We are pleased to present this year’s line-up of workshops. Please be advised that some of our workshops are held indoors, and can reach standing room capacity. We would strongly encourage the wearing of masks while inside to accommodate those who are most vulnerable. Masks will be available for free. Please consider wearing one.
Saturday, Sept 23
11:00 AM Opening Ceremonies & Land Acknowledgement
Workshop Room (Inside: Please consider masking up)
12:00 PM – 12:50 PM
The Anarchist Joy of Alex Comfort
Presented by Eric Laursen (he/him)
Alex Comfort is remembered today for one book: the 12 million-copy bestseller The Joy of Sex, which revolutionized the modern sex manual and provided the template for every one that’s followed, for every persuasion. But he was also a poet, novelist, biologist and gerontologist, a founder of the nuclear disarmament movement, and one of the most original anarchist theorists of the post-World War II decades, whose ideas and method of confronting the State helped create the anarchist movement we know today. How do Comfort’s anarchism and his legacy as a sexual liberationist fit together, and what do they have to say to us amidst a new Cold War, a neo-fascist revival, and a new rightwing war against sexual nonconformists?
Eric Laursen is a longtime anarchist writer, activist, and independent journalist. He is the author of Polymath: The Life and Professions of Dr. Alex Comfort, Author of The Joy of Sex. Along with three other books, he has contributed to many publications including The Nation, World War II Illustrated, In These Times, The Village Voice, The Arkansas Review, Eurasia Review, the Sri Lanka Guardian, and Z Magazine.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eric.laursen.7
Twitter (or whatever): https://twitter.com/ericslaursen
Workshop Tent (Outside)
12:00 PM – 12:50 PM
South Sound Street Medics: An Indigenous Led Street Medic Collective
Presented by Greg Urquhart (he/him/Tsalagi)
Demonstrating 101 covers what to do before, during and after a demonstration. We go over how to set up a Buddy system and security/safety, including police interactions, what to say and not to say to police, what to do if detained, usual outcomes with detention and courts. We will also discuss the elements of well-organized demonstrations (police observer, police liaison, peacekeepers, street medics, etc.) Q and A at the end.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SouthSoundStreetMedics
Workshop Room (Inside: Please consider masking up)
1:00 PM – 1:50 PM
Supporting Literacy in the Home, Community, and Being an Effective Advocate in the School System
Presented by Meaghan MacDonald (she/her)
Meagan has taught for 12 years and has started graduate work in special education and literacy acquisition. She will present caregivers with current knowledge, based on the most robust studies, which sometimes run counter to current practices in public and independent schools. She hopes to help equip our community with strategies to support children with the massive amount of work ahead of them to build a literate brain.
Workshop Tent (Outside)
1:00 PM – 1:50 PM
Part Two: Mental Health First Aid
South Sound Street Medics: An Indigenous Led Street Medic Collective
Presented by Greg Urquhart (he/him/Tsalagi)
Learn the basics of mental health first-aid such as mindfulness, grounding techniques, how and when to recognize signs of psychological distress etc. Learn how to identify local resources for continuance of care. Q and A.
Course is taught by a therapist who holds the NBCC Nationally Certified Counselor credential.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SouthSoundStreetMedics
Workshop Room (Inside: Please consider masking up)
2:00 PM – 2:50 PM
A brief history of Financialisation of Housing or Why your rent will never go down
Presented by Matthew Cook (he/him) and Josh Hazelbower (he/him)
This workshop will primarily look focus on the work of Michael Hudson, a long term historical economist who, for the past 40 years in conjunction with the Harvard Peabody Museum, has documented the archeological record and history of debt, and how societies have dealt with (or failed to deal with) the proliferation of debts that cannot be paid. Hudson was brought in by the British Columbia General Employment Union (BCGEU) to speak to the housing crisis in 2017, and has been influential in their affordability campaign. The workshop will also reference to the work of Mariana Mazzucato and Leilani Farha, the former an economist who devised the provinces post-Covid recovery plan and the later the former United Nations rapporteur on adequate housing. These scholars will be used to describe the financial forces at work that are driving the cost of rent upwards, and then the workshop will end with some of the local and national efforts combating them.
Matthew Cook has been a visitor to the Lekwungen territories for about 20 years now – in that time he has had 10 mailing addresses in this city. He used to work as a housing outreach worker, helping people on income assistance get into the rental market, but that job became obsolete as the rental market rose. He and his family were renovicted in 2017. He did sit on the board of Greater Victoria Acting Together to help form their housing campaign.
Josh is a settler living on Lək̓ʷəŋən territory, undertaking a PhD on the effects of land and housing policy on colonial-Indigenous relations and inequality.
