Medium-Sized Barda

Still Not Back, but since some older posts of mine have been blowing up I thought I’d pop in to encourage everyone to get out there and do what they can to support the Wet’suwet’en people in defence of their self-determination and basic human rights, ESPECIALLY if you are in Canada. 

The Unist’ot’en Camp facebook page has an ongoing, continually updated list of upcoming solidarity demonstrations if you want to get out there and boost visibility and pressure in the streets. For information on where/how to donate, as well as which public representatives to call and when, check out the Unist’ot’en Supporter Toolkit. And spread information as you see it, especially from Indigenous news sources and reporters on the ground, such as Real Peoples Media, who have been livestreaming today from Tyendinaga Mohawk territory, where the OPP are currently moving in on protesters' camps by the CN Rail line near Belleville. Facebook, where much coverage like this is streaming, seems to have been hiding posts about the situation from public view, so helping coverage get out is really important! 

If you’re reading this, if you came from one of my recently-exploded older posts and you’re mad about That Person, please consider putting that energy into supporting the Wet’suwet’en and their ally nations. The situation nationwide -- in Wet’suwet’en territory, Mohawk territory, and everywhere -- is incredibly urgent. If you were thinking about getting out to a rally or something but just hadn’t got around to it, GO. Grab some friends and show up however you can. It’s vitally important now to show the federal government that Indigenous peoples have popular support in the face of colonial violence, ESPECIALLY in the midst of tense police showdowns with Indigenous protesters defending their homes and communities. It is literally life-or-death for some. 

I Am Not Back but since people follow this blog I thought I would share this here; please feel free to reblog/signal boost as you like.

Head & Hands/A Deux Mains, a local nonprofit in Montreal, is in need of donations. In the past two years, they’ve seen a massive spike in people accessing their food and clothing bank and they have been struggling meet this growing need. 

Most of the people accessing these services are refugees and people of colour and most of them are living below the poverty line. They are valued, active members of our communities, but are chronically underserved by community organizations and social services in Quebec. With the CAQ promising to restrict english-language government services to “historic anglophones” (read: white people) only, and climate crisis forcing displaced peoples to seek safety in countries like Canada, multilingual, service-oriented community organizations like Head & Hands are more important than ever. 

Head & Hands, unlike many other similar food/clothing bank services in Montreal, does not require any ID, proof of residence, etc from people accessing its services. In addition to their food and clothing banks, they also run a drop-in clinic for youth under the age of 25 that is LGBT-positive, committed to principles of anti-racism, and free regardless of residency or health insurance status. AND, as if that were not enough, they also operate a pay-what-you-can legal clinic by drop-in or appointment.

In my activism and volunteer work, I am constantly referring people to Head & Hands and I am not exaggerating when I say that their services save lives. I have accessed their services multiple times myself as a resident of Montreal and the NDG/CDN borough. As an organization they are one of the most active in Montreal, serving some of the most vulnerable people in this city. They deserve your help if you can give it.

They are looking for the following items specifically:

For more info on what and how to donate, go here or e-mail Jess, Head & Hands’s food security coordinator, at foodsecurity@headandhands.ca.

Okay. So, it’s become really, really apparent to me that I cannot use tumblr anymore. The simple fact is it has become a compulsive way for me to harm myself and feed into my own worst tendencies, including (among other things) an overwhelming and pervasive feeling of social paranoia that often leads me to believe that everyone I know is talking about me behind my back and deciding that I’m a dumb lying bitch who isn’t worth treating like a person. I am aware that “everyone is turning against me” is literally textbook paranoia, and that said paranoia is mine to manage; I just don’t think I can manage it, or basically any of my other C-PTSD symptoms, and remain on this website, or probably on any social media for some time. 

More on this below the cut. Please do not reblog this post.

My girlfriend was on another episode of Fear Baiting with Blair and Sara, talkin’ about horror! Go listen!!

Rick Genest’s death was ruled an accident today. According to the coroner’s office, his friends and family said that though he struggled with his mental health, at the time of his death he was happy and stable and making long-term plans for future creative projects. They think he slipped and fell when he went out on the fire escape to smoke, as he liked to sit on the railing. He lived in the Plateau; I’ve gone out to smoke on a dozen fire escapes just like his, probably, and they can indeed be precarious. There had been a lot of speculation when he died last year that he had killed himself, and it feels important to me to acknowledge that this was not the case.