children and sowed the seeds for generations to follow, and we apologize for having done this.

We now recognize that, far too often, these institutions gave rise to abuse or neglect and were inadequately controlled, and we apologize for failing to protect you.

Not only did you suffer these abuses as children, but as you became parents, you were powerless to protect your own children from suffering the same experience, and for this we are sorry.

The burden of this experience has been on your shoulders for far too long.

The burden is properly ours as a government, and as a country.

There is no place in Canada for the attitudes that inspired the Indian residential schools system to ever again prevail.

You have been working on recovering from this experience for a long time and in a very real sense, we are now joining you on this journey.

The government of Canada sincerely apologizes and asks the forgiveness of the aboriginal peoples of this country for failing them so profoundly.

We are sorry.

In moving towards healing, reconciliation and resolution of the sad legacy of Indian residential schools, implementation of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement agreement began on September 19, 2007.

Years of work by survivors, communities, and aboriginal organizations culminated in an agreement that gives us a new beginning and an opportunity to move forward together in partnership.

A cornerstone of the settlement agreement is the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

This commission presents a unique opportunity to educate all Canadians on the Indian residential schools system.

It will be a positive step in forging a new relationship between aboriginal peoples and other Canadians, a relationship based on the knowledge of our shared history, a respect for each other and a desire to move forward together with a renewed understanding that strong families, strong communities and vibrant cultures and traditions will contribute to a stronger Canada for all of us.

Arthur C. Clarke Joins the Cosmic Dust

Arthur C. Clarke, writer of the classics 2001: A Space Odyssey, Childhood's End, and dozens of novels and short stories, passed away today. It's too bad that during his lifetime he didn't get to experience contact with another alien civilization, as he so desired.

Here are some excerpts from his 2008 "Egogram", reflections on his 90 years, and plans for the future. I love the Rudyard Kipling quotation. Prescient.


EGOGRAM 2008 - Sir Arthur C Clarke

Friends, Earthlings, ETs -- lend me your sensory organs!

I send you greetings and good wishes at the beginning of another year – and we’re getting closer to 2010, 'the year we make contact' (according to the movie 2010: Odyssey Two).

Making contact, or at least receiving some evidence of extra-terrestrial life, was one of three wishes I included in a short video released online in December reflecting on my 90th birthday. I said: “I have always believed that we are not alone in the universe. But we are still waiting for ETs to call us – or give us some kind of a sign. We have no way of guessing when this might happen – I hope sooner rather than later!”

Completing 90 orbits around the sun is a suitable occasion to reflect on how I would like to be remembered. As I said in my birthday reflections video:
“I’ve had a diverse career as a writer, underwater explorer, space promoter and science populariser. Of all these, I want to be remembered most as a writer – one who entertained readers, and, hopefully, stretched their imagination as well.

I find that another English writer has expressed it very well.

So let me end with these words of Rudyard Kipling:

"If I have given you delight
by aught that I have done.
Let me lie quiet in that night
which shall be yours anon;

And for the little, little span
the dead are borne in mind,
seek not to question other than,
the books I leave behind."



Arthur C. Clarke
Childhood's End One of my favourite stories.
Arthur C. Clarke Foundation His projects, philanthropic endeavours, and bio.

Second Wave Archives Project: call for items

Second Wave Archives Project, Nancy's Very Own Foundation

Where are the stories, minutes, photos, briefs and buttons that tell the story of the women's movement in Canada since 1960?

Few such records are on deposit in public archives. This project aims to direct valuable materials into repositories where future researchers can find them, helping them to create an accurate and complete portrayal of this important period in Canada's history.

The project has four main objectives:
1. To locate second wave records and find them a home in a suitable public archives
2. To collect stories that are not on paper, through a pilot oral history project, starting in Ontario
3. To share information about second wave history with feminist activists, academics, archivists and researchers
4. To create an online resource that makes it easier to donate second wave records to an archives, and to locate and access these archival collections

We are looking for archival materials from individual feminists and from organizations that worked for women's equality. We want them to reflect the character of the movement - in all its diversity, drama, distinctiveness, influence and consequences.

Do you have records related to second wave feminism in Canada?
Have you already sent documents to an archives?
Do you know any second wavers who might be holding onto archival treasures?

Please contact Project Coordinator Mary Breen at 416-604-4620, archivesproject@sympatico.ca.

Harper's Government Votes against Aboriginals (big surprise)

Canada votes Against UN Declaration on Aboriginal Rights....

