Contents
- The Oppenheimer Park Totem Pole
- The Downtown Eastside s the Soul Of Vancouver
- To Whom It May Concern:
- the "Hope in Shadows" book
- GARDEN OF HEALTH
- Libby Davies MP (NDP): Homelessness Count
- Libby Davies on Conservative INSITE interference
- Libby Davies: “put evidence ahead of ideology”
- Wishing you could’ve been there...
- CCCA Annual General Meeting
- Casual Thoughts on the Meaning of Life
- GALLERY GACHET BASIS OF UNION
- ‘MUSIC TO LIVE BY’ in MAY 2008
- GOWNS AND SURVEILLANCE by . . . .
- Survivors of Indian Residential Schools
- San Francisco homelessness solutions suggested for Vancouver
- Undisciplined behaviour by a handful of people
- Board of Directors apologizes to the membership
- Only To You
- The Second Annual Fearless Festival
- Elections Act changes will prevent homeless from voting
- WHAT’S THE POINT??
- Run Baby Angels Run
- For My Mother
- DOCUMENTARY MOVIE NIGHTS for MAY
- Australian Definition of a Canadian
- Just Like Any Hermit
- Your Vancouver Reframed
- mother of angels
- Waltzing up the marble stairs
The Oppenheimer Park Totem Pole
It seems to me
that when someone dies
it is the responsibility
of those of us
who are left
to offer caring
for that life
for that death
in the intensity
of the love
that reaches out
from the unendurable loneliness
of our separation.
So did First Nations people,
with their friends and allies,
raise a totem pole
in Oppenheimer Park
on June 6, 1998,
to remember the community
of those who have died
in the Downtown Eastside,
and so did they rededicate themselves
to the struggle
for hope and for justice
from one generation to another.
Sandy Cameron
The Downtown Eastside s the Soul Of Vancouver
Colleen and Diane were talking to me about the beauty of our Downtown Eastside community, and how important it is for people in other parts of Vancouver to see that beauty and realize that there is a strong community here. Now we're not a pretty community. We don't have a lot of gorgeous flower gardens or trees like the ones in Stanley Park. We do have Crab Park, the gardens in Strathcona, the colourful murals, and the old heritage buildings. But when I use the word beauty in regard to the Downtown Eastside, I'm not thinking about nice looking streets. I'm thinking about the people. It's the people who make our community beautiful, and people make our community beautiful because they have soul. The Downtown Eastside is the soul of Vancouver. You know about soul food and soul music. Well, I'm talking about soul community. Many of us have lived through hard times - and survived. We know about pain, and in our pain, in spite of our pain, we reach out to each other and help each other. That's soul. They say bodies are attracted by pleasure, but souls are attracted by pain. We are strong from the struggles we have endured. We have learned to respect each other, and not to be judgemental. We have learned to work together to make things better.
In June, 1998, a beautiful totem pole was erected in Oppenheimer Park to remember those who have died in the Downtown Eastside, and also to remember those who have survived. Some of the carvers who worked on the pole didn't live long enough to see it finished, but their spirits live on - in the totem pole, in Oppenheimer Park, and in the hearts of the people of the Downtown Eastside. The poem, "The Oppenheimer Park Totem Pole", touches on the pain in our community, but it also shows the courage and perseverance that is here, and the hope that someday justice will prevail. That's soul. You can't measure it with a ruler, but you can write a poem or a song about it.
By SANDY CAMERON
To Whom It May Concern:
The so-called public consultation process for the redevelopment of the only playing field in the Downtown Eastside has deprived the Oppenheimer Park users, home team Pirates, and the Downtown Eastside Slo-Pitch League of its ancestral home for the past 28 years. For the better part of a century, literally hundreds of players have enjoyed playing thousands of hours of baseball at Oppenheimer, in addition to the other cultural and recreational activities
The Vancouver Parks Board, many local community organizations, businesses, and individual citizens have supported baseball in the D.E. as an alternative to the drug and alcohol culture by providing field space and funds for equipment and fees. While the condition of the field has deteriorated over time, the Vancouver Parks Board has always responded favourably to the League's requests to cut back or remove overhanging trees and address safety concerns on the field.
The past decade at the park has been especially difficult. In response to the "drug use" problem at Oppenheimer, players' benches were removed and the spectator's bleacher gate was locked in a futile attempt to prevent people from congregating in those areas. The D.E.S.L. continued playing despite the inconveniences until gunplay and knifing incidents at the park made it unplayable due to safety concerns.
Five years ago, at the request of the Vancouver Parks Board field staff and Pirate's players, the D.E.S.L. reclaimed the Park. On a typical evening after the field house closes, players arrive a half hour early to alert park users of the impending game and sweep the field for needles, potholes and other hazards before play can begin. Without players' benches and using low-flight balls, baseball still survives.
