Release Dr. GN Saibaba Immediately and Unconditionally!

Release Dr. GN Saibaba Immediately and Unconditionally!

Statement of the Alliance for Peoples Health 

http://aphvan.wordpress.com/

 

The Alliance for Peoples Health, a grassroots organization of progressive health workers, condemns the assault and abduction of Dr. Saibaba by Indian state police on May 9th, and call for his immediate and unconditional release.

 

Dr. Saibaba is a professor at Delhi University and is known for his outstanding work in solidarity with movements of the most oppressed sectors of Indian society: Dalit people, Adivasi people, women, and the poor, all of  whom have faced intensified oppression and exploitation under Indian capitalism.  

 

Despite its democratic and public character, Dr. Saibaba’s organization, the Revolutionary Democratic Front has been targeted violently by Indian police, military and paramilitary forces.  This tagging of activists as ‘maoist’, justifying violent repression, has become a major tactic of the Indian state in its attempt to silence, marginalize and liquidate those who organize and struggle for social, economic and environmental justice. 

 

As health activists we are very concerned about Dr. Saibaba’s health and well being while in detention.  As health workers who choose to side with the excluded, the exploited and the oppressed we add our voice to many others around the world who are calling for Dr. Saibaba’s immediate and unconditional release!   

 

Alliance for Peoples Health

Vancouver – Unceded Coast Salish Territories, Canada

May 13, 2014

Join the OC at Crafts for a Cause

The Organizing Centre will selling OC merchandise while attending this year’s Crafts For A Cause!

Crafts for a Cause: 4th Annual Craft Fair to Support Social Justice Struggles
Saturday December 3rd, 6-10pm
Rhizome Café, 317 East Broadway, Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories

Come shop for holiday gifts while supporting migrant rights, youth empowerment, Indigenous autonomy and more! Peruse socially conscious crafts by local artists, and items created by local organizations to support their social justice work. Food and drink will be available for purchase throughout the evening.  Participating artists and organizations include:

No One is Illegal: noii-van.resist.ca/
The Purple Thistle: http://www.purplethistle.ca/
Redwire Native Youth Media: http://www.redwiremag.com/
The Organizing Centre for Social and Economic Justice: https://organizingcentre.wordpress.com
Environmental Youth Alliance: http://www.eya.ca
Downtown Eastside Studio Society: http://studiosociety.ca/
Just Work Potters: http://www.justwork.ca/justpotters.html
Kalayaan Centre: http://www.kalayaancentre.net/

Plus:
Fair Trade Coffee from Cafe Justicia: cafejusticia.ca/
la mano ethical textiles: http://www.lamano.ca/
Prints by Favianna Rodriguez: favianna.com/
Rhizome Cafe T-Shirts and Buttons
Sam Bradd Designs: sambradd.com/
fierce green creations: etsy.com/shop/fiercegreen
Cease Wyss
Just Jingo Body Botanicals: http://justjingo.com/Just_Jingo/just_jingo_body_botanicals.html

Partial proceeds from artists’ sales are distributed to participating organizations.
$2 suggested donation at the door, but no one turned away
http://crafts4acause.wordpress.com; http://www.rhizomecafé.ca

Health, Human Rights, and the Struggle for Justice in the Philippines

Saturday November 26th
3:00 p.m.
St. Micheal’s Anglican Church
409 East Broadway

By Donation, no donation is too small!  Donations of toothbrushes, dental floss, soap, note books, pens, pencils, crayons, and new or gently used infant and children’s toys gratefully accepted!

The exploitation of the Philippines, integrated into the world economy 400 years ago as a colonized and oppressed nation, continues today; millions of Filipino workers travel abroad as the cheap labour force for developed nations and transnational corporations continue to plunder the country for its mineral and natural resources. The national government, beholden to the interests of foreign capital, wages a ruthless counter-insurgency against the widespread opposition to its policies of trade liberalization, privatization and deregulation.  Yet in local communities across the Philippines people are organized into a powerful movement for health, human rights and liberation. A key component of this struggle is the community health workers, who struggle against great odds to meet the immediate health needs of their communities while joining the broader movement struggle to tackle the underlying structural determinants of health.

Join us on November 26th at 3:00 p.m. to hear the first-hand experiences of three local health workers who traveled to the Philippines with the Alliance for People’s Health to provide solidarity and support to the progressive health sector and to learn from the liberation movement.

