October 15, 2019 Carnegie Newsletter

, OCTOBER 15, 2019

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401 MaIn Street Vancouver Canada V6A 2T7 (604) 665~2289 -

16th Annual Downtown

Eastside Heart of the City Festival

Wednesday October 30 - Sunday November 10, 2019

lexwst'i.lem

Drum Group. Photo, David Cooper

A FEW FESTIVAL PICKS, OCT 30 - NOV 1

FESTIVALOPENINGCEREMONY- Join us!! With les Nelson Kwakaka'wakw Carnegres Elder in Residence, Kat Norris Festival Elder in Residence, Khari Wendell McCielland, lexwst'i:lem Drum Group, Dalannah Gail Bowen, Eva Cho and Wilson Iiang, Strathcona Red Fox Drum Group and more!

Wed Oct 30, 2pm, Carnegie. Free DIWAlIlN THE DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE- A special evening of music and dance from South East Asia in celebration of Light, presented with Diwali in BC. Wed Oct 30, 7pm, Carnegie. Free Sis Ne' Bi-Yiz: MOTHER BEARSPEAKS- Written and performed by Taninli Wright about her remarkable 1,000 km walk across BCto give voice to First Nation children. Firehall Arts Centre, Wed Oct 30, 7:30pm; Friday Noy I, 3pm, Sat Noy 2, 8pm, Sun Noy 3, 3pm. Tickets $20/$15, 604-689-0926 ** UTSZAN - A passionate story about a woman's quest to reclaim her language. Written and performed

by Yvonne Wallace (Lilwat). Firehall Arts Centre, Thurs Oct 31, 7;30pm; Friday Noy 1, 8pm; Sat Noy 2, 3pm. Tickets $20/$15, 604-689-0926

.*

u' Firstcom«

first serve cocnmunity vouchers available at CarnegieFront Desk.

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SRO, a new play by Middle of the Sky (aka Brenda Prince) that tells the story of an Indigenous woman trapped in a DTESSROand her efforts to escape from her circumstances. Presented as part of Home, Homeless and the Cultural In-Between. An Urban Ink Production.

Interurban Gallery, 1 E. Hastings (entrance on Carrall). Thurs Det 31, 6pm. By donation BllllE'S BLUES- Join the DTES's Blues Hall of Fame recipient Dalannah Gail Bowen in a not-to-be-missed concert that pays tribute to legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday. Carnegie Theatre, Fri Nov 1, 1pm. Free MY ART IS MY ACTIVISM - join local legend Sid Chow Tan as he speaks about his activism and presents selected journalism videos from his archives. SUM Gallery, #425 - 268 Keefer, Fri Nov 1, 3pm. Free COMEDY AT CARNEGIE: FUNNY SIDE UP - Laugh your head off with David Granirer and Stand Up for Mental Health, Marlene Swidzinski, Storytelling with Drag Queens, and Merlin.

Carnegie Theatre, Fri Nov 1, 7pm. Free Many more FREEexciting events during the upcoming days of the Festival!

For complete details visit www.heartofthecityfestival.com or pick up the Festival Program Guide at Carnegie Front Desk; Strathcona! Ray-Cam Community Centres; VPLBranches Britannia, Hastings, Mount Pleasant & Strathcona.

Produced by Vancouver Moving Theatre with Carnegie Community Centre & Association of United Ukrainian Canadians, with a host of community partners. Front cover: Louisa Staff, photo David Cooper

BERLIN. 1934. THE LAST NIGHT. THE LAST CABARET Members of a cabaret troupe gather one last time to perform for their friends, some of whom have already gone missing. It is 1934 in Berlin. The Weimar Republic has collapsed, and the world is turning upside down.

Based on 18 rare songs from the Weimar era, this is music cross-connected in a new narrative. Weimar was a period of tremendous experiment and daring, risk and transgression, gender liberation, discovery and allure especially in Berlin. We bring it to life.

And we examine the rise of fascism through the manufacture of chaos and consent, deliberate lying on an unimaginable scale, and the exploitation of race, fear, and gender. The failures of the Weimar Republic may anticipate ours today.

Starring Meaghan Chenosky. Daniel Doerksen. Alen Dominguez. Brian Hirose. Julia Muncs.

Alan Corbishley, stage director. Charles Barber, music director. Joanna Garfinkel, dramaturge. John Webber, light and set design. Roger Parton, music historian, Dr Lauren Faulkner Rossi, historical advisor. Jayson McLean, production manager. Trudy Chalmers, General Manager.

SNEAK PREVIEW Saturday 26 October, The Carnegie Centre 7 - 9pm, with keyboard and community talkback

Concert for the Carnegie Newsletter Thursday, November 14, 2019 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Doors at 6:30 p.m.

St. James Community Square, 3214 West 10th Avenue, in Kitsilano, Vancouver Admission: $25 waged, $5 unwaged ..• Tickets available via Eventbrite or at the door

https://carnegie

newsletter benefit concert.eventbrite.com

The Carnegie Newsletter has been produced by volunteer labour, twice-monthly, for 33 years. The Newsletter serves as an antidote to how the Downtown Eastside is often portrayed in the mainstream media, giving voice to writers who might otherwise be marginalized. Join us for a fun evening of music and community spirit as we raise funds to cover the printing costs for this beloved, and sometimes controversial, publication. Musical offerings will include students from the St. James Music Academy, DTES favourite musician Mike Richter, a soloist from City Opera Vancouver and a variety of other talented guests. Also, there will be prizes and tasty refreshments available. All ages welcome.

