Well if it isn’t my favourite posse of interwebular buddies!! Hello dear people!!
It’s chilly and quiet here on Salt Spring Island. Songbirds have gone south and the locals are drawing nearer to interior fires, both metaphoric and real. No matter how hygge we’re all feeling, the beauty and outrageousness of the great world continues to wash up on our screens day after day. If you’re reading this, then somehow, you’ve decided to keep on wading through despite the collateral awfulness. Is it because you know there is sunken treasure to be found? Is it because you can hear the calls of drowning folks you know you must reach?
Probably, for all of us: it’s both.
These days, it takes more than pep talks and positive thinking to get out of bed in the morning. I like going for mushroomy walks and getting together with my community to dream up islands of sustainability that can weather the coming storms. How on Earth do YOU carry on?
I’m inspired by people whose eyes are wide open to the calamities we face — often, people who are two or three steps deep into the kind of ecological shit messes that most of us in the privileged West only worry about — people who hold their ground, summon their power and find ways to keep building the world we want. I’m going to share a few of their stories here in the hopes that the propulsive force of their belief and their courage fans YOUR flames and makes your heart(h) a little brighter.
These Scottish mechanics fought fascism. A woman who’s invoicing her representatives for all of her unpaid labor. Every single person is a genius and an idiot. Michelle Tea is archiving queer history. Oakland’s Ebele Ifedigbo has launched a cannabis assistance program to help people previously convicted of marijuana-related crimes to start cannabis businesses. Salt Spring’s own Brenda Guiled speaks truth to power. Keeping women safe as houses. And: mushrooms could save the bees.
This week in Andrea Palframan:
Since it’s been soooo long since my last newsletter I’ve also done a few spiff-tacular websites. Check ’em out here, here and here.
And… guess what?? My fearless flawless programming copilot has some openings in December and we’re open to a few select projects. Got a website that needs a little more ‘je ne sais quoi?” Let me look at it and I will tell you what ‘quoi’ it needs to be effective, gorgeous, and apropos for the people you are trying to reach. Visit http://andreapalframan.com/work-with-me/to get started.
Raven People Rising
I directed my very first film! It would have been impossible without the expert assistance, gifted footage and sage advice from Saul Brown, Meghan Humchitt, Alex Harris, Gary McNutt, Ian McAllister, Damien Gillis, Jeremy Williams and so so many more amazing people whose names you can read in the credits when you come to a screening!! The movie is called “Raven People Rising” and is showing November 19th at the University of Victoria, the 22nd at 16:20 Wellness in Victoria, and at Duncan United on the 29th. Bigger screenings are planned for the new year in Victoria, Nanaimo and Vancouver but is there one in your town? Want there to be?? This fundraising film is set up to form the centrepiece of an easy-to-organize community event or house party where hosts and guests learn about, and raise money for, the Heiltsuk Nation’s legal challenge in the wake of the Nathan E. Stewart disaster. The Nation seeks to strengthen oil shipping safety and spill response by forcing regulators to engage with, and draw upon the expertise of, Indigenous Peoples. This hugely important case will benefit all coastal peoples.
Are you a raven person on the rise??? If you live on, and love, this coast, please get in touch to host a screening party!!
This week in activism:
Keystone XL was a target for thousands of committed activists and brought together the somewhat cheeky and very effective “Cowboys and Indians Alliance” to stop Canadian tar sands oil from trickling south. Trump tried to reverse the gains of that movement but thanks to a court challenge brought by Indigenous Environmental Network the Presidential Permit has been rescinded. Also: stoked to see $10 a Day childcare getting real in B.C. and progressive councils in both Victoria and Vancouver turn their attention to the housing crisis. Honoured to have the opportunity to mail in my Proportional Representation ballot (I voted YES to pro rep and picked “Rural Urban” as my first choice of system, fyi). Inspired by kick ass kids who need every one of us to freaking get to work.
Every time you set down one foot in front of the other, something is there to meet you. Have faith in the Earth, and in each other. And hold nothing back: time is short and we need everyone.
Hugs and hygge,
Andrea
ps. On Salt Spring? Get your glorious rainbow “Salt Spring Island Unicorn Riders Association” bumper stickers at my office; stop by 128 Hereford with $5.