Last summer, area residents and Park regulars along with Pirate players gathered to brainstorm their needs and desires for the long-awaited redevelopment of the Park
The main points of the clearly stated vision from the Park users working groups included: a field house in the style of a West Coast First Nations longhouse that provided storage for tepee poles and a kitchen that meets Ministry standards; a common room with doors that could be opened onto an extended patio resurfacing of the playing field, replacement of the players' benches and the raising of the right field fence an area set aside for those without housing to provide a safe haven in the Park and the refurbishment of the totem pole
Initially, the proposal for the redevelopment of Oppenheimer Park was on the Vancouver Parks Board's website, and the one presumably approved by the Vancouver Parks Board retained the integrity of the original layout of the Park. Therefore, it was quite a shock to many when a line of trees were planted along the goat path that people were using to cross the park to sit at the picnic tables chained to the field house fence.
Why is it that throughout the rest of the public consultation process, Park users and interested community members who took part in the initial gathering were forced to defend their vision for the redevelopment of the Oppenheimer Park in the face of opposition from the planners and organizers? In what other neighbourhood would planners and officials implement a plan that no one asked for? If city officials or other groups had an alternate vision, they too could have presented them for public discussion and consideration. The desecration of Oppenheimer Park by developing a plan based on a temporary goat path, rather than on the traditional recreational and cultural practices of area residents and park users, is unpardonable.
In the coming weeks, players, park users, and Friends of Oppenheimer Park will be seeking answers from Carnegie Committees, the Vancouver Parks Board, and others to the question of how this public consultation process was corrupted. Specifically:
Who decided to eliminate baseball without notifying or consulting with user groups?
Where will the residents and park users watch and play baseball ?
Who is responsible for planting the trees and ruining the aesthetics of the Park?
Why were the recommendations from the park users ignored in the redevelopment plans for Oppenheimer?
We are asking those people who have not yet seen what has been done to our beloved Park to take the time to visit and comment on this despicable act. If those responsible for this deception believe they can stop people in the D.E. from enjoying the same recreational opportunities that exist elsewhere in the city by planting trees across our field, they are sadly mistaken. While we may not run fast or hit far, at least we respect the history of the Park and the people who make up this community. It may be that the replanting of these trees salvaged from another site was the work of one or more well meaning but misguided planners, but these are questions yet to be asked and answered.
All Our Relations,
Members of the Oppenheimer Pirates and The Friends of Oppenheimer Park
It has been three years in the making... On April 24, 2008 the "Hope in Shadows" book was launched, with a well attended reception at Gallery Gachet. The book is a collection of stories and photographs of Vancouver's downtown Eastside. The stories were collected by Brad Cran and Gillian Jerome through a series of interviews with people who had been part of the "Hope in Shadows" photography contest. Every person who had a picture published in the "Hope in Shadows" calendar was asked if they would be interested to do an interview and tell their story.
The book has a collection of stories and photographs by 33 different people, spread over 270 pages. Libby Davis, the federal MLA for Vancouver East wrote a foreword that describes the history of the neighbourhood well. Brad and Gillian describe the project of collecting and publishing the stories in the book and another preface describes the history of the Pivot Legal Society, which collaborates with the "Hope in Shadows Society" and the publication of the book.
Each of the stories is so interesting! The reader will get to know the lives of the people who live in the DTES intimately. The stories are not the typical image of despair and hopelessness that the press likes to display. These are stories of hope, courage and compassion that emulate the personal survival of conditions that the 'average' citizen will never experience. The reader gets to know the downtown eastside as a neighbourhood where with a lot of compassion: people are accepted for who they are, not judged by where they came from or how wealthy they might be. In financial terms the neighbourhood is not rich, but in terms of emotional content these stories are compelling and the lives of the people are very rich. The stories are not about lives where everything always went well and often contain elements of lost close friends; nevertheless, one will get to see how rich in experience the lives of these people have been. Unlike the stereotypical image of a downtrodden neighbourhood, the reader will get to know the downtown eastside as a neighbourhood where people with different histories and often very interesting backgrounds have come to together and often continue to live in very difficult circumstances. They are amazing for their courage and the ability to build community by reaching out for each other.
Highly recommended! You can purchase the "Hope in Shadows" book for $ 20. from local residents who are vendors and can be identified by their blue messenger bags. You can phone the Pivot office (604-255-9700) and leave a message for me to deliver you one, or you can order online: write hendrikbeune at gmail.com GARDEN OF HEALTH
GARDEN OF HEALTH
Plant three rows of Peas:
First row – Peace of Mind
Second row – Peace of Heart
Third row – Peace of Soul
Plant four rows of Squash:
First row – Squash Gossip
Second row – Squash Indifference
Third row – Squash Grumbling
Four row – Squash Selfishness
Plant Four rows of Lettuce:
First row – Lettuce be Faithful
Second row – Lettuce be Kind
Third row – Lettuce be Patient
No garden is without turnips:
First row – Turnip for Meetings
Second row – Turnip for Service
Third row – Turnip to help one another
To conclude our garden we must have Thyme:
First row – Thyme for Each other
Second row – Thyme for Family
Third row – Thyme for Friends
Life doesn’t necessarily get easier as you get older; you just learn to deal with things better.Take note of the little things in life. The little things we do make a huge difference in whether we succeed or fail.