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From the Library

The Society

It's the most spookiest time of the year. Leaves are blowing, nights are getting dark and cold. Spectres stalk this land (they'll be gone, or at least a lot less active, after Election Day though). It's possible the ghost of Andrew Carnegie may even haunt the library on Hallowe'en.

We

Live in Today

Capitalism. It breeds in a cesspool thick with dissatisfaction, greed and the unfillable void. It is said by the Man that we should all work hard to earn our worth of living, but within that, the facade of this capitalist world breeds addiction, misery, low sense of self-worth and so many unnecessary things that we as human beings just do not need in the span of our Anyway, to get you in the mood, here's some Hallives. We work so hard for our money, clothes, cars, lowe' eny stuff to read/view /hear. food and housing only for those fascist fucking pigs we call the government to tax us and take a percentZOoooombiiiies. Can't have Hallowe'en without age of our earned keep: They say it is to fix our roads, some brain-eating fun. Feast on Mira Grant's Rise: fund our schools, pay for youth treatment centers, yet The Complete NewsjZesh Collection, an anthology of they still cut funding for schools, treatment centers all her zombie-themed Newsflesh short stories and for youth, outreach programs for people with addicnovellas. tion problems. There's a huge opiate crisis and people It ain't Hallowe'en if you ain't watching a horror are dying. Lives being taken by fentanyl every day, so film. We've got a few lurking on the library shelves. where's that tax money gone to? Why does our govTry The Babadook, from 2014, if you dare. Considernment complain and whine about this crisis but not ered one of the greatest horror films of all time by do anything to fund it? It is us who have been through none other than William Friedkin, the director of The addiction that have to rise up and advocate to raise Exorcist. money to help other addicts stay safe in their active addiction. Why do they keep cutting funds for youth Hallowe'en's also about dressing up, and was there treatment centers when we are the ones that have to any pop star who knew more about a good costume I identity change than David Bowie? We've got three of clean up afitr those who have left it a mess before us?

The capitalists are destroying the minds of youth his classics on the shelves right now: Aladdin Sane through propaganda trying to make us believe that we from '73; Welcome to the Blackout, live from '78, during his 'Berlin' period; and Blackstar, his final al- are supposed to be the way the media and advertising tells us to be. We are the youth of today and the next bum, released two days before he died. few decades are supposed to fix our fucked up world.

Finally, we've got some great fright-filled non-fiction How can we fix something if the solutions are being skulking on our shelves. How about The World of pillaged by corporate greed? Money controls the Lore: Dreadful Places, a collection of terrible tales world and the government controls the money - we about creep;ÂĽlocales around the world, based on autho are slaves to the Man. When are we going to rise up Aaron Mahnke's Lore podcast. and say no more? Let us hope it is not when all huBut wait, before Hallowe'en, there's Waste Reduction manity has been sucked out of this world and our Week, from October 21st to 27th (is it weird that week minds have been completely put in a capitalist trance enslaved by the Man. It is already happening; this starts with the Federal Election?), and we'll be giving needs to stop. away a StoJo disposable cup. Pop into the library and

By Reese Murray enter to win!

Also, if you can, don't forget to vote on Monday, the 21st. Information can be found at elections.ca, or in th library.

Scaaaarrrrry Reading, Randy

Homelessness Action Weeb Housing is the difference Community is the connection October 13-19,2019 Learn more: stophomelessness.ca Happy Birthday Graham Cunningham!

SANDY CAMERON MEMORIAL WRITING CONTEST AWARD CEREMONY Saturday November 2, Ipm - 2:30pm Carnegie Theatre, 401 Main (Free) Sandy Cameron was one ofthe best-loved writers to ever publish work in the Camegie Newsletter. Sandy consistently contributed essays and poetry, sharing stories ofthe low income neighbourhood's 100 year struggle for human rights. This writing contest, now in its fourth year, was established to honour Sandy, to support local writers, and to encourage many neverbefore-published writers to submit their work for publication. This year the contest focuses on poetry and essay-writing. It is an exciting and inspiring event, with many of the award-winning writers reading the work they submitted to the contest. The free twicemonthly Camegie Newsletter is now available online at www.camegienewsletter.org.

Community Resource Fair is on at the Aboriginal Friendship Centre Free eyeglasses, bibe repair, worbshops, cultural sharing-connections Thursday, October 17,19am-3pm 1607 East Hastings

raise shit - a downtown eastside poem of resistance "the myth of the frontier is an invention that rationalizes the violence of gentrification, and displacement" NEILSMITH

"prominent amid the aspects of this story which have caught the imagination are the massacres of innocent peoples - atrocities committed against them and, among other horrific excesses, the ways in which towns, provinces, and whole kingdoms have been entirelv cleared of their native inhabitants" .

