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Climate Action The Social Justice Co-operative is building a grassroots movement centred on creating caring communities and fostering friendships between activists based on caring for each other. We believe in the dignity and value of every human being. We call this movement a “Revolution of Care” because revolutionary care is the antidote to capitalism, and it is capitalism that has made our society sick. Where capitalism relies on greed to function, the antidote must be generosity. Where capitalism relies on individualism, the antidote must be community. Want to get involved in Climate Action? Check out some of the projects we're working on below, and send us an email to get connected. Connect Project Nujio'qonik by World Energy GH2 Coalition for a Green New Deal: Who We Are Learn More What is Project Nujio'qonik? Project Nujio'qonik is also known as the Port-au-Port & Stephenville Wind Power & Hydrogen Generation Project. It's a wind-to-hydrogen mega-project being proposed by World Energy GH2 for construction on the Port-au-Port peninsula and in the area around Stephenville. The project, if approved, would see 164 wind turbines built on the Port-au-Port peninsula and a Hydrogen Generation Plant built in Stephenville. Who is World Energ y GH2? World Energy GH2, founded in 2022, is a NL based subsidiary of a US company called World Energy LLC, one of the USA's biggest suppliers of biodiesel. The CEO of World Energy GH2 is Sean Leet, whose previous appointments include Director and CEO of two Maritime Transportation companies, KOTUG and Horizon Maritime. The chairman of Project Nujio'qonik is Nova Scotian billionaire John Risley, founder of Clearwater Seafoods. (Notice that no one here has any previous experience in wind energy or hydrogen generation) Protect NL Petition We recently the great pleasure of meeting with Brenda from the South Coast Alliance this week. They are petitioning for a "six-month pause, with time extension possibilities, on approving industry projects on the Southwest Coast until proper Cumulative Effects Assessment studies and meaningful consultations are concluded". Download Petition Brenda came all the way to St. John’s to bring flyers, petitions and protest signs to raise awareness. Send us a message to get some flyers and petitions! You can reach us by replying to this email. You can print your own petition package by clicking the "download petition" button above. You can sign yourself, collect some signatures from family, friends, or coworkers, and return them by contacting the South Coast Alliance at ProtectNL@outlook.com Email South Coast Alliance The Social Justice Cooperative of NL strongly condemns the federal government’s approval of the Bay Du Nord project. The Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, recently warned us: “Investing in new fossil fuel infrastructure is moral and economic madness.” He was speaking of a United Nations climate report—issued just two days before the federal government approved the Bay du Nord project. Pushing this project forward demonstrates a blatant disregard toward principles of free, informed, prior, ongoing consent of Indigenous peoples and is inconsistent with UNDRIP, CANDRIP, and rights of people and the planet. Our province, Canada, and the planet cannot afford another pollution-producing, oil-seeking money pit. Contrary to what our provincial and federal governments say, there are no responsible reasons to proceed with this project, unless you represent Big Oil. There are many compelling reasons to reject the Bay du Nord Project that fall under two major categories: Environmental Impact Economic Shortsightedness, including Misleading Job Possibilities. Read Full Condemnation Join Fridays for Future Call to Stop Bay Du Nord Join call to STOP Bay Du Nord Condemning Bay Du Nord Out and About Climate Strikes Join us as we march with Fridays For Future for climate action and demand #NoMoreEmptyPromises Socials 4 Justice This event series is an opportunity to bring the community together and hear from local organizers and people with lived experience to talk about social and environmental justice issues. Planting Seeds Community dialogue is key for consensus building. Check out our YouTube page to see some of the discussions we've hosted. Climate Emergency Declaration Petition Succeeds Working Together Towards A Sustainable Future Pictured to the left, are members of Fridays For Future St. John's, the Social Justice Co-op NL, the Council of Canadians Avalon Chapter, and the Coalition For a Green New Deal NL, celebrating after working together to successfully petition the City of St. John's to Declare a Climate Emergency in 2019. Climate Emergency Declaration: Petition to the House of Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador Demand the Provincial Government Declare a Climate Emergency! Sign Now Taking the Climate Emergency Petition Provincial Coalition for a Green New Deal Town Hall Our Vision A Green New Deal isn't just about meeting environmental goals; it shapes every aspect of our society. This living document describes how these intersections are addressed and the shifts that will lead to a sustainable and fulfilling future for our province. Download Our Vision Document Coalition for a Green New Deal Projects Take A Look At What