Ms. Libby Davies (Vancouver East, NDP):
The homelessness count in metro Vancouver is done every few years. It’s conducted by over 700 volunteers who literally go block by block, alley by alley, shelter by shelter and endeavour to get, and indeed do get, a very accurate count of people who are homeless, whether they are in shelters or on the street.
That count was done on March 11 and the results were released on April 8. It showed that overall there has been a 19% increase in the number of homeless individuals found in metro Vancouver. That is a 19% increase since 2005 when the last count was done. It is a 131% increase since the one previous to that was done, which was in 2002. This should cause enormous concern.
In my community of Vancouver East, particularly in places like the Downtown Eastside, the visibility of homelessness, the number of people on the street, those who are destitute and those living so far below the poverty line with no resources or hope for the future, causes enormous distress. It causes illness and mental distress not only to the individuals who are in that predicament but also to the community at large.
The latest figures from the homeless count should be setting off alarm bells. One would think that over the years there would have been a concerted effort to address this as a grave human tragedy. In a country as wealthy as Canada, nobody should be sleeping on the street. Nobody should be without shelter. Everybody is entitled to a living wage and decent, safe, appropriate and affordable housing
Yet, when we look at the budget, there was no new money for housing. A number of local advocacy groups in the Downtown Eastside, including PIVOT, United Native Nations, DERA, the Carnegie Community Action Project and Streams of Justice, recently released a report that showed there were 10 new low income housing facilities that have either closed or will be closing for a further loss of 448 units.
My community is facing a very grave situation where people are either already homeless or are on the verge of becoming homeless. Yet there was nothing in this budget to address those issues.
I read a quote from the minister allegedly responsible for housing, where he dismissed the idea that we needed a national housing program. I have heard the minister say that the government is spending more money on housing than any other government in the history of Canada. He is talking about mortgages. He is talking about existing projects, some of which were built 20 years ago. No new co-ops or social housing units have been built. Even the homelessness programs that exist are in jeopardy because it is not yet clear whether they will continue.
All of this creates incredible anxiety both for the organizations that seek to assist those who are home -less and certainly the people on the street and in shelters who wonder whether they will ever have a roof over their heads or a place they can call home.
To me, this budget is about priorities. I find it shameful. When we look at the $50 billion in corporate income tax cuts that are contained in this budget and the former economic and fiscal update that was presented last October, when we look at the corporate tax cuts that are laid out from 2007 all the way to 2013, we are talking about $50 billion that has been lost from public revenue.
Let us think about what could have been done with that amount of money. It could have provided 1.14 million child care spaces. It could have provided 74,000 hybrid transit buses. It could have provided 12 million units of non-profit affordable housing. It could have assisted 11 million students with their undergraduate tuition, or another two million graduates with their student loans. It could have put a much greater emphasis on dealing with climate change. None of these priorities were addressed in the budget.
To add insult to injury, when people in my community read that VANOC, the Olympic committee, received another $45 million yet housing receiving nothing, they knew that they were at the bottom of the list.
Libby Davies on Conservative INSITE interference
MAY 2, 2008
STATEMENT FROM LIBBY DAVIES ON
CONSERVATIVE INSITE INTERFERENCE
“The Conservative government must stop its unconscionable interference in scientific research on Vancouver’s safe injection site. Medical researchers from the University of British Columbia have revealed that Harper and his team have been suppressing evidence and denying funding to scientists who are looking objectively at the merits of Insite.
“More than 20 medical and academic studies have been published showing the health and social benefits of Insite. We now have both scientific fact and evidence from users in our community that this facility is helping, not hurting the people of our city. The research record shows that Insite saves lives and increases public safety.
“Harper doesn’t understand that you can’t just hide the facts whenever they don’t suit your political agenda. We need a change in direction. It’s time for this government to make decisions based on evidence instead of ideology - Insite needs to be kept open.”
Libby Davies MP - Vancouver Eas
Libby Davies: “put evidence ahead of ideology”May 5, 2008
Davies calls on Harper to “put evidence
ahead of ideology” on safe injection site
Vancouver East MP Libby Davies today called on the Conservative government to “put evidence ahead of ideology” and keep Vancouver’s safe injection site open. Davies’ call came on the heels of a statement in support of Insite released today by SFU Criminologist Neil Boyd, who had been contracted by the federal government to conduct research on the safe-injection site.
“The research is absolutely clear. Insite prevents overdose deaths and the spread of HIV/AIDS. It is cost effective and widely supported in the community. Insite saves lives,” said Davies.
Boyd’s statement follows an open letter and series of reports released last week by leading UBC medical researchers claiming that the Conservative government has been suppressing evidence and denying funding to research related to the facility. The exemption from Canada's drug laws that allows Insite to operate is set to expire June 30, 2008.
“More than 20 medical and academic studies have been published showing the health and social benefits of Insite. It’s time for this government to make decisions based on evidence instead of ideology. Insite needs to be kept open,” said Davies.
Wishing you could’ve been there...
Wishing you could’ve been there...
I took my dad to the mall the other day to buy some new shoes. We decided to grab a bite at the food court. I noticed he was watching a teenager sitting next to him. The teenager had spiked hair in all different colors: green, red, orange, and blue.