BARTOLOME DE LA CASAS, 1542

ICJ

"these pioneers in the gradual gcrurification of the downtown eastside say their hopes for a middle-class lifestyle are undermined by the tenderloin scene down the street" - DOUG WARD J997 there is a planetary resistance brought to the downtown eastside was the word against consequences of globalization by friendly predators words against the power against poor people being driven from such as builders planners architects of money and IU\\' and politics and media land landlords words against a global economic system they have occupied in common the word "hebrew" originally designated and in community for many years bankers and politicians not a racial class but a social class is like violence brought to our and while resistance to and rapidity of of despised drifters and outcasts community global gentrification ~ , who existed on the margins of middle by other predators differs according to specific local eastern cultures by johns and oblivion seekers conditions and those advocates by sensationalizingjoumalists we in the downtown eastside those ancient hebrew prophets said by arrogant evangelizing christians in the poorest and most disabled and ill predators like "the wealthy move the boundaries and community developers and real estate agents the poor have to keep out of the way in canada ! who remind me of no one so much the poor spend the night naked, lacking are part of the resistance which includes as gilbert jordan clothes the zapatisias in chiapas, mexico the serial killer with no covering against the cold the ogoni tribe in nigeria who came down here repeatedly the child of the poor is exacted as and the resistance efforts on behalf of and seduced bribed and bullied ~ecurity and with 10 native women 'from the city comes the groan of the lavalas in haiti into drinking alcohol until they wer the dying the minjung in korea dead and the gasp of the wounded the dalits in india and one woman crying for help the zabaleen in egypt revived after a night with jordan damn those who destroy the huts of the johatsu in japan lhOUgh pronounced dead on arrival the poor and these are names for at st. paul's hospital plundering their homes instead of the lloQP described jordan as building them up the abandoned "a real decent-looking person those who tear the skin from off our the outcasts / very mild-mannered people the garbage people a real gentleman who grind the faces of the poor the homeless poor he looked like a school teacher who join house to house and marginalized people white shirt and tie who add field to field I trusted him" until there is room for no one but them and gentrification has become a centra) 1!and in our situation in the downtown those who turn aside tile way of the characteristic .•

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of what neil smith perceives as "a revengeful and reactionary viciousness against various populations accused of 'stealing' the city from the white upper classes" and this viciousness and violence

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castside

single weapon we wield like the weapon native india.n prophets like the weapon ancient hebrew prophets I used in situations of vicious displacement' and threate~e~ destruction of their I comrnumues

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afflicted

who trample upon the oppressed" and the native prophets of the americas who said "when these times arrive we will leave our homes like dying deer the land will be sold and the people will be moved and many things that we used to have in this landwill be taken from us we have been made to drink of the bitter cup of humiliation they have taken away our lands until we find ourselves fugitives, vagrants and strangers in our own community our existence as a distinct community seems to be drawing to a close our position may be compared to a solitary tree in an open space where all the forest trees around have been prostrated by a furious tornado"

w,e' have become

I

a community of

prophets . in the downtown eastside rebuking the.system and speaking hope and possibility into situations of apparent impossibility

a- first nations man recently told me he had come to the downtown eastside to die he heard the propaganda that this is only a place of death, disease> and despair vt ; and since his li~ had become a hopeless' misery he came here specifically to die but he said since living in the downtown eastside what with the people he has met and the groups he has found he now wants very much to live and his words go directly to the heart of what makes for real community a new life out of apparent death and this is what we speak and live, with our words our weapons

our words like bolts of lightning in a dark night lighting our way our words like tears like rain like cries like hail from our hearts feeling with each other in our suffering for each other our words angry as thunder exploding in the ears of those who would ignore or dismiss or inflict upon us what they in their ignorance think is best for us our words defiant as streetkids in a cop's face our words brilliant and beautiful as the rainbow J saw spanning our streets our words of resistance and comfort and commitment

linda and john and lorraine and joanne andjudy and alJison and sharon and deb and marg and dan and jean and .• don and libby and carol and Iou and davle and mo barb and ellen ' and sandy and tom and luke and gary and travis and bruce and paul and deidre and jirn and lisa and so many others

like mountains our words prophetic on behalf of the hard-pressed poor our words buttons t-shirts fliers inserts newsletters pamphlets posters spraypaint slogans stickers placards speeches interviews essays poetry songs letters chalks paints graffiti

still our words and our presence create ,; a strange and profound and strong unity as in memory of the long hard nerve• wracking battles fur the carnegie centre against the casino for crab park against brad holme for zero displacement bylaws against hotel evictions for poor people living in woodward'S against condominium monstrosities and for our very name" -the downtown" eastside removed from city maps the most stable. community and nei ghbourhood in vancouver suddenlv disappeared ' but recovered through struggle our name reclaimed but the meetings tbe pressure

for as one prophet said "when all is dark the murderer leaves his bed to kill the poor and oppressed" jeff and muggs and eldon and kathleen and frank and maggie and earl and lori and duncan and margaret and mark and sonny and ken and fred and I sheila and Liz land tora and terri and ian and chris and j bob and leigh I and jen and shawn and darren and \ sarah and irene and cathy and ann and lorelie and nick and

I

I

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our words and our presence create a strange and profound unity outraged at each other disappointing each other misinterpreting each other reacting against each other resenting each other unhealed wounds dividing us when to be about unity is to be caught in a crossfire of conflicting ambitions undcrstandings perspecti yes

the downtown eastside community besieged and beleaguered strung-out and dissipated running Oil constant low-grade b out fever

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!