The "Non-Binding" declaration was in fact passed in a vote of 143 to four. Can you guess the four countries that voted AGAINST a declaration in support of Aboriginal Rights? Easy. Those who are most afraid of losing natural resources and land: Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand.

As is typical, "significant concerns with respect to the wording of the current text" was cited as the reason Canada wouldn't support the declaration.

It's amusing and disappointing that even though the declaration is acknowledged as "non-binding" (at least in Macleans), those four governments are still having none of it. The declaration, as with most UN projects, is mostly symbolic, as a matter of good faith. The UN has policies on issues of equality, access to health care, access to education, elimination of violence and sexual assault, etc. These are symbolic gestures, and the issues they address will probably never come close to being truly dealt with on a massive scale. Are the governments of the four opposing nations really that numb? Can they not see this as a positive PR opportunity?

Canada respects its aboriginal population, read all about it!

Nope. Not a chance. No one cares about aboriginal issues anyway, unless you're aboriginal yourself, right?....
Oh Harper.

extry extry

Talk about Smart Mobs: Free Tibet activists use online technology to ensure message gets out

Howard Reingold talks about Smart Mobs in current activism: the use of cell phones and the internet to organize actions, communicate with group members, and to disseminate info to the media. smart mobs, smart mobiles.

I am sooo impressed by the techno-savvy group of activists that unfurled a banner at the Great Wall of China this week, and who were subsequently arrested.

Some background first:
Today a third Canadian, Lhadon Tethong, director of Students for a Free Tibet, has been arrested, along with her colleague Paul Golding. Six activists were arrested on Tuesday, including two Canadians: Sam Price and Melanie Raoul from Vancouver.

It was Sam and Melanie who rapelled down the Great Wall to hang a large banner that read, in English and Mandarin, "One World, One Dream, Free Tibet 2008". Tuesday marked the one-year countdown to the Beijing Olympics, and the group used the Olympic slogan to draw attention to China's occupation of Tibet.

What is so amazing about this action is the use of the internet to achieve global coverage, and as a means of keeping in touch while waiting to be detained by Chinese authorities.

An activist recorded the hanging of the banner on their cell phone and e-mailed the file to New York, where it was immediately uploaded to Youtube, and soon after was reported on in print and television media.

Since Tuesday, Lhadon Tethong (who was not present at the Great Wall action) has been travelling in Beijing where she has been a one-woman techno-firestorm:
- she has been blogging about the action at Beijing Wide Open
- To try and reach International Olympics Committee president Jacques Rogge, she posted a letter to him on her blog, then made a video of her talking about the letter while standing under a statue of Mao Tse-Tung. She then called the IOC to tell them about the video on her blog, then made a video of the call and added that to the blog. An IOC staffer agreed to meet with her.
- She talked with CTV news about the action via satellite, and posted this video on the blog as well

I just visited the blog, where a video has been posted of a Skype video-call Lhadon and Paul made at an internet cafe yesterday, before their imminent arrest. [Skype is a free web-based phone service].

What excellent use of these resources, these web-based technologies, for social action! I think today I'll be able to work on my thesis after all.


CBC article

quickie toon

I just found a site where you can make cartoons! toondoo.com
I just picked a background, and it all came together..... oh my.

Equal Rights Amendment is getting a Second Push

"Federal and state lawmakers have launched a new drive to pass the Equal Rights Amendment, reviving a feminist goal that faltered a quarter-century ago when the measure did not gain the approval of three-quarters of the state legislatures.

The amendment, which came three states short of enactment in 1982, has been introduced in five state legislatures since January. Yesterday, House and Senate Democrats reintroduced the measure under a new name -- the Women's Equality Amendment -- and vowed to bring it to a vote in both chambers by the end of the session." - Washington Post

According to the article, the ERA was first proposed in 1923.... it's unbelievable the amount of time common sense takes. I mean really, how could it have failed to be approved? Who says no to equal rights? What do the nay-sayers believe equal rights are, that they would say "absolutely not!"?
Then again, what does passing the Bill accomplish? Is it just words that say women and men are equal? Could that really be contested legally--will the Bill affect the legal system, the hiring process, the payment of salaries..?

Read the full article at the Washington Post.

This follows so closely on the heels of a parallel struggle in Canada to preserve the function of the Status of Women Department. I've got a preliminary page up with a brief timeline following the dismantling of the agency by the Harper Government since September 2006. The article is incomplete, however the resources are excellent.

