- 2 days ago
Due to another protest happening on the south side of queen's park, the north side was used instead.
Recording the first few speakers, I was in a bad spot (people standing beside/behind the videographer), so I had to wait until they moved and then returned to the location.
Somebody was standing in front of the ASL interpreter, so I had to reposition the rig a few times so it wasn't obstructed.
The march did stop quite a few times, also due to another march from a another protest happening ahead of it.
Due to the bubble zone bylaws (mount sanai hospital), the march had to re-route along college to spadina, and back east long dundas to beverley to go south to grange park.
Music composed for the timelapsed march is my own.
Recording the first few speakers, I was in a bad spot (people standing beside/behind the videographer), so I had to wait until they moved and then returned to the location.
Somebody was standing in front of the ASL interpreter, so I had to reposition the rig a few times so it wasn't obstructed.
The march did stop quite a few times, also due to another march from a another protest happening ahead of it.
Due to the bubble zone bylaws (mount sanai hospital), the march had to re-route along college to spadina, and back east long dundas to beverley to go south to grange park.
Music composed for the timelapsed march is my own.
Category
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LearningTranscript
00:00My name is Cedric Dawson, and I will be the MC for today.
00:07The quick visual description of me is I am a light, brown-skinned man with a white shirt on which says,
00:14I respect my existence, or I respect my resistance. I am also bald, and I wear shorts, so there's that.
00:22To begin with today's march, a quick agenda. I will be giving a land acknowledgement,
00:26then we move on to some background and housekeeping, our speakers, then we march,
00:30and finally a celebration at Grange Park.
00:32We at TDPM recognize our privilege to be on this land and learn and help educate others
00:38about the traditional knowledge and worldview of those who came before us
00:41and who continue to foster recognition between us all in hopes of knowing better and being better.
00:47We are grateful to be based in the city of Toronto, which is a traditional territory in many nations,
00:51including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabe, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee,
00:56and the Wendan peoples and their lands, which is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.
01:02We want to acknowledge that Toronto is covered under Treaty 13 and the Williams Treaty.
01:07We in turn extend our respect to all First Nations peoples, Inuit and Métis peoples,
01:14for the valuable past and present contributions to this land.
01:17We know as Turtle Island, we know as Turtle Island.
01:22I also recognize and respect the cultural diversity that Indigenous peoples bring to all cities across Canada and across Turtle Island.
01:29Our North American history speaks to the genocide of Indigenous peoples and culture.
01:33I believe in the words of Fannie Lou Hammer,
01:36know that nobody is free until everybody is free.
01:39I stand dedicated to this task and encourage you to do the same.
01:46Thank you. Miigwech.
01:54As we are sure you are all aware, land acknowledgments are a slippery slope.
01:58They can have the ability to reclaim identity and be radical.
02:01However, they can also be very performative both in and outside of activist spaces.
02:06Access statements found on every ableist, non-profit website often operate in a similar fashion.
02:12Disability as a category is the child of colonization, enslavement, and the exploitation of Turtle Island and its peoples.
02:19From drapa to mania, to people-mindedness and hysteria,
02:22from chattel slavery to residential schools, from institutions to prisons,
02:26disability was built to reinforce racism and capitalism.
02:30Disablement is the primary tool our colonial capitalist system uses to control people,
02:35destroy economies, and cause permanent scars to communities and cultures around the world.
02:40This genocidal institution built to hound and erase Indigenous peoples and disabled peoples were designed,
02:46built, and built hand in hand.
02:48This violence is ongoing for both of our communities in order to label an other,
02:52in order to create a white supremacy standard of normal.
02:55I would also like to acknowledge the harm Canadian mining operations have done to indigenous peoples across the world.
03:02Seventy percent of the mining operations in Latin America are Canadian.
03:07This can no longer be ignored.
03:09We cannot overcome ableism without dismantling the colonial apparatus.
03:13Decolonization is not a passive act, so we invite you to support the Okiniwak encampment on the north lawn of Queens Park,
03:28right over there, set up by the Indigenous land and water defenders after Bill 5 was signed by Doug Ford and Mark Carney,
03:35to promote their dangerous anti-indigenous and anti-immigrant policies.
