Idle No More

Solidarity Fast on January 11, 2013

KAIROS invites you to participate in a 24-hour fast in solidarity with Chief Theresa Spence on Friday, January 11th. This coincides with the date of the meeting between the Prime Minister and First Nations leaders, including Chief Spence. On Friday, January 4, the Prime Minister announced he would meet with First Nations leaders on January 11 - the one month anniversary of Chief Spence’s fast to bring attention to the Treaty relationship between First Nations and Canada. As she prepares for the meeting, we call on our network to join in a Solidarity Fast. - If you are medically able, we ask you to please forgo solid food for 24 hours in the same way that Chief Spence has for the past few weeks. Consume clear liquids only – water, herbal teas, and broths. - If you are not medically able to fast for 24 hours, but can forgo one meal, then please do so and make this your Solidarity Fast with Chief Spence. - If you are not medically able to miss a meal, please consider what you can do as a symbolic action of solidarity. KAIROS Eexecutive Director Jennifer Henry presents solidarity blanket for Chief Theresa Spence You can begin your fast by reading from Isaiah 58: 6-12, or another sacred text from your tradition. Is this not the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Isaiah 58:6 Isaiah 58 tells us that the true fast is to take action for justice. Please contact the Prime Minister, the Governor General, and your Member of Parliament before January 11, with the following points: - Express your support for this meeting as a response to Chief Spence`s call. - Explain that you will be fasting (or taking some other action) in solidarity with Chief Spence while the meeting is convened. - State your respect for Treaties and your belief in the nation-to-nation relationship between the Crown and Indigenous peoples in Canada. - Indicate your hope that this meeting will be a critical first step in a just and equitable relationship with Indigenous peoples in Canada. - You may also wish to remind them of the Government’s promise, made in the 2008 Apology to Survivors of Indian Residential Schools, to “[forge] a new relationship between aboriginal peoples and other Canadians, a relationship based on the knowledge of our shared history, a respect for each other and a desire to move forward together …” adding that this is a commitment that you also hold sacred. Contact information: The Right Honourable Stephen Harper Prime Minister of Canada Office of the Prime Minister 80 Wellington Street Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2 Phone: 613-992-4211 Fax: 613-941-6900 E-mail: pm@pm.gc.ca His Excellency The Right Honourable David Johnston Governor General of Canada Rideau Hall 1 Sussex Drive Ottawa ON K1A 0A1 Phone: 613-993-8200 or 1-800-465-6890 Fax: 613-998-8760 Email: info@gg.ca For more info you can visit our website at http://www.kairoscanada.org/solidarity Click here to join our Facebook Solidarity Fast event page. Please let us know how you will be participating by emailing Katy Quinn, Indigenous Rights Program Coordinator at kquinn@kairoscanada.org. This call is consistent with KAIROS' ongoing education and advocacy work on implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and participation in the Truth and Reconciliation process. Thank you! Click here to make a donation to KAIROS today. For more information, please visit our website: www.kairoscanada.org/

CALL FOR ART AND SUBMISSIONS TO A ZINE PROJECT HONOURING WOMEN

 “The heart is a muscle the size of a fist, keep loving, keep fighting”

This project aims to explore our love and respect for women, our recognition of their resilience, strength, struggles and power. It works to combat gendered violence and sexism by celebrating, reinforcing and acknowledging the inherent value, resilience, struggles, and strength of the women we know, and the women you know.

We live in a society where it is easy to witness and experience both subtle and blatant sexism everyday. However, we can go days without someone calling out and recognizing women’s strength or resilience. While it is important to be aware of gendered violence and sexism, it is just as important to recognize the fierce hope, strength and beauty of the women we know, and honour them. This art project is a call to respond against sexism, violence, and hate that women experience across Canada, and elsewhere. While women are often pieced apart and objectified, this project will work to celebrate women as whole, bringing the pieces together.

It is essential to clarify that our use of the word "women" includes all those who identify as a woman and to acknowledge all the differences within that term. We envision this project to display and foster those differences and not essentialize the identity of "women".

We hope to receive a wide array of submissions, including drawings, paintings, photography, graphic novels, stories, poems, memoirs, journal entries, conversations, letters, and many, many, more.

All submissions will be scaled down to an 8.5 x 5.5” format, but may take up more than one page. Please take this into consideration when submitting. All submissions must fit within the themes of the zine – pieces that explore our admiration and respect for women, our recognition of their resilience, strengths, struggles, and power, as well as pieces that tell stories of, or work against sexism, misogyny, and violence.

Descriptions or recordings of performance pieces are also encouraged for consideration at the Zine launch party and exhibit.


Please e-mail submissions to:

honouringwomenzine@gmail.com, along with one or two sentences about yourself.


Submission Deadline: January 25th, 2013