Thousands protest Why we at airports against need paid Trump’s travel ban sick days PAGE 3 PAGE 2

$2 | No 589 | February 2017 socialist.ca Stop Trump’s murderous racism Humanity against Trump Millions worldwide reject Trump’s sexism and bigotry Pages 3-5

Neoliberal BUILD THE ‘solutions’? Eric Lescarbeau on why the carbon tax won’t work Page 2

Anti-racist rally RESISTANCE Community rallies against Nazis in New Westminster Page 7

Anger derails Trudeau tour John Bell on the coast-to-coast protests confronting the PM Page 8

Black Lives Matter win Maureen Aslin on #BLMTO’s Pride victory Page 8

Protestors at Los Angeles International Airport: solidarity has the power to win. Photo: Wilson Pumpernickel

he election of Trump is unleashing by politicians in Canada and amplified by the Thousands joined spontaneous offensive, resurrecting the two pipelines that both barbarity and unprecedented corporate media. But again, the response has demonstrations at airports in the US when the will accelerate the drive to climate crisis. resistance. It has not taken long been huge. Within hours of the horrific attacks, Muslim travel ban was imposed, as lawyers Shamefully, both the Trudeau and Notley Tfor him to wreak havoc and to at- dozens of rallies and vigils were organized donated their time to help detained travelers governments support Trump’s plan. tack everyone from Muslims to women to across Canada and Quebec. enter the country. Taxi drivers in New York Within the week, Idle No More activists LGBTQ people to Indigenous land defend- Trump’s overt misogyny in the election struck in opposition to the ban, and people from mobilized and calls have gone out for a mass ers. But with each successive executive campaign disgusted people around the world. all walks of life came into the streets to call for marches for Jobs, Justice and the Climate on order, he is being met with masses of But a day after he was sworn in, massive an end to the racist law. April 29. people mobilizing and resisting. women’s marches took place, with millions The Obama administration was forced to Everyone reading this paper needs to find out The racist killings at the Islamic Cultural participating around the world and a colossal veto the Keystone XL pipeline and pull back where the next rally is taking place and bring Centre in Québec City are the culmination of 300+ actions in the US. Thousands more held from the attack on the Standing Rock Sioux, family, friends, classmates or co-workers. The a decades-long demonization of Muslims. It an LGBTQ dance party at the home of bigot who were defending their land from the Dakota events of the last few weeks show that as bad as is the product of the Islamophobia pedaled vice-president Mike Pence’s home. Access pipeline. Now, Trump is going on the it may seem, resistance can and must be built. CARBON TAXES A neoliberal ‘solution’ to the climate crisis

by Eric Lescarbeau

The National Climate Strategy announced by Justin Trudeau in December absolves both the fossil fuel corporations and the Federal government of responsibility for reducing carbon emissions and places it squarely on the shoulders of working class consumers. By setting a national price on carbon Trudeau has set up an unjust transition that leaves it up to the market to solve the crisis without touching the profits of the major fossil fuel companies and without hindering a second the expansion of the Tar Sands. Much to their shame, broad sections of the liberal left have embraced free market solutions to the climate crisis and abandoned any serious push for solutions that redistribute wealth to pay for a just transition. Not only have carbon taxes proven to be ineffective in reducing emissions, they have also undermined the struggle for climate justice. In Alberta, the Notley government has introduced carbon Supporters of the Fight for $15 and Fairness campaign march in the taxes this year after cutting royalties Women’s March on Washington in Toronto on January 21, 2017. for the oil companies by $1 billion and giving them billions more in subsidies. Effectively this means working class families are being taxed, in the middle of a major unemployment crisis, so the oil companies can get bailed out. Not surprisingly, the Alberta NDP’s Paid sick days key support has plummeted as they delay promised spending on healthcare and education in favour of helping the oil companies. This has opened the door to Trump-style politics and a growing right wing backlash. For years BC’s carbon tax has been in the Fight for $15 held up by “experts” left and right as proof that carbon taxes work. However, a Food and Water Watch report, “The BC by Jesse McLaren have paid sick days or if they are required to kane, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Chicago, Cook Carbon Tax: A failed experiment in Market- get a sick note. County, Santa Monica, Los Angeles, Berkely, based Solutions to Climate Change,” Precarious work is a threat to your health. Not only does this prolong their illnesses by Morristown and Plainfield. As Los Angeles released last October has thoroughly Poverty wages undermine access to the social preventing them from recuperating at home, McDonald’s worker Rosangela Bañuelos ex- debunked this and shown that the tax determinants of health—like food, shelter, but it also puts others at risk—especially in plained, “LA city council voted to double our was and continues to be ineffective. clothing, education, which is why there’s a food service or healthcare. A Study by Centre paid sick days from 3 to 6. This didn’t happen It is certainly true that emissions did clear correlation between wealth and health. for Disease Control found that more than half by luck, but because workers and the commu- fall significantly in 2008, the year the Poverty wages also undermine access to of food service workers had gone to work sick, nity made our voices heard.” tax was introduced, but this was also healthcare, preventing those with the greatest the most common reason being that the restau- In Ontario, workers and communities doing the year of the global financial crisis, health needs from filling their prescription rant did not offer paid sick days. Half of these the same, uniting for decent work, including which caused carbon emissions to fall in and accessing dental, physiotherapy and other paid sick days, fairer scheduling, respect at provinces across Canada. Emissions in health services. By combining low income work and an end to racism and Islamophobia BC have continued to rise since then in with unstable and stressful conditions, precari- The Fight in the workplace. spite of annual increases to the tax. ous work is a threat to health. In the next few months the government Carbon taxes are flat consumption As World Health Organization explains, “A will release the final recommendations for the taxes that are based on the idea that number of employment-related conditions are for $15 and Changing Workplace Review, a rare chance everyone should pay an equal share associated with poorer health status, including to improve the Employment Standards Act according to what they consume, ignoring unemployment and precarious work …Mor- Fairness is making and Labour Relations Act that affects millions the fact that exploitation of the earth and tality is significantly higher among temporary of workers. While the bosses are pushing to exploitation of working people goes hand workers compared to permanent workers. maintain the precarious status quo, the Fight in hand. Most workers live paycheque to Poor mental health outcomes are associated work healthier, by for $15 and Fairness is raising demands that paycheque and barely have the means with precarious employment (eg informal improve work, all of which would improve to consume their basic needs while the work, temporary contracts, and part-time health: decent hours, universal standards and rich who live off their backs have endless work). Workers who perceive work insecu- raising wages and respect at work would reduce stress; the right means to consume. rity experience significant adverse effects on to organize and unionize would allow workers their physical and mental health…Stress at gaining sick days to push for healthier workplaces; and paid sick A worker’s climate plan work is associated with a 50% excess risk of days would allow workers to recover while To build a force powerful enough to coronary heart disease, and there is consistent keeping the community safe. beat the oil lobby the climate justice evidence that high job demand, low-control, workers went to work sick to avoid loss of pay Pressure from the campaign has already movement must raise demands for and effort-reward imbalance are risk factors for and a quarter went to work sick because of fear pushed the Ontario NDP to call for a $15 reforms that working class people are mental and physical health problems” of losing their job. minimum wage and a recent CBC news report prepared to fight for: demands that The requirement for sick notes compounds shows that the Liberals are now considering in- redistribute the wealth of the fossil fuel Sick days and sick notes the problem—by unnecessarily sending sick cluding a $15 minimum wage in their election economy to end inequality. To add insult to injury, many precarious workers to clinics and hospitals just to get platform for June 2018—tacking left as they Instead of taxes on consumption we workers do not get any paid sick days or even notes, taking away their time for recovery, tak- did the last election. 2017 will be a key year should demand that fossil fuel company job protection for unpaid personal emergency ing up healthcare resources and putting others to fight for $15 and fairness, and the health profits and the wealth of the 1% be taxed leaves. Too often the are required to get sick at risk of infection. benefits it brings. heavily to pay for a green transition. notes to prove to their employers that they are Health providers have come together to We should demand direct and strict sick. These policies also undermine health. Fight for $15 and Fairness make decent work a priority in 2017. regulation of fossil fuel companies and As the World Health Organization’s The Fight for $15 and Fairness is making work a hard cap on emissions at current explains, “if you feel unwell, have a fever, healthier, by raising wages and gaining sick lFor more information visit levels coupled with a schedule of annual cough or sore throat, stay at home and keep days. In 2016 sick day laws were passed across decentworkandhealth.org. reductions that will keep us on target to away from work, school or crowds.” But that’s the US—in the states of Arizona, Vermont and lTo join the Fight for $15 and Fairness visit reach near zero emissions by 2050. exactly what workers cannot do if they do not Washington, and the cities and counties of Spo- 15andFairness.org.

