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links in a chain of struggles Israeli Apartheid Week Aims to Highlight Social Injustices in Palestine and Around the World by Jane Lakes “There are events that tie in with other social “Many of us believe that one cannot be and Israel. justice struggles.” engaging in massacres and targeting Palestin- People are often turned off or wish to remain When it comes to social justice causes, long- The Workshop on Israeli Pinkwashing and ians and engaging in apartheid, essentially, and “neutral” when it comes to the Israeli-Palestin- running issues can often look like complicated Homonationalism is set to include presenta- still be queer- and trans-friendly,” said Maya ian conflict because of the complexity of the messes to the uneducated citizen. tions by queer feminist activists Melis Cagan Khamala, an event organizer from the Centre issue, according to Hoyos, which is why it’s Israeli Apartheid Week, which began this and Ralph Haddad and aims to promote learn- for Gender Advocacy. important to provide educational platforms to Sunday and runs until March 17, hopes to ing and discussion on queer rights in Palestine. “It is a gender issue, it is a racial issue; be able to create change. untangle the complexity of the Israeli-Pales- Salah defined pinkwashing as “when coun- people who feel oppressed, who go through “If there’s anyone that can fix this, it’s going tinian conflict, while also diversifying the issue. tries like Israel try to portray themselves as a oppression can actually relate to what is hap- to be our generation,” said Hoyos. “What we Themed “Resistance to Colonization,” Israeli democracy and as not guilty of human rights pening,” said Hoyos. “They relate because need is that dramatic shift […] in perspective.” Apartheid Week’s aims are to educate, inform violations by pointing out how queer Israe- it’s exactly how Palestinians feel. They are However, change may take years to fully and create solidarity between the conflict in lis have more rights than queer Palestinians.” disenfranchised, they are voiceless, they are manifest itself, Hoyos continued. Palestine and social injustices that are experi- Pinkwashing is just one of these struggles that powerless and they are stateless.” “It starts with little things like this,” said enced worldwide. will be addressed during the week. Police brutality is another widespread Hoyos. ”We hope that one day, our govern- The goal of the week is to “create aware- “If you’re going to advocate for women’s issue that will be a topic of discussion in the ment’s policies [will] reflect the wishes of the ness that there are other movements that are rights or queer rights, you’re supposed to Racial Profiling and Police Brutality panel on population.” also trying to be linked with the Palestinian advocate them for everyone,” said Salah. “It Tuesday evening. Ultimately, it is solidarity between every- struggle,” said Javier Hoyos, head of Concor- is this sort of white supremacist, capitalist, The workshop will feature guest speakers one who advocates for a cause that will create dia’s Boycott, Divest and Sanction Campaign patriarchal system that actually creates many who recently travelled from the US to Pales- change in Palestine, explained Hoyos. Yes Committee. of these global issues; that’s why they’re all tine and saw firsthand the parallels between the “When you get to see that people from Some of these movements include gender interconnected.” struggles. different backgrounds, different linguistic rights, queer rights, anti-police brutality and Queer Palestinians must often live illegally “There are certain links to be made and backgrounds, racial backgrounds, religious anti-capitalist groups, which will be addressed and as undocumented workers in Israel due parallels that exist, but the struggles are very dif- backgrounds, get to relate and get to under- during the week’s extensive set of panels and to the social instability of Palestine, leaving ferent as well,” said Khamala. “This event will be stand what oppression truly means, that’s workshops. them with no protections against harassment all about both respecting those differences and when you create solidarity,” said Hoyos, “and “Even though it’s called Israeli Apartheid and rape, among many other factors. There talking about them.” that’s the awareness that we want from Israeli Week, not all the events are just centered are around 2,000 queer Palestinians living in She added links exist between government Apartheid Week.” [around] Palestine,” explained Israeli Apart- Tel Aviv at any given time, according to LGBT tactics and the ways in which police repro- heid Week Event Organizer Rana Salah. organization The Aguda. duce colonial mentalities in Quebec, Canada Photo courtesy of Maysara Salah
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MEETing wEdnEsday aT 4 pM HaLL BuiLding 1455 dE MaisonnEuvE w. rooM 649 WHERE TO FIND THE LINK THANKS TO OUR PARTNERS thelinknewspaper.ca Bikurious Montréal 1757 Amherst • Presse Café 3501 Ave. du Parc • Pita Pit 3575 Ave. du Parc • Cinéma du Parc 3575 Ave. du Parc • Le Coin Grec 4903 Ave. du Parc • Frites Alors! 5235 Ave. du Parc • Caffè in Gamba 5263 Ave. du Parc • New Navarino Café 5563 Ave. du Parc • Café l'Artère 7000 Ave. du Parc • Dépanneur Café 206 Bernard O. • Sonorama 260 Bernard O. • Burritoville 2055 Bishop • Irish Embassy 1234 Bishop • Grumpy's 1242 Bishop • Kafein 1429 Bishop • Madhatter's Pub 1208 Crescent • Brutopia 1219 Crescent • Boustan 2020 Crescent • Galerie Fokus 68 Duluth E. • Maison du Tibet 129 Duluth E. • Utopia 159 Duluth E. • Tienae Santé & Végétarienne 279 Duluth E. • Café Grazie 58 Fairmount • Arts Café 201 Fairmount O. • La Maison de la Torréfaction 412 Gilford • Java U 1455 Guy • Comptoir du Chef 2153 Guy • Eggspectation 1313 Maisonneuve O. • Caffe Cuore 100 Marie-Anne O. • Paragraphe 2220 McGill College • Second Cup 5550 Monkland • George's Souvlaki 6995 Monkland • L'Echange 713 Mont-Royal E. • Café Expressions 957 Mont-Royal E. • Café Art Java 837 Mont-Royal E. • Centre des mets chinois de Montréal 961 Mont-Royal E. • Restaurant Mont-Royal Hot Dog 1001 Mont-Royal E. • Starbucks 1241 Mont-Royal E. • Freeson Rock 1477 Mont-Royal E. • Dilallo Burger 2523 Notre- Dame O. • Rustique 4615 Notre-Dame O. • Café St-Henri 3632 Notre-Dame O. • Frites Alors! 433 Rachel E. • L'Oblique 4333 Rivard • Juliette et Chocolat 1615 Saint-Denis • Frites Alors! 1710 Saint-Denis • Yuan Vegetarian Restaurant 2115 Saint-Denis • Beatnick 3770 Saint-Denis • Eva B 2015 Saint-Laurent • Bocadillo 3677 Saint-Laurent • Bizarde 3770 Saint-Laurent • Liberia Espagnola 3811 Saint- Laurent • Frappe St-Laurent 3900 Saint-Laurent • Le Divan Orange 4234 Saint- Laurent • Om Restaurant 4382 Saint-Laurent • Kg Délices 5206 Saint-Laurent • Snack'n Blues 5260 Saint-Laurent • Café Santropol 3990 Saint-Urbain • Barros Lucos 5201 Saint-Urbain • Batory Euro Deli 115 Saint-Viateur O. • Club Social 180 Saint-Viateur O. • Fats Billard 1635 Ste-Catherine O. • Buns Burgers 1855 Ste-Catherine O. • Nilufar 1923 Ste-Catherine O. • Café Ciné Express 1926 Ste- Catherine O. • Bull Pub 2170 Ste-Catherine O. • Shaika Café 5526 Sherbrooke O. • Maz Bar 5617 Sherbrooke O. • Co-op La Maison Verte 5785 Sherbrooke O. • Café 92º 6703 Sherbrooke O. • Second Cup 7335 Sherbrooke O. • Bistro Van Houtte 2020 Stanley • Mémé Tartine 4601 Verdun 10 march 2015 current affairs 5 The CSU and by Michelle Pucci @michellempucci CFS of $1 million, the questionable bylaw changes by CFS Settle the CFS in 2009 and their denial of referenda results It took less than 20 minutes. showing a clear desire for students to leave. The lawyers defending the Concordia Student Over the weekend, both parties came to an Union, the Graduate Students’ Association and the agreement. The agreement was supposed to be Canadian Federation of Students slipped into a presented and approved by the boards of direc- courtroom at 9 a.m. yesterday morning, informed tors of both sides. the judge of their plan to settle out of court, packed This follows the lead of the Simon Fraser Student up their things and left. Society, which settled its case out of court years This—after more than four years of legal battles. ago. The details of the agreement and any monetary The Canadian Federation of Students is a arrangement will remain unknown—but chances are national student organization the CSU and the GSA for the CSU that it’s probably less than the estimated joined in the 1990s, before things went downhill in $3 million allegedly owed to the CFS. the mid-2000s and unions across the country tried While the terms of the settlement are confidential, to vote to get out. A number of unions ended up at least the Concordia Student Union and the Gradu- taking the CFS to court. ate Student Association will no longer be a part of the Yesterday at the Montreal