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This story in The New York Times made me miss New York City more than anything has in a very long time.  All over the city, artists have created murals protest racism and police abuse. This critic surveys the murals , and compares them to the Neolithic cave art in the caves of France and Spain. We saw cave art in Spain (stories here and here , but no pictures), something that I had longed to do ever since I first knew they existed. It was a peak travel experience for me. I love street art, and I love New York, and I love that someone links these things together.

In April, I wrote a post called " 11 things on my mind about the anti-police-violence and anti-racism protests ". For reasons unknown to me, it's one of the most widely-read posts I've written in a long time. So here's an updated list. 1. When governments respond to protests with violence and intimidation, and the protests only grow , a movement has reached another landmark of growth and development. This is happening right now, and it's exciting! 2. Protest by middle-class and middle-aged citizens is so heartening to see, and possibly another milestone. The so-called Wall of Moms , and the "dads" with leaf blowers and hockey sticks, are crucial pieces. Their courage will embolden so many others. No change will happen until and unless the middle-class is onboard, so get onboard! 3. Veteran resistance is so powerful. I wonder about resistance within the active military. From my work with the War Resisters Support Campaign in Canada, and from extensi...

What a sad and moving coincidence, that two great freedom fighters died on the same day. I chose these photos as a reminder that doing the right thing may involve breaking the law. Canadians, who over-value a superficially peaceful society, frequently need reminding. As a remembrance of these two men, I cede the floor to Black Lives Matter. * * * * A Requiem In Memoriam Our Great Ancestors The Honorable John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 - July 17, 2020) The Reverend Dr. Cordy Tindell “C.T.” Vivian (July 30, 1924 – July 17, 2020) Today, we celebrate two men of moral courage, ethical excellence, and relentless diligence in making Black Lives Matter in the policies and practices of this country and world: The Honorable John Lewis and The Reverend C.T. Vivian. Like many of us, C.T. Vivian and John Lewis participated in a movement -- a protest -- and it changed their lives forever. For C.T. Vivian and John Lewis, a jail cell was as familiar as a police officer's baton. For their huma...

During the current focus on systemic racism, this is likely the best essay I've read. It's written in a US context, but it applies to Canada, both for Indigenous people and black Canadians. I hope you'll read it and share it. * * * * * What the Courage to Change History Looks Like By William Barber II, Liz Theoharis, Timothy B. Tyson and Cornel West June 19, 2020 Since the casual killing of George Floyd on camera, unprecedented protests — not policy papers — have radically shifted public opinion in support of the battle against systemic racism. The new nation being born in our streets may yet blossom into Langston Hughes’s “land that never has been yet / and yet must be” — but only if this movement refuses to let its truths be marched into the narrow cul-de-sac of “police reform.” Yes, years of police killings of unarmed African-Americans had stacked up like dry tinder. True, George Floyd’s public murder furnished the spark. But freedom’s forge must finish its work while th...

1. Most violence is not being committed by protesters. What percentage of protesters are violent? Filter for police provocateurs, filter for white nationalists, filter for random thieves hiding under cover of mayhem. All of those exist at mass protests and have been proven to exist countless times. What percentage of actual protesters used violence? 0.5 percent? I have been to my share of protests, and I doubt it is even that. 0.05 percent? What percentage of media coverage is about violent protests? 2. Most violence is being committed by police. Police, wearing military-grade riot gear, are attacking peaceful protesters, even destroying their safety supplies . And while it's true that they were egged on by the cowardly redneck who lives in the White House, blaming him is misplaced. This problem is as old as America. 3. The media's unrelenting focus on whether or not protests are violent is almost exclusively reserved for protests by African Americans -- and in Canada, by Indi...