03:40These policies are also providing threat to the environmental well-being of Ontario.
03:45More information can be found on Instagram at 8th Fire Horizon.
03:49I also invite you to join the next Palestinian rally, which can be found on Instagram at PYM Toronto.
03:55We would like to take a minute to honour the disabled community members that we have lost.
04:00This year, we have lost an unbelievable amount of elders.
04:03We've lost Elder Wanda Whiteberg.
04:06We don't know where to start with Wanda.
04:08From her work with incarcerated and drug-using communities,
04:11to her work at Anishinaabe Health starting the traditional healing program,
04:15and working with those with HIV and AIDS,
04:18to her work with No More Silence,
04:21where led the annual Sorrow Strawberry ceremony in honour of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit peoples.
04:28Finally, her work in building an accessible sweat lodge on the Six Nations reserves,
04:33and organizing and leaving accessible sweats for disabled Indigenous community members.
04:38She was someone our organizers looked up to.
04:41Someone who embodied the principles we try to live up to.
04:44The last speech Wanda gave at TDPM was in 2023.
04:48She spoke about the connection of all things.
04:51She spoke about the interdependence of all things.
04:53Living, land, water.
04:55In that spirit, she did a lot of work in the street to bridge communities,
04:59and connect people and movements for all of our liberation.
05:02She was supposed to speak at last year's brunch,
05:05but didn't make it because she was ill.
05:07While we were hoping to have her back with us this year,
05:10the best way we know how to honour Wanda's memory
05:13is to commit ourselves to cross-movement solidarity,
05:16and follow the wisdom and leadership of Indigenous matriarchs.
05:22There is a big fight coming to Turtle Island,
05:25to Indigenous communities, to the Ring of Fire.
05:28It is all of our duties to not just stand with Indigenous communities,
05:31but figure out how we can best serve this moment.
05:34We all have a duty to the Indigenous peoples of this land,
05:38and to the land, and the water, and the sovereignty
05:41they are fighting to protect.
05:43On the American side,
05:50we have lost a legend in the disability community.
05:54Patricia Byrne, who taught our organizers many of the values we live by,
05:59alongside Sins Invalid and countless others in the Bay Area,
06:03not to mention many disability movements internationally.
06:07They awakened an entire generation of disabled youth.
06:11As disabled movements grow,
06:15and youth are fighting out about disability justice on social media and elsewhere,
06:20it's going to be more important than ever for us not to lose our political soul,
06:24to not let our movement be co-opted by those who just want to seat at the table,
06:28no matter whose blood they're covered in.
06:31What Patricia Byrne taught us is that we will always have free food at this march.
06:35We will always have access services, including harm reduction.
06:39We will always invite and advertise our march to houseless and drug-using communities.
06:45We will center the liberation of the most marginalized,
06:48and we will fight to ensure disability capitalists do not make disability pride
06:53what carceral capitalist queer pride has become.
06:56We have to choose who and what we support with our presence, with our money, and our images.
07:11In Toronto, we have also lost Jess Sash.
07:15Jess Sash was a disabled artist and activist who inspired many of our organizers with their art pieces,
07:21from American able to freedom too.
07:24Though we never got to meet them, we always hoped to.
07:27Our heart goes out to their loved ones, and we thank them for the impact they've had on this city.
07:32Additionally, we have lost Isabella Gantt from proof, protecting ODSP and OW funding.
07:38Well known for holding small protests where she would stop streetcars to bring attention to the plight and conditions we face.
07:45She has been one of our speakers in the past, and she chose May this year.
07:49We hazard a guess that some of you joining us from other movements and communities have been invited to May parties this year.
07:58May is casting a dark shadow over our community.
08:02It is eugenics.
08:04And one day, others were right about this inhumane policy.
08:08They sponsor our suicides, and we are losing people whose futures we can never imagine or know.
08:15Before they have a chance to do more or survive or get to another point of their lives.
08:25To the disabled youth out there, hold on.
08:28Hold on.
08:29Hold out and find your people.
08:31If you can, try and survive.
08:34There are radical trips out here, and we are waiting for you.
08:40We would like to do a moment of silence to honor those who we have lost this year.