My dad kept staring at him. The teenager would look and find him staring every time. When the teenager had enough, he sarcastically asked, "What's the matter old man, never done anything wild in your life?" Knowing my Dad, I quickly swallowed my food so that I would not choke on his response; knowing he would have a good one.
And in classic style he did not bat an eye in his response. "Got drunk once and had sex with a peacock. I was just wondering if you were my son." CCCA Annual General Meeting
Carnegie Community Centre Association's 2008 Annual General Meeting
Thursday, June 5, 5:30 pm
To run for the Board of Directors, you must have been a member for 60 days immediately prior to the election. To vote you must have been a member for 14 days immediately prior to the election. Member registration begins in the Theatre at 5:00 pm.
Casual Thoughts on the Meaning of Life
Casual Thoughts on the Meaning of Life
-it could be something like this
I heard a man say
the pen is mightier than the sword
some say the penis is.
It ain’t necessarily so; I wish it were.
Intercontinental ballistic missiles and Neutron Bomb
would be puny compared with a well-turned
sonnet or canto
Pens and penises would RULE.
Eastside & Westside, Northside & Southside
Tractors would trump AK47’s
Early morning chats at café & cooler
Would determine the outcome of today & tomorrow
Journalists and other tellers of story
would live in the lap of luxury
Gossip would become seriously trendy
The prayers of women and other mystics
Mothers of madmen, mothers of invention
would impound and impinge parliament
and the courts of appeal
Those sweethearts waiting
Those wives heavy with unborn orphans
would be SAVED from
the irritation and frustration of their parents
be they women or men or other.
Sans au pair – sans nannies
Lucky to have grandparents – those saints
and unacknowledged angels –
Buying baby new shoes and their first trikes
Babysitting, knitting booties, cooking
nutritious stews and such.
Spas would have half-price days for single parents
accompanied by children - subsidised
Medals would be struck – Ribbons and banners
float in a nice sunny breeze.
Days would be sunny and cheerful
- even in Vancouver
Or misty, melancholic and mysterious
The Native Aboriginal People might help us
with medicine and the weather!
In exchange for their LAND BACK.
All those questions would be answered
‘bout where’s Daddy, or maybe Mummy
or may never come up Just Because
Oh – you all know what I be talkin’ ‘bout
brer Wilhelmina
Wilhelmina Miles
GALLERY GACHET BASIS OF UNION
1. We agree to support the wellness of people marginalized by their mental health, trauma and/or abuse experience.
2. We agree to promote artistic and professional development of our gallery members as a means to achieve social, cultural and economic justice.
3. We believe in the expression and practice of art and culture as a human right.
4. We agree to promote the critical function of art and culture in building a healthy society.
6. We work for the elimination of discrimination against people marginalized by their mental health, trauma, and/or abuse experience.
‘MUSIC TO LIVE BY’ in MAY 2008
NEW DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE RECITAL SERIES:
‘MUSIC TO LIVE BY’ in MAY 2008
City Opera Vancouver today announced a new recital series for residents of the Downtown Eastside, Strathcona and Chinatown.
“In May, we will be giving four more free recitals in our neighbourhood,” said City Opera President Dr Nora Kelly.
“We will be bringing great and beloved music to the people we have a special mandate to serve.
“City Opera has been offering wonderful music to the neighbourhood since 2005. In our new series, ‘Music To Live By’, we are offering soprano Michelle Koebke and pianist Miri Lee, two of our most accomplished young artists,” added Kelly.
Koebke and Lee will perform a one-hour program at four centres:
FRIDAY, 16 May
3pm, Carnegie Centre, Hastings x Main
NB: This recital will be televised on Shaw Cable, courtesy of Fearless TV, a project of the Community Arts Network. Sid Tan, producer.
WEDNESDAY, 21 May
2pm, Jacob’s Well, 239 Main Street
FRIDAY, 23 May
1:30pm, Evelyne Saller Centre, 320 Alexander St.
SATURDAY, 24 May
2pm, Dr Sun-Yat Sen Centre, with S.U.C.C.E.S.S.
‘Music To Live By’ will include Mozart, Puccini, Verdi, Gounod, Menotti, Dvorak, Lehár and Johann Strauss Jr.
City Opera Vancouver is a professional chamber opera company to be resident at the restored Pantages Theatre. It recently announced its first chamber opera commission: ‘Pauline’, to star the great Judith Forst, with music by Christos Hatzis and libretto by Margaret Atwood.
GOWNS AND SURVEILLANCE by . . . .