Workshop Tent (Outside)
2:00 PM – 2:50 PM
Art, Storytelling, and Climate Justice
Presented by the Beehive Collective, with Darius Mirshahi (he/him)
Featuring larger than life and intricately detailed art murals from the Beehive collective, rhyming storytelling, and participatory discussion about our interconnected histories, the struggles of today, and the fight for a just and sustainable future. Based largely around the graphic and book “The true cost of coal”. The True Cost of Coal graphic uses mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia as a lens through which to understand the historical and contemporary story of energy and resource extraction. With a gigantic portable mural teeming with intricate images of plants and animals from the most biodiverse temperate forest on the planet, the Bees will share (and seek) stories of how mountaintop removal coal mining affects communities and ecosystems throughout Appalachia and beyond. The True Cost of Coal examines all of our connections to coal, while celebrating stories of struggle from mountain communities. The last chapter of the story also looks to the future, raising questions about alternatives, remediation, and regeneration.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beehivedesigncollective
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beehivedesigncollective/
Workshop Room (Inside: Please consider masking up)
3:00 PM – 3:50 PM
Punk-Informed Mental Health
Presented by Jason Schreurs (he/him)
Punk writer Jason Schreurs discusses what he learned from other punks through the process of writing his book, Scream Therapy: A Punk Journey through Mental Health. Schreurs will talk about the healing power of a misunderstood and underestimated music community. Topics of discussion will include pathologized language, mental health diagnosis as part of a non-linear continuum, recovery vs. transformation, anger as resistance, and treating mental health conditions as “dangerous gifts.” Schreurs will also do short readings from the Scream Therapy book.
Twitter thing: https://twitter.com/screamtherapyhq
Workshop Tent (Outside)
3:00PM – 3:50 PM
Block Print Patch Making
Presented by Gloomybunz, with Emma J (they/she)
Come learn how to make block printed patches for your clothes and more! Gloomybunz will be demonstrating how to do the printing process with some of their own blocks and then workshop goers can try carving and printing their own block, or use Gloomybunz blocks, to make patches! Materials will be provided, unless you want to bring some of your own fabric or clothes to print on. (Just make sure they’re mostly cotton)
Gloomybunz is a self taught printmaker and anarchist artist currently residing on Lekwungen Territory. They love sharing art with their community. Check out their art shop at gloomybunz.com.
Workshop Room (Inside: Please consider masking up)
4:00 PM – 4:50 PM
Community Care: Burnout on the Frontlines
Presented by Jen Wickham (Wet’suwet’en), Molly Wickham/Sleydo’ (Wet’suwet’en) and Shay Lynn Sampson (Gitxsan)
Join land defenders from Gidimt’en Checkpoint to discuss the realities of frontline work and how we can collectively ensure the people and the movement are taken care of! The relationship between Indigenous groups and Anarchism are growing and we are building intentional bridges to keep fighting. How do we take care of each other? We know this is an intergenerational fight, one that we will never quit, so how do we move forward sustainably? We want to share some things that have worked for us and discuss more ways of moving forward. Interested in joining the conversation?
Workshop Tent (Outside)
4:00 PM – 4:50 PM
Introduction to Solidarity Unionism
Presented by Industrial Workers of the World, with Evan (he/him)
The IWW isn’t trying to fit into mainstream unionism, following the laws that constrain workers’ power. The way that we organize will determine the kind of union we build. Most unions ask workers to join the union: This standard organizing model is really limited. It places the focus on individual issues and people with special knowledge around laws, as well as pretending negotiating with the boss can lead to a “fair deal” under capitalism. The worker pays dues and the union provides a service (they negotiate a contract on behalf of their members and then service that contract).
In contrast, we in the IWW want our coworkers to be the union: we want to develop the collective capacity of workers themselves. We want to build power. This power is aimed at not just changing our working conditions but also to change the world. In the IWW, we’ve developed an alternative organizing model called solidarity unionism. In this workshop, we will cover how this direct, democratic and caring approach to organizing empowers workers to radically win in the workplace where average trade unions often fail.
Workshop Room (Inside: Please consider masking up)
5:00 PM – 5:50 PM
Songs to Fan the Flame
Presented by Industrial Workers of the World, with Art Farquharson (he/him)
It’s a class war. The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) has been using music as a weapon of that war for over a century. Farquharson is a troubadour and agitator who’s brought song to picket lines, rallies, concerts, conventions. This workshop will give you the tools to carry the music to your events. This is not a mini-concert. Bring your instrument. Bring your voice. We’ll find a song that fits your struggle.