08:45And remember their lives, and think about how we can honor their legacies.
08:49We want to introduce you to TVPM, especially if you have never been with us before.
08:53The Toronto Disability Pride March began out of Occupy Toronto in October of 2011.
08:58It began as a small crowd of 100 people at City Hall, as a fundamentally anti-colonial, anti-police, and anti-capitalist gathering of disabled folks.
09:08Though the march has grown throughout the years, we marched for many of the same reasons that brought us together when we first started.
09:14Issues of accessible housing, transportation, legislative poverty, surveillance, segregation, institutionalization, and police violence.
09:23TDPM is, and has always been, an intentional form of activism, striving to address the intersectional nature of disability, while reshaping the meaning of what disability justice and collective liberation can be in Toronto and across Turtle Island.
09:40Now we want to move to some housekeeping and community participation items.
09:45First, access. We want to introduce and thank our ASL English interpreters, Kesha, Alex, and Nico.
09:53And our PSWs, and our PSWs, personal support workers, Celie and Renee.
10:06If you have any access questions or issues, please find Yunmi, she heard.
10:12Our access coordinator, who's wearing a bright orange shirt and a pink hat, standing at the folding tables to the academy at the front.
10:20There. There.
10:22Yunmi, please wave to the people.
10:25We have sighted guides if you need assistance during the march.
10:29We also have volunteers if you need any help throughout the march.
10:32At that table, you can receive a spot on the accessible bus.
10:38We have a mini bus with spots for wheelchair users and spots for ambulatory users.
10:42Yunmi is making a list, and we will notify you when it's time to board.
10:46That table will also have water, drinks with electrolytes, canola bars, masks, earplugs, flyers, and large print version of the flyers.
10:54Additionally, we also have umbrellas at the front desk here.
10:59So if you need to get away from the sun, there are umbrellas right there.
11:03Second, we trust that you are aware that many of us are living with precarious health.
11:08Our movement is built on codependence and trust disability solidarity principles.
11:13If you give a shit about our lives, we ask that you wear a mask, even if you do not elsewhere.
11:20We want to thank Mask Block and Surge Toronto for helping us.
11:25They are currently handing out masks in the crowd, and there will also be masks at the access table at the front.
11:30Next, for the third year in TDPM's history, today's march is an abolitionist march.
11:37We have experienced marshals and volunteers who will help ensure safety while marching alongside with legal observers and people trained in first aid.
11:45If you need general assistance, please find a volunteer in white shirts wearing a TDPM volunteer button.
11:51If you need a marshal, they are in high visibility vests.
11:54Additionally, we have legal observers in orange hats among us.
11:57The number for the legal observers is live and in the pamphlet.
12:00Finally, this year we have a TDPM crisis intervention team comprised exclusively of racialized mad psychiatric survivors.
12:08By us.
12:09For us.
12:10We look after each other.
12:11And they are in that tent on my right.
12:15The team provides peer support, a friendly listening ear, conflict intervention, mediation, and de-escalation.
12:25They try to co-create safety based on your definition and understanding of what is safe.
12:31However, we have some team limits.
12:33TDPM team limits.
12:34They refer to other members of the broader team and community for emergencies and when they get overwhelmed themselves.
12:40They work as a team and will do their best and they will do their best to not call the cops.
12:49Again, the crisis intervention team has a live phone number that can be found in the pamphlet.
12:53Additionally, our fundraising, our fundraiser is live.
12:57Please donate to us if you want.
12:59Please donate to help us keep the march going and keep improving access.
13:03This is an example of what collective work can look like.
13:07CDPM is for us, by us.
13:10We are a grassroots organization.
13:12100% of all funds raised go towards the cost of the annual Banner Making Party and Disability Pride March.
13:21Our funds pay for food, drinks, art supplies, printing, and access services such as ASL interpretation, access to accessible buses, and personal support workers.
13:31If you can, please e-transfer to TorontoDisabilityPride.com at gmail.com to help keep us with marching and improving access.
13:42Now, we have one of the most exciting moments of the march.
13:46The speakers!
13:50I am so honored to introduce our first speaker, Dev Ramsoak.