meetings and meetings and meetings words and courage and love and hope love as in our public celebrations and unity a dozen fronts to fight at the same time love as in our public grieving deal with one and a dozen more appear if only we had love going past fatigue again another dehumanizing media story the means for self-determination love taking risks in the face of instead or a new condo threat . uncertainty a hundred needs crying out all at once love as stubbornness sticking to "the real estate cowboys ... also a hundred individuals with emergencies community principles enlisted the cavalry of crying for a response love as willingness to go one more city government for '.. reclaiming the sirens and sirens and sirens length land and quelling construction noise 'to make one more leaflet the natives, in its housing policy, drug automobile mayhem love sitting down together one, more crackdowns, and a disabled population time especially in its parks strategy, the city a poor and ill population love saying hello to hate and fear and devoted its criminalized goodbye efforts not toward providing basic up against globalization love as resistance, tolerance and services and living pressure cooker emotional atmosphere acceptance opportunities for existing residents but excruciating questions and dilemmas love toward routing so much happens so fast for Ihis poor beloved community many of the locals and subsidizing how much compromise? reeling from global upheavals opportunities for how to organize') love real estate development" where [0 fight? taking on the consequences of a syste wrote neil smith about the lower east more sirens and screams and break-ins producing side of new york welfare cuts , more wounded more murders and suicides sounds familiar, literal more damaged more bodies on the sidewalks and in like the day the police showed up on more excluded horseback alleys and parks more refugees space and places for poor people to patrol the 100 block of cast hastings more unemployed and never-to-beshrinking horses on the sidewalk employed and the ambiguities of advocacy where some of the most ill and suffering and love's the rumours • human beings immense capacity to care the well-founded paranoias most drugged and drunk and and love as courage the political manipulations staggering human beings like the other day near main and exploitarions confusions deliberate slipped and stumbled through the huge hastings obfuscations ' horse turds an old white man headed across and seduction of the gentrification left laying on the sidewalk hastings system I remember attending a kind of in the middle of the block the back room deals somewhere else gentrification summit in office towers and government office. traffic roared and blasted in both called by a vancouver city planner directions meetings and more meetings to examine the city's victory square the man was using a cane and moving and yet redevelopment plan very slowly beneath the ostensible reason david Icy, jeff sornrners, nick blornley his eyes fixed somewhere beyond for attending another goddamned and chris olds it sure looked like he'd never make it meeting reached a similar conclusion but would become is that which truly holds us together the plan does nothing to prevent another vehicular maiming Or death holds and has held every real displacement and gentrification down here community together but when recently reminded of this and then a native fellow verdict love waiting at the bus slop the city planner still pushing his plan like a matador dodging furious bulls not as passive abstraction or a • said dodged into the traffic commodity privatized "I don't care if god and david ley ... " and stopped it but love using his body as a shield as fiery personal and collective social and that's just it and escorted the old white man justice passion the necessity for heeding safely to the curb the prophetic blast and rallying cry

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delivered by Iarry campbell now the provincial coroner in the carnegie centre last summer

against itself against panhandlers

"raise shit," he said

raise shit when a city planner in with the convention centre seam says "the voters of vancouver can easily live with 20 to 25,000 homeless people and not even notice"

raise shit against the kind of "urban cleansing" gentrification unleashes it's a war against the poorest of the poor 1,000 overdose deaths in the downtown eastside in 4 years highest rate and number of suicides in vancouver lowest life expectancy for both men and women fatal epidemics of aids and hepatitis c and lack of humane housing identified as a. major factor in all this violence against us

and prostitutes

and when I think of raising shit I think of this basketball team I once played on composed of middle-aged beat-up alcoholics and addicts from the streets who'd been sober for awhile and we entered a city recreational league against teams that were younger, stronger, faster, healthier and raise shit when a friend of 111 ine, a gay native more skilled man, tells me and though we lost most games by a "I'll try anything to get a decent home large margin I'm gonna become a mental case we determined that I'll even go into an institution if it'll no matter what the score help me each hotshot team we played would know get a decent home" by their fatigue and sweat and bruises raise shit that they had been in a game ' when both young people and hard core that they were up against an opponent addicts we knew we couldn't out jump or either deliberately infect themselves outrun those teams with hiv or but we sure could raise shit take no precautions to prevent infection: better than they could so that they and amazingly we actually won a few have a better chance at games' obtaining Jwusing, in..l0me, health care to raise shit is to actively resist and meals and we resist with our presence raise shit with our words when a city cop in a newspaper column with our love says with our courage "the locals were at their best fighting we resist and howling" and calls drug addicts "vampires" person by 'person square foot by square foot raise shit room by room when an extremely influential north building by building american block by block theoretician of displacement, george kelling we resist is brought to vancouver because we are a community by the business people and the police of prophets, of activists, of advocates, to define and divide our community of volunteers, and agency workers

and we, you and I, us are all that stands between the unique vulnerable troubled lifegiving and deathattacked community of the downtown eastside we are all that stands between our vast community and those who would gentrify and displace and replace it replace with greed the singular leadership we have here where it is said we lack a single dynamic individual leader but we have the most powerful leader there is the most effective leader we can have in this grave situation our community our community itself has emerged as our leader the downtown eastside community itself leads us and it is to our credit that this is so for it is from our prophetic, courageous, conflictual and loving unity that our community raises shit and resists BUDOSBORN 2001

Raise Shit - Social Action Saving Lives is the story of the years-long struggle to open Insite, an accepted & 'legal' Safe Injection facility -the first on the North American continent. The book's authors are Susan Boyd, Donald MacPherson and Bud.

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EGIE COMMUNITV

PRO] October

2019

Carnegie Action Project Present Workshops on Human Rights! Join Us!

Protests, Poverty, and People: A Series of Legal Education Workshops for the DTES Written By: Danelle Ortiz Are you experiencing homelessness and want to know what your rights are in a public space?

2. Promote social awareness of legal rights to people with legal needs 3. Support people who are vulnerable to criminalization or who have experienced criminalization by informing them of their rights

4. Inform Indigenous people of their specific Do you identify as Indigenous and want to learn human rights, in response to policing and crimimore about your specific human rights under nalization that specifically target Indigenous the Canadian charter? people in the DTES Do you live in an SRO or modular home and want to know your tenant rights?