Cars can puff all they want that Pinto has burnward eyes for you. This elderly gentleman would like to smoke but he’s just been informed it’s not his Right. One foot in the grave who are really being saved energy on who they have to say good night, be it flammable gowns or martini gunfire overhead, all they wanted was one last smoke before you declare them dead!! I remember a time when lighters & ashtrays weren’t crimes; in a Grade 5 assignment we formed clay into ashtrays for mom&dad, I wore my penmanship for hesitation marks with pride. I didn’t like tattoos, something I couldn’t use so I cut and wrote my own when I felt an oncoming attack of being sad…
Just a tugboat full of heartstrings being yanked out by one is there such a thing as humane traffic, the grand designs of interior bleeding, the body dynamic stooped over the altar of ceramic.. Bless your heart now you may start beware these selfish 1st blessings come with toetags and enough strings to deafen the , static shutterproof is the word of the day then again I’ve heard good things about this day with scientists riding their bikes in midair whether the air be thick or thin. Let the cyclist beware of a square they call Tiannamen
Mankind yet again the intruder Mother Nature -screw ‘er, like she is our Ruler? Maybe she is but it’s still a bad time for compromise. The Happy hour –power hour –Rush hour –the newshour & the Holy hour Gowns and Surveillance by authoritarian wannabees here's my down payment on future atrocities you need no crystal ball to see where they are going into and out of my mind again with future atrocities
Only comic strip people help any more then again they don’t have to act their age because they don’t age, now when was the last time you heard of Comic Book rage? It takes a lot of dollars to make just a pittance of sense like reducing intuition fees or overselling life insurance because no one you hand-picked will ever die (or at least before you!) to screw up your free ride, as children sit amid their very own debris hey it’s free for a price you cannot beat even with your bats & a nod to odd jobs
Steel Bowler Hat - now that you can’t beat. You see hardship and tiny horrors as character building while building even more buildings on top of buildings. My entire body just skipped a beat, I’ve gotta go before tey build something on…. you get the idea keep it so you will have something to weep upon.
By ROBERT McGILLIVRAY Survivors of Indian Residential Schools
Survivors of Indian Residential Schools
Take lust from the sword and pierce mine heart
The pain is there, the pain is there, the pain is there
Forever. Forever death stands still
Survivors of Indian Residential Schools
is not a fairy tale – truth is reality, reality is truth
Truths must prevail. Lies muist die.
50,000 sacred souls were lost or rather killed in
The hands of Canada’s Indian Residential Schools
Mine dearest memories was shackled from the mind
To the sacred heart, ‘cause angelic babies were
tortured, maimed, butchered and murdered
As a survivor of residential schools I (we) in reality are not survivors, ‘cause I (we) lost our true spirit.
Captives in an endless pit where mongers roam,
Who told our chid within that our people were a
product of the devil. Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies die!!
The Indian Residential School was an invitation to
genocidal blood baths. A Change of Heart? No!
A change of soul. That died long ago.
Survivors of Indian Residential Schools will not take
The lust from the ultimate sword –‘cause the sword-
is a weapon that k’d the heart and soul.. that never
went back home, to their families, never again
‘cause their fami.ies did not exist no more:
That’s a message from the diabolical preacher.
Survivors must stand still, but be strong baby
Only love will stand still – Be strong, Stand Still!
I’ll help you along the road that seems endless
‘Cause the war against First Nations will never end
Love you forever! Forever!! Forever!!!
All my relations,
William Arnold Combes
San Francisco homelessness solutions suggested for Vancouver
Three young authors had plenty of advice to offer the City of Vancouver on how to address the growing issues of a lack of affordable housing and a growing homelessness crisis yesterday.
The authors were winners of an essay contest held by Pivot Legal Society that challenged entrants to think outside the box on how to solve one of the most pressing issues facing the City of Vancouver: the future of housing in the Downtown Eastside. The essays were compiled into a new report Housing Solutions for the Downtown Eastside.
“These essays represent real and pragmatic solutions to homelessness and the future of the Downtown Eastside,” said David Eby, who heads Pivot Legal Society’s Housing Campaign. “But more importantly they represent the possibility that creative thinking and collaboration could help Vancouver solve some pretty challenging problems.”
A panel of high-profile judges, including Cameron Gray of the City of Vancouver Housing Department, Nick Blomley, Professor of Urban Geography at SFU, and developer Robert Brown, evaluated the entries for creative thinking, the practicality of the recommendations, and whether or not the proposals drew from successful models in other jurisdictions.
Key proposals from the essays included:
• A “master lease” program, modeled on a program in San Francisco, where the city pays the capital cost for half of a new build of social housing units, and leases the remaining units from a developer funded by private capital, capital secured by the half of the units paid for by the city. In the alternative, the City could lease existing operating SRO buildings from operators to ensure continued access to those most vulnerable to homelessness. Rents could help offset City costs.
• A “homeless connect” program, modeled on another San Francisco program, where government and non-government organizations gather in a single location to help homeless people get basic services like replacement identification, eyeglasses and medical care.
• Employing the recently homeless in building social housing to help build skills and self-esteem.
• Incorporating economic rights, like a right to housing and a living wage, into our Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
• Considering the issuing of a special development bond by the City for the benefit of the DTES, where individuals could invest in ensuring socially sustainable and mixed income construction, instead of forcing the City to rely on private investment and developers for revitalization of the area.
Undisciplined behaviour by a handful of people severely disrupts the lives of others. For the sake of social security, discipline is essential. Normally, social indiscipline arises when a few people think that the existing social laws and regulations are defective and inadequate. If such thinking remains confined to debate and discussion, it will not cause any major social problems. However, to ensure discipline in society, the laws and regulations should be rational and capable of amendments. In a society where rationality is given so much importance that amendments are permitted, discontent and indiscipline can hardly be contemplated.
