May 16th to May 22nd, 2021
Sunday May 16th
Red Braid Coordinating Committee meeting
Bi-weekly meeting of the Red Braid CC, tasked with planning organizational work over the coming week.
Monday May 17th
Marxist Center Delegates Council meeting
Red Braid is affiliated with the Marxist Center. We have a member on the Delegate Council who participates in bi-monthly meetings.
Praxis meeting
The Praxis Committee discussed using A Separate Star, a book Red Braid wrote and is working on a second edition of, as the next topic for our internal study series, Conditions of Struggle.
Tuesday May 18th
Maple Ridge Resistance meeting
Weekly campaign meeting
We had a small pre-cheque day meeting and did outreach for our June 1st housing action.
Press conference: RV-campers tell city, “We won’t go!”
Residents of an RV-city organized a press conference with the help of Red Braid to resist the city’s enforcement of bylaws and displacement of their community. Read coverage of the conference here.
Wednesday May 19th
Eviction Defence Network
Weekly campaign meeting
We checked in on ongoing campaigns and planned our next townhall meeting, which will include a presentation on supportive housing and the work tenants are doing to fight back against the non-profit housing providers who trample over their rights.
Surrey Street Council Meeting
Weekly campaign meeting
The Surrey Street Council did outreach in lieu of a meeting.
Court support for Braided Warriors and Tiny House Warriors
Red Braid members attended a court support action organized by the Braided Warriors to support four Indigenous land defenders facing criminal charges. The group marched from the court to Transliberty Mutual, which insures the TMX pipeline. Donate to the legal defence fund for the Tiny House Warriors here, and the Braided Warriors here.
Thursday May 20th
Maple Court RTB hearing
EDN advocated for a tenant of Maple Court at an RTB hearing. Maple Court is an apartment building owned by real estate corporation Amacon. The building elevator was broken for three months and some disabled senior tenants are filing applications for compensation.
Bread, Roses & Hormones
BRH held our first cross-regional “coordinating” meeting. These meetings are focused on coordinating our campaign work across the Lower Mainland and southern Vancouver Island. We planned the final push and wrap up of our survey and finalized the topic for our third consciousness-raising session: the limits of awareness-raising campaigns.
Friday May 21st
Maple Court RTB hearings
EDN advocated for two tenants of Maple Court at RTB hearings. The landlord offered measly compensation, far below what one of the tenants asked for, with the condition that the tenant agree to a non-disclosure clause. The tenant, who is a former union organizer, said no way!
Legibility & Categorization – The Tech Corporation and the Surveillance State
Red Braid member Ivan Drury spoke on a roundtable panel alongside organizers throughout the US and Canada about struggles against police and corporate surveillance against oppressed people.
Justice for Georgia! Rally against Indigenous child apprehension and abuse
Red Braid member Ali Colligan led a rally outside the Ministry of Children and Family Development office in Surrey to call for justice for her daughter and all children in foster care, and demand an end to the apprehension and abuse of Indigenous children. We marched along King George Blvd and blocked traffic for two hours, while listening to speeches, drumming, singing, and chanting “MCFD, hands off our kids!” See photos of the action here.
Whalley People’s Resource Centre
We had a quiet night at the Whalley Centre with about a dozen visitors dropping by to charge a phone, get a clean and dry change of clothes, have a snack, or drink a cup of hot coffee.
Donate to the Whalley People’s Resource Centre. The weather is getting warmer, but it is still cold at night. We need coats, blankets, gloves, socks, and clean underwear!
Upcoming events!
We won’t go! Rally to defend people who live in cars
Wednesday May 26th at 4pm at Slocan and 12th Ave in Vancouver. Find the event on Facebook.
Publishing done in this period
The Volcano’s May-June print edition came off the presses this week! Become a subscriber to receive print copies.
