Pan Am Resistance:
unified against austerity, colonialism, extraction and the police state
252 Bloor St, OISE, Toronto
The Pan Am Games are about to begin, and the $239 million budget that’s been allocated to security for these events (including a massive policing force) shows us that we are about to see an intense expansion of police presence in the city of Toronto.
Join us from 7-9pm on Thursday, July 2nd for an interactive world-café style session to learn more about securitization and the Pan Am Games. Representatives from Black Lives Matter - Toronto, the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, MISN, and migrant sex workers advocacy group Butterfly will each facilitate rotating discussions and activities about policing and mega-events. The Movement Defense Committee will also share their perspective on legal support for activists in these times.
FB event here.
Spoil Sports & Smear Leaders: Street Theatre vs. the Pan Am Games
Calling all wet blankets! Come one, come all – negative nancies, killjoys, sour grapes, grinches, stick in the muds, naysayers, and party poopers! Bring your friends!
The Pan Am Games are hitting the city of Toronto hard this summer, and what a spectacle it all is! Well... we’ve got some spectacle of our own. It’s hard to criticize a public sporting event, because it’s all fun and games... right? What could be wrong with that? As sports-lovers, games-lovers, and fun-lovers who are also opposed to capitalism, gentrification, racist police violence, and colonialism, we’re embracing the inevitable. Yes, we’re spoil sports. But we’ve got our reasons.
Join us in a guerilla street theatre intervention that will last from the beginning to the end of the Pan Am Games and create points of disruption in the spectacle. We’re in this as a mining justice group, but there are lots of reasons to protest these games – we encourage you to bring your own concerns and analysis to this. All are welcome, especially folks looking to expand their comfort zones and have some political fun! Read on to find out more.
If you want to learn more about some of the problems with the Pan Am Games, click here.
If you want to learn more about Barrick Gold’s involvement in the Games, click here.
Want to be involved? Here’s what you have to do.
#1: LEARN THE SKILLS: Come to one of two “Intro to Street Performance†workshops that we’re holding so that you can get detailed instructions, hear more about the issues, and learn some basic street performance skills! These workshops are run by and centred around the needs of anxious folks, and it is our first priority to make this space and experience safe for people who usually feel uncomfortable in spaces like this. Please feel free to join us if you have some, lots, or absolutely-no-way-no experience in public performance!
The workshops will be happening on the following dates and times:
- Saturday, July 11th @ 2-3:15pm @ Ryerson University (at the People’s Social Forum)
- Date & time TBA on the weekend of July 18th
#2: HIT THE STREETS: Once you’ve been to a workshop, sign up for a shift (or two! or three!) to go out and perform at key times and locations throughout the games. All you need to commit to is one hour of time sometime between July 10th and July 24th. People should go out in groups of at least 4 people (although the more, the better!), so if you don’t have a group to go with we’ll make sure you get connected with others. When you’re out in public, there are three possible roles you can play (wearing extra special uniforms and sporting medals that highlight Barrick Gold’s contributions to the Pan Am Games):
- Spoil Sports: Find a crowd of people and *emote* -- fear, horror, disgust, rage at the spectacle of it all. Don’t worry, we’ll teach you how to do this!
- Smear Leaders: More perky and energetic, leading people in ‘cheers’ and handing out props that draw attention to the issues.
- Referees: Not there to perform, but to field questions, hand out info flyers, and keep an eye out for risk.
Feel free to make the performance your own and add props and costumes as desired. We will be setting up a ‘prop shop’ in a central location where you can go and pick up extra materials to increase your dramatic effect, but only if you want!
#3: REPORT BACK: Take a picture of your group’s intervention and post about your experience doing your performance in a private group for participants. This is so we know how it went, and so that others can get ideas/inspiration!
Want to participate as an activist/community group?
Anybody can participate as an individual, but we will also be reaching out to activist/community groups to sign up for shifts as groups. For example, if you’re a musical group you could introduce a musical number into your performance. If you’re a sports group, you could play a quick game of pick-up in a public place. If you’re a political group, use this opportunity to highlight the issues you organize around. Have fun and get creative!
If you’re interested in sending members of your group to do a shift, contact mininginjustice@gmail.com and we’ll help you get started!
|
