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It seems that state lawmakers in several U.S. states need a refresher course on the First Amendment.  It's a very simple amendment, really.  Amendment I Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. While the beloved First Amendment has always been selectively applied -- cue the firehoses and Pinkertons -- its intent is quite clear and straightforward. Peaceful assembly and peaceful protest is legal. Full stop. Despite this, so far this year, 34 state legislatures have introduced more than 80 bills that very clearly aim to abridge and prohibit these inalienable rights. So far, four Republican governors have signed the measures into law. More are on the way. So far,  Florida has passed  the most draconian of these laws, creating a new, loosely d...

Derek Chauvin, the police officer who murdered George Floyd, was found guilty on all charges. At long last, after millions protested around the country and the world, a police officer was held accountable for murder. Or as one of the memes says, we only had to burn down the country to do it.   Between May 25, 2020, the day George Floyd was murdered, and April 20, 2021, the day of the verdict, 640 Americans were killed by police.* In the 24 hours following the announcement of the Chauvin verdict, six Americans were killed by police. That number includes Ma'Khia Bryant . Bryant was 16 years old. She called the police for help. A police officer got out of his car and shot this Black child at close range. "We won't rest until the killer is brought to justice." If you watch detective shows, that's a familiar phrase. For victims of police murders, there is no justice. Even when there is video evidence of the killing , police murders might as well be lynchings that take ...

Here we are in the middle of a global pandemic, and I feel (to paraphrase my favourite baseball player ) like the luckiest person on the face of the earth.* I'm healthy, my partner is healthy, and no one in our extended families has gotten covid. Thanks to my union, and to my partner's very decent employer, we have a comfortable income, and we didn't lose any income during the pandemic. I have a safe, comfortable, spacious place to ride out the lockdown and the pandemic in general, with plenty of indoor interests to keep me busy.  I live in an area with very low covid incidence, where it's easy to enjoy the outdoors while maintaining social distancing. And that's just my covid-related good fortune. In general my privilege is vast. My young life had many challenges, and perhaps my future holds more (who knows), but in the present I am incredibly fortunate.  I hope many of you reading this also enjoy lives of privilege, and that you have strong support for the areas o...

  I was very saddened to hear of the too-young death of Robert Fisk, veteran war journalist, author, and truth-teller. Fisk was often criticized for "politicizing" war reporting, or for not being "objective". Most war journalists are little more than propaganda mouthpieces for the wealthy countries that invade and seek to control poorer countries, whether directly or by proxy. This highly biased view is said to be apolitical and objective, when it merely reflects the politics of the dominant point of view. The only difference between Fisk's reporting and almost every other war journalist's reporting was that he was honest and up-front about his point of view. Fisk was one of the few English-language journalists (perhaps the only one?) who didn't allow themselves to be "embedded" with the invading and occupying forces of Iraq. In other words, he did his job , while all the others allowed themselves to be used as propagandists. I looked to him fo...

September 28 is International Safe Abortion Day , a day to reflect on how many women around the world do not have control over their reproduction -- that is, do not have control over their lives.  Abortion is the sine qua non  of women's liberation. Without the ability to choose whether and when to have children, women are slaves to their reproductive organs, and to the governments that control them.  We would all prefer contraception to abortion. But, like abortion, contraception is not universally available. And more importantly, contraception fails. Sometimes that results in happy accidents. Sometimes it results in unwanted pregnancies that would be disastrous for the pregnant person's life.  There is no reason for an unwanted pregnancy to ruin a woman's life. Abortion is a safe and harmless procedure. But thanks to governments that allow themselves to be controlled by religious zealots, millions of women don't have access to this option. Not about RBG, not about ...

First of all, it's not a boycott. It's a strike. And a  wildcat strike to boot. When the players on the Milwaukee Bucks chose not to play in the NBA playoffs -- joined by their baseball counterparts, the Brewers, with other teams quickly following -- they became part of a tradition that reaches back to Tommie Smith and John Carlos, to Muhammad Ali, to Carlos Delgado, all the way to the present, to Maya Moore and Colin Kaepernick.  The striking NBA players are part of Black Lives Matter. They are part of the present-day civil rights movement. But they are part of something else, too. They are part of the labour movement. Professional athletes are workers.  They may be wealthy -- though all are not as wealthy as the top earners -- but their working life is perilously short, and throughout history, has been awash in exploitation. If some earn huge salaries today, that's because so many people are profiting from their labour.  Strike vs boycott So why is this action a...

In the entire history of human beings on this planet, has there ever been a criminal enterprise more devastating -- to as many people, over as long a period of time -- as the Catholic Church? The largest empires of the world -- Roman, Spanish, Dutch, British, American -- lasted 500 years at most. The Catholic Church has been at it for thousands  of years. If it was fiction, no one would believe it -- an organized crime network so vast, and so evil, that virtually no aspect of human civilization has been untouched by its rabid influence. Persecution, torture, and execution of scientists, philosophers, independent thinkers and non-Catholics. Wars intended to slaughter adherents of other religions.  Profit from slavery.  Support for murderous dictatorships all over the world. The slaughter and forced conversion of Indigenous people all over the world. Forcing untold numbers of families into poverty, children to starvation and death, women into death from desperation, by proh...

I thought Black August was something newly created by Black Lives Matter, but it turns out it has existed since the 1970s. I'm sorry I haven't heard about it sooner, and I thank the Movement for Black Lives for bringing it to my attention. Black August commemorates the rich history of Black resistance. Revolutionary moments such as the Watts Uprising, Haitian Revolution, Nat Turner Rebellion, Fugitive Slave Law Convention, and March on Washington all happened in August. Also, many of our revolutionaries, such as Marcus Garvey and Fred Hampton, were born in August. Black August was started in California prisons in the 1970s by Black freedom fighters who wanted to honor the lives and struggle of Black political prisoners killed by the state. Fifty years later, groups like Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and New Afrikan Independence Movement continue the Black August legacy of celebrations by amplifying our history of resistance and creating spaces for Black people to come toget...

