Monday, September 5, 2011

DARC Fall workshops

Decolonizing Gender and Sexuality - Wednesday, September 21, 4-6pm at Confederation Park (George St. N., across from City Hall)

Join us for a discussion on re-centering Indigenous and anti-colonial ways of approaching gender and sexuality, and unpacking Western constructions and their consequences.

This event is part of Peterborough Pride! For more information, please visit peterboroughpride.ca


Decolonizing Allyship - Friday, September 23 from 3-4pm on the lawn at Sadlier House (751 George St. N.)

Oftentimes we are confronted with the idea of being an “ally” when we aim to work with communities that are not our own. Some communities have been using the language of “ally” for quite some time, while other communities are questioning whether or not the term applies to them. This discussion places self-determination and decolonization at the centre, and asks participants what allyship with Indigenous peoples could look like when honouring these frameworks.

Hosted by Community and Race Relations Committee (CRRC) in partnership with Decolonization & Anti-Racism Circle (DARC) for DisOrientation Week

For more information on DisO events, please visit
centreforgenderandsocialju
stice.ca/diso

Sunday, July 31, 2011

UPDATE: Coming to the Circle

DARC is back! ...Well we never really left. But we have circled in a good way, and we've got a new look!

Here's a a few of the events we've organized or participated in over the last couple years:

-POC GenderTalk at Bodies of Dissent: Transform (March 2010)
-Decolonizing Anarchism discussion circle & screening of AfroPunk at A-Fest (August 2010)
-Decolonization and Anti-Violence discussion circle at METRAC's Thrive Women's Voices Rising! Forum on Violence (December 2010)
-Screening of the Watermelon Woman for Black History Month (February 2010)
-"Responding to Institutionalized Racism: Self-determination in Education" Arthur Student and Community Newspaper
http://trentarthur.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2369%3Aequity-is-not-about-equal-treatment-its-about-equal-opportunity&catid=17&Itemid=47
-Member of Peterborough Pride's working group looking at Barriers to Participation, and current member of Peterborough Pride's Equity, Diversity & Accessibility Committee

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We've been doing lots of internal work too!

Including our name changing from Decolonization & Anti-Racism Coalition to Decolonization & Anti-Racism Circle to better reflect Indigenous knowledges and organizing principles.
Look out for changes to our Logo, About DARC, Guiding Principles, Basis of Unity and Resource Centre coming soon!

Look out for us at Peterborough Pride and DisOrientation in September!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Ode'min Giizis

Seven Day Multi-disciplinary Aboriginal Arts Festival
June 17 - 24

We invite you to the Ode'min Giizis Festival, a seven-day multi-disciplinary Aboriginal arts festival in Peterborough, Ontario. This year's festival will feature performances by Aboriginal 'trailblazers', Buffy Sainte-Marie, Tomson Highway (Rez Sisters), Elaine Bomberry (Rez Bluez), NYC based a cappella trio Ulali, Keith Secola (NDN Kars), Gary Farmer (Dead Man, Pow Wow Highway) and local shining women musicians Missy Knott (Curve Lake First Nation), Drea Nasager(Peterborough), Sean Conway(Curve Lake First Nation) and Sarah DeCarlo (Peterborough).

Events Schedule:

June 17th-7pm VISUAL ART EXHIBITION: Opening 'Nogojiwanong' featuring regional Native artists curated by WILLIAM KINGFISHER ( at The Art Gallery of Peterborough & showings at Black Honey, Kubo, Blue Tomato, Catalina)

June 17th- 10pm CONCERT GARY FARMER w BROCK STONEFISH & THE BATTLE RIVER BLUES BAND. At the Historic Red Dog Tavern $10.

June 18th-8pm PERFORMANCE & INSTALLATION: 'Rez-Erection' Curated by WANDA NANABUSH. Belle Sauvage, Buffalo Bill & Miss Chief Eagle Testickle Set Up Camp by LORI BLONDEAU and ADRIAN STIMSON. With films by KENT MONKMAN at Artspace (378 Aylmer ST. N)
In partnership with Artspace.

June 18th- 10pm DANCE PARTY DJ madeskimo and Bear Witness, Kubo Lounge (413 George St. N.)

June 19th-8pm CONCERT: Peterborough Native SARAH DECARLO, DREA NASAGER, KEITH SECOLA and THE BAND OF WILD INDIANS. Market Hall (336 George Street N.) $15.

