Needs No Introduction

TBD.

The Femme Monologues is a graphic memoir series, written by Marusya Bociurkiw with graphics by Terri Roberton, that appears monthly in Xtra! Toronto and in Capital Xtra! (Ottawa). The series presents short vignettes from a queer/femme/feminist archive, covering such topics as feminist publishing, women's dances, the new queer cinema and the re-emergence of butch/femme culture in the 1990s. It features a wide-eyed femme discovering lesbianism, vegetarian food, women's music and butches for the first time.

The first story, "On Becoming A Dissident Writer" (Part 1 appeared June 1, Part 2 is in the Pride Day issue), takes us back to the 1970s, and the funky era of feminist culture, when women's newspapers, record companies, publishers, and hey, even garages sprung up for the first time in Canada. It's about the very first time our femme heroine got published, in a feminist newspaper and the ripple effect that had on her family... and on her own identity.

This provocative talk was recorded at the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences on May 31, 2011 in Fredricton, New Brunswick and began with the question: "How do we bring Indigenous knowledge into the academy, while encouraging its production?" The responses may surprise you. Speakers, including: Malinda Smith, Shanne McCaffrey, Kiera Ladner, Dwayne Donald, D'Arcy Vermette, Andrea Bear Nicholas, addressed the ways in which the academy itself continued to play a part in colonization as well as the ways in which 'indigenizing the academy' may not, in fact, be beneficial for aboriginal peoples and preserving aboriginal cultures.

This talk challenges the very foundations of academic institutions as the speakers refuse to mince words; telling truths that most intellectuals and leaders would probably prefer to ignore or leave buried.

'Indigenous Knowledge and Indigenizing the Academy' is certainly one of the most important and riveting conversations on Indigenous issues and academic institutions and is one episode of Needs no Introduction that is not to be missed.

This episode of Needs no Introduction was recorded by Ryan Saxby Hill and produced by Meghan Murphy.

Acting Today, Shaping Tomorrow featured a workshop and plenary speakers from across Canada, the United States and around the world that shared the latest on community health innovations in the following themes: * Improving health outcomes for individuals, families, and communities * Advancing health equity * Increasing sustainability of the health system * Building our case and our movement: increasing access to community-governed primary health care

Women's World 2011 is a global conference to advance women's equality through research, exchange, leadership and action. The 30th anniversary will be held in Ottawa-Gatineau from July 3-7th. Juno award winner performer and musician Alida Kinnie Starr will be one of the performers at the upcoming conference. Ellie Gordon-Moershel interviewed her recently about her recent evolutions in music, exploration and representations of identities and what she hopes to see at the upcoming conference.

On Thursday, April 28, activist Jaggi Singh was tried at Toronto's Old City Hall for statements he had made to the media about taking down the G20 "security fence." He had said to the press: "I'm here today to stand with people who question the legitimacy of this fence and support those who want to take down the fence -- to take down those fences and walls that separate us."

Singh was charged with "counselling to commit mischief over $5,000" and stated in court: "There is nothing that I can admit to in the conspiracy charges, because there really was no conspiracy. If it was a conspiracy, it was a conspiracy of thousands of people to resist the G20, which of course is not a conspiracy, it's organizing." On April 28, Singh pleaded guilty to urging people to take down the $5-million G20 summit fence erected in downtown Toronto last June. As part of Singh's plea agreement, the counts of conspiracy against him will be dropped, he will not cooperate with the Crown or police or apologize for his actions and the plea can't be used against his co-accused in legal proceedings. Many considered the case to be based on the criminalization of dissent.

This interview was done by Carmelle Wolfson in the halls of the Old City Hall courthouse in Toronto directly following Jaggi Singh's guilty plea.

For more information on the trial please see: http://rabble.ca/news/2011/04/jaggi-singh-trial-inside-courtroom

Barbara Marshall spoke at The Medicalization of Sex conference in Vancouver, B.C. on April 29, 2011. The paper and talk she presented was called: 'Sexualizing the Third Age: Medicalization and the Reconstruction of Sexual Life Courses.' This paper takes the medicalization of late‐life sexuality as a starting point for exploring some contemporary ways in which sexuality and gender are constructed and negotiated in aging bodies. She looks at the ways in which the pharmaceutical industry, the medical establishment, and the media play a role in revising standards of sexual functionality, encouraging compulsory sexuality, and reconstructing sexual life courses in ways that have forged new expectations around sexuality in mid‐ and later‐life (the 'third age'). The 'third age' is represented in popular and cultural discourse by a rejection of that which is 'old'. Sexual function and sexual activity are linked to health and vitality, and 'sexiness' becomes an important means of distinguishing oneself as 'not old'.

This talk was recorded and produced by Meghan Murphy.

On April 18 2011, rabble.ca turned 10! Bearing Witness, Creating Hope, a celebratory event was held at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto, featuring a panel discussion moderated by rabble founder Judy Rebick. Tune in to hear some wonderful perspectives and stories from rabble News and Features Editor, Cathryn Atkinson; Mark Surmon, rabble co-founder and current president of the Mozilla Foundation; Olivia Nuamah, director of the Atkinson Foundation; and Ben Powess, an aboriginal rights activist and frequent rabble.ca contributor. Join us to take a look back at how rabble as grown and evolved and to hear some perspectives on the current state of Canadian left politics and the upcoming federal election.

Noam Chomsky was called, by the New York Times: "Arguably the most important intellectual alive today" and, for a man so closely aligned with anarchism, the fact that he is cited more than any other living scholar is quite incredible. While Chomsky revolutionized the field of linguistics, he is now most well known for his work on corporate power, political economy, hierarchy, capitalism, and the media. A prolific author, he has penned numerous works, including: Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media , Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance, and Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy.

Part of the Hart House debates, Chomsky spoke at the University of Toronto on April 7, 2011 about class warfare, the State-Corporate Complex, the way in which corporate power is married to to state power and, how these factors represent a great threat to our freedom and survival.

EVE (formerly Exploited Voices now Educating) is a non-governmental, non-profit organization composed of former sex-industry women dedicated to naming prostitution "violence against women" and seeing its abolition through political action, advocacy and awareness-raising that focuses on ending the demand for paid sexual access to women and children's bodies. EVE operates under a sex-positive feminist model, acknowledging that prostitution is born out of sexism, classism, racism, poverty and other forms of systemic oppression. They invite women with personal experience in the sex industry or with sex-trafficking to connect with them.

This talk was held on March 10, 2011 at the Vancouver Public Library in Vancouver, B.C. and was recorded by Laura Wood and produced by Ellie Gordon-Moershel.