courthouse no argu- Canadian Federation of Students. ments were heard. There was no time for the Oct. 19, 1981, The Canadian Federation of accusations against former CSU president Keyana You can read up more on the issues at Students is founded, merging the National Union Kashfi for illegally signing an agreement of debt to the thelinknewspaper.ca of Students and Association of Student Councils. The goal is to fight tuition hikes and student debt. Jan. 16, 2013, The CSU and GSA propose Sept. 30, 1998, The CSU joins the CFS. Arts merging their cases. Justice Julien Lanctôt and Science and Fine Arts students are the only approves, and the disputes are combined. members that pay fees to the CSU until 2007, making these students the only voting members at CFS TIMELINE the time. Sept. 4, 2014, Justice Claude Dallaire rules that the Rassemblement des associations étudiantes, Summer and Fall 2007, There’s a fracture in formerly the CFS-Q, is entitled to the membership the student movement when fights over leadership dues collected on behalf of the CFS’ provincial positions at the CFS-Q, the Quebec branch of the April 15, 2011, The GSA also files a lawsuit to wing from 2007 to 2010. The RAE is made up of organization, leads a judge to order a freeze of the CFS to have their referendum vote to separate the four student unions that are trying to leave the all of the organization’s activities. recognized. They ask for $100,000 in damages. CFS, including the CSU. Dec. 14, 2007, Concordia’s Board of Governors approves a $0.41 CFS fee levy for John Molson Sept. 9, 2014, The court orders the CFS to hold School of Business and Engineering and Computer March 17, 2011, The CSU heads to court. The a referendum on whether or not the Post-Graduate Science students. The levy is in place after CSU union initially asks for $100,000 in damages, but Students’ Society of McGill University (PGSS) members actually vote to decrease the fee from after years of litigation, it asks for an additional should remain a member association. This comes $0.42. Since JMSB and ENCS students were not $25,000. The GSA begins its own proceedings. after the first vote to leave was rejected and a part of the initial bid to join the CFS in 1998, they second petition to vote was refused. had not been paying any fees until this date. May 22 to 25, 2010, At a national meeting, March 9, 2015, The CSU, GSA and CFS July 31, 2008, Andrew Haig, treasurer of the the CSU and GSA are unable to present motions move to settle in court. The decision must be CFS-Q finds a $150,000 discrepancy in CFS to have their referendum results recognized. By the approved by the boards of directors of all parties finances. Despite increased student enrollment, following month, the CFS says the “polls have no involved. The terms of the agreement will remain revenue falls in the 2007-2008 academic year. legal force.” confidential. April 19, 2009, CSU president from 2008 to April 6 to 8, 2010, Along the same lines as 2009 Keyana Kashfi signs an acknowledgment the CSU, 75 per cent of graduate students vote to that the CSU owes over $1 million in unpaid leave the CFS. fees. The CSU says Kashfi did not have the authority to sign the agreement without council approval. The existence of this debt comes to March 23 to 25, 2010, After months of light Feb. 10, 2010. sending letters back and forth, the CSU holds a referendum without CFS oversight. Concordia July 2009, A new round of leadership undergraduate students vote overwhelmingly to squabbles at the CFS-Q. Three executives refuse to leave the CFS. leave their positions and reject their replacements. February 2010, Both the GSA and the CSU Oct. 19, 2009, A petition signed by over are informed they owe outstanding fees to the CFS 5,000 students is sent to the CFS, calling for a (about $200,000 and $1 million respectively). referendum. Twelve other associations, including the Dawson Student Union and Concordia’s Graduate Student Association submit petitions Dec. 23, 2009, The Simon Fraser Student around the same time. Society settles out of court. Nov. 25 2009, At their annual general meeting, the CFS passes a new bylaw that only allows two member associations to hold a referendum on disaffiliation in a three-month period. Petitions also now require signatures by 20 per cent of students instead of 10 per cent. It’s now impossible to call two votes on disaffiliation within five years of each other. The CSU disputes the legality of the vote, claiming it was short of the two-thirds majority needed. 6 10 march 2015 the danger girls of skateboarding by Shaun Michaud @shaun_mic started a riot. Our runaway editor—he requested his Safelights and red-hot Christmas bulbs lit name to be struck from this account— the apartment. Only a few women graced barely managed to mumble a quip to one the crowd. It looked like an overcrowded of the girls. darkroom posing as the lobby of a peep show Athena Gerakis and her friends pose for — minus the photo enlargers and domina- this week’s cover. Yet only a lion tamer could trixes. Lovers hugged the walls sharing long make her, Liv Seidel, Ayda Omidvar and midnight kisses while lonely buddies tight- Laura Buchanan stand in one place. Rezko ened their grips around a cold one. Figures, proves to have the ability to marshal the some hooded, started spray-painting one- girls. Her beauty reflects a keyed up attitude night-socialite Hope Christerson’s walls. reminiscent of that college buddy who car- No fucks given. Get Born’s Friday The 13th ries you home after she gets you plastered. Party had just hit a snag. “I’ve been infatuated with the skate culture “It was crazy,” said Chanelle Rezko. “Some since I was 12,” Rezko said as I hang on every of them climbed on top of people’s shoul- word like a newborn pup. I interviewed her ders to tag the walls.” a few weeks before the photoshoot. The Link A little over two years ago, Rezko, a staff hushed when she walked in. “I followed human relations student at Concordia, my older brothers to the skatepark to escape helped found Get Born, a non-profit online chaos at home.” magazine dedicated to supporting the skate- Similar to what transpired during the boarding culture in Montreal and Chicago. interview, I make the best attempt to force She persuaded co-founders Christerson and my sweat glands from bursting at the photo- Liv Seidel—a green-hair-don’t-care idol— shoot. She has been a friend of Rezko since to make their mark documenting a lifestyle their days as outsider tween girls, sipping dominated by men. All three grew up in slurpees on the ramps. Chicago but moved to Montreal to study. “After we moved here, Chanelle came They faced some heavy setbacks at first. up to me saying ‘I need to get involved in “It was really hard to get anybody to trust the skateboarding culture here, I’m think- us,” said Seidel, a psychology major at Con- ing about starting a magazine’” Seidel said. cordia. “People were like, ‘well, what do you “How can we do this?” guys know about skateboarding? What am I Barry Walsh first met Rezko at Under- getting out of this?’” world Cabaret, where he was DJing. Along My iPhone vibrates. A text message with fellow skateboarding legend Marc appears. Tison, Walsh helped save the gnarly Big O—an international skater sanctuary— Bruv from getting demolished and sold for parts. They Dangerous Impressed by the girls’ verve, Walsh took them under his wing. I stare at my cell trying to suppress a “These are cool chicks basically into cov- smile. One opinionated Tinder-obsessed ering real skating in the city,” said Walsh. editor —no doubt intimidated—had just “They focus on the underground com- fled. Moments earlier, five members of Get munity rather than the competitions and Born had invaded The Link office. all that commercial stuff. They’re creative, Slumped like a discarded banana peel, young and energetic so I hooked them up my spine shot up when Rezko slammed the with key people.” doors open. Dressed in shades of black, the With their many connections, Get Born girls—all in their early twenties—could have covers both the Chicago and Montreal 10 march 2015 7 A Group of Women are Taking on the Male-Dominated Skateboard Culture in North America scenes. address on the Facebook event page. It was The girls get invitations to several events at Christerson’s apartment. The other loca- connected to skateboarding. They were tion didn’t exist and the sheer number of even invited to Street League in Chicago people who showed up to this place of limbo last summer. had attracted a police cruiser. “I almost lost my mind because it was just Finding it had felt like a treasure hunt. so commercialized. It just seemed like a big I snapped a few shots and got acquainted mockery of skateboarding culture,” said Rezko. with a hookah to tamper my stage fright. This “Every skateboarder looked like a stock car.” backfired. I lurched