Do you attend protests and want to know what to do if you are detained and arrested?

5. To promote and facilitate accessible engagement with the law, and to facilitate connections between individuals in the DTES and individuals who work in law institutions

Although these workshops are tailored towards the experiences of people living in the DTES, participation is open to any person who experiences criminalization and barriers to basic legal Do you experience criminalization and discrimi- education, as well as people who simply want nation as a drug or illicit alcohol user? As a perto be informed of their basic rights in a variety son with mental health issues? As a poor perof contexts. son? As a person with disabilities?

Do you experience police harassment in the form of "carding" and street checks?

The Carnegie Community Action Project (CCAP), with the generous support of the Law Foundation of BC, is holding a series of FREE know-your-rights workshops for Downtown Eastside community members from October to February. These workshops will feature presentations by legal professionals with experience in various areas, as well as the opportunity for discussions on the DTES community's experiences with criminalization and policing.

The DTES is a heavily policed area with highly criminalized residents. The resources spent on policing in the DTES and Vancouver in general must be met with more access to legal support and education. These workshops are intended to: 1. Improve and offer no-barrier access to basic legal education

These workshops are not meant to offer formal legal advice. The'leqal professionals involved in these workshops will only be offering general and basic overviews of one's legal rights and responsibilities. [Say that there will be resources given at end of each workshop for people to contact actual legal counsel?]

Stay tuned to the newsletter and posters ~nthe community about the latest workshop tOPICS! The first workshop will give context to the entire series: the basic and fundamental rights covered under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. These rights include the freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, and freedom of religion. While it is important to know what the Charter legally does (and does not) cover, this workshop is also a space for us to consider and question whether or not these laws really do apply equally to everyone, and what this Charter means in the context of colonialism and unceded territories.

CCAP and Heart of the City Festival Written By: Elli Taylor CCAP and the Heart of the City Festival invite you to an

and slow gentrification in

inspiring and empowering social justice Gentrification tour with Indigenous Tour Guide Herb Varley.

the DTES. Followed by a

CCAP and Herb Varley have received a lot of positive

Justice" featuring housing

discussion on "Housing

feedback about the tours. It seems the interest is really activists including City increasing and word-of-mouth as well as social media is Councilor Jean Swanson. assisting in the growing popularity of the tours.

Refreshments provided.

The first to show up (tour size limited to 20), are invited on the Gentrification Tour starting at 2pm outside of the Carnegie Community Centre. The tour will end up back

Walking Tour

at the Carnegie for refreshments and then the filming of

Gentrification Tour, with

the documentary, V6A.

Herb Varley

Film & Panel V6A

Saturday November 9, 11am (approx. 60 minutes)

Saturday November 9, 1pm

Meet on front steps of Carnegie, 401 Main

Carnegie Theatre, 401 Main Free

$10/no charge for local residents The Carnegie Community Action Project has devel-

Join us for a screening of documentary V6A (2019,

oped an ethical Gentrification tour which helps local

67 min) directed by Ruggero Romano, followed by

area residents, and builds a strong sense of our

a panel on housing justice. Romano has called

community and the challenges it faces. Walk the

Vancouver home since 2016 and, witnessing the

local area of Main and East Hastings to learn about

struggle of homelessness, poverty and addiction,

the history of the Downtown Eastside. You can gain

was moved to make a film about our home community, commonly known as the Downtown

a deeper understanding of the complexity of issues that play out in the community, including SRO ho-

Eastside. V6A is an unexpected celebration of the

tels, homelessness, tent cities, and more. To book

resilience and beauty of the human spirit that ex-

a tour for your organization, contact CCAP, 605-

plores human nature in its fight against the tough-

665-2105 or info@carnegieaction.org.

est, often human-made odds. Presented by the Carnegie Community Action Project, which works

concludes in the Carnegie Theatre for questions and hot beverages. Limited room on the tour, first come first served.

to increase welfare rates, improve social housing,

•

The walk

CCAP's Systemic Poverty Workshop

rior to another. The concept that certain traits

Written By: EIIi Taylor

are only specific to certain genders and cannot apply to the other gender/so Racism and sex-

Just last month CCAP Assistant Elli Taylor and

ism and trans/homophobia

are examples of

Erica Grant hosted a workshop create by Elli

when all these factors meet to create even

Taylor and delivered by both! It was awesome

more hardship for anyone other then identifi-

to see 20 women who admitted they were from

ably white men.

extremely privileged backgrounds as they learned about factors of systemic poverty, and

Also from the same workshop:

about how that was no mistake.

Here is some of the content of the workshop:

"While utilizing racism, people can profit off the work of others and it contributes to the "man".

DEFINITIONS:

This means children of colour are seen more as workers then slaves. This means that we

Racism:

still employ people of colour as laborer's in-

The purposeful oppression of people

who are darker skin-toned then others. This is

stead of professionals.

pervasive all over cultures. The lighter the

hold positions of power and reap the "benefits'

This means white men

skin, the more the privilege, the darker the skin, of the oppression of others. Females who are the more the likelihood of violence happening

of colour or are trans people are often the most

to you. This because especially apparent in

used and disposed and degraded people.

our work as activists and happens the most to people who are queer people of colour.