2 Socialist Worker February 2017 INTERNATIONAL SOUTH KOREA Stop victimizing students, scrap new campus plan

by Workers Solidarity

Students in Seoul National University (SNU), South Korea, have been occupying SNU’s main building for over 100 days since October 10, 2016, against a plan to build a campus exten- sion in the city of Siheung. SNU is a national university regarded as the most elite institution of higher education in Korea. Although a public university, SNU has been run more and more on the principle of profitability ever since its transition to a corporate entity in 2011. Such degradation on the part of an institution considered to be South Korea’s ‘top university’ is in fact representa- tive of the (neoliberal) state of Korean higher education in general.

Protests erupt around the US after Trump bans travel from some Muslim majority countries. Tens of thousands blockaded Neoliberal agenda airports and demonstrated to end the ban and to challenge Islamophobia. Legal teams also assembled to provide services for All of this has been fueled by South Korean those caught up in the sweeping dragnet. The action at JFK airport was one of many in New York on the same day. president Park Geun-hye’s relentless push for Credit: Rhododendrites neoliberal restructuring of higher education, but now Park is on the verge of impeachment as the result of a popular revolt against her undemocratic, iron-fisted rule. Seong Nak-in, who had been appointed president of SNU with Millions worldwide reject Park’s support, has been no less undemocratic in running the university. The Siheung campus plan is part of a specu- lative property development project associated Trump’s sexism and bigotry with Siheung City’s urban expansion. The university has partnered with local politicians and construction firms to participate in a KRW Over five million people globally marched for Girl holding an anti-Trump 1.8 trillion (approx. USD 1.6 billion) project. women’s rights and against Donald Trump on protest sign at the Women’s Huge sums of money have been exchanged in January 21, 2017, according to the official March on London, UK the process. In essence, SNU is leveraging its Women’s March organizers. January 21, 2017. brand name to grow its physical assets on the The Women’s March on Washington cheap. sparked a global solidarity movement, with To this end democratic procedures were over 670 protests across seven continents. simply ignored. The SNU administration did Trump has talked about his previous sexual the utmost to keep the Siheung campus plan assaults with pride, has encouraged racism a secret from students and staff, until SNU and is gearing up to attack LGBT+ people. president Seong Nak-in, swiftly and without Australia was the first to join the global day warning, signed an implementation agreement of action, with 5,000 marching in Sydney and for the new campus behind closed doors. 10,000 in Melbourne. The plan involves building dormitories in Crowds chanted, “Women united will Siheung, located hours away from Seoul, and never be defeated”. sending thousands of students from Seoul to populate the new campus. Moreover, the cost Fighting of building and maintaining a new, 160-acre Fighting attacks on women, migrants and campus will in all likelihood be borne by stu- LGBT+ people were at the core of these pro- dents and staff in the form of increased tuition tests. Claire Kelly, a pro-choice campaigner and poorer working conditions. in Ireland said, “What Trump represents is The SNU administration claims it can sus- very scary. tain the new campus financially by strengthen- Some 5,000 protesters were at a women’s Photo: --Sam-- [Flickr (CC by 2.0)] ing ties with industry and through commercial march in Dublin, Ireland, where the fight for a ventures, but this would only tighten the woman’s right to choose continues. A mass movement stopped the right wing grip of the profit motive over education and Building stronger campaigns against government in Poland pushing through a total research. All this goes to show how the new racism, war and neoliberal attacks against ban on abortions last year. Siheung campus would magnify the harm- working class people were strong parts of the The protest was not only against Trump, ful effects of neoliberal policies pursued by protest. but focused on the racism and sexism of the universities. The sit-in by SNU students is thus Protests took place in Malawi and Ghana government. These international women’s part of the wider struggle to halt neoliberal as well as Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. protests spread as far as Antarctica, on an ex- restructuring of higher education. Germany saw marches across seven dif- pedition ship. The SNU administration is threatening 29 ferent cities, including Berlin, Frankfurt and Their placards read “save the planet” and of the students participating in the occupation Munich. “women’s rights are human rights”. with disciplinary action including ‘permanent In Austrian capital Vienna, at least 2,000 Organizers in many countries are building expulsion’ which completely deletes their attended the protest. for further action, especially the anti-racism school records and deprives any possibility of March organiser Karin Wilflingseder, a protests on Saturday, March 18, 2017. future re-admittance. The administration has leading member of the revolutionary socialist In Athens hundreds of people joined a also cut off power, heating, and water in the Neue Linkswende group, spoke to Socialist demonstration called by anti-racist organisa- main building while the weather is now as cold Worker. “Even the statue of famous compos- tion Keerfa. no fear, immigrants are welcome here” rang as -10 oC (14 in fahrenheit). er Johann Strauss got a pink hood,” she said. It was one of several across Greece. out as hundreds of people protested. The students of SNU, however, are engaged Student Lisa came from neighbouring Slova- In Amsterdam in the Netherlands over There were also protests in the Middle in a just struggle to stop a neoliberal policy that kia to join the march. 4,000 took to the street. The demonstration East and Asia. In Beirut, Lebanon, people puts profits before their education. Occupying “I am here against Trump, but right-wing was called by a coalition of anti-racists, femi- compared Trump to the country’s former students have spoken at the mass weekend populist parties are on the rise everywhere— nists and refugees. dictators. A US flag was burned at a protest protest demanding Presidential resignation and we need left alternatives,” she said. in Manila in the Philippines outside the US called for wider solidarity. Many Koreans are Targeting embassy. People also called for an end to the responding to their call including the leader Movement The mood was militant with slogans not only presence of US troops in the country. MP of Justice Party. Campaign for internation- Hundreds marched in the Polish capital War- against Trump but targeting Geert Wilders’ al solidarity is also taking place. saw from the prime minister’s office to the US racist Freedom Party. l© Socialist Worker (UK), embassy. Meanwhile in Berlin, chants of “No hate, socialistworker.co.uk. lFor more information, contact [email protected].