Rebel Daughter Doris Anderson Dies/ Baudrillard becomes the static he desires.

This Canadian feminist powerhouse (Editor, novelist, journalist, activist, chairperson) passed away in Toronto this week.

As editor of Chatelaine, Anderson combined typical women’s magazine fare with well-written, hard-hitting investigative pieces on abortion, birth control, discriminatory divorce laws and the wage gap.

Among some of the journalists she hired to write these pieces were June Callwood, Christina McCall (later Newman) Michele Landsberg, Barbara Frum, Sylvia Fraser, anf future governor-general Adrienne Clarckson.

One of her first editorials was an appeal for more women in Parliament -- there were only two female MPs in 1958 . She devoted many pages over the years to pushing for a Royal Commission on the Status of Women (she eventually chaired the SoW Council), and to exposing Canada's systemic social problems such as child abuse, racism, and the plight of our First Nations peoples. Some readers felt that she was turning "a nice wholesome Canadian magazine into a feminist rag." However, circulation, which was 480,000 when she became editor, had increased by the late 1960s to 1.8 million readers, the equivalent of one out of every three women in Canada (!!!)

Anderson eventually quit because they refused to hire her as Editor of Macleans, or to raise her salary of $23,000 to match that of the male Maclean's editor, who had less circulation and was paid $59,000.

While Chair of the Status of Women, Anderson contested the wording of Trudeau’s newly written Constitution. The fall-out from this led to her resignation, but finally, following an ad hoc conference on the subject, the wording was changed to: “Notwithstanding anything in this Charter, the rights and freedoms referred to in it are guaranteed equally to male and female persons”.

Lloyd Axworthy, who cancelled the first conference that had been planned to discuss the wording, appointed Lucie Pepin, one of the women on the CACSW board who had voted against holding the conference, as Ms. Anderson's successor. [why not get gwendolyn landolt?]

Anderson then become head of the National Action Committee, a coalition of 700 women’s rights organizations. She remained passionate about women’s involvement in parliament, and was a vocal advocate of Proportional representation.
She also wrote four novels: Two Women, Rough Layout, Affairs of State, The Unfinished Revolution

Quote:
“Every time Lloyd Axworthy opens his mouth, one hundred more women become feminists”

--
DIED TODAY:
Jean Baudrillard



A widely-read French Philosopher and cultural critic. He coined the terms simulacra and hyper-real to describe Western society's mediated reality through technology. I attended a packed lecture he delivered at York University in 2003. I thought I would be all clever and focus on his french delivery, ignoring the subtitles that flashed behind him on screen (weird--most conferences have head-phones and live translators).
Maybe this was his idea of a joke, but he began his french lecture, and the subtitles started too late, then had to speed up to catch up. the words were whizzing by, and a general twitter waved through the crowd as we contemplated our highly mediated and hyperreal moment with the Man himself.

Some quotes:

"The very definition of the real becomes: that of which it is possible to give an equivalent reproduction. The real is not only what can be reproduced, but that which is always already reproduced. The hyper real."

"Deep down, the US, with its space, its technological refinement, its bluff good conscience, even in those spaces which it opens up for simulation, is the only remaining primitive society."

A slave in a time of no slavery?

From the Telegraph-Journal:

An ad in a NB newspaper in 1786 promised a reward for the return of slaves who had run away from their "owner", a Loyalist from what is now Fredericton. The runaways included "Nancy, about 24 years old, who took with her a Negro child, about four years old, called Lidge". Nancy was seemingly returned to that slave owner, since in 1800, she asked the Supreme Court of New Brunswick to set her free. The slave-owner said that Nancy had been a slave since birth.
Her two lawyers, who had volunteered their services, argued that she should be freed since slavery was not officially recognized in N.B. On Feb. 18, 1800, the court announced a split decision among the four judges. Nancy lost and remained a slave for another 15 years. Soon after that yearlong trial, one of the slave-owning judges set his slaves free. Nancy's case touched off such protest that it is said slavery became an unworkable institution in the province.

Nancy's story - and other stories of New Brunswick women in our history - should be better remembered. One effort in that direction is Nancy's Award.
Middle-school students can win one of 15 awards named after Nancy Morton. Nancy's Award is offered to students whose entry in the New Brunswick's Regional Heritage Fair touches on some aspect of New Brunswick Women's history. Heritage Week Is Feb. 12 to 19.