We've Done Green New Deal Town Hall In June 2019, 60 people came together to discuss the future of a Green New Deal in Newfoundland and Labrador. This report outlines the outcomes from that meeting. CBS Transit Town Hall SJC, in partnership with Happy City St. John's, explored how public transit could serve the communities of Conception Bay South (CBS). In The Media St. John's City Council Declares Climate Emergency November 4, 2019 While there is still work to do, St. John's City Council declaring a climate emergency was a step in the right direction. Read Here Letter: Premier Furey, We Need a Green New Deal September 18, 2020 CGNDNL wrote to Premier Furey's new government, demanding that the province begin to move away from oil and gas and toward a greener, more sustainable future. Read Here Can Laid Off Oil Workers Here Transition into Greener Jobs? October 14, 2020 More sustainable employment and transferable skills, Heather Elliott discusses what a fair transition could look like for oil and gas workers on CBC CrossTalk. Listen Here Statement: City Takes Action on Climate Change November 4, 2019 The official declaration by St. John's City Council on Climate Change. Read Here Thumbs Down on Climate Change for Newfoundland and Labrador Budget September 30, 2020 With money still going towards incentivizing offshore exploration, CGNDNL was disappointed with the 2020 budget. Read Here Letter: Oil and Gas Myth-Busting November 26, 2020 We've all heard "Newfoundland and Labrador's oil is greener than other places." Mark Nichols tackles this and other "greenwashed" topics from the oil and gas sector. Read Here Letter: It Shouldn't Be So Hard To Use Active Transportation December 10, 2020 Elizabeth Yeoman discusses the challenges of using active transportation in the St. John's Metro area. Read Here Coalition for a Green New Deal Members Council of Canadians - Avalon The Council of Canadians brings people together through collective action and grassroots organizing to challenge corporate power and advocate for people, the planet and our democracy. Read More Fishing For Success Our music and our art, our craft and our food celebrate our connection to the Sea that has sustained our families for generations. Read More Social Justice Co-op NL The Social Justice Co-operative of Newfoundland and Labrador works to address issues of social, economic, and political inequality at home and abroad. Read More

statement < Back Statement in Solidarity with Palestine Jan 26, 2024 Free Palestine Action Team The Social Justice Co-op of Newfoundland and Labrador (SJCNL) Free Palestine Action Team recognizes that Canada and Israel are both settler colonial states built on stolen land. The struggle for social justice is not bounded by national borders; as we fight to dismantle colonialism in so-called Canada, we must also stand against colonialism abroad. In alignment with our principles of revolutionary care, we are committed to uplifting the voices of those most marginalized and we recognize that there is no justice or liberation without collective liberation. We organize in solidarity with the Palestinian people, whose struggle under a settler colonial system of domination has been ignored for too long. The Palestinian Territories—the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip—have been occupied by Israel since 1967. Israel imposes different legal, economic and security regimes on the people under its control based on their ethnicity, religion and place of residence. This system can only be described as Apartheid. Palestinians are denied many basic rights and freedoms, including freedom of expression, freedom of movement and the right to vote. The ‘Israeli-Palestinian Conflict’ is not a conflict between two equal nation-states. Only one side has an army, an air force, and a nuclear arsenal. Only one side has self-determination, sovereignty, and international recognition. Only one side has the unconditional support of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. To remain neutral in light of this asymmetry would be to uphold an unjust and unequal status quo. The Gaza Strip is a walled off piece of land smaller than the City of St. John’s but with more than 20 times the population. The majority of the 2.3 million Palestinians living in Gaza are UN-registered refugees, the descendants of people who fled or were expelled from what is now Israel when that country was founded in 1948. Since 2005, Gaza has been under an Israeli blockade, destroying the territory’s economy. People and goods cannot enter or leave Gaza without specific permission from Israel. The unemployment rate is over 40%, and the majority of residents rely on humanitarian aid. As our members have called out in the past , Gaza is essentially an open-air prison. Israeli attacks on Gaza killed more than 5,000 Palestinians between 2005 and 2022; over the same period, Palestinian militants from Gaza killed some 180 Israelis. On October 7 th 2023, Palestinian militants attacked Israeli communities and military bases near the Gaza Strip, killing some 1,200 people and kidnapping over 200. In response, Israel’s bombing campaign has since killed over 25,000 Palestinians, including over 10,000 children. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have indiscriminately struck homes, apartment buildings, mosques, churches, hospitals, schools, and bakeries. Israel has also imposed a severe blockade, preventing most food, water, and medicine from entering Gaza. The humanitarian situation inside the Gaza Strip is growing more desperate by the day as people run out of the basic necessities of life. One atrocity cannot be made right by committing another; Israel’s "war" on Gaza will only perpetuate a cycle of violence whose root causes remain unaddressed. True peace can only be achieved when there is justice, equality, dignity, and freedom for all people living in Israel and the Palestinian Territories, regardless of ethnicity or religion. The longer the bombing, siege and occupation of Gaza continue, the farther away this prospect becomes. The current Israeli government is the most extreme in the country’s history. Israeli political leaders and military commanders have made repeated statements advocating for the ethnic cleansing and genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. These statements along with the indiscriminate violence unleashed on Gaza form the basis of the South African case against Israel, under the Genocide Convention, that is currently before the International Court of Justice. We welcome Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s belated call for a “sustainable ceasefire”, but that is not sufficient. In spite of everything that has happened over the past 110 days, Canada remains a staunch ally of Israel, making all of us complicit in Israeli actions. The Government of Canada must end this complicity once and for all. We call on the Members of Parliament for Newfoundland and Labrador to demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire, a lifting of the blockade on Gaza, a two-way arms embargo on Israel, and an end to the occupation and colonization of Palestinian land: Ken McDonald (Avalon), Churence Rogers (Bonavista-Burin-Trinity), Clifford Small (Coast of Bays-Central-Notre Dame), Yvonne Jones (Labrador), Gudie Hutchings (Long Range Mountains), Joanne Thompson (St. John’s East), and Seamus O’Regan (St. John’s South-Mount Pearl). The world is watching, and failure to act now will not be forgotten. Free Palestine Action Team Social Justice Co-op of Newfoundland and Labrador In the spirit of truth and reconciliation, we wish to acknowledge that our website is hosted by Wix.com Ltd., a company we have since learned is headquartered in Israel. In solidarity with the Palestinian people and the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, we are currently pursuing alternative webhosting options. Previous Next

Statement in Solidarity with Palestine Jan 25, 2024 Written by the Free Palestine Action Team The Social Justice Co-op of Newfoundland and Labrador (SJCNL) Free Palestine Action Team recognizes that Canada and Israel are both settler colonial states built on stolen land. The struggle for social justice is not bounded by national borders; as we fight to dismantle colonialism in so-called Canada, we must also stand against colonialism abroad. In alignment with our principles of revolutionary care, we are committed to uplifting the voices of those most marginalized and we recognize that there is no justice or liberation without collective liberation. We organize in solidarity with the Palestinian people, whose struggle under a settler colonial system of domination has been ignored for too long. The Palestinian Territories—the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip—have been occupied by Israel since 1967. Israel imposes different legal, economic and security regimes on the people under its control based on their ethnicity, religion and place of residence. This system can only be described as Apartheid. Palestinians are denied many basic rights and freedoms, including freedom of expression, freedom of movement and the right to vote. The ‘Israeli-Palestinian Conflict’ is not a conflict between two equal nation-states. Only one side has an army, an air force, and a nuclear arsenal. Only one side has self-determination, sovereignty, and international recognition. Only one side has the unconditional support of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. To remain neutral in light of this asymmetry would be to uphold an unjust and unequal status quo. The Gaza Strip is a walled off piece of land smaller than the City of St. John’s but with more than 20 times the population. The majority of the 2.3 million Palestinians living in Gaza are UN-registered refugees, the descendants of people who fled or were expelled from what is now Israel when that country was founded in 1948. Since 2005, Gaza has been under an Israeli blockade, destroying the territory’s economy. People and goods cannot enter or leave Gaza without specific permission from Israel. The unemployment rate is over 40%, and the majority of residents rely on humanitarian aid. As our members have called out in the past , Gaza is essentially an open-air prison. Israeli attacks on Gaza killed more than 5,000 Palestinians between 2005 and 2022; over the same period, Palestinian militants from Gaza killed some 180 Israelis. On October 7th 2023, Palestinian militants attacked Israeli communities and military bases near the Gaza Strip, killing some 1,200 people and kidnapping over 200. In response, Israel’s bombing campaign has since killed over 25,000 Palestinians, including over 10,000 children. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have indiscriminately struck homes, apartment buildings, mosques, churches, hospitals, schools, and bakeries. Israel has also imposed a severe blockade, preventing most food, water, and medicine from entering Gaza. The humanitarian situation inside the Gaza Strip is growing more desperate by the day as people run out of the basic necessities of life. One atrocity cannot be made right by committing another; Israel’s "war" on Gaza will only perpetuate a cycle of violence whose root causes remain unaddressed. True peace can only be achieved when there is justice, equality, dignity, and freedom for all people living in Israel and the Palestinian Territories, regardless of ethnicity or religion. The longer the bombing, siege and occupation of Gaza continue, the farther away this prospect becomes. The current Israeli government is the most extreme in the country’s history. Israeli political leaders and military commanders have made repeated statements advocating for the ethnic cleansing and genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. These statements along with the indiscriminate violence unleashed on Gaza form the basis of the South African case against Israel, under the Genocide Convention, that is currently before the International Court of Justice. We welcome Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s belated call for a “sustainable ceasefire”, but that is not sufficient. In spite of everything that has happened over the past 110 days, Canada remains a staunch ally of Israel, making all of us complicit in Israeli actions. The Government of Canada must end this complicity once and for all. We call on the Members of Parliament for Newfoundland and Labrador to demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire, a lifting of the blockade on Gaza, a two-way arms embargo on Israel, and an end to the occupation and colonization of Palestinian land: Ken McDonald (Avalon), Churence Rogers (Bonavista-Burin-Trinity), Clifford Small (Coast of Bays-Central-Notre Dame), Yvonne Jones (Labrador), Gudie Hutchings (Long Range Mountains), Joanne Thompson (St. John’s East), and Seamus O’Regan (St. John’s South-Mount Pearl). The world is watching, and failure to act now will not be forgotten. Free Palestine Action Team Social Justice Co-op of Newfoundland and Labrador In the spirit of truth and reconciliation, we wish to acknowledge that our website is hosted by Wix.com Ltd., a company we have since learned is headquartered in Israel. In solidarity with the Palestinian people and the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, we are currently pursuing alternative webhosting options. Previous Next

Free Palestine Rallies Jan 11, 2024 UPDATE: There are Rallies organized every Saturday by Palestine Solidarity - Newfoundland & Labrador to show solidarity with Palestinians and resist and condem the genocide the Israeli state is committing. Every Saturday at 2pm NT at Harbourside Park in St. John's Please come show your support and help spread the word. You can sign up for the Palestine Solidarity NL Listserv here: https://palestineactionyyt.beehiiv.com/subscribe This will be important for updates on how weather conditions are impacting rally plans. If you can't make it out, or if the weather keeps us from gathering, here's an action the Palestine Solidarity NL invites you to do from home: Birds of Gaza: Get creative and design your own bird in memory of a child martyred SATURDAY: ALL OUT FOR GAZA Organized by Palestine Solidarity - Newfoundland & Labrador Join in solidarity with the Health Workers of Gaza Date: Saturday December 16 Time: 2 PM (NT) Location: Harbourside Park, St. John's Return every Saturday until there is a ceasefire! Same time same place! SUNDAY AFTERNOON: SCREENING OF "THREE PROMISES" BY YOUSEF SROUJI Date: Sunday December 17, 2023 Time: 3 - 6pm NT Location: Memorial University Education Building, ED 1020 "While the Israeli army retaliates against the Second Intifada in the West Bank in the early 2000s, a mother films her family's daily life, punctuated by time spent shielding her family from harm in the basement. Now, her son revisits this past, delivering a heart-breaking portrait of the anguish of parents who are forced to choose between their children’s physical safety and the emotional upheaval of leaving home." Please wear a mask to this event to help protect each other SUNDAY EVENING: FUNDRAISER DINNER FOR GAZA Organized by Palestine Solidarity Action NL Experience Palestinian Culture & Performances Date: Sunday Dec 17 Time: 6 - 8 pm Location: Benevolent Irish Society, 30 Harvey Road, St. Johns $50 per ticket. Seating is limited. Reserve your ticket by emailing and please note any dietary restrictions. email: palestineactionyyt@gmail.com All proceeds benefit Islamic Relief Previous Next

Land Back Fest Community gathered with the Indigenous Activist Collective in Bannerman Park on July 1 to celebrate Land Back Movements and Indigenous Peoples. Thank you to everyone who joined! Why celebrate colonial genocide when we can come together to celebrate and demand the return of Indigenous lands to Indigenous hands!? Have a look at these beautiful people and learn what inspired them to show up. <3 Just click on the photos to enlarge them. read captions, and image descriptions.