February 2017 Socialist Worker 3 Building confidence for the fights ahead HUMANITY AGAINST TRUMP by Carolyn Egan As we came up out of the subway we were met by masses of people. Since Trump’s election, many politicians and media have belittled protests, demanding As the Steelworker bus loaded up for the There were so many that the planned 12 hour drive to Washington, DC for the march could not take place and the that people “give him a chance”. This ignores his bigotry, and the group of reactionary Women’s March it was clear to anyone demonstrators just took to the streets, observing that the riders reflected the every street. No one wanted to leave diversity of our city. after the speeches ended. They want to millionaires he’s chosen as his cabinet. But people have raised their opposition anyway, Union members from workplaces feel the power of being among hundreds across Toronto were excited about of thousands of others who would not be and in the process reduced his popularity to the lowest of any incoming president in US the trip, joining with American sisters, bowed by the victory of Donald Trump and brothers and comrades in pushing back everything that he represents. history. The January 20-21 protests worldwide were just the start of this upsurge. against the right wing policies of the In conversation with so many they Trump administration. The response was talked about the depression that had set immediate when the call went out and in after the election. Even if they weren’t there were many brothers who were also Clinton supporters (Bernie pins were JANUARY 20 eager to go. everywhere) they were overwhelmed by a by Kevin Taghabon We had no trouble crossing the border sense of powerlessness and fear about and viewed the film “Bread and Roses” what was to come. But it all started to Dark skies appropriately dressed the morning on the trip down which started great change that day in Washington. They were in a city preparing to usher in the era of Donald conversations about the situation in the beginning to feel an incredible strength Trump on January 20. Despite the best-laid US and what we were facing in Canada. and sense of renewal marching along post-election plans of the recounts and the No country is immune from the racist, side so many. The feeling of isolation Hamilton Electors, the day had come and gone misogynist politics that Trump personifies was lifting and a sense of their collective smoothly inside the military fortress that cod- and we have our homegrown ideologues power was building. Exhilaration was the dled the future president and his enablers. of the right. Everyone’s anticipation word so many used. But on the streets, an entirely different narra- was growing as we noticed that all the tive presented itself. rest stops were full of others traveling Resistance The exercise in radical democracy that is to Washington. You could sense a The number of hand made placards occupying public spaces began at the crack popular movement building with people was incredible dealing with all kinds of dawn. Participants in the labour contingent from all walks of life and backgrounds of issues: reproductive justice, racism of the #DisruptJ20 group staged a physical coming together to fight back against the and Islamophobia, , blockade of an inauguration route point at 7am. reactionaries who have come to power in healthcare, stop the deportations, Black Lives Matter activists similarly blocked the US. Standing Rock, homophobia/transphobia, a portion of the route early on, and organized disability rights, Planned Parenthood and protests in the city. There were elderly people, Camaraderie many more. students, and people in wheelchairs at all of the We stayed in Virginia outside of The knowledge that millions of people marches. There were people of all races and Occupying public spaces: exercise in radical democracy Photo: Kevin Taghabon Washington the first night and at dinner were marching with them around the genders. the waitress wished us luck and said, world meant a tremendous amount, and identified here as “John” to avoid putting his their allies either. “The current AFGE-12 pres- “stay safe”. On the ride in the next brought a confidence that they could Repression job at risk. He described the mood inside the ident has been in since 1998 under [Bill] Clin- morning our bus dropped us at a subway take on the inevitable fights that were to In the enclosed safety of thousands of Department was one of anxiety and “tough ton. They are structurally, and fundamentally, Inauguration Day, January 20: Hitting the streets in Washington, DC Photo: Kevin Taghabon station that was packed with thousands come. There was a real sense that as banners and flags at McPherson Square park, times.” “Senior civil servants tend to not be, and ideologically unprepared for an assault of protestors from all over the east important as this day was, it was going I interviewed Danni, an experienced organizer ideologically, Republicans,” he said. Because on workers in America.” They are a largely dor- coast. We were told that every bus in to be the grassroots work being done in with Black Lives Matter. She sought refuge in many of the mid-level vacancies in the De- mant non-organizing union. Ottawa Montreal Connecticut and New Jersey was booked their home states, cities and towns that the park, as only three blocks away, the police partment may never be filled, the lower level for this day. People were thrilled that we would make the difference. had attacked the march she was part of. “There employees, and hence the entire agency, may Union opposition? One placard by Chantal Sundaram by Michelle Robidoux had come from Canada and that we were So the road a head demands that a were police in riot gear,” she said, wiping tears still be susceptible to the extreme-right whims Hope lies in the unions, still. “Yeah, they trade unionists. The camaraderie was movement be built, and the potential from her eyes as we spoke. The rain poncho of a Trump-appointed Labor Secretary. “We’re have 7 per cent private sector penetration, but By 11am, more than 1,000 people had gathered Thousands of people gathered on the steps of wonderful. is there to do it. The demonstrations was coated in tear gas and she could not touch anticipating budgets to be cut 5 per cent across if they are activated…” John trailed off and read “Raising at the Human Rights Monument for the solidar- Place des Arts in a show of solidarity with the After the long line wound itself through the following week at airports across her person for fear of re-contaminating her the board.” nodded, intimating their influence could be big. ity rally. The crowd continued to grow over the Women’s March on Washington. The rally, the parking lot into the station we packed the country against Trump’s closing of eyes. “They threw five flash grenades, tear gas Still, being radically anti-labour may hurt The feeling of betrayal from Trump support- my daughter next half hour, and by the time it moved north which drew an estimated 10,000 people, spilled into the trains and we were on our way to the border to Muslims from so many at us, and maced us,” she went on. “I saw the Trump’s administration. “Prevailing Wages”, ers who are tradespeople, those who will be on Elgin Street to march across town, the rally into the surrounding streets. the centre of the city. People were singing countries shows that the will is there ball at my feet and someone yelled ‘run!’ It under the Davis-Bacon act, is part of John’s working on these projects, could be massive. had swelled to 6,000 to 8,000 people. The Mohawk Nation Buffalo Hat Singers and chanting, and whatever differences to do it. The injunction blocking the went off right under me.” Her voice was filled area of expertise. Under this policy, workers “The federalist system in America is just 50 to tear down Marchers filled Laurier Ave. from curb to opened the rally. Placards and speeches, in they may have had, there was a strong deportation and detention of green not with fear, but rather determined, controlled on federal infrastructure projects get a wage chances to get it wrong,” John said. Thankfully, curb, boisterously chanting “Love Trumps French and English, spoke of the urgent need sense that this was a day that would go card and visa holders was a concrete anger. The scene was typical of the day. comparable to the market median (with many the states and cities have most of the say in Hate” and “Hey hey, ho ho, misogyny has got to build solidarity in action, in defense of those down in history and they were making it victory greeted by hundreds outside the During one of the many marches which complex caveats). Trump’s Labor Secretary what goes on infrastructure projects, and unions your wall.” to go” as they headed through downtown for an who will be immediately affected by Trump’s happen. courtroom. The resistance will continue. involved thousands of people, I heard the sound will likely repeal this, despite the fact that the can exert a lot of power here. This requires or- indoor rally. Indigenous women led the way for policies: immigrants and refugees, the LGBTQ of explosions a block away from us. With each tradespeople in these unions largely voted for ganization at the ground level and membership speeches both inside and outside, which were community, Muslims, Indigenous peoples, and blast, the energetic chants would die down for a Trump and benefit from the program. involvement, but it is easily within the realm of bilingual throughout, in English and French. women. banners. Starting with a rally on the waterfront, few moments. John finds no solace in the Democrats and possibility. When the Centre filled up, a crowd blocked the One speaker got huge applause when she Vancouver the march was lead by First Nations’ elders. Internal security flexed their muscles several Toronto intersection, not wanting to leave. said, “Trump is just a symptom of a much As the march passed Trump Tower, people times through the day in DC. In late afternoon, He supports In the Bronson Centre, the introductory larger problem that we’re facing not only in the by Bradley Hughes & Robyn Karina attached their signs to the security fence. I a limousine was engulfed in massive flames JANUARY 21 conversion therapy by Sid Lacombe speech posed Canadian opposition to Trump’s United States, but around the world.” heard a few parents giving their children per- that could be seen from blocks away. The limo and he opposes message in terms of the Tory leadership race As reports came in of other marches in cities Thousands of people gathered on the steps of mission to join in the raised finger salutes. was parked directly in front of the Washington Atlanta immigrants. He tries The Women’s March on Washington – Toronto – especially Kellie Leitch’s “Values test”: around the world, there were cheers and a Place des Arts in a show of solidarity with the The marches around the world were an Post building, the public park in front filled to divide us.” was one of the biggest demonstrations the city “Anyone who doesn’t respect Indigenous growing sense that this day marks the begin- Women’s March on Washington. The rally, exercise is building unity, and that building will with thousands of demonstrators. Poetic sym- by Valerie Lannon While there were has seen in years. The rally started at Queen’s rights, women, people of colour, people with ning of a new movement of resistance, which which drew an estimated 10,000 people, spilled continue. In Vancouver, Black Lives Matter bolism aside, the scene was not pleasant. Police few organizational Park and filled the grounds, before spilling out disabilities , LGBTQ2S doesn’t pass our Cana- must tackle Trumpism as it manifests here, in into the surrounding streets. pointed out, “We are pleased to see that the list fired several concussion grenades at people Before I attended the rally, I asked someone if banners, there onto University Avenue. Tens of thousands dian values test.” The message from the rally to our governments’ own neoliberal and divisive Located in the unceded territories of the of speakers includes Indigenous people and close to the limousine and Post building, with such events were big in Atlanta. I was given a were numerous then marched past the US consulate, to end at Trudeau’s “feminism”: time to walk the talk. policies. Musqueam, Tsleil-Waututh, and Squamish women of colour. However, the apparent lack new squads of police with riot gear emerging sideways glance and a reminder that “This is individual Nathan Phillips Square. Nations, Vancouver was one of the last times of Black women and trans women in both the from the surrounding blocks. The majority of the home of Martin Luther King. We kno- placards. At the rally, speakers from Idle No More zones to start the Women’s March. Women organization and on the official speakers’ list is the streets near the building were cordoned off. marches.” One read Toronto and many other groups highlighted up to huge rally reports from around the problematic.” Trump supporters were all over the city as About 60,000 people converged outside “Raising the need for us to be vigilant in Canada to world. By 8:30am, Sea buses, Skytrain and Women’s liberation will only be realized well, albeit in far smaller numbers outdoors and Atlanta’s Civil and Human Rights Museum my stop Trump-style hate from growing in this buses were filled to capacity with pink hatted if all women—in their vast diversity—are at never in mass groups. to loudly voice their opposition to all things daughter country. Numerous speakers highlighted the women heading to the march. the forefront leading the struggle. We need to The “Anti-Inauguration” event that evening Trump. to tear hate fest that has become the Conservative The crowd of 15,000 to 20,000 was full of make sure that future actions are even more acted as a counterweight to the suited criminal When I asked two young boys and a girl, down party leadership race as a key forum to spread hand made signs, knitted pussyhats, and union inclusive. class that now eats at the Trump trough. The ages 8, 11 and 13, why they attended, they said your racism. Councillor Kristen Wong-Tam and Lincoln Theatre hosted the event, organized by they were protesting because of Trump’s racism wall.” Photo: Valerie Lannon School board trustee Ausma Malik spoke of the Verso Books, Haymarket and Jacobin Maga- and sexism. An older African-American man Another common placard said “Protect each sexism and racism that they had to endure on Kelowna zine. The distinguished speakers included Kee- said, “This is my home town. When I saw a other.” the campaign trail. anga Yamahtta-Taylor, Naomi Klein, Jeremy crowd I could see that it was against Trump. And a young African-American woman Although there were some union flags and by Norah Bowman Scahill, Owen Jones, and Anand Gopal. There I am against hate and racism as I have been a was repeatedly photographed by people in organized contingents from left groups and was a line stretching around the building hours victim of it all my life. For today I would just the crowd for her placard which read “We’re campaigns like Fight for $15, it was obvious In Kelowna, a small city in the interior of BC on the unceded land of the Syilx nation, over 500 in advance. like to live another day and then have peace watching your EVERY move and we will from the huge number of homemade signs people attended the largest rally in recent memory. every day.” FIGHT”. that this was a spontaneous outburst of anger The introduction to the rally was by Chief Lindley of the Westbank First Nation. Chief Lindley Labour under attack A Latino family came by. The teenage The crowd’s most common chant was shout- against Trump. It can plant the seeds of further is the first woman chief of her First Nation. The crowd was also addressed by Susana Caxaj from I met an analyst from the Department of daughter said, “We hate Trump because he is a ed in English and Spanish simultaneously: “The radicalization and push against the right in Radical Action with Migrants in Agriculture, who spoke about migrant worker’s rights. Labor during my hour in line. He chose to be racist and sexist. He’s a bigot; that says it all. people united will never be defeated.” Canada. Thousands protested in Vancouver Photo: Bradley Hughes