June 20th-8pm CABARET: The Incredible Adventures of Mary Jane Mosquito and Rose. TOMSON HIGHWAY on piano & singer PATTY CANO performing 14 songs from 2 of Mr. Highway's musical plays. Opening act MISSY KNOTT. Market Hall (336 George Street N.) $15.

June 21 GATHERING /POW WOW.
Sunrise Ceremony 7 am @ Del Crary Park.
Community Procession-11am. Meet infront of Peterborough City Hall and travel to Del Crary Park- Look for Toronto's RED PEPPER SPECTACLE ARTS 12-foot puppets! All Welcome to participate.
GRAND ENTRY 1pm. Followed by Pow Wow with story-tellers, drummers, dancers, hoop dancers, smoke dancers, Kehewin Dance Troupe, canoeing, vendors, and a 30 foot performance tipi. (George Street Del Crary Park)

June 22nd-7pm FILM SCREENING: 'Waterlife' Directed by KEVIN McMAHON and featuring JOSEPHINE MANDAMIN. Market Hall (336 George Street N) $10.

June 23-8pm ARTIST TALK: an intimate evening with ELAINE BOMBERRY in conversation with multimedia artist, activist, Academy award winner, singer/songwriter, BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE. Market Hall (336 George Street N) $20.

June 24th-8pm CLOSING CONCERT: BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE with NYC-based acappella trio ULALI In partnership w/ Peterborough Festival of Lights. Del Crary Park.

Tickets can be purchased at Showplace. For further details please refer to publicenergy.ca, or contact Patti Shaughnessy @ 705.745.1788 email. admin@publicenergy.ca.

Friday, May 8, 2009

THE TAXI PROJECT

The community and race relations committee of peterborough (CRRC) is proud to present
THE TAXI PROJECT
a play about exile

When: This Saturday May 9th at 7 pm
Where: Prince of Wales Public School Auditorium, 1211 Monaghan Rd (at Sherbrooke)
FREE
Not recommended for young children

An original play exploring issues of freedom of expression and the complex realities of living in exile, the play follows four characters forced to leave their home countries and the struggle to create a new life in Canada.

Weyni Mengesha (Director) is a Dora nominated director and composer who was born in Vancouver to Ethiopian parents. Her credits include Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin In The Sun (Soulpepper Theatre Company/Theatre Calgary); director/dramaturge of d’bi.young.anitafrika’s Dora award winning play blood.claat (Toronto, Vancouver, MontrĂ©al, New York); director/co-writer for Blink (Soulpepper Theatre Company/Luminato); and director/composer of trey anthony’s hit play da kink in my hair (Toronto, New York, London).

Emma Beltran (Playwright) is a poet from Mexico. Since 1994 she has been involved in the struggle of indigenous peoples, facilitating poetry and popular theatre workshops for women and children throughout Mexico. Beltran was a founding member of the first community radio station in Mexico’s history during the student strike at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in 1999. Exiled in Canada since May 2002, Beltran was an award-winning artist selected for Artscape’s Gibraltar Point International Artist Residency Program in 2005.

Martha Kuwee Kumsa (Playwright) is an Oromo, born and raised in Ethiopia. She worked as a journalist there until being imprisoned early in 1980. She spent 10 years in jail and was released upon the intervention ofPEN and Amnesty International. PEN Canada adopted her as an Honorary Member while she was in prison and helped bring her to Canada after her release. Martha completed her PhD at the Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto. She is Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Social Work at Wilfred Laurier University.

Sheng Xue (Playwright) grew up in Beijing. She moved to Canada soon after the June 4th Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. In 2000 she won the Canadian Association of Journalists Award for Investigative Journalism and the National Magazine Award. In 2001 Sheng Xue investigated China’s most prominent smuggling case and published a book (in Chinese and Japanese), Unveiling the Yuan Hua Case, which soon became a bestseller in Chinese communities outside of China and created shockwaves both inside and outside the country. Sheng Xue is a member of the Editorial Board of June 4 Poetry, a collection of poems commemorating the June 4th Movement.

Goran Simic (Playwright) was born in Bosnia and has published many volumes of poetry, drama and short fiction. His work has been translated into nine languages and published and performed in several European countries. One of the most prominent writers of the former Yugoslavia, Simic and his family were trapped in the siege of Sarajevo. In 1995 they were able to settle in Canada as a result of a PEN Freedom to Write Award. In 2003 Brick Books published Simic’s first full collection of poems in Canada, Immigrant Blues, translated by Amela Simic.