One of the best things I've read about the protests rocking in the US and elsewhere is an op-ed by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, in the Los Angeles Times . In case you don't know him, Abdul-Jabbar is a basketball legend. His NBA stats are off the charts ( Wikipedia ). He's also a writer and a social activist. I have to say, I'm a bit in awe of him. Here's Abdul-Jabbar's take on the protests. The piece, originally run by the L.A. Times, is also available on his website. Don't understand the protests? What you're seeing is people pushed to the edge By Kareem Abdul-Jabbar May 30, 2020 What was your first reaction when you saw the video of the white cop kneeling on George Floyd's neck while Floyd croaked, "I can't breathe"? If you're white, you probably muttered a horrified, "Oh, my God" while shaking your head at the cruel injustice. If you're black, you probably leapt to your feet, cursed, maybe threw something (certainly wanted...

I started writing this post in September, after the global Climate Strike . It was exciting to see that so many people -- millions around the globe -- understand the urgency and are willing to take to the streets. I thought,  This is beautiful! This is amazing!  ... and This won't change anything . Both at the same time. I hate writing that. I hate feeling this way. Along with Climate Strike, there are other positive developments -- extinction rebellion , for example, and an increasing number of civil disobedience arrests, both celebrity and ordinary . This will grow. More people will get involved and actions will become even bolder. Yet I feel utterly pessimistic about humanity's future. I have lost hope. Of course I know I'm not alone in that. Anyone who looks at the reality of climate change either cloaks themselves in denial, clings to shreds of hope, or vows to fight on without hope. For me, this hopelessness is a kind of identity issue. I reflect on my own fee...

Today, December 10, is Human Rights Day . The date commemorates the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 1948, the first document of its kind. Every year on December 10, Amnesty International holds a global letter-writing event: Write For Rights ( in Canada ). Hundreds of thousands of people around the world write handwritten letters calling for action for victims of human rights abuses, and offering comfort and support to political prisoners. Every year at this time, I try to think of a different way to invite readers to participate in Write For Rights. All through this year, I've been struggling with cynicism and despair about the state of our planet and the state of democracy. So even though all the warm and fuzzy reasons  I've listed in the past (and below) are true and valid, the most important reason to Write For Rights is deadly serious. The world is seriously fucked up. Many, if not most, of us who care about the world feel helpless in...

Long ago (in internet terms), in the early days of what we then called the Blogosphere, one of the primary functions of blogs was to share other posts and articles of interest that we came across online. Social media has taken over that function -- and much less effectively. How many people actually read links they find on Twitter? While a meme or a short video may go viral, a lengthy think-piece becomes just another passing link in the endless feed. I stopped using this blog to share articles of interest, but sometimes I come upon something that I just can't let go. Then I need to send them out into the world again through wmtc. I have a couple of those right now. Here's the first one. * * * * Maya Moore, currently one of the best professional basketball players on the planet, stunned the WNBA and its fans when she announced she would not play in the 2019 season . Her reasons are even more surprising: Moore  left the game to focus on social justice . Specifically, justice for ...

Also: Why is Greta Thunberg so triggering for certain men , Jennifer O'Connell, Irish Times Canada's #climatestrike day is Friday, September 27.

Resistance to the migrant concentration camps in the US seems to be growing. Or maybe I'm just seizing on anything that looks like hope. I wanted to collect all the examples I've seen so far, then I'll post more in real time. June 2018: No Kids In Cages marches July 2, 2019: #CloseTheCamps protests in advance of the July 4th holiday. July 12, 2019: Lights for Liberty . Americans: GO. Direct action to free people: post their bail ! Indianapolis church puts creche scene in a cage Kansas kids' lemonade stand raising funds to help "kids at the border" Never Again Is Now: Boston protest shuts down the city.  Similar protests happened in many US cities. I love that these Jewish activists are claiming the streets. Law firm offers pro bono representation to any ICE worker who resists participating in family separation. This photo circulated with a story on a protest in Boston, but was taken at a protest in San Francisco. Workers at Wayfair walk off jobs , protesting...