4 Socialist Worker February 2017 February 2017 Socialist Worker 5 Where we stand INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY, 1917 The dead-end of capitalism The capitalist system is based on violence, oppression and brutal exploitation. It creates hunger beside plenty, it threatens our sustenance through unsafe and unsustainable farming, and kills the earth itself with When Russian women pollution and unsustainable extraction of oil, minerals, animals, trees, and water. Capitalism leads to imperialism and war. Saving ourselves and the planet depends on finding an alternative. shook the world A system that is killing the planet Capitalist profits depend on extracting the world’s blood and bone. The devastating impact of capital’s assault on the planet affect the world’s by Chantal Sundaram most vulnerable populations and threaten the long-term meaningful existence of humanity. Capitalism cannot regulate the catastrophic When thousands of women workers in effects of climate change. We stand for climate justice, including the Petrograd, Russia marked International concept of “just transition” for affected workers. Women’s Day of 1917 with a strike to demand bread, little did they know they Socialism and workers’ power would spark a revolution. Any alternative to capitalism must involve replacing the system from the By the old Russian calendar, March 8 bottom up through radical collective action. Central to that struggle is the fell in February. Food was in short sup- workplace, where capitalism reaps its profits off our backs. ply due to World War I. February 23, Capitalist monopolies control the earth’s resources, but workers 1917 became the first day of the Rus- everywhere actually create the wealth. A new socialist society can only sian Revolution, when women textile be constructed when workers collectively seize control of that wealth workers took to the factories, streets, and plan its production and distribution to satisfy human needs, not and public trolleys, calling on others to corporate profits—to respect the environment, not pollute and destroy it. join them. They were soon joined by other Oppression factory workers, including men, and Hail the women! Within capitalist society different groups suffer from specific forms of then by women in their homes. It was oppression. Attacks on oppressed groups are used to divide workers a groundswell that even caught rev- women!” after 1917, which threatened the very and weaken solidarity. We oppose racism and imperialism. We oppose olutionary activisits in the Bolshevik In raising the cry for bread, Russian survival of the revolution. But the Bol- all immigration controls. We support the right of people of colour and Party by surprise; in fact, by deciding women set in motion a mass demand sheviks did not see combating women’s other oppressed groups to organize in their own defence. We are for real, to strike and march the women were for three things both simple and rev- oppression as something that could wait social, economic and political equality for women. We are for an end ignoring the advice of party leaders to olutionary: peace, bread, and land. for more stable times. They believed to all forms of discrimination and homophobia against lesbians, gays, “keep cool” to avoid repression. These became the three demands of the that the very success of the revolution bisexuals and transgender people. But instead of keeping cool, Russian Russian revolution that echo a hundred depended on women playing an equal We oppose environmental racism. We oppose discrimination on the women went up to the soldiers’ lines, years later: an end to war and oppres- role. basis of religion, ability and age. took hold of their rifles and called on sion, an end to austerity, and an end to All of this was reversed with the rise them to “Put down your bayonets - join the destruction of the earth. of Stalin in the late twenties and thir- Canada, Quebec, Indigenous Peoples us!” By October workers had taken ties. The very unity between men and Canada is not a “colony” of the United States, but an imperialist country Bolshevik leader Leon Trotsky would power and began to enact legislation women workers upon which the revo- in its own right that participates in the exploitation of much of the world. later write, “Women’s Day passed suc- on women’s rights still unmatched by lution had relied became a threat to the The Canadian state was founded through the repression of Indigenous cessfully, with enthusiasm and without any government today: free abortion on counter-revolution led by Stalin and peoples and the people of Quebec. victims. But what it concealed in itself demand, divorce on demand, paid ma- the new ruling class that emerged out We support the struggles for self-determination of Quebec and no one had guessed even by nightfall.” ternity leave, free government-funded of the economic devastation of the So- Indigenous peoples up to and including the right to independence. In An editorial in the Bolshevik paper childcare, the decriminalization of ho- viet Union. Women’s newly-won rights particular, we recognize Indigenous peoples’ original and primary right Pravda a week later proclaimed “The mosexuality and prostitution. The first were repealed–though not without a to decide their fate and that of their lands, heritage, and traditions. women were the first to come out on few years of the revolutionary govern- fight by both men and women resisting Socialists in Quebec, and in all oppressed nations, work to give the the streets of Petrograd on their Wom- ment saw the beginning of communal the rise of Stalinism. struggle against national oppression an internationalist and working en’s day. The women in Moscow in nurseries, dining rooms and socialized Defeat was not inevitable, and the class content. many cases determined the mood of the laundries. short years of revolution showed that military; they went to the barracks and It was a huge project for a fledg- resistance by women is key to re- Internationalism convinced the soldiers to come over ling state facing economic collapse, sistance by all workers to the forces The struggle for socialism is part of a worldwide struggle. We campaign to the side of the Revolution. Hail the starvation and a devastating civil war stacked against them. for solidarity with workers in other countries. We oppose everything that turns workers from one country against those from other countries. We support all genuine national liberation movements. The 1917 revolution in Russia was an inspiration for the oppressed everywhere. But it was defeated when workers’ revolutions elsewhere were defeated. A Stalinist counter-revolution, which killed millions, created a new form of capitalist exploitation based on state ownership and control. In Eastern Europe, China and other countries, a similar system was later established by Stalinist, not socialist, parties. We support the struggle of workers in these countries against both private and state capitalism.