Rationality follows obedience as the means to maintain social harmony. People should first be obedient to the social codes, and then if they find a few defects, they should have the right to initiate debates and discussions, and suggest amendments to the defective laws. But if people start arguing without showing obedience, social indiscipline will be the result. The social code of conduct of a progressive societal structure gives more importance to rationality than blind obedience. Thus, there is little scope for jeopardizing the system.
Abhik / Abhidevananda (post-American revolutionary)
The Carnegie Community Centre Association Board of Directors apologizes to the membership for failing to give at least two weeks notice in The Carnegie Newsletter of the special general meeting that it called to amend the voting procedures of elections.
Only To You
Only To You
In the absence of colour which lingers in a haze,
Everything stands lifelessly in its place.
All of the memories of warmth absorbed by our possessions,
Belong only to you.
Time ticks anxiously,
With it's sound drowning in my aching sorrow.
I watch the slow descending leaves in autumn which
Belong only to you.
When the strands of your hair traveled recklessly in the wind,
Reaching serene love seemed evident.
Now out of my clenching heart flows regretful words that
Belong only to you.
Seasons pass recreating your presence,
Your fragile spirit as delicate as a rose.
I still feel your touch in my heart which will forever
Belong only to you.
A Carnegie Po
The DTES Community Arts Network is happy to announce:
The Second Annual Fearless Festival
Sunday, August 24th 2008 from 3 to 9 pm
in and around Pigeon Park.
We want to get as many people who live here or work here or even who just love this ‘hood to come out and celebrate.
When we first came up with the idea for this fest it was in reaction to the Vancouver Sun article calling the DTES “the four blocks of hell”. We thought: “Why can’t we have a party down here just to show em?” So we did. Those of you came last year had a great time and our festival was featured on Shaw Access Fearless TV a few times too!
We are looking for artists, performers, volunteers, and most of all involvement from you. Even if you just show up on that afternoon, we’ll be happy. Our neighbourhood is under real danger from gentrification and developers; it is even more important that those of us we live here get together in solidarity to have some fun.
If you want to help us celebrate the diversity and beauty of the DTES, either as a performer or a volunteer, please contact:
Michelle at “michellerichard@yahoo.com”
or Steve at “srduncan@shaw.ca” or give him a call at 604-788-8340
Elections Act changes will prevent homeless from voting
Vancouver – Pivot Legal Society, VANDU, the BC Civil Liberties Association and the Impact on Com-munities Coalition are calling into question the constitutionality of new amendments to the Elections Act which will place greater restrictions on the right of homeless and low-income people to vote.
“These amendments create severe hardship for people to access the democratic process. Precisely when low-income people need greater access to the system, the government is changing the system to make it harder for people to vote. This is totally unjust, unfair and unconstitutional,” said David Eby, a lawyer with the Pivot Legal Society.
The proposed amendments require identification from voters, and where voters don’t have ID showing a fixed address, require a person to “vouch” for the voter. A vouching voter must be from that particular riding and may only vouch for one person, eliminating the possibility of social workers or advocates vouching for numerous homeless people they know.
The previous version of the Act permitted a person to swear a declaration that they were who they said they were, so long as they could satisfy the oath taker of their identity. Previous provincial and federal elections in the DTES have seen hundreds of people swear declarations so that they can participate.
“By taking this unnecessary action, the province is further disenfranchising people living in the margins of society. The system is being further reorganized to delegitimize the basic human rights of citizens. These amendments should not go forward,” said Ann Livingston, the Director of VANDU.
“The Election Act amendments are unique. Whereas the evolution of the franchise in Canada has been to continually expand the right to vote, with one small scribble of the legislator's pen, British Columbia would be taking a huge step backwards by effectively disenfranchising a variety of people. The provincial government should be ashamed,” said Murray Mollard, Executive Director of the BC Civil Liberties Association.
WHAT’S THE POINT??
Time. Stop. Time out, Pit stop, opt out, far out, be quick, stay still, no doubt, pent-up energies, upset, fall down, uptight, put down, Shut Up! put out, run-a-round, go here, go there, dimming lights, despair, lost rights, mangled brains, wrecked, tangled, ratty hair, Begone! You’re done, buzz off, beware.. bend down, pound sand, don’t frown, smile wide (yes you can) we know, harsh blows take tolls, rules broken, laws bent, warped, limited resources, stretched, oh where abouts are you right now? live? free? Misconstrued, spent, subdued, get rough, hot stuff, YAK YAK unto deafened ears, talk talk chatterbox, rock, roll, punch your clock, tick tock, alarm’s off – you are shocked, unstable, don’t balk over broken toys, child ‘hood blocks stuff wicked remembered or arrayed way out beyond your toys and dolls inbetween numerous 911 cop calls Urgent! heartbeats pulsing, throbbing, in extreme overtime through coursing veins, clean but not yet pure. You rumble, you feel to tumble in fear; this moment appears (surreal) to dance, to sing, subject self to inner peace, maybe, some day, late or soon, who knows, woulda coulda shoulda be laying it into a soft groove, you still got lots to preach to prove you’re a mover you’re a shaker, march in detoured, endless streets, don’t it take its terrific toll, reclined prone on cozy cool cemented uncontented strolls; oh yeah you soak it all in trying your damnedest to release/forgive/forget correctly dissect sordids in sugary sweet ‘n sour tart upon your tongue, dissolving, melting, suddenly secretly breathing, no heaving from the deepest deep diaphragm, queezily staring out of your windows for seeing certainly sleazy Ouch! Ouch!! oh well it just must be downright disruptive & punitive.. ain’t it as bad as leering looks with no beginning, middle, end never truly remembered although all are tethered ‘n taut ‘n storied reality if you would be so fortunate & charmed which you really never have been; facing obstacles, obstructions should really always be overcome, surpassed, cast off, old news discarded and manufactured to grand designs, schemes, dream in architecture complete enacted unto an evitable, eventual realisation.
