Below is a sneak peak of what to expect at the 2011 Radical History Conference in Windsor Ontario during February 4th, 5th and 6th. Join fellow workers in exploring past stories of revolt, stories of genocide, stories of community solidarity, stories of liberation and stories from a decaying world of corporate hegemony. Heck, we got more incendiary stories than an Ottawa RBC branch. They don't teach this stuff in school boys and girls!
Several groups and individuals are collaborating to bring you a weekend long conference that examines a narrative of history focusing on working peoples and their struggles toward a more equitable, sustainable, and beautiful world. Please stay tuned at http://radicalhistoryconference.blogspot.com/ for more information as the conference approaches. Its not too late to submit a proposal of your own! We still need contributors and volunteers!
What To Expect
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Enola Cola will be discussing the findings of an exploration into regional history and the colonization of the Détroit River Region. Cola's essay "Land Claims and the Decolonization of the European Mind", as well as pieces of poetry will be used as stepping stones to delve into this regions colonized history: French settlement, the British takeover and American Revolution, the purchase of Southern Ontario, and its subsequent settlement into what we know it to be today. Having roots back to the settlement of this land by the French, Enola Cola attempts uncover the realities of this regions past and what it can mean for us today.
--Presented by Enola Cola
No One Is Illegal-Toronto has been engaged in struggles against detention and deportations, borders and nation-state policies, bureaucracies and legislation that attack both migrants and indigenous peoples. The work of our organization cannot happen without a strong understanding of the histories of migrant resistance (like those of Hogg's Hollow in the 1960s); of anti-authoritarian revolts (like the Yonge Street Riots and the Bathhouse Raid Riots in the early 1980s); of poor people's resistance (like the emergence of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty and the Special Diet Campaign); of solidarity with indigenous sovereignty struggles (like those at Six Nations, Oka, Tyendinaga, Barriere Lake and Others); and of global resistance to capitalism (like the amazing resistance to Barrick Gold, the Tar Sands struggle, the Palestinian Intifada, the G20). Through a weaving of stories, visuals, audios and more, long time members of No One Is Illegal Toronto will situate and critique our group's struggles against the oppressive shifts in immigration policy by focusing on stories and memories of common people resisting and winning.
--Presented by No One Is Illegal-Toronto
Upon the ending of the second world war, men returning from Europe supposedly fighting for democracy and freedom came home to find out that both the state and their employers had no intention of maintaining the war time provisions of PC1001 that legally allowed the existence of unions during the war. In Windsor Ontario, against the wishes of both the local leadership and the national union in Detroit, 10,000 Windsor UAW Ford workers went on a historic 99 day strike that unfortunately fell short of many initial goals, but ultimately won legal recognition of unions in Ontario, and later all of Canada. While the creation of the Rand Formula was a victory, the real victory was the radical nature of not only the 10,000 UAW Ford workers who went on strike, but also all the solidarity strikes and mobilizations from other autoworkers and the community at large. The story of the solidarity of the Windsor community that fully supported the strike, their families, and the right to have a union and the radical strategies that were utilized is a story that has seldom been told. The presentation I propose for the radical history conference will explore the historic strike, the tactics that were utilized, the solidarity of the community at large, and the impact that this historic mobilization had on the future of 'leftist radicals' within the trade union movement.
--Presented by Ron Drouillard, Windsor Workers Action Centre
In 1969 and 1970 a call to action went out to try and stop the testing of nuclear bombs on Amchitka in the Aleutian Islands. The "Don't Make A Wave" committee was formed in Vancouver and calls went out to every University and College in Canada to participate. Windsor responded and over 5,000 students marched across the Ambassador Bridge to demand a halt to nuclear testing and to make Windsor a Nuclear Free Zone. What conditions existed then that mobilized so many to turn out and demand their voices be heard? Is our culture of individualism destroying our collective social conscious?
--Presented by the Global Resource Centre
Along with activist historians in Ottawa and Toronto, Doug Nesbitt is currently working on an introductory pamphlet to social movement history in Canada - covering the working classes, organized labour, poor and unemployed, women's lib, Quebec, glbtq, anti-racism, indigenous struggles, immigrant communities and electoral campaigns. It's intended as a resource, as well as an annotated bibliography and guide for people to begin their own readings of historical research that is out there but largely known only to academics. Radical History Conference is proud to host the public launching of the pamphlet.
--Presented by Doug Nesbitt
There's no question about it, industry is killing the planet. For many people, the process of industrialization is synonymous with progress, but what is there to say about the social fabric we have moved away from, or what kind of ecological reality we are moving toward? Jae will present an alternative analysis of industrialization, framed as a trajectory towards complete alienation, but also towards a global economy where growth depends on the total emptying of the natural world. From freedom and fresh air to dependency and pollution, what we have gained is not worth what was sacrificed. This discussion will question whether industrialization is inevitable or even desirable. Jae will present local food-related community projects as a starting point for resisting industrialism, highlighting examples that starkly oppose the workings of industrial agriculture.
--Presented by Jae Muzzin (Windsor Guerrilla Gardening Collective)
Birth can be a beautiful and empowering experience, but interventionist Western medicine has taken power over the birthing process away from women, and placed it in the hands of the patriarchal and profit driven medical establishment. Lindsay will examine the history and attitudes toward birth, focusing on the process of disempowerment. The discussion will highlight the dangers of interventionist birth, while offering practical knowledge about safer methods of natural birth and parenting.
--Presented by Lindsay Logsdon
Exploring digital and analog source material and using the techniques of sampling, and the cut-up, this sound art performance will draw on: local archives, oral histories and personal collections documenting community activism and culture in Southwestern Ontario. Can the messengers for social justice have their voices freed from the archives for an evening? Can we hear their message clearly? Conference participants are invited to submit their own materials in any audio format for inclusion in the performance. Tape hiss guaranteed.
--Performed by Anthony Sabo
As part of his Rap For Freedom Tour, Testament will perform to raise money for the G20 Legal Fundraising effort for those targeted by police repression around the G20 summit in Toronto.
--Performed by Testament Hip Hop
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The Radical History Conference will take place on February 4th, 5th and 6th 2011 at Windsor Workers Action Centre, 328 Pelissier, Windsor Ontario. For more information contact roadwindsor at riseup.net or visit http://radicalhistoryconference.blogspot.com/