13:57Dev Ramsoak, I apologize. They them.
13:59Dev is a disabled and non-binary, multidisciplinary storyteller and producer.
14:03They are one of the founders of the Crip Collective, which uses art and education to facilitate connections within the disabled community and engage in disability justice.
14:12Their short films have been streamed at many festivals, including the Caribbean Tales Film Festival, Inside Out Film Festival, Toronto Queer Film Festival, and ReelAbilities Film Festival.
14:23Their work has been published on Chatelaine, CBC, Them, Extra, and other publications.
14:29They are even included in the Disability Visibility Anthology edited by Alice Wong.
14:34Dev?
14:35I'm a short, brown, trans-masculine person in their 30s.
14:39I have chin-length wavy hair that is dyed purple and pink.
14:42I have a mustache, a goatee, a nose ring, and a septum piercing.
14:46I have tattoos on my arms and neck, and I'm wearing red glasses.
14:50I was born with lipomaiello-menegesil spina bifida, but it took me years to identify with being disabled.
14:57The representation I grew up with was predominantly white, cisgender, and heterosexual, and most conversations about disability reflected that.
15:05But I'm none of those things.
15:07The representation that I needed wasn't just about finding disabled people who looked like me.
15:12I'm a descendant of indentured Indians brought to the Caribbean, which has complicated my relationship with disability.
15:18Indo-Caribbeans were just seen as bodies to extract labor from.
15:23How do I reconcile this identity with this lineage of survival through labor?
15:29This has led to stigmas and internalized ableism within my culture.
15:34And this experience is, of course, not exclusive to Indo-Caribbeans.
15:39But like many other colonized communities, we are more likely to experience disability and chronic illness.
15:45My family tree is riddled with diabetes, cancer, and heart disease, though I'm the only one who actually identifies as disabled.
15:53Medical racism leads to higher rates of misdiagnosis and a lack of preventative care.
15:59And the conditions imposed on colonized people historically can lead to predispositions to disability and chronic illness being passed down through epigenetics.
16:10Trauma and poverty can also lead to both physical and mental illnesses through the disability-poverty cycle.
16:16We're in a housing crisis, and gentrification in neighborhoods like Thorncliffe Park are disproportionately pushing out racialized families and communities.
16:25Many Torontonians are relying on food banks for food.
16:29This takes a physical toll on people's bodies and minds.
16:32In fact, I've heard of someone developing a heart condition from the stress of an eviction.
16:37Disabled people are also more likely to live in poverty.
16:41ODSP doesn't provide enough to meet average rents, much less pay for basic needs.
16:46Many of our unhoused neighbors are disabled.
16:49These are the perspectives that are being left out of mainstream disability representation.
16:54It is not a coincidence that over the last few years, all levels of our government have instituted policies that have downplayed COVID, a mass disabling event that impacts disabled people, poor people, and racialized people at significantly higher rates.
17:11That are targeting encampments and supervised consumption sites.
17:15That are attempting to criminalize our ability to protest against the genocide of Palestinians.
17:20That have expanded eligibility for MAID more than they've expanded public support programs for disabled people.
17:26We are being shown that our political leaders would rather get rid of anybody they deem worthless than help us.
17:35If we don't fight for ourselves and each other, no one will.
17:39Our oppressions are intertwined and so is our liberation.
17:43Queer communities, indigenous communities, communities impacted by incarceration revolutionized our healthcare through HIV activism.
17:51Disabled activists and the Black Panther Party worked together in the 70s during the 504 sit-ins to revolutionize disability legislation.
18:01Disability justice can only exist by dismantling all our oppressive systems.
18:08By caring for each other, by protecting each other, by demanding justice for each other.
18:12As Maya Andalou, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Emma Lazarus have reminded us throughout history, none of us can be free until we are all free.
18:22And now, our next feature.
18:28Cheat Welsh, Dei Cheat.
18:30Cheat is a queer disabled artist, community activist, and educator.
18:34And the other co-founder of the Crip Collective, so two for the price of one.
18:38Their work focuses on the impact of ableism and oppressions on mental health and disability.
18:44They are focused on building communities of care and is creating an initiative to promote social inclusion, awareness, and policy recommendations for people with a range of disabilities.