PEN Canada works on behalf of writers, at home and abroad, who have been forced into silence for writing the truth as they see it. To find out more please visit: http://www.pencanada.ca/

For more information, please contact racerelation@gmail.com / 647 822 4105

part of peterborough's first annual Asian Heritage Month

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Creative Drag & Gender Performance Workshop with Sheesha Yadil and Prince Deep

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Saturday, April 5, 2009
1 - 5pm
Rm 2011, Sherbourne Health Centre
(333 Sherbourne Street)
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THIS WORKSHOP IS FREE AND ONLY OPEN TO INDIGENOUS INDIVIDUALS AND PEOPLE OF COLOUR.

Ever wanted to dress up and perform on stage? Interested in exploring with your gender identity? This workshop will introduce you to the art of drag outside of the more mainstream depictions of drag you may see on your popular TV or at a Club. Workshop artists Prince Deep and Sheesha Yadil will be bringing in a variety of alternative gender performance tools than the typical drag queen lip-sync. The purpose of this workshop is to provide resources to people of colour and Indigenous folks who have been interested in gender performance but may not know where to start. In this queer and trans-positive space, we will go through the technical aspect of preparing and getting ready: from covering the clothes and materials drag artists use for getting dressed to the methods of make-up and facial hair. Participants will also have to opportunity to play with their creative side as we try out different styles of presentation on stage. We will also get a chance to view some video clips on the different genres of gender performance and have a discussion on some issues that can emerge from drag shows, namely, cultural appropriation and passing. At the end of the workshop, we hope participants will feel more comfortable with the style of gender performance they wish to explore and we will end with ideas of spaces and events where that can happen.

Sherbourne Health Centre is a fully accessible location.

Registration is required. Interested participants are asked to email their name to ywc@riseup.net to register.

Any questions, inquiries and/or concerns please contact Cristina at 416 736 2100 ex. 33484 or at ywc@riseup.net.

TTC tokens will be available for participants, and refreshments and a light lunch will be provided.

This workshop is brought to you by Centre for Women and Trans People at York and OPIRG York
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About the Facilitators:/

Prince Deep is a budding young artist and uses gender art on stage to express and share emotions, identity, creativity and personal stories. Prince Deep often teams up with other drag artists to do group numbers on stage using dance, acting, and culture.

Sheesha has been performing since childhood and has years of experience on a number of stages in Toronto, Halifax and Peterborough. Realizing her style is different from other types of drag and gender performers, she expresses even more variety in her art, inspired by a lifetime of music, dance and Bollywood.


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Amardeep Kaur
Volunteer Coordinator
OPIRG York

Rm. 449, The Student Centre
4700 Keele St. York University

Phone: 416-736-5724
amardeep@opirgyork.ca
www.opirgyork.ca

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

TUNA ANNUAL TRADITIONAL POW WOW

EVERYONE WELCOME!
GIVE AWAY CEREMONY HONOURING RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL SURVIVORS!!!

Saturday, March 28, 2009 at 11:00
Sunday, March 29, 2009 at 9:00
Peterborough Armoury
220 Murray St.

Admission: $5.00 adults
$3.00 elders 50+ & youth under 12

Vending $30.00 a booth or $20.00 plus donation for give away

TWO CONTEST SPECIALS!!
WOMENS JINGLE AND MENS GRASS!!
WINNER TAKES ALL!!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Beats 4 Justice!

Decolonization and Anti-Racism Coalition (DARC) presents:
Beats 4 Justice!
Sadleir House Dinning Hall
9:00pm-2:00am
$5 unwaged, $10 waged, or PWYC

Join us for great music and performances. All proceeds go to DARC and an No Olympics on Stolen Native Land organizing. Amazing door prizes available!

This event is in conjunction with "Bridging Communities of Resistance: Solidarity in Anti-Racist, Anti-Colonial Struggles" forum.

Performers include: LAL, Sean Conway, Dakus of Disco Duniya, Stolen from Africa and more...

B4J! History:
Beats 4 Justice! started in 2005 by a Trent professor and a local spoken word artist, Beats for Justice! seeks to raise awareness around issues related to borders, immigration, and Indigenous rights. Each event has raised over $1000 to support organizations who work toward human rights in these areas.