Elections and democracy Elections can be an opportunity to give voice to the struggle for social change. But under capitalism, they can’t change the system. The structures of the present parliament, army, police and judiciary protect the ruling class against the workers. These structures cannot be simply taken over and used by the working class. The working class needs Name: real democracy, and that requires an entirely different kind of state—a Never miss workers’ state based upon councils of workers’ delegates. an issue. Address: Reform and revolution Mail in this form with a cheque Phone: Every day, there are battles between exploiter and exploited, oppressor or money order made payable to and oppressed, to reform the system—to improve living conditions. “Socialist Worker”. E-mail: These struggles are crucial in the fight for a new world. To further these Prices per year (CAD dollars): struggles, we work within the trade unions and orient to building a rank Regular subscription: $30 Mail to: Socialist Worker, PO Box 339 and file movement that strengthens workers’ unity and solidarity. Institutions, First Class But the fight for reforms will not, in itself, bring about fundamental Station E, Toronto, ON Canada, M6H 4E3 delivery and U.S.: $50 Phone: 416.972.6391 / E-mail: [email protected] social change. The present system cannot be fixed or reformed as the Other international: $60 NDP and many trade union leaders say. Nor can the system regulate itself to prevent environmental destruction and climate injustice. It has to be overthrown. That will require the mass action of workers themselves. Join the International Socialists The revolutionary party To achieve socialism the leading activists in the working class have to be Name: City: organized into a revolutionary socialist party. The party must be a party of action, and it must be democratic. We are an organization of activists Address: committed to helping in the construction of such a party through ongoing activity in the mass organizations of the working class and in the daily E-mail: Phone: struggles of workers and the oppressed. If these ideas make sense to you, help us in this project, and join the Mail to: International Socialists, PO Box 339, Station E, Toronto, ON Canada, M6H 4E3 International Socialists. Phone: 416.972.6391 / E-mail: [email protected]