sign up to volunteer with the Social Justice Co-op (SJCNL) Volunteer with the SJC The true strength of the SJC comes from the many people who are involved in our movement, who give their time to organize, agitate, and educate. Resourcing a revolution requires a wide variety of skills and experiences and we would love to hear about how your passions and interests align with ours. We'd be grateful if you took a moment to complete this form to create a record of our skills, resources, interests/passions, needs, curiosities, and what we seek from the movement. This will help our Volunteer Coordinator better connect members and volunteers with one another, and with projects or needs among the movement. Check-boxes are to make the process low-burden, not to limit any answers. We've included an "other" option under checkbox questions, which we encourage you to use. <3 After completing the form, our Volunteer Coordinator will contact you for a more in-depth discussion on how to get involved!

Anti-Capitalist x Activist Book Club Reading is Revolutionary! Join our bi-weekly book club and explore leading and classic theorists, practitioners, and visionaries through critical, communist, anarchist, and Indigenous lenses. ---------------- Every two weeks we read 20-50 pages or listen/watch 30-60 minutes of content. Meetings take place online on weekdays. Monthly schedules are determined collectively but generally run from 7:30 to 8:30pm NT/ 7:00 to 8:00pm AT. Upcoming Books Join AxA Book Club! First Name Last Name Email Submit Thanks for submitting! We'll be in touch Upcoming Books This Nonviolent Stuff’ll Get You Killed: How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible by Charles E. Cobb Jr. Past Readings/Content The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin The Ones Who Stay and Fight by N.K. Jemisin Autobiography of Malcolm X as told by Alex Hanley Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life, by Marshall Rosenberg How To Blow Up A Pipeline by Andreas Malm Let This Radicalize You by Kelly Hayes and Mariame Kaba Expect Resistance: A Field Manuel by Crimethinc How Fascism Works by Jason Stanley Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paolo Freire. Wretched of the earth by Frantz Fanon The Red Deal by The Red Nation Mutual Aid - Dean Spade (2x) Out of the Sun: On Race and Storytelling - Esi Edugyan Class Power On Zero Hours - AngryWorkers Warrior Life: Indigenous Resistance and Resurgence - Pam Palmatar Massey Lectures - Thomas King Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media - National Film Board Revolutionary Rehearsals in a Neoliberal Age - edited by Colin Barker, Gareth Dale, and Neil Davidson Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay - The Debt Collective This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color - edited by Gloria Anzaldúa and Cherríe Moraga Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good - Adrienne Marie Brown Policing Black Lives - Robyn Maynard The Land Back Issue - Briarpatch We Do This Til We Free Us - Mariame Kaba Border and Rule - Harsha Walia Study and Struggle Curriculum Fall 2020 , including full or partial readings of Are Prisons Obsolete - Angela Davis Pedagogy of the Oppressed - Paolo Freire Freedom Dreams - Robin D.G. Kelley We Are Our Own Liberators: Selected Prison Writings - Jalil Mutaquim Geographies of Racial Capitalism - Ruth Wilson Gilmore Combahee River Collective Statement Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice, - Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha City of Inmates - Kelly Lytle Hernández Undoing Border Imperialism - Harsha Walia Freedom Is a Constant Struggle - Angela Davis Small Game Hunting at the Local Coward’s Gun Club - Megan Gail Coles As We Have Always Done - Leanne Betasamosake Simpso Caliban and the Witch - Sylvia Federici Radicalized - Cory Doctorow Settlers: The Mythology of the White Proletariat - J. Sakai. Struggle Within : Prisons, Political Prisoners, and Mass Movements in the United States - Dan Berger Capitalist Realism - Mark Fisher Utopia for Realists: The Case for a Universal Basic Income, Open Borders, and a 15-hour Workweek - Rutger Bregman The State and Revolution - Vladimir Lenin Planet of Slums - Mike Davis Women, Race, and Class - Angela Davis

Teams We are so thankful for all of the volunteers and partners working on many fronts in the Revolution of Care. This page shows some of the teams that have formed within the SJC over the years. Some of these groups are still active and meeting (AxA Book Club, Challenge Car Culture, Prison Pen Pals, 2SLGBTQ+ Mutual Aid Pod. Transformative Justice Working Group) and others are less active or dormant at this time (Coalition for a Green New Deal, Food Sovereignty, Zero Waste). There may still be content updates on team pages that aren't currently meeting or active, if the SJC participates in something that fits into one of the sub-group themes. While sub-group activity and meetings ebb and flow, the work continues on many fronts, and you can learn more about the projects and initiatives the SJC is involved in on the Social Justice Spotlight section of the website. Challenge Car Culture Challenging the idea that cars are the default way to get around. Advocating for accessibility, pedestrian safety/rights, public transit, and mobility justice. Learn More Anti-Capitalist x Activist Book Club Reading together for revolution! Learn More Prison Pen Pals Connecting and building solidarity through letter writing with incarcerated community members. Learn More Our Work: Programs 2SLGBTQ+ Mutual Aid Pod Organizing mutual aid efforts within the 2SLGBTQ+ community Learn More Transformative Justice Working Group Thinking through how to address conflict and harm in transformative, restorative, non-punitive ways that recognize the value, dignity, and potential of everyone Learn More Climate Action + Coaliton for a Green New Deal Confronting climate crisis and working towards a sustainable and just future Learn More Food Sovereignty Thinking critically and eating ethically Learn More Poverty Elimination Working to improve the well-being of low/no income people in NL Learn More Zero Waste Working toward a world without waste Learn More

