Media Reclamation Project

Greetings,

We thought you’d like to know about this update from Adbusters, who are fighting in court for the right to purchase air-time for messages that the commercial media would rather not air, like anti-consumerism messages and the like. Check the article at Indymedia, http://www.ottawa.indymedia.org/en/2008/01/6555.shtml or visit Adbusters directly at http://adbusters.org

Next are some upcoming events you might be interested in:

Wed, Jan16: Speaker George Rishmawi, founder of the International Middle East Media Center (Bethlehem, Palestine) (see http://imemc.org) at Carleton University @ 7:00 PM, Azrieli Theatre 301 (1125 Colonel By Drive) – presented by Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights, http://sphr.org

Thurs, Jan 17: As previously mentioned, Nate Hendley will give a talk on his new book, “Motivation for (Non-Fiction) Writers”, at Jack Purcell Centre (off of Elgin Street) @ 7:30 PM, put on by Professional Writers’ Association of Canada, http://pwac.ca (cost is $5 / $10 – mention you’re with Media Matters!)

Saturday, January 19: Anti-Oppression Training

This all-day training will explore issues of privilege related to racism, sexism, and homophobia. Trainers from Montreal will help participants to examine privilege and oppression in their own lives and communities, encouraging them to work for change. Breakfast, lunch and light afternoon snacks will be provided. Two sessions, English and French, will be run concurrently from 9:00 – 5:00. Free, but PLEASE REGISTER, as spaces are limited. Email: wrc@uottawa.ca.

Schedule:
8.00-9.00am: Registration and Breakfast
9.00-12.30pm: Morning Session
12.30-1.30pm: Vegan lunch by the People’s Republic of Delicious
1.30-5.00pm: Afternoon Session
5.00-8.00pm: Wrap session at Café Nostalgica

Wed, Jan 30: OPIRG-Carleton Presents: DERRICK JENSEN on ‘Civilization as Pathology: Collapse, Resilience and Resistance’
Carleton University, 301 Azrieli Theatre @ 7:00pm Map: http://www2.carleton.ca/campus/
Tickets: $5 – $20 (sliding scale, with no one denied a ticket for financial reasons)
Tickets Available at: OPIRG-Carleton (326 Unicentre, Carleton University) and Exile Infoshop
(256 Bank St., Suite 203 – 12-8 Wed-Sun)

Activist, small farmer, teacher, and philosopher Derrick Jensen seamlessly weaves together the threads that connect different forms of oppression and domination, from racial and class domination, to technology and surveillance, to domestic violence and abuse, to ecological devastation and global climate change, to form a cohesive narrative about the inherent destructiveness of the cultural forms we know as “civilization.” Therein, Jensen sees the roots of the current global ecological crisis, and the possibilities for determined and effective resistance to it.

In Jensen’s book Endgame he asks: “Do you believe that this culture will undergo a voluntary transformation to a sane and sustainable way of living?” Nearly everyone he talks to says no. His next question is: “How would this understanding — that this culture will not voluntarily stop destroying the natural world, eliminating indigenous cultures, exploiting the poor, and killing those who resist — shift our strategy and tactics? The answer? Nobody knows, because we never talk about it: we’re too busy pretending the culture will undergo a magical transformation.” Endgame, he says, is “about that shift in strategy, and in tactics. And this talk will also focus on that, and the possibilities for the birth and rebirth of different ways of perceiving and being in the world.