“The National Day of Action is an opportunity for all Canadians to rally and call out for justice and fairness for First Nations people in this country,” said Shawn Atleo, B.C. Regional Chief of the Assembly of First Nations and a member of the First Nations Leadership Council. “First Nations poverty is the greatest social justice issue facing Canada. Today is about calling for an end to First Nations poverty in this country. Closing the socio-economic gaps faced by our people will be a step towards the restoration and revitalization of First Nations communities thereby leading to a stronger Canada”.

“Resolving outstanding land claims, securing a viable land base and legislated access to resource revenue-sharing agreements for First Nations is the key to unlocking the full potential and prosperity for First Nations” said Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, President of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs and member of the First Nations Leadership Council. “The reconciliation of First Nations title, rights and jurisdictions with the Federal Crown through the recognition and implementation of First Nations’ inherent right to self-government is an important and critical step towards building strong and healthy First Nation communities in BC. There is only so far we can go without the active participation of the federal government. Canada must work with us to resolve these and other key fundamental issues facing our people”.

“The British Columbia government has shown leadership in working with us to address unacceptable socio-economic gaps that exist for First Nations people in BC as reflected in Premier Campbell’s media statements yesterday”, said Chief Judith Sayers, a member of the First Nations Summit Political Executive the First Nations Leadership Council. “Canada needs healthy and educated First Nations to ensure a healthy and educated workforce of tomorrow. Improving the lives of First Nations will create jobs and economic opportunities and will make Canada a stronger, healthier and better nation for all Canadians”.

“Today is the one-year anniversary of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which sets minimum international standards for the dignity, well-being and survival of the world’s indigenous peoples”, said Grand Chief Edward John, also a member of the First Nations Summit Political Executive and First Nations Leadership Council.

“Canada was one of only two nations who chose to vote against the Declaration and continues to work to undermine adoption by the UN General Assembly. If Canada is truly serious about being a world leader on human rights issues it will reverse its regressive policy on the Declaration and encourage its passage by the UN General Assembly”.

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‘I know some may think that they face these dangers in vain; I don’t and I never will. I believe they are fighting for the security of this country and the wider world against people who would destroy our way of life.’

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair discussing the importance of the war in Iraq as he prepared to leave office this week.

Photo: Jim Rider/AP

A child plays in the spray of water at the Martin Luther King Center in South Bend, Ind.

‘We want the people of Canada to know we do have power within these things, that we’re a strong people, and we’re committed and we simply want to have a strong voice within this society.’

Shawn Brant, spokesman for protesters who shut down the major transportation routes in Eastern Canada, such as Highway 401, for a period of time Friday, during the national day of action called by the Assembly of First Nations.

Photo: Tom Hanson/CP

Mohawk protestors from the Bay of Quinte shut down the Highway 401 near Deseronto Ontario.

A big shout out of love and energy to our friends gathering across North America and organizing for justice.

Allied Media Conference
It’s getting louder and louder out there. Though much of humanity is still silenced, more people than ever are speaking out. For eight years, the Allied Media Conference has contributed to that by providing hands-on trainings, accessible discussions, and a supportive community.
United States Social Forum
The USSF will provide space to build relationships, learn from each other’s experiences, share our analysis of the problems our communities face, and bring renewed insight and inspiration. It will help develop leadership and develop consciousness, vision, and strategy needed to realize another world. The USSF sends a message to other people’s movements around the world that there is an active movement in the US opposing US Policies at home and abroad. We must declare what we want our world to look like and begin planning the path to get there. A global movement is rising. The USSF is our opportunity to demonstrate to the world Another World is Possible!
National Day of Action Vancouver - Solidarity for Aboriginal Justice!
The NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION is a time for First Nations and Canadians to stand together in the spirit of unity to demand the Federal Government deal honourably with First Nations Title and Rights and to call for an end to First Nations poverty.

Photo: Martin Mejia/AP

Andean women fight for the ball during a farmers match at the National Andean communities championship in Callao, Peru.