Brought to you by the Alliance for People’s Health and the Canada-Philippines Solidarity for Human Rights

For more information, call/text: 604 315 8766

Health worker blogs:
http://thistinyglobe.wordpress.com/
http://healthandsolidarity.tumblr.com/

—
Alliance for People’s Health
allianceforpeopleshealth@gmail.com
604-215-2775
672 E Broadway
Vancouver, BC V5T 1X6

http://aphvan.wordpress.com/
http://smilewithdignity.wordpress.com/

Capitalism is Scary! An Organizing Centre Party & Fundraiser

Heritage Hall (3102 Main Street) – Doors Open at 6pm * Dinner at 7:00pm * Live music starts at 8:30pm

Do privatization and corporate bail-outs make your hair stand on end? Do you think Stephen Harper is spooky? Join us on the evening of Sunday, October 30th and enjoy an excellent Moroccan style dinner, followed by live (and lively!) local music. Costumes are encouraged!

This is also a chance to support the Organizing Centre for Social and Economic Justice as we come up to our fifth anniversary at our Broadway and Main location. We can hardly believe it’s been that long, but we did the math and it’s true! That’s five years of building local grassroots working class movement and international solidarity. Please come celebrate with us and help make our next five years possible!

This is an accessible space (front door is street level with no stairs and is large enough to allow a wheelchair, and the bathroom is wheelchair accessible).

The Organizing Centre is home to the Alliance for People’s Health, the Food Action Collective, Workers Across Borders, and People’s Health Radio. You can find out more at https://organizingcentre.wordpress.com/

Tickets:
* $25 Single Ticket (kids under twelve eat free)
* $40 Sponsor (one ticket and your name in program)
Solidarity sponsorship is available at $320 and includes reserved table (8 seats), name on table and name in program.

Please contact Jen at organizingcentre@gmail.com or call 604-566-4745 to purchase tickets. Tickets must be purchased in advance; we will not be selling tickets at the door.

Volunteers:
We love volunteers! We are in fact a volunteer-run centre. If you are interested in helping out at the fundraiser we would love to hear from you. Please email Jen at organizingcentre@gmail.com

Mother’s Liberation: Examining Care-Giving under Capitalism

In recognition of the anti-imperialist pro-people history of Mother’s Day, People’s Health Radio joins moms in East Van and around the world as we reclaim this day as one of resistance against imperialist war and women’s oppression and exploitation.  PHR examines the health, social, and economic conditions of mothers, providing the unpaid care giving that allows public dollars to be diverted to privatization projects, imperialist occupation, and wars of aggression. 

Mother’s Liberation dreams of how mothers might be liberated from the isolating and at times grueling unpaid work of care giving under capitalism.

Featuring:

• Valcina Cos, single mom, member of the Breakthrough Mamas
• Suzanne Baustad, single mom, anti-poverty organizer, and founding member of Grassroots Women
• Sophia Roberts, a high-school student, reading a Grassroots Women Mother’s Day statement
• And speeches from the 2011 Mothers on the Move Mother’s Liberation Rally!

People’s Health Radio
Broadcast live on Co-op Radio CFRO 102.7 – Wednesday May 11 – 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
Download our podcast after the show broadcasts at:
http://peopleshealthradio.wordpress.com/

Updates on the SUNversion RUN!

Trainings are still going strong at Trout Lake on Sundays at 9am. If you haven’t made it out yet, don’t be shy! There are people training at all different speeds.

Silkscreen SUNversion t-shirts on Sunday March 27 at 11am at the OC. We will print enough for everyone registered (t-shirts are included in the minimum registration fee of $40), plus some to sell. We will provide the t-shirts and paint, but feel free to bring an extra shirt, hoodie etc to print.

SUNversion Brunch on Sunday April 10 at 11am at the OC. Come have some tasty brunch, hand in your pledges, and get oriented to the SUNversion route.

NOW IS THE TIME TO BE COLLECTING PLEDGES! Our goal is to raise at least $3,000. Minimum pledge donation is $40, but aim higher! All the money goes to supporting the community work at the Organizing Centre for Social and Economic Justice.

If you have any questions or want to get a pledge sheet, email Beth at beth.grayer@gmail.com.

Walk or run the distance – we’re in the race for a future built on justice and solidarity not corporate charity!

SUNversion Run – 8 more weeks to go!