6 Socialist Worker February 2017 ANTI-RACISM REVIEWS From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation

by Faline Bobier hope for real change. But after eight years in power those hopes were truly Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor’s book and soundly dashed, particularly as #From BlackLivesMatter to Black racist police murders continued un- Liberation is a story of going from abated, and largely ignored by Barack moment to movement. It’s a book Obama: “The Black political estab- that demonstrates clearly the way lishment, led by President Barack Hundreds protest Nazis outside New Westminster City Hall that American capitalism and racism Obama, had shown over and over have gone hand in hand from the very again that it was not capable of the beginning: most basic task: keeping Black chil- “Capitalism used racism to justify dren alive. The young people would New Westminster: 1 plunder, conquest, and slavery, but have to do it themselves.” as Karl Marx pointed out, it would She argues that “the long-term also come to use racism to divide and strength of the movement will depend Nazis: 0 rule—to pit one section of the work- on its ability to reach large numbers ing class against another and, in so of people by connecting the issue of doing, blunt the class consciousness police violence to the other ways that Organizers in New the rally to defend their city of all. To claim, then, as Marxists do, Black people are oppressed.” Westminster, BC have shown from racism. that racism is a product of capitalism So, she sees natural allies for Black how to build community is not to deny or diminish its central- Lives Matter activists in movements against Nazis. With just Bridges ity to or impact on American society. such as the Fight for $15 & Fairness, four days notice, on a chilly Imam Yahya Momla from It is simply to explain its origins and since a large percentage of low-in- fires consuming the United States are Thursday evening, over 200 the Burnaby Mosque told persistence. Nor is this reducing rac- come workers will be Black and stoked by the widespread alienation of people rallied at City Hall and the crowd about how his ism to just a function of capitalism; it Latino, or the fight for educational low-wage and meaningless work, un- marched to a church that grandfather told him stories is locating the dynamic relationship justice in Black communities, such as affordable rents, suffocating debt, and had been defaced with Nazi of how the Jewish community between class exploitation and ra- the Chicago teachers’ strikes of recent poverty. The essence of economic in- posters. was targeted in Canada. He cial oppression in the functioning of years, which are about better wages equality is borne out in a simple fact: Every little racist is continued, “We learn from American capitalism.” and working conditions for teachers, there are 400 billionaires in the United crawling out from under their past mistakes. Now we build Taylor builds her book by examin- but also about the quality of education States and 45 million people living in rocks now that Trump has bridges, even when some are ing the latest moment of Black fight- for their students. poverty. These are not parallel facts; been elected, and over the building walls.” back, organized around the hashtag they are intersecting facts. There are weekend of January 21 one Imam Momla and Reverend #BlackLivesMatter and galvanized by System 400 billionaires because there are 45 or two crawled around New Smith, along with the other a string of murders of mostly young The final chapter in Taylor’s book puts million people living in poverty. Westminster and put up a few faith leaders at the rally, are Black men at the hands of racist police forward a vision for the future and “Profit comes at the expense of the Nazi posters near the Queen not intimidated by the Nazis, forces across the US. Although she ar- it’s certainly one we need, given the living wage. The struggle for Black Street United Church. they all invited whoever put up gues it’s impossible to predict when recent election of Trump and the way liberation, then, is not an abstract idea One poster showed the posters into their office to Black anger against the daily injus- he has moved so quickly to attack on molded in isolation from the wider soldiers with swastikas on talk things over. tices of racism will break through, she all fronts in the first few days of his phenomenon of economic exploita- their arms confronting armed Reverend Emilie Smith from lays the groundwork for the current presidency: immigrants, Indigenous tion and inequality that pervades all men or women wearing St. Barnabas Church referred moment of Black activism by look- people, women’s reproductive rights. of American society; it is intimately head scarves. The other to the slogan on one of the ing at the aftermath of the civil rights Taylor argues that Black liberation bound up with them…While it is showed a key shaped like a Nazi posters, which read movement and the way gains that were cannot ultimately be achieved without true that when Black people get free, swastika promoting “National “us versus them,” she said, made during that period were pushed challenging the system which struc- everyone gets free, Black people in Socialism” entitled the key to “there is no them, only us.” back under successive Republican and tures and underpins all oppression and America cannot ‘get free’ alone. In a new Canada. Peter Julian, MP for New Democratic administrations alike. exploitation: that sense, Black liberation is bound Two local organizers sprang Westminster – Burnaby, “The aspiration for Black liberation up with the project of human libera- into action, Brynn Bourke and “Hundreds of people have Hope cannot be separated from what hap- tion and social transformation.” Local NDP MLA Judy Darcy. come together with only a Taylor describes the election of pens in the United States as a whole. Within hours of the news few days notice because we Obama as something Blacks and other Black life cannot be transformed while lThis is an excerpt of a longer review. breaking of the Nazi posters know what we have to do. We minorities looked to as a beacon of the rest of the country burns. The Read the full review at socialist.ca. they organized a rally for speak out whether it’s against Thursday, January 26. The racists skulking around in the Facebook event and posters dark, or the new President of called for a New West United the United States in broad : music for the struggle for equality, diversity and daylight.” community. by Kevin Taghabon chants of “R-T-J!” that sound more raise the money, the duo decided to Militant readiness like a mass protest than a concert. remix their entire second album with Organizing community Rabbi David Mivasair was Political rap supergroup Run the A glance at the track listing gives cat sounds, with the proceeds going Any serious opposition to the final speaker. He ended Jewels gifted the world a musical one an idea of what to anticipate: to the families of unarmed black men fascists must involve the his remarks by introducing sledgehammer to rebut a toxic year “Don’t Get Captured”, “Thieves!”, “A slain by police officers. Surplus funds people of the community the crowd to the ancient in the closing weeks of 2016. Run the Report to the Shareholders/Kill Your then went to help cover the legal fees that the fascists are Jewish instrument of the Jewels 3, their third eponymous stu- Masters.” This last track, the album of incarcerated political protesters. targeting. The organizers Shofar, a ram’s horn bugle. dio album, features even more of their closer, features a ferocious uncredited They too have their finger on the pulse were able to bring in He said that it was used to socially conscious lyrics grafted on verse by of Rage of the realities of the music industry, representatives of many wake people up and in an top of El-P’s powerful beats. On the Against the Machine fame, who has releasing all their albums online for communities in New West. emergency to “bring people to direction of the album, collaborated with Run the Jewels free, with Mike asserting that fans The speakers at the a state of militant readiness.” has said he and El-P set out to make before. will buy merchandise or tickets if they rally included Jagdeep Sall The haunting tones of the project “meaner, darker, harder... truly love the music. from Gurdwara Sahib Sukh the horn echoed off the even f****** angrier” than their pre- Activist poetry Run the Jewels provide a template Sagar, Rhonda Larrabee surrounding high rises over vious work. They have thoroughly Killer Mike and El-P’s poetry leaves for musicians with a political con- Chief of the Qayqayt the sound of traffic. succeeded. little to be misinterpreted. Notable science. To them it is more important First Nation, Imam Yahya The New West Community The album’s production is unrelent- lines include: “The evening news to deliver a message than to dodge the Momla from the Burnaby Choir ended the rally, involving ingly muscular and punchy from the givin’ yous views/Telling you to pick pressing issues of the day in the name Mosque, Rabbi David the crowd in song and Judy first to the last track, an accomplish- your master for president/Then behind of alienating no one. Mivasair, Reverend Emilie Darcy wrapped it all up, “We ment that puts it beyond their first two the curtain, seen the devil workin’”, Every moment of the album re- Smith from St. Barnabas will come back together records. The beats are thick with dark The majority of the album tackles flects the genuine passion of these Church, Imtiaz Popat from whenever and wherever we synthesizers and heavy bass, matching themes of , the drug musicians. Their sharp production and New West Pride, New need to.” the tone of the whole work. The deliv- war, as well as the hardships associat- lyrical skills are commendable. What Westminster - Burnaby MP As the rally dispersed after ery of the lyrics is equally aggressive, ed with living in poverty. sets Run The Jewels apart from their Peter Julian, Jonathon Cote the short march up to the yet clean. There are no milquetoast Run The Jewels have used their sky- peers is their studio, stage, and street Mayor of New Westminster, church, everyone was left with faux-singing attempts by the emcees rocketing popularity for good causes. dedication to the pressing issues we and Judy Darcy, MLA. the joy of solidarity against or wimpy autotune laden choruses “Meow The Jewels” for example was face today. Even a half dozen members hatred. New West is well which are so popular among big-name a joke project proposed on their site of the New Westminster home organized for when next the corporate rappers. “” for $40,000. When a fan in Arizona lThis is an excerpt of a longer review. brew club, Brew West, joined Nazis try to slither out from for example, instead features crowd actually managed to organize and Read the full review at socialist.ca.