While utilizing sexism, men can see women as • vehicles, of their pleasure and their offspring, solely. Women, especially women of colour,

Intersectional: when someone is a person

are often under paid as professionals. There

who is queer and of colour. My friends who are still exists quite the gap. trans women of colour are beaten and killed in North America more then any other group.

While utilizing trans people of colour, the system can say it is inclusive, while beating and

Privilege: privilege is when people who are killing these same people and not even allowlighter skin-toned don't' recognize racism as an ing them to use the same bathrooms. issue just because they are not effected by it.

The workshops were powerful and the particiFor example, I may think a security guard is

pants invited us back as well as offered possi-

helpful but Erica may be harassed by the same

ble leads for feeding people at Oppenheimer

security guard. What does that mean? Ques-

Park. It is always great to work together and

tions and comments 5 minutes.

this workshop was developed for the BCGEU by us. We will be definitely working on future

Sexism: The ideology that one gender is supe-

projects together and in unison.

Federal Election Written By: EIIi Taylor It rings true that we need to collaborate to make safe supply, safe injection sites, and ending the war on drugs priorities to increasing the well-being of people living in the DTES. Every day we struggle while losing loved ones to the opioid epidemic as well as to the homelessness crisis we face. As Global states in their article which can be found at: https:!/ globalnews.ca/news/5987762/canada-election -dtes-opioid-crisis/

"Between the start of

January 2016 and the end of March 2019, more than 12,800 people in Canada died of apparent

opioid causes, according

Health Canada".

to

That is the size of a small

town and so is our homelessness

at the

rate of over 3,000 people unhoused Metro Vancouver City of Vancouver's

in

as of the most recent homelessness

count.

From the same article it was clear there are no plans for a safe supply model, and that is an issue we need to organize

on.

Canada needs a new national housing program

bedrooms for the family size or requires more

When it still existed, Canada's housing pro-

gled what is referred to as a "national housing

gram built 20,000 new units of affordable and social housing a year. Some of the housing,

strategy" in front of us, promising a multibillion -dollar 1O-year plan to help reduce homeless-

often little bungalows still standing today, is

ness and lift 530,000 people from housing

than one-third of before tax household income Excerpt from Globe and Mail, October 3, by to be spent on rent.

Cathy Crowe In 2017, the current federal government dan-

referred to as "wartime housing" because of its need. At the time, housing expert and University of Toronto professor David Hulchanski origin. Other types of rental housing included public housing, seniors' apartments, student

pointed out the strategy was "a random and

housing, co-operative housing and supportive

confusing set of spending initiatives, all involv-

housing for people with mental-health or de-

ing billions of dollars, most starting after the

velopmental-health

next election." Recently, Parliamentary Budget

issues. That was when the

term "affordable" actually meant spending not more than one-third of your income on rent. If

Officer Yves Giroux, released a report that

that program had been sustained at the same level, we would have built 520,000 additional

dollars than promised in the national housing strategy were actually spent. He stated: "It is

homes.

not clear that the National Housing Strategy

I personally benefited from this program be-

will reduce the prevalence of housing need

cause I was able to obtain an apartment in

relative to 20~ 7 levels."

affordable co-op housing that had just been

Veterans and their supporters were aspiration-

built with national housing program support. I

al and won a legacy national program. Ifthere

was a single mom, returning to school to get

is one thing I've learned, it's that once you

my nursing degree. The universal system

lose a program, it is hard to get it back. Can

raised many red flags, including that fewer

worked, just as it would with medicare should I we be aspirational this election? The obvious solution is a return to a national housing proneed surgery. It should be there for all in need.

gram. That means universal availability to af-

Today, in Canada, a staggering 235,000 peo-

fordable and accessible housing in the same ple are homeless; thousands are without even fashion as we now expect in our beloved medbasic emergency shelter, and there is no right- icare.

to-shelter legislation across the country. Our

It's always best to listen to the kids. In the

social housing that was built under the original program is in great disrepair and wait lists are

Home Safe film series that I co-produced with filmmaker Laura Sky, a young boy who had

long. Approximately

been homeless asked: "I'm wondering exactly

1.7 million people are in

"core housing need," a term that refers to

how the government is going to solve this, or

housing that might be in a serious state of dis-

whether it's going to help at all?" Many of us

repair, does not have a suitable number of

feel the same way now.

City Hall: Dueling Motions Written By: Elli Taylor Jean Swanson, City Councilor recently put up Motion B4 that would have included some form of housing for people in Oppenheimer Park.

Motion B4 came at the right time, after the Parks Board passed its motion to collaboratively and voluntarily decamp Oppenheimer.

However, motion B4 was struck down when the Mayor claimed it was out of order, while Jean still waits for a written explanation of why that was.

At the same time, some green Councilors had proposed their motion for decampment called Motion B9. Motion B9 has major flaws, like an increase in VPD and the use of car 87 and now, car 88. Also, it mentioned decampment several times, which worried activists and people effected by these issues. Here is motion B9 for you to look at: MOTION ON NOTICE 9. A Collaborative and New Approach to Oppenheimer Park and Other Public Spaces Submitted

by: Councilors Wiebe & Dominato

WHEREAS 1. Vancouver is experiencing unprecedented housing and mental health and addiction issues; 2. In recent years, we have seen regular annual encampments in parks and sites across the city, including Oppenheimer Park; 3. There are a significant number of persons currently living on the city's streets, or out of their cars, due to the shortage of appropriately affordable housing who simply require access to shower and washroom facilities to support them on their path to permanent housing and employment; 4. All levels of government need to work together to address the systemic factors that prevent people from accessing safe, secure housing and basic health care, along with appropriate mental health and addiction services.

THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED

A. THAT Council request that the Mayor write a follow up letter to the Park Board, on behalf of Council, expressing Council's collective hope that the current impasse at Oppenheimer Park, and the various health and safety issues evident in the park at the present time, can be resolved swiftly and respectfully for all concerned, with an expression of support and encouragement for the Park Board to take all reasonable steps within its jurisdictional powers and work collaboratively with the City to facilitate the decampment of those currently living in the park.

B. THAT Council direct staff to develop an urgent, collaborative decampment plan to go to the Vancouver Park Board for approval with the goal of restoring the park for broad public use, including the expansion of the positive activations program.

C. THAT the City, in partnership with key partners, create a dedicated, coordinated cross-jurisdictional Homeless Outreach Services Team (HOST) that serves to connect unsheltered and sheltered people to appropriate housing, health and support services.

D. THAT Council, for its part, direct staff to seek urgent operating funding from the Province of British Columbia for the establishment of a low barrier shelter in the city that can suitably address the specific needs of those currently encamped in Oppenheimer Park and provide them with an alternative to the park in order to facilitate decamping the park.

E. THAT the City and the Park Board explore opportunities to collaborate, and potentially expand upon, the initial success of the peer-based Park Stewardship pilot program with the aim to provide access to daily showers and washrooms at specific field houses in city parks for those in need of this specific form of support, with the facilities to be kept clean and supervised by peer stewards.

FURTHER THAT the City and Park Board explore options for identified needed services, such as a community kitchen, additional accessible laundry and drying facilities, and 24-hour sanitation facilities with running water.

F. THAT the City commit to supporting and seeking funding from the Provincial and Federal governments to increase vital wraparound services (mental health, addiction treatment, social assistance etc.) in the next provincial budget cycle.

The Carnegie Community Action Project is a project of the board of the Carnegie Community Centre Association.

CCAP works mostly on housing, income, and land use . issues in the Downtown Eastside (DTES), so that the area can remain a low income friendly community.

CCAP works with English-speaking and Chinese-speaking DTES residents in speaking out on their own behalf for the changes they would like to see in their neighbourhood.

Join us on Fridays 11:15 am in classroom 2 on the third floor of the Carnegie Centre for our weekly volunteer

Join the

Carnegie Community Actlon Project

meetings!

Downtown Eastside residents who want to work on getting better housing and incomes and stop gentrification are welcome to attend. Lunch is provided.

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CONCERN GROUP

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CONTACT US: Office: 2nd floor of the Carnegie.

401 Main Street. Vancouver Phone: 604-665-2105 Email: info@carnegieaction.org Website: www.carneqleactlon.orq

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Thank you to Vancity for supporting CCAP'swork. Support for this project does not necessarily imply that funders endorse the findings or contents of this report.

Word Vancouver Festival Carnegie Newsletter & Library Fun day at Word Vancouver. Patrons attracted to Table by a colorful display of our Community Centre's Newsletter, DTES Services Brochures, and a Bat Signal projectable against different levels of our Archival pho 0 of The Carnegie Centre Building. Paul and Lisa engaged patrons about services offered in the Centre. Children and adults rescued letters that came out of the Bat Cage (Bingo Cagematch Bingo Ball Number to Letter of the Alphabet to be rescued - ie. Bingo Ball #5 =? If patron figured out it was the Letter "E", they won a Bat Signal Journal Book as Prize. ) Others rescued letters trapped in the Bat Cave System. ie. "P" + "E" + "N" = PEN. A Bat Signal Journal Book was rewarded to each rescuer of letters or words. A Rescue Log was signed by each of 68 participants; 142 people made contact at the table.

Feedback and interesting comments: "I was hungry and struggling when I came into the Community everyone!

It was so comforting

"Yes, my name is in Punjabi.

"I love Batman.

Centre and I found they had a free Turkey dinner for

for me, at that time" Poetry is best in Punjabi"

Let me show you my Bat Butt Underwear"

(which

he proceeded

to show!)

Some Indigenous Communities Have a New Way to Fight Climate Change: Give Personhood Rights to Nature A Yurok Tribe resolution allows cases to be brought on behalf of the Klamath River as a person in tribal court.

ANNA V. SMITH .

Four Yurok girls garbed in traditional tribal ceremonial clothing stand before the mouth of the Klamath River.

Will Houston! AP This story was originally published by High Country News This summer, the Yurok Tribe declared rights ofpersonhood for the Klamath River-likely the first to do so for a river in North America. A concept previously restricted to humans (and corporations), "rights of personhood" means, most simply, that an individual or entity has rights, and they're now being extended to nonhumans. The Yurok's resolution, passed by the tribal council in May, comes during another difficult season for the Klamathoover the past few years, low water flows have caused high rates of disease in salmon, and cancelled fishing seasons.

With the declaration, the Yurok Tribe joins other Indigenous communities in a growing Rights of Nature movement aimed at protecting the environment. Last year, the White Earth Band ofOjibwe adopted the Rights of Manoomin to protect wild rice-manoomin-and the freshwater sources it needs to survive in Minnesota.

And in 2017, the New Zealand government adopted the Rights ofthe Whanganui River, stemming from a treaty process with Maori iwis, or tribes, that gives the river its own legal standing in court. "By granting the rights ofpersonhood to the Klamath River, not only does it create laws and legal advocacy routes, but it's also an expression ofYurok values," says Geneva Thompson, associate general counsel for the tribe and citizen of the Cherokee Nation, who worked on the resolution. "The idea is that the laws of a nation are an expression of the nation's values."