Acerca de Prison Pen Pal Project We are a group of volunteers building friendships through letter writing with community members experiencing incarceration in provincial penitentiaries in NL. Want to volunteer? Get in touch using the form at the bottom of the webpage or write to the address below. If you know someone experiencing incarceration who might like a pen pal, please let them know they can write to the address below to be matched with a pen pal. the pen pals c/o SJCNL PO box 7283 St. John's, NL A1E 3Y5 FAQ join the pen pals Send us a message, answering the questions above, to be matched with a pen pal. First Name Last Name Email Thanks for submitting! Message Send

Fund Reimbursement Are you applying for a community aid fund? Is the SJC holding funds for your org in trust? Have you paid out-of-pocket for supplies or services supported by SJC? Click the link below for the Expense Claim form for reimbursement! Expense Reimbursement Claim

We Are The Movement Learn more about the people who make up the SJC Sarah Sauve (she/her) Where does Sarah call home? Sarah was born in Hull, Quebéc, which is now Gatineau, but as a teen moved to Nova Scotia, then Newfoundland and Labrador, completed grad school in London, England, and has since found her way back to YYT. When asked about her origins, Sarah contemplated, “I think of myself as a bit of a nomad – I really enjoy travel, moving around, and I haven’t stayed in one place for more than a few years in my adult life. Thinking about staying in one place for longer than a few years still kind of makes me uncomfortable (though less than before). I feel like there’s so much I’ll miss out on if I stay in one place.” It is SJC that has given Sarah a sense of belonging here. She considers Newfoundland & Labrador her home “and it’s because of the Co-op” she states. “I feel like I’ve found a community with which I can put down roots.” Sarah’s Life Experiences all Led her Toward Social Justice Work Sarah’s path to social justice started around age 16 when she attended the CISV Canada National Camp, an organization promoting cultural understanding and global leadership. A ten-year commitment to the organization honed Sarah’s ability to organize events on a local, national and international level. The ethos of CISV is to promote self-reflection, communication and the knowledge that people can truly affect change. Sarah recalls her experience of working with youth in China through her work with CISV. The Duke of Edinburgh Award Programme, with its focus on physical fitness, skill, service, and adventurous journeys also cultivated leadership and determination in Sarah; she impressively completed gold, which is not an easy task! Through her multitude of experiences, Sarah ended up completing Grad school in the UK and even sailed partway around the world. All of these life experiences, coupled with her recent membership in the anti-capitalist x activist book club, have influenced Sarah to engage in social justice with great commitment. Sarah reflects, “[The book club] has been instrumental in fundamentally challenging and changing my worldview and, I think, made me a better activist because of my increased understanding of structural issues like capitalism, the prison industrial complex, border imperialism and settler colonialism to name a few, and how they interact.” All Roads Lead to SJCNL Sarah: “It was kind of a no-brainer for me. When I first moved back to NL, I had decided that from then on, I would focus more on myself instead of giving so much of my time to activism – things like Argentinian tango and friendships new and old. Over time, however, I couldn’t keep not doing anything about the global problems I kept coming up against. When a friend brought me to a Green New Drinks event, I knew I’d found my people here. ”Let’s Talk Core Beliefs Sarah: “I identify as a feminist, anti-capitalist, abolitionist, anarchist, white, cis-gendered, highly educated, middle-class, neuro-typical woman. I essentially identify my sources of social privilege, which help frame where I’m coming from.