February 2017 Socialist Worker 7 $2 | No 589 | February 2017 | socialist.ca ANGER DERAILS TRUDEAU TOUR by John Bell (What did you expect him to say: that while the Canadian state subsidizes the fossil fuel It was just a year ago that newly-minted Prime industry to the tune of $3.3 billion per year, Minister Justin Trudeau took to the stage at imposing a carbon tax is criminal? Or that his Davos, Switzerland, to declare himself a femi- provincial cousins have to gouge us on hydro to nist. He was the toast of the town, and by town I bail out the nuclear industry?) mean a tiny, elitist, winter holiday enclave. It was in Calgary that Trudeau made his big- The World Economic Forum at Davos is the gest gaffe. Pressed on the dismal gap between annual cocktail party cum handwringing session, his environmental rhetoric and pipeline approv- where the 1% and their retainers get together to ing performance, he spoke about “phasing out” tut-tut over the world’s ills on the public stage the tar sands. Shock and horror abounded, not and do deals in the back rooms. It is the best, least from the Quisling NDP government of current exhibition of “noblesse oblige” going. Rachel Notley. According to Wikipedia: “’Noblesse oblige’ is generally used to imply that with wealth, Liar, or confused? power, and prestige come responsibilities… Luckily he got to clarify things back in Calgary, to refer to public responsibilities of the rich, where his cabinet was meeting at a retreat in the famous and powerful, notably to provide good wake of Davos, Trump’s endorsement of pipe- examples of behaviour or to exceed minimal lines, and Trudeau’s less than stellar tour. He standards of decency.’” claims to have “misspoke”. “I have repeatedly Davos is sort of like Batman, hanging by his said that yes, the responsibility of any Canadian heels at night, brooding about how to use his prime minister is to get our resources to market fabulous wealth and power to keep the Bane of and yes, that includes our oilsands fossil fuels,” revolution out of Gotham. The Batman com- Protestors in Winnipeg unmask Trudeau hypocrisy he said. “I’ve also said that we need to do that in parison is particularly apt for Trudeau – pho- a responsible, sustainable way — that you can- togenic, happy-go-lucky patrician by day; grim when he saw how successful they were. Thanks refugee couldn’t identify with that? not separate what’s good for the environment corporate vigilante by night. for not explaining why you and your Status of Then the selfie-loving plutocrat posed with and what’s good for the economy.” Well, this year Justin Trudeau turned down Women Minister both missed it, Justin. two young women for a photo, only to be asked Trudeau’s tour tried to present him as all his trip to Davos. And it is a good thing. On by student Kathleen Olds if he plans to stand be- things to all people: the colonialist who un- the agenda is the very continued existence of Condescending dynasty hind the United Nations Declaration of Rights derstands the pain of First Nations people and “globalization” in the face of such upsets as the Instead, Trudeau decided to come down from of Indigenous Peoples, which he signed with new immigrants; the champion of tar sands and Brexit vote and the election of Trump. China’s his Hill and walk among the little people (see great fanfare and which states that government pipelines who just wants to make a better world Xi Jinping modestly offered his services as new “noblesse oblige”, above). Kate Purchase, his requires consent before approving resource out of petro-profits. As one Alberta onlooker champion of globe-trotting capitalism. Will unfortunately named spokesperson explained: extraction projects on First Nations lands. His told him: “You are either a liar or you’re con- Canada try to salvage the Trans-Pacific Partner- “The prime minister wants to hear from them reaction, caught on video, was reminiscent of fused. I’m beginning to think it’s both.” ship trade deal now that our new neighbour has how they are feeling at the start of 2017, what a scalded cat. Sadly that accurate assessment came from a withdrawn? Stay tuned. their concerns and anxieties are and what we Olds told the media: “I wanted to see whether man wearing a Donald Trump hat and an “I love What could have kept Justin Trudeau from can do to help alleviate that.” he would be honest and accountable to his cam- oil sands” T-shirt. There, in a nutshell lies the witnessing the baton being passed? It wasn’t So, how are we feeling? We’re pissed. And paign promises or try to deflect, again. I guess secret to Trump’s success, and the failure of the because he had a full schedule of cash-for-ac- we’re growing mighty tired of this condescend- now we know!” small-L liberal left. cess fundraisers lined up. Those were so 2016. ing dynasty. In Peterborough, a single mother with dis- Justin Trudeau has made a spectacle of him- It wasn’t because he wanted to attend Trump’s In Halifax, he tried to identify with new im- abilities accused Trudeau of failing her. She self in the brief time Trump has been in office, inauguration. That would have been the last migrants with this gibberish: “I’m a 10th- or told a town hall meeting that high hydro rates sucking up in order to curry favour. Harper-lite nail in the coffin for his progressive veneer. It 11th-generation Canadian on one of my sides were breaking her, and now a federal carbon has become Trump-lite. His ill-fated tour shows sure wasn’t because the self-appointed feminist but my maternal grandfather was born in Scot- tax would make things worse. The best Trudeau Trudeau can indeed learn from Donald Trump. planned to attend any one of the great Women’s land so I do have some idea of the challenges could muster was: “We haven’t brought in any When venturing out in public it is always best to Marches that protested Trump and his policies, it takes to come to Canada and has took over carbon tax yet ma’am. It doesn’t start kicking in bring your own well-rehearsed audience, com- although he did send a nice, after-the-fact tweet the sweep of history of Canada.” What Syrian for another few years.” plete with “applause” signs. Black Lives Matter–Toronto wins key victory by Maureen Aslin the fact that Pride was not representing Black The notion that the relationship with the has honoured workers’ struggles for 145 years, LGBTQ people – a fact that the board of police is getting better or can be healed is without the police marching. Unions know that At ’s Annual GM on January 17, Pride eventually admitted in their statement of based on the idea of mutual relationship, the police are the means by which workers are two members introduced a motion to meet all September 2016: which does not exist. There is an inherent and threatened when they stand up for their rights. the demands of Black Lives Matter Toronto, “Pride Toronto wants to begin by intentional imbalance of power. The police are The Gay liberation movement was born of including continued support for Black apologizing emphatically and unreservedly armed agents of the state who are sanctioned to the 1969 Stonewall riots. Pride Toronto is the Youth, self-determination for all community for its role in deepening the divisions in our use violence against the public. result of protests to the 1981 Bathhouse raids. space, doubling funding for Blockorama, community, for a history of anti-blackness and But many are painting the police as victims. Toronto Police Services is, and will continue to reinstating the South Asian stage, prioritizing repeated marginalization of the marginalized Conservative MP Kelly Leitch says that Pride be, the mechanism by which LGBT people will hiring from vulnerable communities, more within our community that our organization “should not succumb to the bullies at BLM”. be threatened as we stand up for our rights. black sign language interpreters, removal of has continued”. But as Janaya Khan of BLMTO points out, The real question is why are so many people police floats in marches and parades, and a BLMTO’s primary demand is that the police “A bully uses superior strength or influence not aware of the dangers that racialized town hall to follow up on these demands. stop killing black people. It is well documented to intimidate or harm those with less power. face when they are interacting with the police? The motion was voted on and approved. that racialized people are more likely to be Calling for an end to police brutality and Homophobia, misogyny, racism, This is a significant victory, and shows that stopped by police and the risk of that encounter needless death by police is not bullying. That xenophobia, Islamophobia all seek to divide protest matters. being fatal is highlighted by the deaths of our appeals are seen as an attack on police is LGBTQI2S people. When racialized queers Let’s be clear: Black Lives Matter Toronto’s Andrew Loku and Jermaine Carby. Despite absurd. What could be a clearer indication of are systematically targeted and we don’t stand protest at last year’s Pride Parade was not these facts, BLMTO’s protest at the Pride anti-Black racism?” in solidarity, we are aligning with the bigots. bullying or “hijacking” – it was an act of civil Parade brought a swift, vitriolic, and racist Not allowing police to march is not unique White LGBTQ people need to step-up now and disobedience to bring widespread attention to backlash. to the Pride Parade. The Labour Day Parade push back against police brutality.