The Yurok resolution draws inspiration from the Rights of Manoomin, as well as the United Nations Declara-

tion on the Rights ofIndigenous People, which enshrines the right ofIndigenous people to conserve and protect their lands and resources. Legal personhood provides a different framework for dealing with problems like pollution, drought and climate change, though no case has yet been brought to put the Whanganui, Manoomin or Klamath rights to the test in court. The crucial aspect to establishing these legal frameworks, Indigenous lawyers say, involves shifting relationships and codifying' Indigenous knowledge-in other words, recognizing non -human entities not as resources, but as rights-holders.

In December 2018, the White Earth Band ofOjibwe and the 1855 Treaty Authority, an organization that upholds treaty rights for Chippewa bands, established legal personhood for wild rice. The resolution draws from the Rights of Nature-an international concept that argues that nature should have the same rights as humansand is the first law to recognize legal rights of plant species. The rights spell out that within White Earth and other Chippewa ceded territories, wild rice has "inherent rights to restoration, recovery and preservation," including "the right to pure water and freshwater habitat," the right to a healthy climate and "a natural environment free from human cause global warming." Frank Bibeau, executive director of the 1855 Treaty Authority and a White Earth tribal member, says the rights are an extension ofOjibwe treaty rights both on and off the reservation. And they may soon be put to the test-the proposed crude oil Enbridge Line 3 pipeline, which requires state approval, would cross into off-reservation areas where manoomin and freshwater sources are.

BATTLE OF THE BUCKS .....

BY INGA G.

Nature can teach us that we can lose our spirit battling for the buck but fairness and diplomacy can restore any lost luck.

These two bucks in my painting above - locked antlers in their battle to win trying to impress and enlarge their kin but when they could not unlock - the die was cast now their wondrous lives and immense beauty are a thing of the past.

Years ago, when I looked up at them, now mounted on a wall I promised them, in spirit, that I would tell all through my paintbrush and writings.

Do you want to receive money for an art project? f

\

DTES Small Arts Grants .Applicaticns T':<'

Oct.152019 Artwork by Kem Slog Leung

If you are an emerging artist (an artist that has never received financial support before from a grant, a foundation, or a sponsorship program)

and you are connected to the Downtown Eastside

with an idea for an original art project, this program is for you!

How can this program help me?

We support emerging artists develop their skills and increase the visibility of their artwork with grant awards ranging from $500

- $1000 to individual DTESArtists. Groups may be of 2 to 4 people •

•

Groups may apply up to a maximum of $4,000 for groups of 4 people. With this money, you can buy what you need to take your art to the next level!

When does all this happen?

Applications open Tuesday Od.15

are due by 4:00 PM on Friday, November 22, 2019. If your

application is approved for funding, you will receive your cheque in February 2020.

Interested? Great!

Complete an application! Apply online at www.vancouverfoundationsmallarts.ca. You can also pick up a paper copy from the info desk of the Carnegie Centre.

Information Sessions are happening

at Carnegie Community Centre

• Wednesday Oct.30 2019 6:00pm-7:30pm and • Thursday Nov.14 2019 6:00pm-7:30pm Have questions?

We would love to be in touch with you. Contact the DTESSmall Arts Grants office by phone (604) 665-2213

or email atdtesartsgrants@gmail.com.

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We acknowledge that Carnegie Community Centre, and this News/etter, are occurring on Coast Salish Territory.

THIS NEWSLETIER IS A PUBLICATION OF THE CARNEGIE COMMUNITY CENTRE ASSOCIATION Articles represent the views of individual contributors and not of the Association.

WANTED Artwork for the Carnegie Newsletter -Small illustrations to accompany articles and poetry.

-Cover art - Max size: 17cm(6 %')wide x 15cm(6')high.

-Subject matter pertaining to issues relevant to the Downtown Eastside, but all work considered.

-Black & White printing only.

-Size restrictions apply (i.e. if your piece is too large, it will be reduced and/or cropped to fit).

-All artists will receive credit for their work.

-Originals will be returned to the artist after being copied for publication.

-Remuneration: Carnegie Volunteer Tickets Please make submissions to Paul Taylor, Editor.

The editor can edit for clarity, format & brevity, but not at the expense of the writer's message.

Jenny Kwan MP Vancouver East NDP Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Critic 2572 E Hastings St Vancouver, BCV5K IZ3 T: 604-775-5800 F: 604-775-5811

Next issue: SUBMISSION DEADLINE

Noon, TUESDAY OCTOBER 29 WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION

401 Main Street, Vancouver V6A 2T7 604-665-2289 Website carnegienewsletter.org Catalogue carnnews@vcn.bc.ca email carnnews@shaw.ca

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AIDS

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POVERTY

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HOMELESSNESS

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VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

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TOTALITARIAN CAPITALISM

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IGNORANCE and SUSTAINED FEAR

~~~DONATIONS 2019 In memory of Bud Osborn $5 Drew Craig H.-$500 Barry M.-$250 Laurie R.-$100 In memory of those who passed in 2018 -$10 Elaine V.-$100 Glenn B.-$500 Barbara L -$50 Laila B.-$100 Michele C-$100 Michael C-$100.Douglas Z.-$10 Penny G.-$50 Tom H.$80 Farmer Family Foundation Anonymous -$1000 Jacqueline G.-$1000

V'",O"'"

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