Atlas of Resistance: Recent Episodes
Rocky Petkov
On Atlas of Resistance, host Rocky Petkov maps out groups that are fighting for radical and progressive change in Toronto. Each episode features a conversation with grassroots organisers in Toronto who work on everything from mutual aid to combatting the climate crisis. Conversations cover everything from tactics and politics and highlight the kind of work necessary to support our communities and what you can do to get involved in the fight.
Have you ever returned from a canvass demoralised that you only ended up preaching to those already converted? Wish there was some way to build bridges to cross the chasms that are growing wider with every day in an increasingly fractured and polarised political landscape?
The technique of deep canvassing was created to respond directly to these concerns. With its origins in the fight for marriage equality in California, practitioners of deep canvassing have employed radical empathy and listening in order to reach people and change minds on issues ranging from trans rights and health care to immigration and encampments.
It may not be a silver bullet but, given the success it's had in the states, it's no surprise that Canadian organisers are beginning to pay attention.
This week on the show, Rocky will get the straight dope on deep canvassing as they talk to Nicholas Schmidt, a deep canvasser with Down Home North Carolina: a group that has made the technique a corner stone of reaching out and building bridges with voters in the deeply conservative south.
Nahum Mann will also return to the show to discuss the work of the Encampment Support Network which has helped pioneer the technique in Canada to change the conversation around the encampment in Dufferin Grove Park.
[LINKS]
Atlas of Resistance – TWITTER
Atlas of Resistance - FACEBOOK
Down Home North Carolina - WEBSITE
Down Home North Carolina - TWITTER
Down Home North Carolina - FACEBOOK
Encampment Support Network - WEBSITE
Encampment Support Network - TWITTER
[DEEP CANVASSING RESOURCES]
As Nicholas and Nahum made clear, effective Deep Canvassing is predecated on a lot of preparation. Those who wish to incorporate the technique into their own organising and coalition building would be wise to read up from the experiences of others who have gone first. Below is a selection of some resources to help you and your group get started.
Miami Report on Deep Canvassing on Trans Rights
Changing the Conversation - About Deep Canvassing (Great Starting Place)
Deep Canvassing to Change Hearts and Minds
NPR - A New Way to Talk about Abortion...
From the coastal waters of Mi'kma'ki to the yintah, Indigenous folks have been leading some of the most and successful resistance movements across Turtle Island, despite often violent reprisals from the police and in the case of Mi'kmaq fisherfolk even some settlers. Despite this, these activists persist because the work they do is necessary to protect Indigenous lands and livelihoods.
One does not have to go far from Toronto to find a successful example of front-line indigenous activism either. For over a year, 1492 Land Back Lane (led by Haudenosaunee activists) have resisted multiple violent police incursions
In this episode, Rocky talks to Skylar Williams (Mohawk-Wolf Clan), the spokesperson for 1492 Land Back Lane and a veteran of countless front-line struggles about his work, the struggle and why it is vital that settlers begin show up to stand alongside himself and others to protect our Indigenous brothers and sisters and the lands they call home.
[LINKS]
1492 Land Back Lane -- TWITTER
Learn More About 1492 Land Back Lane
Atlas of Resistance – TWITTER
Atlas of Resistance -- FACEBOOK
[SOME MORE GOOD PEOPLE TO FOLLOW]
Eve Saint - TWITTER
Gidimten Checkpoint - TWITTER
Likhts’amisyu (Fireweed Clan) - TWITTER
Git'luuhl'um'hetxwit Media - TWITTER
[MONEY TALKS]
1492 Land Back Lane Legal Fund
Donate to Single Father Organasing at 1492 LBL
Donate to Gitxsan Land Defenders' Legal Fund
Donate to Vanessa Gray's Legal Defence Fund
Sick of having the most modest proposals to address the climate emergency be celebrated as revolutionary? You are not alone...
In a COP Conference Special, three interviews with climate activists whose perspectives have been either marginalised or missing from the negotiating floor in Glasgow.
Featuring:
- Jacob Crane (Tsuut’ina-Dene), Just Transition Lead with Indigenous Climate Action on his experience in Glasgow and how effective climate action requires the Indigenous leadership.
- Ferrial Adam, Climate Justice and Energy Coordinator – Africa on her experience taking part in the Counter COP summit and the solutions activists from across the continent champion.