ROBYN LIVINGSTONE Run Baby Angels Run
Run Baby Angels Run
Escape from them diabolical fools
Imps who run twisted Indian Residential Schools;
Run baby angels, run, back to sacred ground
Where your people and ancestors will be found.
Run baby angels, run - don't stop 'til
You reach spirit land, on the mountain top
Spiritual hand, spiritual land awaits you -
Awaits you - so run baby angels, run - visions you'll see!
Visions of four directions, visions of sacred ground;
Grizzly Bear will guide and protect you.
Vision Bear is the third phase of the circle of life
The vision dreamer - intuitive, protector and healer.
Vision quests acknowledge you to run away;
Run away from the preacher, run away from abusive schools;
Yes! Run baby angels, run, run baby angels, run, yes!
Run away from them assimilative Indian Residential Schools.
White Great Spirit and White Buffalo are watching over you;
Illumination Eagle soars above, singing songs for your safety.
Innocent mouse ‘n self teaching coyote dance to the songs,
Ancestors request you to run baby angels, run;
Run, baby angels, run.
All my Relations.
William Arnold Combes
For My Mother
I never realized the true value of time
Until only your memories reside beside me mother ...
A frigid graveyard, in an abandoned place
Under the shadows of a dim holy temple
A pile of gathered dirt and thin marble headstone
Hides your secrets for eternity.
That pile of dirt and headstone
Engraved with your age and name;
Sheltered gently with colourful trees
Absorbs your agony and deep sorrow.
I buried you in this lifeless place mother
With my tears long ago.
That deserted evening equivalent to holy light
Spread mournful comfort to ill hearts.
But living isolated from you
Has left me feeling lifeless on this obscure land.
A.H Tanpinar
Translated by Carnegie Poet
Sapphics for Street Theatre
Act I: Monday
In the well-used parking lot, a young woman
Hangs some dresses on the wire fence. Evening comes. Having changed clothes, she puts up a small table
Where she dines alone.
Act II: Tuesday
Walking home from the hockey game, I met a
Tall dapper man who gaily sang and pranced down
The red brick sidewalks of Water Street like a
Younger Gene Kelly.
Act III: Wednesday
Waiting in the downpour for the office to
Open, the line-up studies the passers-by
Heading to work. Each group avoids eye contact
On Welfare Wednesday.
Act IV: Thursday
Under the red and white striped awning outside
The Provincial Courthouse, the media scrum
Covering the hockey trial soon evolves into
"Un Cirque de la Rue."
Act V: Friday
Coming home from a '60's themed poetry jam,
Two hippiesh-dressed poets and their friends are Approached by a shady dude. Bit off key, they
Sing "Give peace a chance!"
Act VI: Saturday
In the evening air, splashes of music pour
Forth from the strip club. Stag parties tumble from
Limos while others sway about. "Street guard" yells
"Watch your car, brothers?"
Act VII: Sunday
Coming through Gastown, three strangers and I looked
For the sounds of jazz wafting from Gaoler's Mews. Intrigued, the trio crossed over in search for
Music of the night.
- Barbara Morrison
HUM 101 & SCIENCE 101
DOCUMENTARY MOVIE NIGHTS for MAY
at the Carnegie theatre on Saturday, 6:00 PM,
MAY 17
SIX DEGREES COULD CHANGE THE WORLD
&
IN LIES WE TRUST: The CIA Hollywood & Bioterrorism
MAY 24
EMERGING VIRUSES AND VACCINATIONS Could cancer research and genetic biotechnology have given rise to new viruses and the current contaminated vaccines be spreading those germs and killing or injuring more people than they are saving? Presents chilling evidence . . .too frightening to contemplate. – The Toronto Sun.
&
GUERRERO; LA RUTA AL SOL A gritty plea from the people of Guerrero State to help stop the human rights violations throughout Mexico.
&
1000 STORIES with KEVIN SPENST
MAY 31
THE 11TH HOUR
&
FREE ENERGY SECRETS OF GRAY’S MOTOR All about EV Gray’s free energy motors, how they work and how we have the means to save mankind from the up and coming energy crisis if the oil and utility companies would quit suppressing these inventions developed by N. Tesla over a hundred years ago and refined by the likes of EV Gray. There is truly hope for mankind with knowledge, the package just does not contain profits for big corporations so it’s not allowed to be opened. This documentary will not be found on any mainstream media.