for the exit soon after. Despite her misgivings concerning big- Sometime later, a few idle hands broke the name companies financing pro athletes, door leading to Christerson’s bedroom. The Rezko said she understands that this is a first few taggers created a domino effect. necessary evil. “I’m still sick about it,” said Seidel. “At “If you can make millions of dollars off of about 2:30, within five minutes walls were your skateboard then good for you, like, you covered in graffiti. The front door is pretty should be sponsored by Nike or Red Bull or much ruined. We all felt really disrespected. Mountain Dew,” she said. There’s like fucking ‘grape’ on the wall. I’m Get Born also had help from Adam Green. like, really?” They featured the well-known Montreal Sheep mentality prompted other tag- skateboarder online. Since then, they’ve gers to join in. A confrontation at the door collaborated on promoting Pool Block, a forced the vandals out. monthly competition at TRH-Bar. Like “I was at the bar, I couldn’t see,” said Walsh, Green is ecstatic about the potential Rezko. “But the guys who started it were of this young enterprise. I contacted the vet- friends with the DJ. So, we were able to track eran over the phone. them down.” “It’s hard to pinpoint what makes it work,” The party poopers came back and painted he said, his voice a rasp prone to curse-laden over the walls. interjections. “I think they’re their own “They actually said that ‘we’ve done this marketing. If you’re a 20-year-old with a to a ton of houses and this is the first time boner, are you going on a dude’s site or on we’ve ever gone to clean it up,’” said Seidel. hot chicks? I’m not trying to sound sexist or Get Born raised $420 from the party. anything, but...” They intend on using profits to fund future Omidvar’s probing eyes don’t let their blowouts and concerts. In the long run, they guard down. As per usual, I’m fidgeting with want to open their own skateboarding shop some technical difficulty on my wireless and start a clothing line. flash transceiver. She stamps her feet and Despite the accolades they’ve received in circles toward the exit. I try to reassure her Montreal, Get Born still encounter some resis- by overcoming my natural pusillanimity. I tance in Chicago. The close-knit cliques in the introduce myself again. Her smile breaks the Windy City have proven harder to crack. ice. She remembers me. “Wheel whores,” said Seidel, the epithet “That’s enough! Stop taking photos of me,” almost burning my eardrums. “We’ve been she said, loud enough for me to hear at the called a lot of derogatory names just because booming Get Born Friday The 13th Party. we’re women. I mean, there’s not much we Her black cat ear hair clip contrasted with can do about it. We just continue to create the deep red sheen that engulfed the scene. content and stick to our message. Hopefully She walked past me and into the crowd. what we’re doing comes through to people.” It’s still a wonder how revelers found the place. The girls had posted the wrong Photos Shaun Michaud %# & # # % # # "!# % # ! # # '% % # % # % % ! # # % # ! # #$ # % GREAT SPECIALS FOR STUDENTS! 10 march 2015 fringe arts 9 Dissecting Intersection Theresa Hak Kyung Cha Mixes Media to Explore History, Language and Power by Athina Lugez genre of autobiography with visual culture. cinating to many. Gagnon said. I wanted to point people to Cha also experimented with the juxtaposi- Cha was always on the artistic cutting the digital archive, to allow them to explore If a single word could define the complex tion of hypertext in both print and visual edge of her period, whether it was in lit- her work in more depth. I’ve also been work of conceptual artist and writer Theresa media. The plot focuses on Korean colonial erature or film. The artist associated with interested in traces and [what the] archive Hak Kyung Cha, intermediality comes to history and female revolutionaries while Fluxus, an avant-garde artistic movement leaves behind.” mind. A concept at the centre of the 1960s attempting to express the arbitrariness of from the 1960s that developed anti-com- Gagnon hopes this first-time exhibition Fluxus artistic movement, it describes the language and representation. mercial aesthetics and playful subversions of Cha’s work in Canada will bring greater intersecting of different medias while evad- “The book was really embraced by lan- of traditional art, under the tutelage of Lith- attention to the artist’s work. Cha’s pieces ing categorization. guage poets and experimental writers and uanian-American artist George Maciunas. have been presented in Europe and recently Influenced by this practice, Cha cross- artists of the period because it’s a fascinating Cha was also linked to the populist artistic in the USA, during the historical feminist bred literature with visual culture and historical, experimental, partly biographical movement Mail Art, which centered on retrospective held in Brooklyn, NY and titled performance art with cinema, as well as but postmodern type of book,” Gagnon said. sending artwork through the mail. WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution. other art forms, during her artistic career, “It’s a trilingual book that looks at Korean “When you look at Cha’s work […] there’s “This exhibition could be of particular spanning from 1974 to 1982. history and uses photography in it. It exam- a prevailing playfulness of media, forms interest to Quebec because of its bilingual Following her death in 1982, Cha’s art- ines her own personal matrilineal history and ideas. Looking at her work today slows dimension, since we’re constantly playing works and writings were digitally archived through her mother.” things down for us in this hyper-saturated with wordplay, translation of words and by the Berkeley Art Museum. Currently on “Interest in her work has been successive media environment,” Gagnon said. “Cha’s terms, as Cha does,” Gagnon said. “Lan- display at the Phi Centre in collaboration and embraced by different types of literary work is non-dogmatic work but political in guage, place-work identity, transnational with DHC/ART, the art exhibition The- and identity communities,” Gagnon con- a subtle way. That’s the mark that she has left identities, memory and history are the main resa Hak Kyung Cha | Immatériel exposes tinued. “It was also taken up in 1990s by in the world of contemporary art.” themes of the exhibition.” a selection of Cha’s prolific body of work a group of feminists of colour in the US, Gagnon curated this exhibition in a way accumulated over an eight year period. The [who] created a cult around her. Cha can for spectators to see the intersections and Theresa Hak Kyung Cha| Immatériel // Mar. show focuses on an intersectional explora- be credited as being pre-identity politics spaces between media Cha played with. 5 to Apr. 4 // Phi Centre (407 St. Pierre St.) // tion of diasporic identities, representations or identity politics avant la lettre […] The “Cha’s work is so complex because of Mon. to Fri. 10 a.m.—5 p.m.; Sat. 12 p.m.—5 of power, language, translation and poetics. forms she was writing and conducting were the relationship between different works p.m. // Free admission Curated by Monika Kin Gagnon, pro- the most avant-garde forms of the period.” and themes that run through her work. It’s fessor of Communications Studies at Also on display are videos and film impossible to show everything together,” Photo courtesy of PHI Centre Concordia University, the show explores directed by the intermedia artist between the ephemerality and immateriality that 1974 and 1977. These include Secret Spill, pervades Cha’s work. Mouth to Mouth, Vidéoème, Re Dis Appear- “This is the first time Theresa Hak Kyung ing and Permutations. Fascinated by her Cha is [being] shown in Canada,” stated generation’s artistic culture, Cha spent a Gagnon. “When you look at her work year studying cinema in France and drew there’s an ephemeral quality to it, and you her influences from contemporary experi- find it in the spoken language, sound works, mental filmmakers such as Marguerite performances and videos. Duras and Jean-Luc Godard. “This definition is not only grounded in “Those filmmakers were playing with matter or the world that we know so much, language of cinema in abstract and con- but as well the spiritual realm. Cha’s work ceptual ways,” Gagnon explained. “What speaks with her ancestors. It elevates things we see when looking at Cha’s videos is to a spiritual realm, which was what I was dialogue that she was bringing with the trying to evoke with the title [of the exhibi- experimental work of her period, but tion],” Gagnon continued. inserting a level of questioning around The art show is centered around Cha’s memory and diaspora, identity and sub- 1982 experimental historical novel Dictée, jectivity. This was unique to