Schedule – Sunday, Sept 24th
Outside Near Skate Park (weather permitting)
12:00 PM – 12:50 PM
Supporting Immunity Using Traditional Chinese Medicine
Presented by Christina Chan, R.Ac. (she/her) & Jaay Kulhawy-Barltlett, R.Ac. (she/her)
Cold and flu season is upon us and many of us spend the fall-winter-spring season in this revolving door of illness, slow recovery and back into illness, over and over for months. Those with certain work environments (ie. outdoors, small offices, schools, health care) or certain elements at home (ie. kids, pets, mould, dust). Some unfortunate souls spend the majority of the colder months with perpetual sniffles, sore throats and general malaise as they drag through one illness to the next. And in pandemic times, it is additionally important to support and protect immunity to avoid COVID infection or to ensure you recover effectively and fully after the fact so your risk of lingering symptoms or long COVID is reduced.
Our session will include a basic introduction to the TCM theory of immunity as well as teaching 3 practical and accessible and traditional approaches (moxabustion, gua sha, lifestyle/diet therapy) for supporting and/or rebuilding immunity.
$5 is requested from participants to cover the costs of printing resource materials.
Workshop Room (Inside: Please consider masking up)
12:00 PM – 1:50 PM (80 mins)
We Go Where They Go // Anti-Racist Action: Direct Action, Political, and Cultural Lessons From the Roots of North American Antifa
Presented by Shannon Clay (he/him)
‘We Go Where They Go: the Story of Anti-Racist Action’ re-captures the story of a massive forgotten youth movement that set the stage for today’s anti-fascist organizing in North America. When Canadian and US skinheads and punks in the 1980s found their communities invaded by white supremacists and neo-nazis, they fought back. Influenced by anarchism, feminism, Black liberation, and Indigenous sovereignty, they created Anti-Racist Action. At ARA’s height in the 1990s, thousands of dedicated activists in hundreds of chapters joined the fights—political and sometimes physical—against nazis, the Ku Klux Klan, anti-abortion fundamentalists, and racist police. Before media pundits, cynical politicians, and your uncle discovered “antifa,” Anti-Racist Action was bringing it to the streets.
Co-author Shannon Clay will present a brief overview of ARA’s history, focusing on lessons for ongoing struggles for a better world, and dedicate time for Q&A. We will dive into themes including but not limited to political organizing in cultural scenes, movement building, aboveground organizing and internal security, and throwing rocks at Klansmen. “We go where they go. Whenever fascists are organizing or active in public, we’re there. We don’t believe in ignoring them or staying away from them. Never let the nazis have the streets!”
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pmpress/
Workshop Room (Inside: Please consider masking up)
2:00 PM – 2:50 PM
Keep the Home Fires Burning: Community Resurgence and Settler Solidarity
Presented by Jeff Corntassel (he/him)
Indigenous internationalism transcends the state system and leads us to envision life beyond the state. What are some strategies and practices that take us beyond land acknowledgements to pathways to solidarity as (uninvited) guests on Indigenous lands and waters?
Workshop Room (Inside: Please consider masking up)
3:00 PM – 3:50 PM
Pinkwashing and Homonationalism: Queer Community Responses
Presented by Marcus Peterson (he/him)
How have the struggles for queer liberation been co-opted by state powers (and other queers) to promote settler-colonial agendas? Why is Israeli apartheid a queer issue? What do the Tar Sands, Tel Aviv, and Russian submarines have in common? If you ever find yourself struggling to explain or rationalize exactly how queerness, geopolitics, imperialism, and Palestinian resistance all fit together, then come find out more at this workshop! We will be deconstructing these terms, relating them to larger imperialist trends, exploring resistance tactics, and preparing you to be able to identify and challenge these creeping trends in the mainstream queer world.
Marcus is a white, European-Canadian settler born on the traditional territories of the Mi’kmaq and the Wabanaki Confederacy. He is a freelance facilitator, organizer, traveler, performer, storyteller, artist, student, educator, and writer concerned with social and environmental justice issues. He currently lives on the traditional, unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil‑Waututh) Nations. Marcus is dual-carder with the IWW and CUPW.
Workshop Room (Inside: Please consider masking up)
4:00 PM – 4:50 PM
Toward (Truly) Revolutionary Music
Presented by Lee Reed (he/him)
Drawing from 25+yrs of experience making ‘movement music’, anarchist rap artist Lee Reed discusses the effectiveness and limitations of using art as a tool for community organizing. Drawing from his involvement in housing/anti-gentrification struggles in Hamilton, and through his involvement supporting frontline Indigenous organizers, Reed reflects on his artistic practice, and his attempts at using music as a vehicle for revolutionary politics.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freeleereed
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/freeleereed
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/freeleereed/