- Nógha Fabian (K'atl'odeeche-Dene), Former Coordinator of K'atl'odeechee Indigenous Guardians Programme on the the impacts of the climate crisis on the lands and waterways around the Great Slave Lake, NWT
[LINKS]
Africa Counter COP Statement
Nógha's Interview with Panoramic Outdoors Podcast - A Great Listen
Indigenous Guardians Toolkit
Friends of the Earth - Africa - TWITTER
Friends of the Earth - Africa - WEBSITE
Friends of the Earth - Africa - FACEBOOK
Indigenous Climate Action - TWITTER
Indigenous Climate Action - WEBSITE
Indigenous Climate Action - FACEBOOK
Atlas of Resistance – TWITTER
Atlas of Resistance -- FACEBOOK
Union Organiser and Gig Worker Jennifer Scott of Gig Workers United shares her experiences on the front lines fighting to unionise and win labour rights for her fellow gig workers. We explore the difficult coversations that gig workers must have with each other, the dehumanisation both the apps and our urban environments force couriers to experience AND why all eyes should be Ontario as the province sets out to re-define the future of work.
[IMPORTANT]
The consultations for the Ontario's Workforce Recovery Advisory Committee close on 31 July 2021. They can be emailed at OWRAC@ontario.ca with written comments. More information contextualising the work of this comittee can be found in the links section below (or by listening to this podcast. teehee
[WEBSITE NOTE]
Due to our old podcast host (Podiant) being acquired by Castos, the Website is currently a mess. The same is true for the podcast feed which might have duplicate episodes and missing show notes. This will be resolved sometime within the next couple of weeks. Apologies on the less than professional web experience.
[MUSIC]
INTRO: Hot Corner – Katsumi Horii Project
OUTRO: Bread and Roses - Dawn Landes, Alana Amram & Abigail Chapin
[LINKS]
Ontario Workforce Advisory Comittee
Toronto Star: A new committee is exploring the future of work — but critics say it lacks a crucial voice: workers
Jacobin: Uber’s Flexible Work+ Campaign Is a Scam to Evade Canada’s Labor Laws
Gig Workers United – WEBSITE
Gig Workers United – FACEBOOK
Gig Workers United – TWITTER
Gig Workers United – INSTAGRAM
Atlas of Resistance – TWITTER
Atlas of Resistance -- FACEBOO
Organisers Mercedes Ferrer and Linda Kwan of the North of Bloor Mutual Aid Network share with Rocky both the challenges and rewards in navigating the sometimes byzantine systems here in Ontario to connect neighbours to vaccines. In addition, we talk about the challenges of building trust with the community, a cornerstone of any mutual aid project.
If you're keen to learn more about the basic principles of mutual aid check out Episode Three where I interview Nahum Mann of the Davenport Mutual Aid Network. Link to the episode will be found in the links section of the show notes.
If you or someone you know needs help accessing vaccines and need service you can call North of Bloor Mutual Aid's Hotline @ 647.945.4308 and you will be called back by someone in a language you are most comfortable with
[MORE INFO]
More information on the North of Bloor Mutual Aid Network checkout the links section below!
[MUSIC]
Intro: Baby Talk - Himiko Kikuchi Outro: Crusing Boy - Katsumi Horii Project
Plant genetics educator, researcher and Dr. Javad Mozafari shares with Rocky his experience partnering with the Flemingdon Health Centre to teach his neighbours how to cultivate fruits, herbs and vegetables right from their apartments and balconies. From there the conversation branches out to discussing the broader issues of food security, sovreignty and how regaining local and household control of our food production will be an integral part of building food systems resilient for the 21st century.
To see the fruit of the class' labour check out the links section below.
[MUSIC]
Intro: Plantasia - Mort Garson Outro: You Don't Have to Walk a Begonia - Mort Garson
Activist, organiser and cyclist Danielle Griscti talks with Rocky about how to build out a cycling network that is accessable to all Torontonians and why it is critical that pressure must be kept on city council so that the momentum from record setting expansions in 2020 is not lost as we begin to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. PLUS: Why it's important to celebrate victories in our activism and how to talk to that neighbour who millitantly opposes any new bike infrastructure.
[MORE INFO]
More information on the Toronto Community Bikeway Coalition and the DIY Bike Hubs can be found in the links section below.
[MUSIC]
Intro: Ping Pxng - Yin Yin Outro: If I Could Ride a Bike - Chevy & Park Bird
Organiser Bruno Dobrusin of the York South-Weston Tenants' Union talks with Rocky about some of the recent victories as well as the long road ahead in the fight to protect tenants' rights and keep our neighbours, ourselves really in our homes.
[IMPORTANT]
For those facing an iminent threat of an eviction, it is strongly encouraged that you do not put off taking action. Resources in multiple languages explaining your rights and how you can begin to take action can be found on the Website of the Metro Tenants' Association Website. See the link down below.