her.” considered the magnum opus of Cha’s Vietnamese-American filmmaker Trinh literary career. The book received praise T. Minh-Ha referred to Cha’s moving image following its publication because of its practice as creating a “page-screen.” Cha’s unorthodox structure. Written in Korean, ability to skillfully combine multiple media French and English, the book combines the and disciplines made her work deeply fas- 10 10 march 2015 SPORTS Montreal Roller Derby league teams Les Filles du Roi (purple) and La Racaille square off in a match on in Saturday, March 8th 2015. p l e to a t A l tre L t n oo h o s k M Into e a in e the ov en Wom y Sc en’s Roller Derb by Julian McKenzie @JulianTheIntern League. “People [in roller derby] come from Block Team, a traveling team within the league As fun as the sport of roller derby is, it can many different athletic backgrounds. Some that plays other teams in Canada and in the only serve as a distraction from regular life for It’s Saturday night in Montreal and sports people have no skating ability, others used to United States. Fraser has even played nation- most of the players, as they each have regular fans are making their way to the arena. play hockey or other competitive sports.” ally for Team Canada alongside some of the jobs and school during the day. With a packed parking lot and long lines for Roller derby is a contact sport where two best roller derby players in the country. Most players are still university students, tickets, the prospect of fast skating and hip teams race around an oval track with roller “Normally these are our rivals,” said Lashing teachers, directors or personal trainers. Only checks is clearly enticing. It sounds like an skates. Both teams field five players aside, and about her teammates on Team Canada. “So to a few players have been fortunate enough average night at a Montreal Canadiens game, each team has a “jammer,” a designated player be able for fight the title of best in the world to live off being a professional roller derby but it’s nowhere near as conventional. with a star on their helmet who tries to lap with these women was pretty awesome.” player, mostly through sponsorships with A large gymnasium with an oval track at around “blockers” to score points. The block- The roller derby community appears to be skate companies. Le Taz Roulodome replaces an ice rink. There ers, as their name suggests, try to block the tight-knit. Teammates and opponents are often In the meantime, the women who wreak aren’t 20,000 plus fans but around 1000, made jammers from passing them, which often leads amicable, even friends, and will often share a havoc in roulodomes, whether they are in up of children, teenagers, young adults and to some spills, falls and the occasional injury. couple of beers post-game. Montreal or across the country, are more than families. When they aren’t cheering the com- “It’s full contact,” adds Burke. “[But] it’s not Booing among fans is even discouraged content to take part in a sport that provides an petitors on, they’re making pyramids stacked like the roller derbies from the seventies where during games between Montreal teams and escape and bonding time among players. with Pabst Blue Ribbon beer cans. The jersey there was punches to the face or choking, squads from other cities like Boston or Phila- “It’s a really great place where women can names aren’t familiar ones like “Crosby,” “We get a lot of bruises, sometimes bones delphia—two cities known to harbour hate for continue to grow in a competitive atmo- “Subban” or “Ovechkin” but “Boobi Puncher,” can be broken, but we have a lot of safety gear.” each other in other sports. sphere that’s not available in many other “Falcon Punch” and “Rocky Road.” Burke has dislocated her shoulder from “We really appreciate when these teams sports,” said Burke. This is a night at a roller derby game, spe- playing, but the other players are blessed travel from the States over the border. [It’s] “It’s a great adrenaline high, it’s a great team cifically, the first night of the Montreal Roller that they haven’t suffered any serious inju- quite a distance to come play us. They’re sport,” said Featherstone-Adams. “The cama- Derby League’s 2015 season. It’s the only female ries during games. also our friends within the international raderie, the contact, the speed, it’s everything. roller derby league in the city. The league fea- “It’s not unusual for girls to have ice baths community,” said Fraser. “We discourage It’s fast paced and it’s slow. It’s strategic, it’s skill tures five teams—Les Contrabanditas, Les every night,” said Amanda Fraser, also known booing but it always kind of happens. Our and it’s strength. It’s everything.” Filles du Roi, La Racaille, The New Skids on as Demanda Lashing. fans get really riled up and really protec- the Block and The Sexpos. Fraser is a member of the New Skids on the tive of us.” Photos Elysia-Marie Campbell The league even hosts a “boot camp” in the summer, where they teach new players various fundamentals of the game, from how to skate to how to fall. The new players then go through a draft where they’re selected by the different teams in the league. “When I started, I couldn’t even skate. I could barely stand on my skates. Within a year I was playing games,” said Kate Feather- Adams, known as Rocky Road in the oval. The short and self-proclaimed “clumsy” skater has been playing roller derby for four years. Rocky Road has played in Hamilton and Calgary, but says the Montreal scene is more vibrant. “Everybody’s on board here in [Montreal],” she said. “Hamilton and Calgary, they’re build- ing their teams and their fanbase, but it’s not as big as here. Here they sell out crowds.” On this night Les Contrabanditas, Les Filles du Roi and La Racaille are participat- ing in a round robin. The teams will play two games each—once against each other team—to kick off the fifth Montreal Roller Derby League season. “Roller derby’s a great sport,” said Grace Burke, also known as Hot Cross Guns, the Vice-President of the Montreal Roller Derby 10 march 2015 sports 11 Concordia women’s rugby phenom Alex Tessier was named 2014 RSEQ MVP and a CIS All-Canadian this past season. Don’tRugby Mess Sophomore Turning WithHeads At All Levels Tess by David S. Landsman @dslands football team. Judging by her busy schedule, rugby has In 2012, she traveled to play in the fifth “I played to discover. I’m just a little crazy proven to be a priority. She trains six days world university championship edition of Rugby wasn’t Alex Tessier’s first sport. Nor I guess and like challenges,” said Tessier. a week with three days devoted to strength the FISU (International University Sports was it her second. Many Concordia Stingers The atmosphere was good and I got the guys and conditioning, two days only to skills Federation) games in France. and fans who have watched the sophomore to respect me. At first they didn’t believe I and also another day to speed and agility. This past summer, she was invited to the sixth centre play would be surprised to know she could be a part of their team, but I proved In between training, she fits in her studies edition of the FISU games in Brazil. She and her only learned how to play in her second year them wrong,” towards a degree in Math & Statistics. But teammates took home the championship. at Dawson College, four years ago. she does find at least one day to cool down. “It was definitely one of the highlights “A friend of mine invited me to a [rugby] “Sunday is thankfully a day of rest,” said of my career so far, and a great experience practice, and since it was a contact sport I “I might have been Tessier. “Trying to have a social life isn’t easy. because we won gold,” said Tessier. “I got to liked it right away,” said Tessier. “I might I have one, but I don’t go out too much.” play with some [players] who are already on have been sore now and then after every sore now and then Since her arrival at Concordia, and her the national team. It was great rugby and a game day, but it’s so worth it.” decision to play rugby full-time, she has great time.” Since taking up rugby full-time, Tessier after every game helped her team to win back-to-back con- Tessier will be traveling to Hong Kong has added to her trophy case. After being day, but it’s so ference championship appearances. The on March 19 for more training with Team named the Réseau du sport étudiant du Stingers were on the verge of a perfect Canada. She will also make a pit stop in Vic- Québec rookie of the year in 2013, she was worth it.” season this past year before bowing out in toria, British Columbia, the headquarters for recognized as conference MVP and all-star the final to their rival the McGill Martlets, the Sevens National Program, where she will and as a Canadian Interuniversity Sport -Alex Tessier a game that still stings. attempt to