“ Sarah Explains the Facets of her Ideology: Feminism to me means equity between all genders. I’ve also read feminist critique of scientific research which is much more widespread as a politic than just equal access to opportunity, but I haven’t looked into it enough to articulate that particular politic properly. Feminist science is a whole scientific epistemology. Anti-capitalism is taking action against capitalism. Though none of us can really live outside of it, we can do many small things in our everyday life to chip away at it (like reading radical literature, discussing and dreaming different futures with friends, refusing plastic wherever I can, refusing to buy what isn’t necessary). Abolition is about removing prisons, policing and surveillance from our society and in its place, building communities based on care where everyone’s needs are met. It sounds like a utopia, but it really needn’t be. We’ve been tricked into believing that hardship and violence are necessary to a functioning society but we don’t need those things to be happy and safe. Abolition is about building a new future just as much as it is about taking down the prison industrial complex. Alternatives to cops and prisons will be different for each community based on its needs and there will be mistakes made, but we need to try hundreds of different experiments and just do it until we get there. Those are all lessons learned from Mariame Kaba’s We Do This ‘Til We Free Us. Anarchy to me doesn’t mean fire, violence and chaos, as I’ve seen it portrayed in the media my whole life. It means community-based leadership and deep democracy, where we all have a say in what affects us. It’s decentralization and a focus on the local context. Interested in Joining SJC? Sarah feels that “feminism, anti-capitalism, abolition and anarchy are closely related politics and work together to combat systems of oppression and also build a better world. If this sounds at all appealing to you, check out the SJC’s Revolution of Care manifesto. ”Though joining was a no-brainer for Sarah, she recalls, “it took me a while to get used to the SJC’s structure; To understand the difference between the Co-op, the Coalitions, the board and membership. It took me a whole year after being involved to actually become a member; this is even though I’d been working with teams already. Once I got used to the decentralized organizational structure, I started to feel more comfortable and knew that this is where I can build community. This is where I can really both make a difference and put down roots.” What Makes this Work Worth it Despite the Challenges? Sarah: “The relationships I’ve built through my social justice work have been everything. I think it’s because being involved in leadership and social justice work has allowed me to be myself unapologetically, and I’m very open to new people. I’m happy to share all of myself, and I try to be as open and non-judgemental as I can and accept all of someone else. ”Are There Wins? “It’s incredibly rewarding to see the small wins we achieve through our work. An event, protest, march, or campaign might not have the desired effect on the seats of power that we want to influence immediately, but if we’ve brought one more person on board to the Revolution, it’s a win. In Mariame Kaba's book, she states that our ‘losses’ aren’t really losses because we are learning things and building momentum through our organization all the time.” How Does this Fit into the Big Picture? One day, we’ll achieve the big changes we want to see, but we have to keep working at it. ‘Do it with others –nothing worth doing is done alone’” (Mariama Kaba). In addition to reading Mariama Kaba’s We Do This ‘Til We Free Us, Sarah highly recommends that we all read Pollution is Colonialism by Max Liboiron. Anne Malone (she/her) Q: Where do you call home? A: I call St. John's, NL home. I have spent a lot of time in Costa Rica but have never had residency there. I love Costa Rica because the country is so environmentally focused and they have a very socialized approach to education and health care. The University of Peace is there and they are in general an incredibly progressive county. Q: Tell us about how your background and life experiences have led you toward social justice work. A: I was always drawn to social justice issues but had never aligned myself with a specific organization. I was part of Project Ploughshares, which formed in the 1970’s and is a group who worked with governments, and civil society, in Canada and abroad, to advance policies and actions to prevent war and armed violence and build peace. For me I connected with them when world peace was an idea in the 1980’s anti-nuclear movement . Then I focused on child rearing and in 2008 I acquired a disability. My sight loss was something that I could not ignore and my status in the world had changed. Opportunities evaporated. I experienced chronic unemployment. That, coupled with all of the barriers, led me to advocate for an accessible urban environment. From there I moved my focus on pedestrian rights and I began to encounter barriers one by one. As my vision decreased, I understood intimately how moving through an urban environment with ease and safety was paramount. Then the next barrier that came with my vision loss was to print media. Through that experience, I learned two things: It was important to advocated for accessibility in our municipalities I realized that many people who have disabilities struggle with poverty because of under employment and lack of government support. They struggle with discriminatory bias and that is significant particularly for people who need assistive technology to read. Those technologies are not free, they are very expensive; for example, a screen reader costs over $2000.00. Having a disability affects everything in your life. It must be noted that people who have disabilities are often caught in a poverty loop. One of the most devastating aspects of sight loss is that barriers