18:54Hello everyone.
19:04My name is Keith Welsh.
19:06I am a white, mid-to-late thirties non-binary person with brown hair, wearing a black shirt, blue jean shorts, and sitting in a black and red palette manner.
19:19I am here today as a sick and disabled educator and artist.
19:26I benefit from having class privilege as someone who was born into a middle class family.
19:32My whiteness and my class privilege shape how I experience ableism.
19:39Like most of us here today, I have personal experiences of systemic ableism and in particular
19:46as someone heavily reliant on the medical industrial complex.
19:52I grew up in and out of hospitals.
19:56I have a chronic illness that fluctuates and progresses and always needs managing.
20:05Exactly two years ago today, I was living in the ICU on a ventilator.
20:11My body-mind was struggling to survive post-medically induced coma.
20:19Now I am up here speaking to you all and I can honestly say that I am grateful to be alive.
20:28I feel like I should be up here sharing how I survived, how I have lived with chronic illness
20:35and disability my whole life, using this opportunity to share some wise lessons.
20:43But how I survived was not due to some inner strength or determination that I uniquely have.
20:51No, we all have that.
20:55And as disabled humans, we know the determination that life takes because we have no other option
21:02but to survive in the minds and bodies we have.
21:07But what I had was systems of support.
21:12Community support, family support, financial support, housing support, funded healthcare,
21:21and the list goes on.
21:22I survived and now I feel like I am starting to thrive in part because of having access to cost privilege.
21:31When I was incredibly sick, it seemed like there was no hope and no path forward.
21:40I thought about accessing medical assistance and dying.
21:44But I was able to keep pushing through because I had that support.
21:50And I think of all the people who aren't here today.
21:54The ones who used MAID to end their lives and the ones who have died so unnecessarily young
22:03because they did not have that support.
22:08I am angry because I want everyone to have that support.
22:13I want to live in a world where resources are abundant and everyone gets what they need without having to prove anything.
22:25I am angry that governments are actively eroding our healthcare and social services.
22:32I am angry because the feds promised to lift disabled people out of poverty but have let us down.
22:42So, as we try to topple capitalism and as we dream of different worlds, let us start with small actions.
22:53Let us commit to community care and sharing resources.
23:00And in capitalism, that includes money.
23:02So, my individual accountability is about recognizing my unearned advantages and working towards dismantling these systems.
23:12It can be daunting and uncomfortable and scary.
23:17It is so big.
23:19What could we possibly do as individuals?
23:22So, as you know, I do many things.
23:25But one thing I am recently committing to is sharing my money.
23:30And I invite those of you who can to also share your money.
23:35Start somewhere.
23:37It doesn't have to be perfect.
23:39This is about mutual aid.
23:41But beyond that, this is about redistribution and reparations.
23:45We live in this culture of hoarding what we have, being secret about it.
23:51There are these ideas about saving for the future because you will, quote, never know, unquote.
23:58But what if instead, we trusted community?
24:02We trusted our neighbors.
24:04What if we knew other people would have our back in the hardest of times?
24:11So, I challenge you.
24:13Take stock of what you have and name it.
24:17Noticing how not all power and privilege are static.
24:23How they may change throughout your life depending on your situation.
24:28Right now, I have a few part-time jobs.
24:32I have a supportive family who live in another country but are able to help me out financially from time to time.
24:39I have friends who will bring me a meal or let me sleep on their couch.
24:44I have stable market-rate housing.
24:47Some of you may see these things as a lot and some of you may see these things as not enough, especially in Toronto.
24:55But for the last three years, I have been redistributing 15% of my income each month.
25:02This is a small way for me to be accountable and ensure mutual relationships within our community that center interdependence.
25:13If you're unsure if you have extra to share, the first thing to do is start talking about it.
25:19I'm happy to talk to you. Feel free to reach out to me.
25:23You can also check out an organization called Resource Movement, who I've recently been working with,
25:30who can help you learn ways to redistribute your money.
25:34And remembering that money is only one thing.
25:37And one thing that many disabled people do not have.
25:41So if you don't have money, there are still ways you can show up.