[MORE INFO]
More information on the York South-Weston Tenants Union can be found in the links section below.
[MUSIC]
Intro: Pancake Ice - Himiko Kikuchi Outro: Our House - Crosby Stills & Nash
Andrea Roman Alfaro and Jade Da Costa share with Rocky how they worked to help build an organisation that feeds about 400 people across the GTA every week. Food justice, BIPOC organising cultures and building a practice of mutual aid that is sustainable in the long term are all on the menu for this week's conversation.
[IMPORTANT]
For those living in Toronto, there are only limited slots available to sign up for meals each week. Sign ups open at Sundays @ 12PM Noon and go quick. Requests can be made on behalf of someone else so if you or someone you are close to suffer from food insecurity take note of the registration link in the section below.
[MORE INFO]
More information on The People's Pantry can be found in the links section below.
[MUSIC]
Intro: Mambo is Magic - Himiko Kikuchi Outro: My Lost Pierce - Himiko Kikuchi
(Note: This is a longer version of the interview released as part of Episode 006 -- No One is Illegal)
This week on Atlas of Resistance, Sharmeen Khan of No One Is Illegal - Toronto (NOII) talks to Rocky the fight to secure status for all and how our current migration regime intersects with many other issues in our society from policing and prisions to public education and care work.
[MORE INFO]
For more information on No One Is Illegal look at the links section.
Blog Post Forthcoming
[MUSIC]
Outro - Hong Kong Night Sight - Masataka Matsutoya
This week on Atlas of Resistance, Sharmeen Khan of No One Is Illegal - Toronto (NOII) talks to Rocky the fight to secure status for all and how our current migration regime intersects with many other issues in our society from policing and prisions to public education and care work.
[MORE INFO]
For more information on No One Is Illegal look at the links section.
Blog Post Forthcoming
[MUSIC]
Intro - Introduction to The Man Who Stole The Sun - Takehiko Inoue & Katz Hiroshi Outro - The Moon Rose - Masayoshi Takanaka
This week on Atlas of Resistance, Dave Shellnutt of the The Bike Brigade talks to Rocky about how the brigade has mobilised cyclists in support of community organisations. Yet, deliveries are only half how the brigade shows up for their community.
[MORE INFO]
For more information on The Bike Brigades look at the links section
[MUSIC]
Intro - Midnight Rendezvous - Casiopea Outro - Bicycle Race - Queen
(NOTE: I initially uploaded the Parkdale Organise episode. This has been rectified so you should now have the correct episode)
This week on the programme, two actvists from two different groups. Allie Rugeot of Fridays for Future - Toronto and Savi Gellatly-Ladd of Climate Justice Toronto (CJTO) talk with Rocky about climate justice, how the move to online organising due to the pandemic has made groups more accessable and tips on how to juggle activism with a busy school/work/family life.
[MORE INFO]
For more information on Climate Justice Toronto look below:
and some links for Fridays for Future - Toronto
Website TikTok Facebook Instagram Twitter
[MUSIC] Intro - Prologue from Yuji Ohno's Cosmos - Yuji Ohno Outro - It's The End of The World as You Know It - R.E.M,
Host Rocky Petkov engages Nahum Mann of the Davenport Mutual Aid Network in a wide ranging coversation about the principles and effective practise of mutual aid. Listen to find out what steps you can take today toward cultivating effective platforms of resistance and resiliance in your community
[MORE INFO]
Blog Post comming soon
For more information of the Davenport Mutual Aid Network look below:
Nahum Mann has also recently announced a bid to run for the NDP nomination in the federal riding of Davenport, you can check out his campaign site here.
[MUSIC] Intro - Theme from Lupin III, Yuji Ohno and his Explosion Band Himiko Kikuchi Outro Solidarity Forever - Pete Seeger
Host Rocky Petkov talks with Squid Lutz and Ryan Galloway from Toronto Food Not Bombs about the logistics of feeding the hungry week in and week out, the value of mutual aid and how feeding your neighbours might just be the most subversive thing you can do.
[MORE INFO]
Blog Post comming soon
For more information of Toronto Food Not Bombs, check them out online at the links below, OR meet them Sunday afternoons outside of the Allen Gardens.
[MUSIC] Intro - Hollywood Illusion, Himiko Kikuchi Outro Feed Me (Git It) - Michael James Leslie, Hunter Foster, 2003 Broadway Cast of Little Shop Of Horrors
In the debut episode of Atlas of Resistance, Rocky talks with Emina Gamulin and Matt Whittman of Parkdale Organize about the COVID evictions crisis, tenant organising and the Keep Your Rent campaign.
More Info
For more information on Parkdale Organize check them out online!