crack the roster for Team Canada’s All-Canadian this past season. In addition, “It was a really fun season that (we) had,” 2016 Summer Olympic rugby team. Tessier has represented Team Canada in said Tessier. “[It] sucks that we lost in the “I don’t know whether 2016 is a realistic various Sevens tournaments. final. It hurt [the team] and me. I’m still not goal or not,” said Tessier. “Definitely possi- Tessier’s rugby career might not have In her first year at Concordia, Tessier fully over it. I think we definitely learned ble, but 2020 is more plausible at this time.” happened had she continued playing bas- played the first half of the season for both from it. We’re still looking to bring a cham- Tessier was once a basketball player and a ketball, or even boys football. women’s basketball and rugby team until pionship title home to Concordia. Having football player. Now rugby has become her The 21-year-old from Sainte-Clotilde-de- she decided to commit full time to rugby. three years left is reassuring.” number one sport, and she is an Olympic Horton, a small town an hour and a half “I realized it was way too much [commit- Tessier is also looking to add to her acco- hopeful. For the moment, and perhaps for away from Montreal, was into playing bas- ting to two teams],” said Tessier. “Being able lades by playing for her country. Tessier the future, picking rugby is turning out to ketball before rugby. She played for three to commit solely to rugby was good because recently came back from a Sevens tournament be a great decision. years while at Dawson. In high school, she it allowed me to achieve my personal goals,” in Las Vegas with Team Canada’s East squad. even played as a wide receiver for the boys’ Tessier added. She led her team to a third place finish. Photo Shaun Michaud BOX SCORES WEEK OF MARCH 3 TO MARCH 9 THURSDAY FRIDAY Women’s Basketball—Concordia Men’s Basketball—Concordia 60, 5 47, UQAM 54 (RSEQ Playoffs) 6 McGill 74 (RSEQ Playoffs) thelinknewspaper.ca/sports Assistant News Editor Jane Lakes Photo & Video Editor Sports Online Editor Brandon Johnston Julian McKenzie The Link held their annual elections last Wednesday! Here are the results for our 36th edition’s editorial staff. Fringe Arts Editor June Loper Current Affairs Editor Noelle Didierjean Editor-in-Chief Michelle Pucci We still need to fill our Opinions and Copy editor positions and will be holding elections again next fall. If you want to join the team, start contributing today. Visit us at H-649 on the downtown campus to get Graphics Editor started. Sam Jones Sports Editor Vince Morello Coordinating Editor Shaun Michaud CreativeDirector Laura Lalonde Fringe Arts Online Editor News Editor Zach Goldberg Jonathan Cook 10 march 2015 sports 13 Living in a Player’s Paradise Over 1,000 Players Participate In Canada’s Biggest LAN Event developers call Montreal home. “In the past we had a big LAN party cul- ture in Quebec,” LeFrançois said. “I think that’s why it’s popular; people were like 14 years old attending LAN parties and now they’re still doing it.” Nguyen believes the gaming community helped gaming and eSports grow in Mon- treal, pointing to the eSports community Boreal Gaming as an example. “In a place like ETS, where it’s focused on computer engineering, you have a lot of fans from eSports and a lot of fans from gaming as well,” said Nguyen. “At the same time you’re also breeding some professional players locally in Montreal and that natu- by Vince Morello @vinnymorellz Melee and Super Smash Bros: Project M. be seen as a great spectator sport, because rally brings out the crowd that is going to “At the end of the day you have spon- everybody loves watching it and it’s great follow and support those players too.” You wake up at noon. Empty energy drink sors, [and] they’re looking to support your entertainment in terms of watching compe- Of course, the success of the event is cans lie around computer desks and the floor, event because you have popular games,” said tition,” Nguyen added. based on the enjoyment of the attendants. and your favourite video game appears on the LeFrançois, when asked about the selection Fortunately for the organizers, players and screen of a brightly lit monitor. This might of games at Lan ETS. “They have their target spectators were cheering either from online sound like your apartment the morning after audience, so it’s not a decision about what live streams or the event itself. an all-night gaming session, but this is the game we love as an organizer. We go with “[I feel] exhausted, just drained of energy, norm at Lan ETS. the industry.” “It’s always a but LAN was good, I liked it a lot,” said Lan ETS, now in its 13th year of existence, LeFrançois said that the number of seats Derek Shao, one of the members of Free- is a giant local area network (LAN) party have increased at Lan ETS over the last few huge debate. What birds, the team who took home first place in that hosts eSports players who compete in a years, with tickets selling out faster and faster the League of Legends tournament. myriad of video games annually. each year. Lan ETS 2015 sold out their tick- is eSports versus “I love it. It’s been maybe about three years Held at the École de technologie supéri- ets for the event in three hours. It’s a sign of sports in general?” since I came back from the last ETS. It has a eure de Montreal, the 2015 edition of Lan the growing success of the eSports industry. great crowd,” said Nguyen. “There’s a lot of ETS hosted 1200 players, many with their However, critics of the term “eSports” and - Alex “Vansilli” Nguyen spectators and it keeps growing and growing own computer rigs, giving them a space to its involvement in the video game industry for CS:GO, so I love seeing this as it grows plug in and play with their friends either remain, even with the popularity of games locally as well for Montreal.” casually or competitively. like League of Legends. The League of Leg- As for the future of Lan ETS and eSports “In 2002 LAN parties [were] a big thing ends Season Three World Championship “A lot of people in [the gaming] industry in Montreal, the potential is there, and the with all the LAN setups,” said William garnered 32 million viewers online back in don’t believe it’s a sport,” LeFrançois said. organizers at Lan ETS have the intention of LeFrançois, the community manager of Lan October of 2013. He then added that NASCAR and eSports making their event bigger and more acces- ETS. “But it’s a challenge for us right now, “It’s a always a huge debate. What is share some skills in terms of coordination, sible for anyone who’s interested in playing setting up thousands of networks. The reason eSports versus sports in general?” asked Alex and therefore if NASCAR is a sport, eSports or watching the games. we do it is because we have fun together.” “Vansilli” Nguyen, a shoutcaster—or video can be one as well. “We want to do it the right way and with Lan ETS began on Friday night with game commentator—for the Counterstrike: Whichever side you’re on in the eSports the right people,” said LeFrançois. the setting up of gaming networks and an Global Offensive finals. “What’s similar debate, there’s no denying that Montreal So if you do find yourself up all night opening ceremony, before the tournaments about [eSports and traditional sports] is is a city that loves video games. When gaming in a Montreal apartment, just know started on Saturday morning. The games the amount of practice the players put in. the video game industry was sprouting, that there’s a good chance you’re not alone, included in the tournaments were high- [There’s] a lot of training in terms of reaction the Quebec government welcomed the and you may be in the preliminary stages of profile titles such as Counterstrike: Global times and thinking. industry with open arms. Now compa- a great eSports career. Offensive, League of Legends, DOTA 2, “Of course it’s not as physical [as some nies like Ubisoft, Electronic Arts Games, Starcraft 2, Hearthstone, Super Smash Bros: sports] but at the same time eSports should Warner Bros. and many independent Photos Brandon Johnston Between February 16 and March 27, 2015, open a new Primary Chequing Account and set up two automatic bill payments and we’ll deposit $100 into your new account.1 Need help with Guy and Sherbrooke Branch 1601 rue Sherbrooke Ouest money matters? Montreal, QC H3H 1E2 Convenient Hours of Service: Drop by and meet the Guy and Monday to Friday 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Sherbrooke Branch team. /BMOcommunity @BMO Open an account. $100We’ll throw in 1 This offer of $100 (the “Account Credit”) starts on February 16, 2015, is only available at BMO Bank of Montreal, Guy and Sherbrooke Branch located at 1601 rue Sherbrooke Ouest, Montreal, QC H3H 1E2 (the “Branch“), and is only available to new or existing BMO customers who do not currently have one or more Everyday Banking accounts opened at any BMO branch. This offer expires at the close of business on March 27, 2015 (the “Expiry Date”). In order to qualify, you must: (i) open a new Canadian Dollar Primary Chequing Account with a Performance Plan (an “Account”) by the Expiry Date; (ii) set up two (2) automatic bill payments by the Expiry Date; and (iii) your new Account must remain open a minimum of one year. As a condition of receiving the Account Credit, you agree that if the Account is closed before the one year period, the Account Credit is repayable to the Bank and that your Account can be debited by the Bank to recover the Account Credit. The Account Credit will be deposited to your Account within 90 days of setting up the Automatic Transactions. Limit one Account Credit per BMO customer (only one customer per Account is eligible to receive the Account Credit). If you require tax advice, please consult your personal tax advisor. There could be tax implications to this payment. ™/® Trade-marks / registered trade-marks of Bank of Montreal. THE LINK WORKSHOPS MARCH 13 4 P.M. ?