Door prizes awarded to viewers at end of evening. Discussions to follow viewings with refreshments (for viewers only).
-Received at VANDU
Australian Definition of a Canadian
In case anyone asks you who a Canadian is:
You probably missed it in the local news, but there
was a report that someone in Pakistan had advertised in a newspaper offering a reward to anyone who killed a Canadian - any Canadian.
An Australian dentist wrote the following editorial to help define what a Canadian is, so they would know one when they found one.
“ A Canadian can be English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. A Canadian can be Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, Arab, Pakistani or Afghan.
A Canadian may also be a Cree, Metis, Mohawk, Blackfoot, Sioux, or one of the many other tribes known as native Canadians. A Canadian's religious beliefs range from Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu or none. In fact, there are more Muslims in Canada than in Afghanistan. The key difference is that in Canada they are free to worship as each of them chooses. Whether they have a religion or no religion, each Canadian ultimately answers only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government
A Canadian lives in one of the most prosperous lands in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which recognizes the right of each person to the pursuit of happiness.
A Canadian is generous and Canadians have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need, never asking a thing in return.
Canadians welcome the best of everything, the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best services and the best minds. But they also welcome the least - the oppressed, outcast and the rejected. These are the people who built Canada.
You can try to kill a Canadian if you must as other blood-thirsty tyrants in the world have tried but in doing so you could just be killing a relative or a neighbour. This is because Canadians are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, can be a Canadian.”
This says it all, for all of us.
Just Like Any Hermit
Just Like Any Hermit
Just like any hermit
I like mine own company best
But it was not always so.
Like you all other hermits
There were love affairs passionate
Beautiful children.
Adorable nephews & nieces
I thrilled to the cognomen Auntie
that first time/
And the wonderful grandbabies
“a little like mother
a little like father
Mostly like theirselves.”
For a time I entertained the role of
Chatelaine Almost
But I like mine own company best.
Of an age now I’m thinkin’ ‘bout
Dogs and Cats
They Might Tie Me Down
Limit my travelling,
I’m just not ready!
Although I inwardly chant
Nous sommes Prères to all challenges
I am not ready to be companion
Animal for keeps.
For a time I look after other’s
Companion animals and kinder
cats, dogs, children, pigeons, etcetera
But I like my own company best.
Anti Social Wilhelmina
“a spark from the FIRE”
- Sandy Cameron
Your Vancouver Reframed
An art show this summer promises to challenge the way we look at and think about the city at this time and place in its brief history.
Karen Ward, a historian, writer, and lesbian who lives with a mood disorder and a cat, presents a show of photos, mostly of the neighbourhood on the east side of Vancouver in which she lived during a period of recovery. These are images at once all about hope and despair, the stubborn persistence of humanity in an indifferent-seeming concrete landscape. The show makes visible the lost, erased, and painted over voices pushed to the margins of invisibility by mental illness, poverty, class, and colonialism.
"I think that any kind of engaged, real art made in Vancouver would have to be about class or colonialism," claims Ms. Ward, "and these images certainly are. What ultimately matters is that tl1ese voices and images of real people, engaged in the struggle to live in this deeply oppressive culture will exist, at least in the space of this gallery, for one month."
"The last thing anyone should be in relation to this material is comfortable. But people are of course free to treat the show as they do mental illness:' she said, "that is, ignore it, make it invisible."
, Taf's Cafe and Gallery, for those bold enough to look is open daily from 11 am until midnight, and on weekends until one. They have a nice menu and a full bar, and are located at 829 Granville Street.
An opening will be held from 4 pm on Sunday, June 1, and the show runs throughout the month.
The Best Place on Earth, photos & objects, 2005-06
presented by Karen Ward
thefool.ward@gmail.com
mother of angels
dancers of the light
joyfully circling dignity
holding you in my wings
in my heart
to flights unknown
no barriers to your blooming
your roots go deep
nothing can shake you
your branches reach out
and embrace all universes in unity
you are the rainbow
with circling serenity
you rest in peace
as life resonates your being
your actions are eternal
infinite hope
trust is your heart
love is your soul
wing our way home
I wait for your coming
each day fullness for you
beam the smiles to my face
we can resonate always
in this ecstasy of living together
mothers and children and children and
children...............
Beth Buchanan
Waltzing up the marble stairs to the second floor, I often look into the Carnegie Association’s office on the left and what do I see… a man, a woman kissing each other. “Rent a Room!” I yell. Mr. Paul Taylor of said Newsletter just smiles, and Ms. Lisa smiles shyly. One evening I’m heading towards the Carnegie. I turn the corner onto Main St. and I see the same man, the same woman at it again… Lips Locked. Prisoners of Love? Anyhow to this lip lock-ed couple I yell “Rent a Room!!” That man Mr. Paul Taylor editor smiles and says, “I rent five.”
“Wow!” I say, “and I bet you got a hallway too.”
If I was a judgeful person I’d say“Guilty of Variety”
Ms. Lisa looks up at her man, smiles shyly, and off they go hand in hand.
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