The SUNversion Run is only 8 weeks away!

It’s not too late to sign up for our weekly training sessions. All trainings are happening at Trout Lake at 9am on Sunday mornings. Meet at the concession stand by the playground. If you come late, you can catch us on our next loop around the lake.

Just want to run on April 17? Don’t need to train? Email beth.grayer@gmail.com for a pledge sheet and to register. Minimum registration is $40 – you can pay it yourself or collect it in pledges. This is a fundraiser for the Organizing Centre for Social and Economic Justice and all the funds go to support our work in the community. (Remember, this fee will not register you in the corporate sun run.)

For more details go to https://organizingcentre.wordpress.com/. If you have any questions email beth.grayer@gmail.com.

We’re in the race for a better future!

Cinema Sundays for Social Justice

Documentaries to fuel the mind and stoke the spirit!

Movies at 1:00 PM followed by discussion @ the Organizing Centre for Social and Economic Justice.

By donation – popcorn available – kids welcome!
For more information:  604 215 2775

Sunday March 6:  Spirit of the Struggle
FIERCE LIGHT: WHERE SPIRIT MEETS ACTION… “Fuelled by the belief that “another world is possible,” Fierce Light is a compelling, global journey into the world of spirit in  action, an exploration of what Martin Luther King called “Love in Action,” and Gandhi called “Soul Force”; what Ripper is calling “Fierce Light.”

Sunday April 3: Sunday de-Skool
SCHOOLING THE WORLD: THE WHITE MAN’S LAST BURDEN… “takes a challenging, sometimes funny, ultimately deeply troubling look at the role played by modern education in the destruction of the world’s last sustainable indigenous cultures… it questions our very definitions of wealth and poverty – and of knowledge and ignorance.”

Sunday May 8: Social Medicine
HEALTH FOR SALE… “asks: are the world’s largest drug companies, paradoxically,       major obstacles to making a healthier world? World health is too precious to be treated as just another commodity. Health for Sale calls into question whether global markets and       corporations can be trusted to serve the interests of a majority of the earth’s population.”

Sunday June 5:  Feeding Mind and Body
Travel to the streets of Los Angeles, where FOOD NOT LAWNS combats the lack of healthy, affordable food and growing hunger in urban working class communities of colour.  Then to West Oakland, where THE PEOPLE’S GROCERY “works toward creating a food system that prioritizes the needs of the urban poor.” Finally, to Cuba, where SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE … “creates the largest program in sustainable agriculture ever undertaken.”

Announcing the Mount Pleasant Food Justice Project!

For most families, when money is tight the food budget is squeezed. We buy cheaper, less nutritious food and rely on what we can get from charities which often does not meet our nutritional, social or cultural needs.

At the Food Action Collective we think that making sure that everyone can get enough fresh, healthy food should be a top priority of our society.  Does it make sense to you that banks and corporations  post billion dollar profits while some people can’t even get enough to eat? It doesn’t to us.  That’s why we are starting the Mount Pleasant Food Justice Campaign. If you live or work in Mount Pleasant, or use a service in this area, and you care about food justice, get involved in the campaign!

Join the SunVersion Run!

Join the SUNversion Run!

 

sunversion (suhnˈvɜːʃən): the act  of subverting or overthrowing the corporate Sun Run.

On April 17^th the Organizing Centre for Social and Economic Justice will form a SUNversive brigade within the corporate Sun Run and pound the pavement to raise funds for our ongoing work in the community. Register and collect pledges (minimum $40) with the Organizing Centre to receive a SUNversion Run T-shirt, weekly training sessions, and a place in the OCSEJ run. SUNversive runners will meet at an alternate starting point and join the Sun Run a few blocks in. We will finish at Science World where you will receive your time for exactly 10km.

NOTE: You will NOT be registered with the official Sun Run and your time will NOT appear in the newspaper. You WILL be part of building social and economic justice and your time WILL appear on the OCSEJ website.

NEW THIS YEAR: Join us every Sunday morning until the run for strength training with trainer David Hendry. Meet at the Organizing Centre for Social and Economic Justice (672 E. Broadway) at 9am. First training is January 30^th.

To register and to receive a pledge form, email your name, phone number and address to organizingcentre@gmail.com or phone 604-215-2775.

Walk or run the distance -we’re in the race for a future built on justice and solidarity not corporate charity!