to print. We have advancements with computer technology, but for people with sensory disabilities, you need a technology which will enable you to actually access the technology such as the internet. You feel so isolated. Q: Why did you join the SJCNL? A: I joined the SJC when I was connected with Dr Elizabeth Yeoman. In 2012 she was working on a short documentary called ‘Honk If You Want Me Off The Road' which was about the difficulties pedestrians encountered in St. John’s in the winter. And around that time a group emerged at the SJC, called Challenge Car culture, which was advocating for year-round sidewalk accessibility in St. Johns. It was through Elizabeth that I became aware of and joined the SJC. Q: What are your core beliefs and how do they influence how you participate in the SJCNL? A: My core belief is that we live in a world of abundance with very poorly distributed resources. Therefore, my heart always goes to support people who are living with a burden of poverty and the kind of inaccessible connection between poverty, race poverty, gender poverty and disabilities. I began to understand that these things are not coincidences but rather the result of systems and institutions that were constructed to elevate certain groups of people while oppressing other groups of people. I believe that to be morally wrong in every way. Q: What was the moment you realized joining the SJCNL was a good move for you? A: I realized that, I think it was in Dec of 2020, on International Day for Persons with Disabilities, when a large crowd of disabled and non-disabled people gathered on the steps of City Hall and demanded that the city revise a budget that would have reduced public transit in the city… and they met our demand. It worked! It made me and every other disabled person in that gathering feel seen and feel heard. I also realized that as a minority, we tend to think that the people who we have to win over are people in positions of power, but what I learned was, it is far more important to win the solidarity of the voter, not the politician. Because the voter will determine who holds those positions of power. It was pouring rain that evening and watching the Go Buses pull up and the wheelchairs roll out was incredible. It was dark outside, but the steps of City Hall were illuminated with lights from the media . I was gobsmacked. People were telling their personal stories in front of a mic and a camera. This was really happening! I was crying! Had it not been for SJC it would not have happened. Q: Is there anything that we have not asked that you would like to tell us about? A: Next steps in disability awareness could be the acknowledgement of Disability Pride month, which is in July of every year. I would like to see the month of July internationally. I would like to see our community elevated during disability pride month in particular. And I would like to see events that are accessible and public to increase the visibility and amplify the voices and experience of people who have disabilities in our province. Particularly for people who live on the intersections of race and disability and indigeneity in disability and poverty and disability. Q: What makes this work worth it despite the challenges? A: What makes it worth it , is that every step towards our goal is a step. Every statement that is made publicly by a person with a disability is another chink in the armour . Visibility matters, representations matters and being recognized as a member of a community matters. Q. Is there anything that you are reading, watching or listening to that you would recommend to people for SJC learning and sharing? A. I am reading two books right now. One book is called There Plant Eyes: A Personal and Cultural History of Blindness by M. Leona Godin. It is a combination of memoir and the history and culture around blindness. It is written by a woman who experienced loss of her eyesight in her late 20s. It is on the New York Times Best Seller List. It gives so much insight into the invisible struggles of people who live with sight loss. We begin to understand why things are the way they are in the 21st Century, and we begin to understand how the bias that exists today comes from superstitions that formed during the Middle Ages. For example, the term ‘legally blind’ is a throwback to a time when people with disabilities had no other way to support themselves other than to literally beg for alms in public places. To earn the right to do that, people who had invisible disabilities, like blindness, had to appear before a magistrate and undergo certain tests that certified that the disability was valid. If they passed the test, they were declared to be legally entitled to charity and they were now ‘legally blind’. They would wear a licence on a string around their neck. So even though it is antiquated, this is a term that is still used by doctors, organizations and legalized forms. The other book is called Ain't I a Woman? by bell hooks. I got to know her name from my critical disability theory study group. It’s a study of black feminism. Her language is very conversational and very easy to digest. I am having one ‘Eureka!’ movement after another as I read this book. I am also very drawn to black women and women of colour, and I am so inspired and informed by their activism and their advocacy. We owe them a debt of gratitude in helping to inform us of activism in disability justice.