I missed this when it ran in 2017, but I found it when I needed it. Rebecca Solnit writes in The Guardian : Last month, Daniel Ellsberg and Edward Snowden had a public conversation about democracy, transparency, whistleblowing and more. In the course of it, Snowden – who was of course Skyping in from Moscow – said that without Ellsberg’s example he would not have done what he did to expose the extent to which the NSA was spying on millions of ordinary people. It was an extraordinary declaration. It meant that the consequences of Ellsberg’s release of the top-secret Pentagon Papers in 1971 were not limited to the impact on a presidency and a war in the 1970s. The consequences were not limited to people alive at that moment. His act was to have an impact on people decades later – Snowden was born 12 years after Ellsberg risked his future for the sake of his principles. Actions often ripple far beyond their immediate objective, and remembering this is reason to live by principle and act ...

Thank you Alex Cora, Mookie Betts, David Price, Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, Jackie Bradley Jr., Hector Velázquez, Christian Vázquez, Eduardo Núñez, and Sandy Leon! These nine players and their manager declined to attend the White House visit purporting to honour the 2018 championship team. The Trump White House could not be bothered to spell the team's name correctly or name the actual sporting event that the team won. The World Series is the oldest professional team sports event in the United States, having been played since 1903. (The Kentucky Derby is older. Hopefully all the horses know that Trump's policies constitute a war on animals , and also boycott the visit.) Earlier this year, the Golden State Warriors (NBA) expressed doubts about a White House visit, and the invitation was withdrawn. Ditto for the Philadelphia Eagles (NFL) after they won the 2018 Super Bowl. However, this silly headline , implying this is "nothing new", is false. Various individual p...

Friday's global student protest brought me so much joy. And also sadness, because I often feel so cynical about our ability to stop climate change. And also hope, because I won't succumb to that cynicism. I will fight it, and fight it, and fight it. Because our cynicism is the perfect weapon to be used against us. No evil genius could invent something more powerful than our own inaction. This photo gallery from the New York Daily News is wonderful. Very New York-centric, but with a global flavour.

Canadians, contact the Senate. Urge them to work together to pass Private Member's Bill C-262 , "An Act to ensure that the laws of Canada are in harmony with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples ".  My own letter included at the end of this post, in the hope that it will help you write your own. * * * * Is Canada serious about reconciliation? The Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded in 2015. The Calls to Action have been made. Recommendations have been made. How will Canada proceed? Territorial acknowledgements , long a feature of labour and other progressive activism, have entered the mainstream. More Canadian children will learn about the system of forced family separation, indoctrination, and horrific abuse euphemistically called "the residential schools". Good, and good. But what of Canadian law? What of business practices? Will it be business as usual, or will anything change? The TRC offered 94 Calls to Action . How ...

Harry Leslie Smith, who sometimes called himself "the world's oldest rebel," died in late November 2018. I was unable to acknowledge his passing on wmtc at the time. Smith, a writer and an activist, was a steadfast critic of neoliberal policies, especially the austerity agenda. He spoke out constantly and consistently for a more generous, more just, and more inclusive society -- in short, for the preservation of social democracy. His obituary in The Guardian quotes him: I am one of the last few remaining voices left from a generation of men and women who built a better society for our children and grandchildren out of the horrors of the second world war, as well as the hunger of the Great Depression. Sadly, that world my generation helped build on a foundation of decency and fair play is being swept away by neoliberalism and the greed of the 1%, which has brought discord around the globe. Today, the western world stands at its most dangerous juncture since the 1930s. Sm...

Are you writing for rights? I almost gave myself a pass this year. I'm living out of a hotel room and I don't have easy access to a printer, and... what the hell? I'm one of the most privileged people on the planet. Surely I won't skip Write For Rights because it's a bit inconvenient! On December 10, 1948, the newly-formed United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights , the first document of its kind in history. Every year, on and around December 10, people who have human rights use them to help others whose human rights have been violated or negated. Here are the 2018 Write For Rights cases. Notice anything different? Join me and thousands of others. Join the biggest human rights event on the planet. By giving 15 or 30 minutes of your time, you can join thousands of others who believe that all humans have rights, no matter who they are, where they live, and what they believe. The right to peaceful protest. The right to inform others. The right ...