25:46What can you share?
25:48Can we share our homes, our food, our skills, our empathy, our laughter, our tears?
25:56Can we push ourselves to think creatively?
26:00So, let's take care of each other in the face of fascism,
26:05in the face of governments dedicated to eugenics through MAID,
26:11and harming us all around the world with this ongoing internal and external global polycrisis.
26:20Let's live our values of community care and interdependence.
26:25Let's be accountable to each other.
26:28Let's support each other.
26:30We have seen that systems will not save us.
26:33We will save us.
26:35So, before I go, I encourage you to talk to someone today that you've never spoken to before.
26:48Exchange numbers or Instagram with someone, and let's start to build the support systems for each other.
27:01Next.
27:03Next.
27:04I'm excited to introduce Yolanda Bonnell, she, they.
27:07They are a part of their disabled, queer, mixed Ojibwe, South Asian storyteller, facilitator, and proud citizen of the Anishinaabe nation.
27:15She has fought for indigenous sovereignty and governance and the rights of indigenous peoples on Turtle Island.
27:20They are part of a collective of indigenous artists who are continuously working to implement indigenous methodologies in art spaces.
27:26This includes practices of care and disability justice in theater spaces.
27:31Yolanda.
27:32So, I'm going to describe myself first.
27:41I am a fat, brown-skinned, femme-presenting person.
27:47I have a Kafea headband.
27:52Is this a headband?
27:54A bandana.
27:55A bandana, thank you.
27:57On my head, I'm wearing a pink, what we call Kokum scarf, which is with flowers, and a blue dress.
28:06Hello, my name is Yolanda Bonnell.
28:21My spirit name is .
28:24I am Bear and Eagle Clan from Fort William First Nation, but I live here in .
28:31I am an Ojibwe citizen of the Anishinaabe nation, mixed English Scottish settler, and second generation South Asian from India on my father's side.
28:41I am also a proud, two-spirit, queer, fat, disabled storyteller, and an Aquarius, Gemini rising, Scorpio moon.
28:56I speak in my traditional language because I was told it makes my ancestors happy.
29:03And I speak it for my grandma, who felt that she needed to hide it and couldn't pass it along.
29:09I want to say miigwech, thank you to the whole Toronto Disability Pride March team for having me speak today, and miigwech to all of you for coming out.
29:18I think these events are so important to our communities, particularly those whose voices are intentionally oppressed or suppressed.
29:27The act of gathering is something that has been happening on this land for years and years.
29:34Ceremonies, celebrations, migrations, trades, negotiations, burials, all of it was happening on this land prior to colonization, and the effects of white supremacy and capitalism.
29:53Migrations were particularly important as that movement was essential for the land to replenish.
30:03It was cyclical, rhythmic. Indigenous nations followed that rhythm. It was a collective heartbeat.
30:11And I'll tell you something about the land. She won't judge you. The land don't care what you look like, what you wear, who you identify as.
30:21She won't exclude you for your disabilities. In fact, she'll give you roots for the pain and leaves to heal your insides and outs.
30:31She'll offer up her wood for your cane. And I mean, you could make a scooter or a wheelchair out of birch bark, but I don't know how well that would hold up.
30:44So we're moving and we're grooving in that rhythm, not being judged. We're being cared for. We're caring for each other.
30:53Wait, wait, wait. Sorry. We're caring for each other.
30:57Our most vulnerable are our most protected. And then what colonialism did was interrupt that rhythm and remove us from that land-body relationship.
31:09It put us all in a different rhythm, one of capitalism and human supremacy over the land.
31:16And that uncomfortable interruption has ripples stretching far back and far forward and absolutely does impact us all,
31:27but has a deeper, more harmful impact for certain groups of people, particularly disabled folks.
31:36Mostly because that rhythm doesn't work with our natural movement.
31:41And it excludes anyone who isn't straight and white and able-bodied.
31:46Able-ism was birthed from capitalism.
31:51So now we're in this uncomfortable rhythm and because we can't all keep up with it, it starts to leave many of us behind.
32:03And those who are in the front start to profit off keeping us behind them.