How To Be An Antiracist is an important, powerful, thought-provoking book. With unflinching precision, Ibram X. Kendi defines the roots of racism and explains how we can work to eliminate it. The structure of the book is disarming: the explanatory chapters are interwoven with the story of Kendi's personal journey from racist thinking to antiracist thinking. Yes, the author is Black, and he has had racist thoughts, and has engaged in racist behaviours.  He spares no mercy for himself as he looks back, cringing at his beliefs -- although understanding the tradition that they grew from. I hope Kendi's openness and his willingness to publicly criticize himself helps more readers approach his ideas with an open mind and less defensiveness. Kendi believes that our typical conception of racism as a product of fear and ignorance is wrong, and he makes a very strong case for that belief. He shows that racist policies are made by racist people in order to further their own interests. Ra...

What a sad and moving coincidence, that two great freedom fighters died on the same day. I chose these photos as a reminder that doing the right thing may involve breaking the law. Canadians, who over-value a superficially peaceful society, frequently need reminding. As a remembrance of these two men, I cede the floor to Black Lives Matter. * * * * A Requiem In Memoriam Our Great Ancestors The Honorable John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 - July 17, 2020) The Reverend Dr. Cordy Tindell “C.T.” Vivian (July 30, 1924 – July 17, 2020) Today, we celebrate two men of moral courage, ethical excellence, and relentless diligence in making Black Lives Matter in the policies and practices of this country and world: The Honorable John Lewis and The Reverend C.T. Vivian. Like many of us, C.T. Vivian and John Lewis participated in a movement -- a protest -- and it changed their lives forever. For C.T. Vivian and John Lewis, a jail cell was as familiar as a police officer's baton. For their huma...

1. Wealthy urbanites are fleeing to their second homes -- buying out grocery stores, expecting personal shoppers and home delivery, swelling vacation towns' size to summer proportions. This is the epitome of the egocentric, classist arrogance that often pervades the United States. 2. In India , a planned lockdown of more than a billion people is expected to leave millions dead of starvation. As people become desperate, there will inevitably be rioting, police shootings, and all forms of rampant violence. In this case the response seems far worse than the pandemic itself. 3. Many people seem to have forgotten that the majority of COVID-19 case are not fatal. I'm not minimizing the potential, but numbers of confirmed cases does not equal the same number of deaths. 4. Our experience of the pandemic often depends on our employment situation. For me right now, it's a vacation. Health care workers have so much added risk and all the stress that comes with it. Supermarket workers...

Syria's Secret Library: Reading and Redemption in a Town Under Siege is a tribute to the power of books to heal, to offer refuge, and to nourish communities. It's also a tribute to the spirit of resistance to tyranny and oppression. In 2013, the Syrian town of Daraya was targeted by the country's dictator, Bashar al-Assad. Many residents managed to evacuate, but others stayed, determined to hold the historic and then-thriving town as a stronghold against the Assad regime. There, as their town was bombed and burned, a group of young men built an unlikely refuge: a library. The story of how these young Syrians salvaged and rescued books, often placing themselves in great danger to do so, is remarkable -- but even more remarkable is the community they built. Every book was catalogued, dated, and signed out when borrowed. The origin of every book was noted, so that its owners might reclaim it in happier times. There were book clubs and lectures. Some rebel fighters took books ...

Today, December 10, is Human Rights Day . The date commemorates the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 1948, the first document of its kind. Every year on December 10, Amnesty International holds a global letter-writing event: Write For Rights ( in Canada ). Hundreds of thousands of people around the world write handwritten letters calling for action for victims of human rights abuses, and offering comfort and support to political prisoners. Every year at this time, I try to think of a different way to invite readers to participate in Write For Rights. All through this year, I've been struggling with cynicism and despair about the state of our planet and the state of democracy. So even though all the warm and fuzzy reasons  I've listed in the past (and below) are true and valid, the most important reason to Write For Rights is deadly serious. The world is seriously fucked up. Many, if not most, of us who care about the world feel helpless in...

Graphic via Students Exploring Inequality in Canada For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by stories of forgiveness and redemption. I believe endlessly in the human capacity for redemption, and that belief that has only been strengthened as I've seen more of the world. The stories that interest me the most are when people who suffer loss do not seek vengeance. I first came upon this idea in the book Dead Man Walking , the 1994 book by Sister Helen Prejean. Prejean is foundational for me, and this book had a profound influence on my worldview. (I already opposed capital punishment when I read it.) Stories of people who lost loved ones to violence, and opposed the execution of the murderer, always get my attention. I don't see them as often now, as I follow US news very closely.* But the Death Penalty Information Centre gives many examples of this . The National Coalition Against the Death Penalty has many resources  for and about people seeking an alternative to ...

Graphic via Students Exploring Inequality in Canada For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by stories of forgiveness and redemption. I believe endlessly in the human capacity for redemption, and that belief that has only been strengthened as I've seen more of the world. The stories that interest me the most are when people who suffer loss do not seek vengeance. I first came upon this idea in the book Dead Man Walking , the 1994 book by Sister Helen Prejean. Prejean is foundational for me, and this book had a profound influence on my worldview. (I already opposed capital punishment when I read it.) Stories of people who lost loved ones to violence, and opposed the execution of the murderer, always get my attention. I don't see them as often now, as I follow US news very closely.* But the Death Penalty Information Centre gives many examples of this . The National Coalition Against the Death Penalty has many resources  for and about people seeking an alternative to ...