A great call to action to the US progressive movement.

A taste…

“What I’d like to do today, however, is do something that was never really explicitly done for me, which is to express, succinctly, some useful lessons learnt by folks in my generation, and put them out there for debate and discussion for those of us, whatever our age, here at this turning point for the next generation of netroots/grassroots activists.”

…

“What is called for right now are three massive parallel movements: engagement, coalition, and party reform.

engagement

The first movement, already underway, calls for an across-the-board engagement with the structures of United States Governement from the local to the federal level. We need to build a culture that embraces engagement, embraces policy, and embraces, above all, the value of working in partisan politics. For too long, many liberals have prided themselves in remaining outside of politics, have refused to “get their hands dirty” with partisan politics; that disdain for party politics has yielded exactly what one might expect, a triumph of the party that was willing to dive in over the one that wasn’t. We need to reverse that. We need to valorize getting involved in the process; we need to grow a new generation of activists committed to a lifetime’s work of writing and shaping the laws of the land at every level of government. We need to get the discussion from the trite “lesser of two evils” debate into the territory of “which office are YOU going to run for?” or “what do you think of this bill?”

In my view, people who don’t get involved in politics, especially local politics, don’t really have much grounds to complain. The era of complaining is over. The era of engagement has begun.

coalition building

Second, a new generation of liberals and progressives must define a new form of coalition building that will bury, once and for all, the divisive, counter-productive and ineffective politics of purity and atomization that have bedeviled American progressives for the better part of a half-century.

Politics is not about being pure. It is about building coalition. It is not that we don’t have ideals or ideology. We all do. Every last one of us. But successful politics in the United States happens only when our political pragmatism is informed by our ideals; history has proven that successful idealists are the ones who build pragmatic coalitions. That is the essential formula. The success of the conservative movement taught us that though ideology may well be the motor that drives a political party, it is pragmatism, patience and coalition building that forge political success.”

Photo: Chaiwat Subprasom/REUTERS

A demonstrator wears a devil’s mask during an anti-coup protest near Bangkok’s Grand Palace.

I have acquired a few new yoga books. Now that I am teaching I am hungry for some additional reference material to draw from.

The latest gems are:

Relax and Renew: Restful yoga for stressful times by Judith Lasiter
The bible on Restorative yoga practice

Bringing Yoga to Life: The everyday practice of enlightened living by Donna Farhi
An intelligent down to earth discussion of how yoga can shape your daily life.

Teaching Yoga: Exploring the Student/Teacher Relationship by Donna Farhi
A book that dispassionately discusses the ethics inherent in being a Yoga teacher in a modern Western context. It dares to ask us hard questions about living a spiritual life, so that we can teach with clarity and compassion.

A slice from Bringing Yoga to life…
(bolding is my emphasis)

“Over two decades of teaching I have witnessed again and again the power that Yoga has to shift seemingly intransigent negative patterns and to awaken the body, mind and heart to other possibilities. No matter who we are or how long we have been entrenched in self defeating behaviours, through daily Yoga practice we can become present to our own fundamental goodness and the goodness of others. Rediscovering who we are at our core opens the way to experiencing our most basic level of connection with others. This connection lies at the heart of the practice called Yoga. Living in a unitive state is not an esoteric concept, and it is not an elusive higher realm that only very clever people can aspire to. It is the opening of the heart so that we have the capacity to feel tenderness, joy and sorrow without shutting down. It is the opening of the mind to an awareness that encompasses rather than excludes. It is the startling and immediate recognition of our basic sameness. It is the practice of observing clearly, listening acutely, and skillfully responding to the moment with all the compassion we can muster. And it is a homecoming with and in the body for it is only here that we can do all these things.”

I love yoga.

Photo: Tengku Bahar/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

A ‘pirate’ jumps overboard as Royal Malaysian Police Special Forces personnel storm a ship during an anti-piracy exercise in Port Klang.