32:08And with the continued rise of fascism and the government-sanctioned justifications for genocides and ethnic cleansing,
32:16it puts us in an even more of a vulnerable position.
32:20The creation of this game, this race, this colonial project has made everyone sick.
32:26Sick with greed, sick with power, sickness of our minds and bodies.
32:32That interrupted rhythm throws our internal cycles off balance.
32:36The mind, body, heart and spirit need to be in balance as well.
32:42I was told once, as long as the land is sick, so are we.
32:47And when we realize that the land has also felt that interruption,
32:51that act of being silenced and suppressed like the buried waterways underneath us here,
32:58or being disposable or poisoned, then that sentiment rings deeply, deeply true.
33:09The colonial removal of us from the land, in turn, also removed us from our communities and the idea of communities.
33:17It placed the straight nuclear family at the forefront, which led the way for individualism, which, as we know, isn't good for anyone.
33:26As it then leads to isolation.
33:28And this is how we lose many of our community members.
33:31So then how do we bring ourselves back?
33:34Community is different now.
33:37It looks different.
33:38And it's not always safe.
33:40The poison of lateral violence exists and it's loud and it's dangerous.
33:46I think we have to build our own communities back.
33:50New ones.
33:51Based on shared values and a return to the teachings of the land
33:55and how she resists and builds and holds.
33:59Because disabled queers have always existed alongside her
34:03and will continue to exist and thrive and grow from adversity the way she does.
34:10I would like to end with a quote from Dr. Kareem Wafa Al-Husseini, who says,
34:19Empathy didn't vanish overnight.
34:22It was stripped away piece by piece until oppression felt normal and compassion became radical.
34:31And I'd like to add, let's work towards normalizing and uplifting compassion more than anything.
34:38Be safe comrades.
34:40Drink water.
34:41Take your meds.
34:42And keep shouting to end all occupations.
34:46These empires will fall.
34:49A-Cab.
34:50Miigwetch.
34:51And happy pride.
34:57A reminder.
34:58If you have any AXIS questions or issues, please find Yumi, she, her, our AXIS coordinator,
35:03who's standing in front of the table or sitting next to the table at the canopy to the front.
35:08She's wearing a bright orange shirt and a pink hat and a funky cat hat as well.
35:12And now, I'm thrilled to introduce our final speaker, Brad Evoy.
35:19He, him.
35:20Brad is the executive director of Disability Justice Network of Ontario, or DJNO,
35:25and member of the Holopoo First Nation.
35:27He is a pageant advocate for marginalized communities, particularly people with disabilities,
35:32and discusses the intersection of systemic poverty and Canada's medical assistance in dying or MAID program.
35:38He has spent his career advocating for the rights of all disabled peoples in Ontario and beyond.
35:50Thank you so much for that wonderful intro, friends.
35:53As mentioned, my name is Brad Evoy.
35:56I'm a multiply-disabled member of the Halewa Mi'kmaq Nation.
36:00I'm originally from, you know, so-called Western Newfoundland and a guest on these territories.
36:05Now, as mentioned, many of you may know me from my work with Disability Justice Network of Ontario,
36:13or Accessible Housing Network, but I'm going to be clear.
36:18This speech is for me.
36:20I'm just here as another disabled member of this community, a disabled communist.
36:26I'm here to share those thoughts with you today.
36:30It's not their fault what I say, I swear.
36:33But I'm honored to be here with you today.
36:36You know, as others have really highlighted, we're standing at the heart of colonial power in this city, Queens Park.
36:44A pink stone edifice that jabs like a wound on this land.
36:51Land which is and will always be the treaty territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.
36:59And the traditional territories of many nations.
37:02The Anishinaabe.
37:03The Haudenosaunee Confederacy.
37:04The Wendat.
37:05And if we're here and talking about disability, as folks already have, we must also center the reality of colonial struggle on this land.
37:18The colonial state, whether it is through incentivizing capitalist profit today, or continuing the violence which has marked colonial expansion throughout these territories.
37:30The vile realities of genocide, environmental racism, and constant new acts of disablement that surround us at all times.
37:41The provincial government has brought about more tools of violence against those most impacted in our communities, friends.
