Vancouver, Unceded Coast Salish Territories

Annual Community March Against Racism

2:00pm
- 5:00pm
Samedi Mars 23 2013

Annual Community March Against Racism

Saturday March 23
Starts at 2 pm at Clark Park (Commercial Drive and 14th)
Vancouver, Unceded Coast Salish Territories

*Family-friendly festivities! Bring your neighbours, banners and drums!*

WATCH VIDEOS FROM LAST YEAR:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQii7Z9-yAw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_UM4nj_iyU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYa9cKAvgR4

The International Day for the Elimination of Racism marks the anniversary
of the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre in South Africa when police opened fire
on hundreds of South Africans protesting against Apartheid's passbook
laws, killing 67 and wounding 186. Every year we join friends and allies
around the world to mark this day and to speak the truth about racism.

We stand in solidarity with the courageous leadership demonstrated by
Indigenous communities across Turtle Island, most recently evident in the
Idle No More movement. We also recognize that Idle No More is one
mobilization amongst centuries of ongoing Indigenous resistance against
colonialism.

This country is founded on the exploitation and marginalization of
racialized communities, including dispossession and displacement of
Indigenous nations, theft of resources from the global South, as well as
the enslavement, exclusion and exploitation of diverse communities of
colour. This country is marked by the forced confinement of Indigenous
children in residential schools and the internment of Japanese-Canadian
children in camps. Today we see the same logic resulting in Indigenous
children being forcibly apprehended from their families and refugee
children being incarcerated and facing mandatory detention.

Today we need to stand together and renew our anti-racist resistance. We
need to show that we will not be complicit in racism. These are just some
examples of devastating policies and projects that we stand against:

* Mass criminalization and incarceration under Harper's new omnibus crime
bill and Kenney's omnibus refugee exclusion act.
* Tragedies of missing and murdered Indigenous women across these lands.
* Omnibus Bill C-45 that reduces environmental protections and threatens
Indigenous sovereignty by privatizing Indigenous lands.
* Increasing restrictions on immigration and family sponsorship while
expanding exploitative temporary worker programs.
* Bailing out banks while communities of colour live in poverty and face
low wages, poor pensions, dangerous working conditions, and unemployment.
* Corporate destruction and environmental racism on Indigenous territories
from pipelines in Alberta and BC to Canadian mining operations across
Africa and Latin America.
* Involvement in military occupations from Afghanistan to Palestine to
Mali, and Tory plans to expand Canadian military bases around the world.
* Racist stereotyping, fear-mongering and scapegoating continues to
permeate the media, education system, policing institutions, and
workplaces.

We encourage our friends and allies to be pro-active in countering racism.
Join us in solidarity and resistance on March 23rd to celebrate the
dignity, strength, and resilience of our communities.

For more information email noii-van@resist.ca or call 778 885 0040
http://www.nooneisillegal.org/

Facebook RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/470528346341308/?fref=ts