(click here for photos from todayand here for updates all weekend)
Democracy Now (DemocracyNow.org) will be broadcasting from Vancouver on Monday, though Amy Goodman won’t be here in person. She was so severely hassled by Canadian Border authorities on her last attempt to visit, long before she was aware of the Olympic Resistance, that it’s no surprise she’s got capable crew here instead.
Today I was in the right place at the right time, and can say (with great delight) that I was able to assist in producing some of the footage that will air on Monday.
I woke up after 6 hours of delicious sleep and decided to try and connect with the Little Mountain peace rally rather than attempt to find the snake march that would soon be winding its way through Vancouver’s streets. Snake marches are fun (when they're peaceful, I really don't like violence of any sort) – my first was in Calgary during the G8 (they grow so quickly …. they’re now the G20) several years ago. Ralliers of all ages and colours and sizes bring colourful banners and musical instruments, much like Friday’s parade, but instead of following a prescribed route they snake through the streets. One of the popular chants is, of course, “Whose Streets? Our Streets.” (I prefer to think “Whose Streets? Everyone’s Streets” as I delight in being bigger than those darned cars for a while, but it's not quite so catchy.)
By the time I got the bus and the skytrain, and walked two long blocks to catch the next bus (because the buses aren't all running on all routes because of other priorities in the city right now) to Cambie at 33rd, the starting point for the peace rally according to the event announcement, the ralliers had already departed. I don’t really know my way around Little Mountain (Queen Elizabeth Park), but I was there and hesitated only a moment before heading up to the top. As always, as is human nature, I wondered if I was in the best place, I wondered what was happening downtown without me there to document it from my own individual perspective but, given that there were so many cameras and perspectives at Friday’s parade, I continued the hike up. I wondered if the press conference at W2 I’d heard rumoured, with the women’s ski jump team (who were denied entry into these Olympics by a sexist IOC) was really happening, and whether I ought to turn around and try to get there instead ….
I began to hear drumming, and quickened my pace but alas, it was a group of Asian drummers and chanters who, someone later suggested, are Falun Gong practitioners - also persecuted by an uncaring and selfish government. Carrying on, I eventually found the small but delightful peace group and soon realized I was in precisely the right place. We offered non-denominational prayers for a peaceful Olympics for both guests and residents, for the earth, for all creatures. There was drumming, and singing, and silent meditation.
And some speechifying. A native elder from the Musqueam Nation told us stories from the days when his people lived on this land – lore about David Thompson stealing their canoes and being chided for it, about direct relatives of his who were displaced and actually lived on Little Mountain. Ellen Woodsworth, Vancouver City Councillor, spoke about the huge amounts of money being spent on these games while many of the city’s residents are in need of basic essentials, how a little political will and a portion of the Olympic spending could easily remedy an otherwise dire circumstance.
Ellen is on day six of a seven day fast, she’s participating in the Homeless Awareness Hunger Strike Relay that’s been going on for over a year. Tomorrow she’ll pass the torch, during the Women’s Memorial March, to commemorate the 500+ dead and/or missing women from the Downtown Eastside, from the Highway of Tears, from across the planet and our world. As she began to depart, with two others who were filming the event, I was able to introduce myself. I gave them copies of the Victoria Street Newz and my new business card with the always true brand – “All Good News, All the Time.” (So far nobody I’ve give that to has immediately seen the irony). I was invited to join them to witness the devastation of the Little Mountain Housing Project. I realized I was in the right place.
And that’s the story of how I held the umbrella that protected the camera that filmed a worthy politician telling the story of the loss of Vancouver’s first social housing project, the displacement of over 200 people, and the potential high rise condos that will result. Watch for it on Monday’s edition of the war and peace report at DemocracyNow.org. Ellen will join me on my radio programme, the Winds of Change, Thursday at 11 am pst.
Democracy Now (DemocracyNow.org) will be broadcasting from Vancouver on Monday, though Amy Goodman won’t be here in person. She was so severely hassled by Canadian Border authorities on her last attempt to visit, long before she was aware of the Olympic Resistance, that it’s no surprise she’s got capable crew here instead.
Today I was in the right place at the right time, and can say (with great delight) that I was able to assist in producing some of the footage that will air on Monday.
I woke up after 6 hours of delicious sleep and decided to try and connect with the Little Mountain peace rally rather than attempt to find the snake march that would soon be winding its way through Vancouver’s streets. Snake marches are fun (when they're peaceful, I really don't like violence of any sort) – my first was in Calgary during the G8 (they grow so quickly …. they’re now the G20) several years ago. Ralliers of all ages and colours and sizes bring colourful banners and musical instruments, much like Friday’s parade, but instead of following a prescribed route they snake through the streets. One of the popular chants is, of course, “Whose Streets? Our Streets.” (I prefer to think “Whose Streets? Everyone’s Streets” as I delight in being bigger than those darned cars for a while, but it's not quite so catchy.)
By the time I got the bus and the skytrain, and walked two long blocks to catch the next bus (because the buses aren't all running on all routes because of other priorities in the city right now) to Cambie at 33rd, the starting point for the peace rally according to the event announcement, the ralliers had already departed. I don’t really know my way around Little Mountain (Queen Elizabeth Park), but I was there and hesitated only a moment before heading up to the top. As always, as is human nature, I wondered if I was in the best place, I wondered what was happening downtown without me there to document it from my own individual perspective but, given that there were so many cameras and perspectives at Friday’s parade, I continued the hike up. I wondered if the press conference at W2 I’d heard rumoured, with the women’s ski jump team (who were denied entry into these Olympics by a sexist IOC) was really happening, and whether I ought to turn around and try to get there instead ….
I began to hear drumming, and quickened my pace but alas, it was a group of Asian drummers and chanters who, someone later suggested, are Falun Gong practitioners - also persecuted by an uncaring and selfish government. Carrying on, I eventually found the small but delightful peace group and soon realized I was in precisely the right place. We offered non-denominational prayers for a peaceful Olympics for both guests and residents, for the earth, for all creatures. There was drumming, and singing, and silent meditation.
And some speechifying. A native elder from the Musqueam Nation told us stories from the days when his people lived on this land – lore about David Thompson stealing their canoes and being chided for it, about direct relatives of his who were displaced and actually lived on Little Mountain. Ellen Woodsworth, Vancouver City Councillor, spoke about the huge amounts of money being spent on these games while many of the city’s residents are in need of basic essentials, how a little political will and a portion of the Olympic spending could easily remedy an otherwise dire circumstance.
Ellen is on day six of a seven day fast, she’s participating in the Homeless Awareness Hunger Strike Relay that’s been going on for over a year. Tomorrow she’ll pass the torch, during the Women’s Memorial March, to commemorate the 500+ dead and/or missing women from the Downtown Eastside, from the Highway of Tears, from across the planet and our world. As she began to depart, with two others who were filming the event, I was able to introduce myself. I gave them copies of the Victoria Street Newz and my new business card with the always true brand – “All Good News, All the Time.” (So far nobody I’ve give that to has immediately seen the irony). I was invited to join them to witness the devastation of the Little Mountain Housing Project. I realized I was in the right place.
And that’s the story of how I held the umbrella that protected the camera that filmed a worthy politician telling the story of the loss of Vancouver’s first social housing project, the displacement of over 200 people, and the potential high rise condos that will result. Watch for it on Monday’s edition of the war and peace report at DemocracyNow.org. Ellen will join me on my radio programme, the Winds of Change, Thursday at 11 am pst.