> .M. how opinion writing Want to learn how to send secret emails to your seoseeo P P. seseo changed the world friends? Ever wanted to de-de- strategies code government documents? APRIL 10 4 P.M. P Let’s look at how articles have shaped public opinion on Alfred Dreyfus, Iraq, Polish priests and // much more. // Come to our coding and Our opinions editor Matthattha Busby y will explain advocacy writing, editorializing and gonzo encrypting workshop with nalism.journalism. computer wizard Cleve Social media strategist trategist anda nnd former staffer at The Link k IngridI idd HeinHe This information-packed workshop shall be full of Higgins. will be teaching the basicbasics cs ofo f fun, so you should come! FREERE workshop. Located ed at t ?> ThThe Link k HQ. All workshops take place < at The Link, 1455 de Maisonneuve WW.. Room H-649 graphic Sam Jones Search Engine Optimizia im mizia- tion. Learn the ins and outs uts of optimizing your website strategies tegies <<<< for higher search result rankings ankings s as well as how to integrate all the tools available with Google
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a salvia breakthrough: my first trip
inions /op ca er. A Glimpse of the World Behind the World ap sp thelinknew by Gonzo Nieto @gonzebo burns hotter and needs to be held in longer and the reader was the pre-identity soul, or and were frankly disinterested. for optimal effects, but I knew very little point of consciousness, which had been incar- My memory of the remainder of the experi- It was a warm sunny day, the summer before about the subjective effects. I certainly didn’t nated as my identity. ence is choppy. I recall several pieces but no my friends and I would leave for college. We know one could have as intense an experi- As I wrapped my head around the sudden continuity between them. At one point, I was borrowed my parent’s van, drove down to a ence as I was about to. termination of my existence, the yellow and a point of consciousness inside a perfectly head shop in Toronto and bought a gram of I brought my lips to the bong and the brown leaves that covered the ground were cubical room with thick vertical coloured 20x salvia extract, a bong and a jet lighter. lighter to the bowl. The smoke was smooth imperceptibly converted into an infinite stripes, smaller cubes protruding from the The bong was short and red with black and tasted like a bitter aromatic tea. After ocean of what seemed to be brown cells, each walls, and no door. swirls ascending. The jet lighter was a crucial taking the hit, I passed the bong to my friend containing a blue nucleus. Some moments after that, I was hovering component, as we knew the optimal tempera- and stood up, taking a few steps toward a I was immediately filled with the under- about 50 feet from where my body was, look- ture for smoking salvia is higher than what a small clearing behind our log. standing that I was also one of these cells, ing down on a row of houses and the trees normal lighter can achieve. Aided by the chilled bong water, a sizable observing the ocean from within. It wasn’t where my friends and I were. As teenagers, a private indoor place for trip- lung capacity from six years of musical train- just my existence that had ended, but all of Several other disjointed scenes fol- ping was a scarce luxury, so we instead took ing, and adolescent naïveté, I held the smoke it. It struck me that each cell in this ocean lowed which I now have difficulty recalling. to a local park in our suburban neighborhood in for a bit over half a minute. was another soul, and the blue nucleus rep- Throughout this time, I was completely out where we would often hang out, smoke pot As it turns out, I consumed an immense resented what that soul had been looking at of my body and entirely unaware of my sur- and play hacky sack. amount of salvia in that one hit, especially for through its incarnate eyes in its final moment. roundings. The next memory I have is feeling In addition to a playground, swing set an unknowing first-timer. The notion that the eyes are the windows to as though the wallpaper that had been vio- and a baseball diamond, this park also had Standing several feet from the log, I held the soul seemed particularly apt. lently torn away was being put back in place. several small wooded sections around the in the smoke and noticed my vision becom- From there, it felt like the machinery that There was a distinctly different set of entities perimeter, which I would generously call ing slightly blurry in the periphery. The tricky lies behind reality as we experience it was that were doing this. While they never came micro-pseudoforests. thing about salvia is that it comes on astonish- being revealed. It was as though everything into view, they felt more benevolent and their The setting for my travels was one such ingly fast—you often find yourself at the peak that surrounds you is a sort of wallpaper, presence was felt. area, which provided minimal privacy and before you’ve taken a breath. and it was all being pulled back, leaving As this was happening, the first perception cover from the neighbours in adjacent As I exhaled, I was pulled out of my exposed a very mechanical and inorganic of my surroundings entered my conscious- houses. Accompanied by two of my closest identity and—in fact—my body, rather vio- scene set against a backdrop of what felt like ness: in the top right corner of my field of friends, we walked into these tiny woods lently. This wasn’t something I felt sad or interstellar space. view, I could see my two friends sitting on and found ourselves a large log that com- upset about, and there was no struggle. The There was a somewhat sinister feeling. The the log, looking at me. Instinctually, I crawled fortably seated three. overwhelming and dysphonic nature of the abrupt end of existence, the revelation of this towards them, as they grew larger and larger After settling in, we packed the bowl to experience provided no room for an emo- underlying alien machinery—it felt like it had in my vision. the rim with the salvia extract and loaded tional response, and the sudden force with all been a prank of cosmic proportions pulled Soon, I found myself sitting back on the log the bong with cold, raspberry-flavoured which it pulled could not be resisted. on me for reasons I couldn’t comprehend. with my friends. I was now back in my body sparkling water—the cold would counteract I was undergoing my own death. The feel- I saw the entities that were doing this to and aware of my surroundings, although the salvia’s higher burning temperature, and the ing was like being completely engrossed in a me. Each was a standing oval of a solid colour. visions were still present as soon as I closed flavour was in case the smoke tasted gross. narrative and then having the book slammed They lacked limbs or distinguishable sensory my eyes. For a while, it felt like I was inhabit- At this point, I should note that I knew shut in front of your face, dissolving the sto- organs, but their presence was felt. They were ing both worlds at once. very little about salvia at the time. When ryline and leaving you dazed and perplexed. neither friendly nor malevolent; it felt like compared to cannabis, I knew that salvia Only in this case, the narrative was my life, they operated on a scale far greater than I, Graphic Sam Jones 16 opinions 10 march 2015 Food for Thought: Why Are Student Jobs So Undignified? Questions About Political Views for a Restaurant Job Highlight a Nasty Trend
