Social Justice. February 14th Annual Social Justice Info. Women’s Memorial March
Information about Social Justice issues.
Memorial walk, upcoming Pro-D, online resources, and a poster about human trafficking.
Deep and important issues in our society!Respectfully,
Sandra (Social Justice Chair)
Begin forwarded message:
From: Susan Ruzic <sruzic@bctf.ca>
Date: February 2, 2015 at 4:24:16 PM PST
To: “BCTF Social Justice Contacts” <bctf-sjcontacts@list.bctf.ca>
Subject: February 14th Annual Women’s Memorial March
25th Annual February 14th Women’s Memorial March
Their Spirits Live Within Us
Saturday February 14th, 2015
March starts at noon from Carnegie Centre (Main and Hastings)
Web: https://womensmemorialmarch.wordpress.com/2014/12/27/march/
Facebook RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/1015580831792687
Download full-colour poster here and half-page leaflet here.
The first women’s memorial march was held in 1991 in response to the murder of a Coast Salish woman on Powell Street in Vancouver. Her name is not spoken today out of respect for the wishes of her family. Out of this sense of hopelessness and anger came an annual march on Valentine’s Day to express compassion, community, and caring for all women in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, Unceded Coast Salish Territories.
Twenty five years later, the women’s memorial march continues to honour the lives of missing and murdered women. Increasing deaths of many vulnerable women from the DTES still leave family, friends, loved ones, and community members with an overwhelming sense of grief and loss. Indigenous women disproportionately continue to go missing or are murdered with minimal to no action to address these tragedies, or the systemic nature of gendered violence, poverty, racism, or colonialism.
On Saturday February 14th, 2015, we will gather at 11:00 a.m. at the Carnegie Community Centre Theatre, 401 Main Street (at Hastings Street), Vancouver where family members speak in remembrance. Given space constraints, we ask the broader public to join us at noon, when the march takes to the streets and proceeds through the Downtown Eastside, with stops to commemorate where women were last seen or found, speeches by community activists at the court house, a healing circle at Oppenheimer Park around 2:30 p.m., and finally a community feast at the Japanese Language Hall.
We continue to call for a national and international public inquiry that is led by family and community members and that centers on our experiences, need for healing, and quest for answers, concrete action, and meaningful justice.
This event is organized and led by women in the DTES because women—especially Indigenous women—face physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual violence on a daily basis. The February 14th Women’s Memorial March is an opportunity to come together to grieve the loss of our beloved sisters, remember the women who are still missing, and to dedicate ourselves to justice.
SUPPORT THE WOMEN’S MEMORIAL MARCH
There are many ways to support the February 14th Women’s Memorial March:
1) Spread the word and join us (all genders welcome) to the February 14th march. We respectfully ask that you please do not bring banners, flags, or leaflets as the Women’s Memorial March carries five banners only to honour the women.
2) Plan a memorial march in your community. Last year, memorial marches were held in approximately twenty other cities and communities. If you are organizing a memorial march please email us the details at hwalia8@gmail.com so we can maintain communication, compile the information on our website, and build strength in our co-ordinated efforts.
3) Please donate. The February 14th Women’s Memorial March is made possible by organizations and individuals like you. Each year the Memorial March committee must raise funds to pay for such things as hall rental, sound system, food, red and yellow roses, memorial brochures, blankets, posters, candles, tobacco, and other expenses. Please make cheques payable to the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre, and include February 14th Women’s Memorial March on the memo line. Mail cheques to the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre, 302 Columbia St. Vancouver, BC V6A 4J1. All donations over $10 will be gratefully acknowledged with a tax deductible receipt. Our donation letter is here: https://womensmemorialmarch.wordpress.com/2014/12/14/24th-annual-february-14th-womens-memorial-march-needs-your-help/
The Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) has an extensive resource guide for educators that can be found at http://www.nwac.ca/sites/default/files/imce/2012-02-14_NWAC_CommunityResourceGuide_full_e.pdf. There are chapters about introducing the topic into your classroom and classroom resources.
Also, attached is information on a Pro-D opportunity in Surrey on February 20, 2015, to learn more about human trafficking.
Susan
Susan Ruzic
Assistant Director of Social Justice
Professional and Social Issues Department BCTF
100-550 West 6th Avenue
Vancouver, BC V5Z 4P2
sruzic@bctf.ca
604-871-1850