Finally he asked which sector I lived in. That is where the system ultimately fails, by Karina Licursi Upon learning that I was a resident of Nun’s by not providing students with the oppor- Island, he made the comment that I “must tunity to find a part-time job that will not So I walked into the restaurant for my inter- be rich.” only help pay the bills, but teach the skills view, having no clue what to expect. With If only! The whole series of questions that that will be applied later on in our careers. no previous experience as a waitress, I had this employer asked me reeked of a blind Here at Concordia we have the Hous- only my savvy organization skills and learn- date gone wrong. Although it wasn’t until I ing and Job Bank’s search engine to ensure ing abilities to depend on. left that I realized those questions shouldn’t that students are helped in finding employ- The manager had me sit at a table in the have been asked in the first place. ment, yet many find themselves in positions banquet. He gave a brief description of Before leaving, he noted: “I’ll bring you which offer little to no benefits. what the position entailed, like any other in for two days to see your performance, In today’s economy, hours are cut. I employer I had met in the past. But from and then we’ll decide whether to hire you.” remember my first job out of high school there, things got interesting. Walking out, I knew in my gut that I was as a cashier during 2010. After asking for my availability, he not coming back. For the first month I worked twenty promptly looked over my CV before asking, While reading this, it’s easy to assume hours a week, only to be left with a measly “So you have no previous experience?” that I may have played a certain part in my eight hours per week which eventually led “No,” I told him. Why am I here then? I own victimization. to a lay-off once I, along with several of my thought to myself. Noting my anglophone The employer did not force me to colleagues, proved no longer useful. accent, he asked where my family was from. answer these questions. I answered, really, Looking at the bigger picture, the real issue Then he began to read aloud the list of because I have no shameful past, no crimi- isn’t whether or not to get a job, or having to films I had previously directed for school nal record, which therefore leaves me with face an employer that will blatantly discrimi- and independently. “Les etudiants, un jour- nothing to hide. nate against multiple Quebec social groups nal intime,” he read. My Student Strike. “Ah, Right? Wrong. The only reason I went in the space of one interview, but the fact that so you’re a socialist,” he concluded. along with answering these intrusive ques- a person is only useful depending on how What did I just hear? Yup, a prospective tions is because I knew I wasn’t going to much money they make. employer just asked me whether I was a take the position. It is no longer about skills, having a socialist. Immediately I get brought back Many employers assume that as a stu- diploma, or cramming in hours of study to the McCarthyist Red Scare Era in the dent living within a certain budget that at the dawn of the next big exam, but how United States, where countless people in my situation calls for being desperate much dignity one can lose in a single shift. the entertainment and film industry were enough to take whatever position gets And an employer who would rather hire me being persecuted for their views and many thrown my way, and this is where many based on my individual makeup rather than fired from their jobs because of it. students go wrong. my skills-set is not someone I want to work I quickly replied, “No.” Understandably, there are times where for any day. “Capitalist?” he pressed. finances, or lack thereof, place us in a mind- “No. Centrist,” I told him firmly. set to “take what we can get.” Graphic Matthew Stefanson Sixteen Bars Against the Tar Sands Activists Call for Climate Justice Through the Mouthpiece of Rap by Dan Parker technology. class divisions that impede us from making […] Against the bankers NWO’in/ Capital the In contrast, Canadian artist Haidawood the systemic changes necessary to move soci- cancer that can’t keep growing.” Climate Justice Montreal is throwing the Rap denounces the Northern Gateway pipeline ety forward in a truly equitable way. Hip-hop offers hope. A head-bobbing lyri- Battle Against the Tar Sands on March 28, 8 proposal from an indigenous perspective in Public Enemy made this loud and clear in cal flow can help the people mobilize to stop p.m. at La Vitrola on St. Laurent Blvd. A Message to Stephen Harper. “Fight the Power.” the pipeline flow. An emcee’s delivery can Local rappers, slam poets and activists will “Searching through my soul trying to find A future where the Global South, indige- landlock the tar sand bitumen in a more per- be performing original verses against the tar the right flow/ To tell the truth, I can feel nous peoples and the economically oppressed manent way, and maybe inspire other activists sands, and donations will go towards Aam- it now the fight’s close/ Sorry kids it’s not are spared from the terrors of climate change to do the same. jiwnaang and Sarnia Against Pipelines, an enough to just recycle/ Have to go psycho simply cannot occur without system change. This is what the Rap Battle Against environmental activist group in Ontario. about where the pipe go.” Toronto-based rap duo Test Their Logik the Tar Sands is all about. Reach us at In preparation for the event there will be Based in Haida Gwaii in so-called British state this unequivocally in “Be:” [email protected] if you’re down a rap and climate justice workshop focus- Columbia, Haidawood argues that simply “Resource wars get started often/ Drilling, to drop a verse and take the pipelines down. ing on the links between climate change, recycling is a false solution, showing how fracking, dig our coffin/ Spills attack and kill Keep it underground (the carbon, that is.) social justice, tar sands and pipelines, while individual consumption does not affect the our oceans/ [...] Food monopolies keep billions empowering attendees to speak up through root causes behind climate change and, in starving/ Sweatshop slavery stitching cotton/ Dan Parker is a Climate Justice Montreal the medium of hip-hop. this case, the destruction of ancestral terri- Murder king coal keeps releasing carbon/ Organizer at this event Check it out on March 16 at 6:30p.m., in tory teeming with flora and fauna. Chemical plants got the people coughing/ [...] room H-1267 of the Hall building. On the local and international level, block- Decolonize the land where you stand is stolen/ Graphic Jennifer Aedy For the battle CJM has invited Zach Sherwin, ing Big Oil’s ecocidal plans is the way to go. a rapper who portrayed Stephen King and Sher- The NASA rap also neglects to point out lock Holmes on the YouTube series Epic Rap how there are unequal burdens resulting from Battles of History, to play the role of a Trans- climate catastrophes; those who are economi- Canada lobbyist promoting tar sands pipeline cally marginalized, especially indigenous projects Energy East and Keystone XL. people and the people of the Global South, Expect other satirical performances too. will suffer more than the affluent and privi- This is not the first time hip-hop has been leged classes. used as an arena for combat between different The Dead Prez song “When the Lights Go perspectives on climate change and fossil fuel Out” shows exactly how people of colour are consumption. impacted unequally when climate disasters NASA produced a rap where they raise strike: “What did we learn from Katrina?/I awareness about the effects of climate change: hope you can swim if you’re waiting on “For real, all it takes is a couple degrees/ FEMA.” M-1 from Dead Prez is dropping a Before floods, droughts, and hurricanes are verse by video at the Battle on March 28. not anomalies/And all these catastrophes Environmentalists, whether they write, become our new realities.” rant or chant about climate change and While the subject of NASA’s rap is worthy of green solutions, need to be aware of how admiration, largely because it raises awareness privilege based on race, class and nationality about climate change, the song is reminiscent will greatly determine which communities of the cheesy public service announcement will face the brunt of the climate chaos that rap, Don’t Copy That Floppy. is predicted to occur if most of the world’s Plus, the song ends with a focus on false carbon isn’t left underground. solutions: merely changing individual con- Hip-hop has always played a pivotal role in sumption habits and promoting green reminding us of the race relations and unfair 10 march 2015 letters 17
Israel Is Not an Apartheid State
by Bradley Martin Johannesburg, which limited enrollment to white South Afri- cans and banned prospective Black students from attending. A number of students at Concordia University seek to accuse Israel is a democracy that protects the human rights of all its Israel of being an “apartheid state.” The aims of Israeli Apart- citizens and residents, including in the so-called “settlements.” heid Week are to bolster opposition towards what they term Based on 2007 statistics, about 1,300 of Pisgat Ze’ev’s 42,000 as “Israeli Apartheid.” residents were Arabs. In nearby French Hill, nearly one sixth This accusation contains no substance and is an insult to of residents are Arabs, which included students at the neigh- actual victims of apartheid. boring Hebrew University of Jerusalem. As students we have a responsibility to critically analyze Meanwhile Neve Yaakov, with 20,000 people, has a popula- such a dubious claim. tion of 600 Arabs according to the Israel Center for Jerusalem Apartheid is defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary Studies. as “a former system in South Africa in which black people and The absurdity of IAW’s accusation can be observed in the people from other racial groups did not have the same political upcoming Israeli Elections. Salim Joubran, the Israeli Arab and economic rights as white people and were forced to live Supreme Court Judge, is serving as the Chairman of the Cen- separately from white people.” tral Election Committee and will be in charge of overseeing Contrary to what IAW supporters would like you to think, Israel’s parliamentary elections. there is no system of Jewish exclusion of non-Jewish residents The Committee is in charge of registering lists of politi- in Israel or the territories it administers. cal parties running for election, campaign financing, election They would do well to contrast the horrors of real apartheid logistics, tallying results, and dealing with challenges to the to Ariel University, located in what would be termed as a West results. Bank “settlement” by IAW proponents. IAW puts forth inaccurate generalizations concerning the Their student body consists of Jews, Arabs, Druze, and Cir- State of Israel that are at odds with reality. Its proponents do cassians. An estimated six hundred Arab-Muslim students not comprehend the horrendous injustice of what apartheid are enrolled. truly represents. In December 2011 AU held a conference titled “Best Plans for a Peaceful Israel/Palestine,” which Jews, Israeli Arabs and Bradley Martin is a Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Palestinians alike from Palestinian Authority-controlled areas Reporting in America (CAMERA) fellow and student at Con- in the West Bank attended and lectured at. cordia University. This is hardly comparable to the now-defunct Rand Afri- kaans University, a predecessor institution to the University of Graphic Jennifer Aedy TVA Unfairly Targeted Muslim Students
The Azrieli Holocaust Collection at Concordia’s The answer: nothing. The two reporters did not library was established in 1984 by oft-celebrated and want to gain an understanding of the benefits of oft-criticized Montreal philanthropist and architect, having access to books with ideas that are outside of David Azrieli. our ideological and sometimes moral scopes. The collection is expansive and incredibly neces- Instead, they intended to unfairly target Muslim stu- sary for those who wish to educate themselves about dents in a space where critical thought is encouraged, the history of the Holocaust, which unjustly took the thereby contributing to the perpetuation of racist lives of approximately 11 million people, over half of notions of what Islam is and how it is practiced. which were Jews. To be clear, we do not intend to compare the content Not surprisingly, the collection also hosts Adolf Hit- of books on the MSA’s shelves to that of Mein Kampf. ler’s Mein Kampf, a book that demonstrates the evils Instead, we hope to bring to light the hypocrisy in and incredible potential of dangerously violent and “conveniently” singling out only certain books, hence radical ideologies. acting with bigoted ulterior motives. In fact, at the time of this writing, Mein Kampf is To the members of the MSA: we stand in solidarity currently being taken out of Concordia’s library and with you. will likely be used solely for academic purposes—just We hope that the very books that challenge our as it should be. moral standards and present-day ideologies will be So why then, on Feb. 27, did TVA, the French Lan- removed from your shelves only if they are no longer guage Television Network in Canada, not barge into of use to your community, not because of unjustified the Webster library, demanding an explanation con- bullying. cerning this anti-Semitic book’s place on its shelves, camera discreetly in hand? In solidarity, What was so special about the books in the Muslim Student Association’s library that their presence had Haley Firkser and Yasmine Filali to be documented by TVA journalists? (Muslim Jewish Feminist Alliance) 18 opinions 10 march 2015
Centrist Failure by Mattha Busby @itsmattha
Balloon Ventures by Mengekko Jones
Filbert by L.A. Bonte
Power Theatre by Alex Callard @alexwcallard 10 march 2015 opinions 19
editorial Concordia Needs to Stand With the MSA
“censoring” or “culling” the MSA’s collection—just helping the students audit and review their catalogue. Requesting a literature review of the MSA’s library What started out as bad reporting ended up as an escalator. According to the Journal de Montreal and is largely uncharitable and hypocritical, considering administrative embarrassment. the Sun News Network, owned by Quebecor, it wasn’t what can be found in the university’s own collection. TVA contacted Concordia, questioning the pres- her scarf that killed her, but her hijab—which was Literary aficionados can probably name many texts ence of works written by controversial Islamic figures actually tucked neatly under her coat, according to found at a typical library, including Concordia’s, which in the Muslim Students Association’s library, after a witnesses. preach extremist or offensive ideas.Mein Kampf is reporter and a film crew barged into the MSA office Negative representations of Muslims in the media the classic example. Others include The Adventures and harassed the students there. Instead of standing are increasingly common. But the response of the of Huckleberry Finn, which some argue is racist, and by their students, Concordia administrators chose to general public to cases like that of Rania El-Alloul, Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses, a controversial take those claims seriously and investigate the matter. whose testimony was refused by a Quebec judge after novel that ignited debate in the Muslim world. All of A fair response would have been to scrutinize she refused to remove her hijab in court, demonstrate these are available at the Webster Library. the reporter’s process—considering that part of that fear-based reactionary views are not ubiquitous. Changing cultural norms and scientific principles the report involved entering and filming the MSA While the MSA’s goal was to provide a resource have challenged and denounced many ideas. These offices without permission. Instead, the members of for information and literature, the goal of TVA was ideas should be acknowledged and contended with, the association met with the Dean of Students and to smear and fearmonger. TVA reporter Michel Jean but certainly not erased. They are integrated in the began a “review” of their library material. says there are no explanations to be found about the public discourse and should remain there for histori- Dealing with the matter in this way was unbal- works in the MSA’s library. Perhaps that’s because the cal context and growth. anced and inappropriate. Why is an educational association was not given the chance to respond. Concordia claims to stand for academic freedom institution like Concordia using an unreliable It’s easy to brush off TVA’s reporting as sensational, and free speech. If that’s true, it should have handled source like TVA as the basis for an investigation of but getting to the heart of the library incident has the situation differently by weighing the evidence its students? TVA is owned by Quebecor, a media been difficult. WhenThe Link contacted other librar- more carefully before picking sides or taking such corporation whose track record has been called into ies for religious study to discuss information policies, targeted action. We believe the university owes the question as recently as last year. librarians were unwilling to get involved. The ones MSA an apology and hope it can abide by its own Quebecor was accused of twisting statements by at Concordia directed us back to Concordia’s media values in the future. the SPVM about the death of a woman in the Metro relations department. In a statement by the com- in 2014, after her scarf and hair got tangled in an munications director, Concordia argued it was not Graphic Madeleine Gendreau
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