37:50They've passed new legislation just last month to turn your landlord into your drug cop, else they be accused of drug trafficking.
38:04Shame!
38:05There we go, shame!
38:06Exactly, friends.
38:07Shame!
38:08They gave even more tools to the police to attack and criminalize unhoused disabled people with $10,000 fines and jail time for the crime of merely trying to survive.
38:23Shame!
38:25Thank you, friends.
38:27All while making it harder to protest in cities like here in Toronto.
38:34Shame!
38:36Shame!
38:37They've made it impossible for cities to pressure corporations and developers to build more accessible homes for anyone above the colonial building code.
38:48It's simply not allowed anymore.
38:51But do you know what is?
38:53Making even more profit off our backs as cheaply as possible for them.
38:58Shame!
38:59Shame!
39:00They are trying to bring police back into schools to threaten the lives of black, indigenous, and racialized disabled children.
39:09Shame!
39:10And working to arm special constables to make things like the TTC just a little more unsafe for our communities.
39:19Shame!
39:20Shame!
39:21They are making it more profitable to build long-term care jails while committing mass human rights violations in prisons all across the province.
39:32Shame!
39:33Shame!
39:34Just a few months ago, they let COVID and strep rip through Maplehurst in Milton, Ontario until people got flesh-eating disease.
39:47Shame!
39:48Members of our very communities are dying inside and losing access to any real sense of justice.
39:57And instead of doing anything for us, the provinces and federal governments are turning on migrants, many of whom are underpaid, exploited care workers that we rely on, and indigenous nations at the very same time.
40:13Shame!
40:14Shame!
40:15It doesn't matter to them if we've been here since time immemorial or we came here seeking something better for our families.
40:24All that matters is the power of capitalism, exploitation, violence, and the power to maintain that of the ruling class, the owning class, through white supremacy, ableism, and force.
40:40Shame!
40:41Shame!
40:42So we know that the very government whose legislature we now stand behind, because they kicked us off the front, we know that they are actively working to bring forward new violences, new extraction on indigenous peoples' territories, new colonial expansion here, and as supported by the federal government, continued imperialist expansion all over the world.
41:11Shame!
41:12Shame!
41:13Shame!
41:14We must also name, without hesitation or expectation of praise, that this place is one of the hearts of imperialism.
41:25Shame!
41:26When we talk about the violence, disablement, and death that we see in Congo, in Iran, in Palestine,
41:32and beyond, people often turn their ire and blame elsewhere.
41:41Shame!
41:42Shame!
41:43But we know in our hearts that so-called Canada and so-called Ontario are complicit in it all.
41:51Shame!
41:52Factories around the province and the country build weapons of death and disablement every single day.
42:02Shame!
42:03We know that the moral and financial cover for the violation of human rights of our disabled siblings all over the world are made here.
42:15And we also know that disabled communities here are not free from this complicity.
42:22The blood of our siblings around the world is on our hands, friends.
42:28We have failed them countless times.
42:32But it ends now.
42:34We will name it.
42:36We must name it for what it is.
42:39So, let's talk about one example around Palestine.
42:45We know that disabled organizations and movements have been silent in the face of genocide.
42:52Shame!
42:54We know that some have taken up money from organizations like the Azraeli Foundation,
43:00which funds countless projects on disability, care work, and related issues around the country
43:08and in Israel.
43:10And if it's done here, then, friends, Azraeli funds it or aims to.
43:16But they are funded by the largest real estate and multi-sector organization in Israel and its sibling company in Canada.
43:26The Azraeli group operates directly in the West Bank, running much of the infrastructure for the occupying force of Israeli settlements.
43:37And friends, we know this is but one example.
43:42We could talk about Access Now and Access Fest.
43:46We could talk about Jerry Schwartz and Heather Reisman's funding of disability and health research,
43:54while also funding scholarships for IOF members.
43:58We could talk about so much more.
44:01But people here on these territories, who work in our communities, are complicit with the death and further disablement of our siblings.
44:12This is simply fact.
44:15This is simply reality.
44:18Now, we must remember the names of countless disabled Palestinians who have died in this genocide,
44:28like Mohamed Rahr, Yazan al-Panafe, Mohamed al-Farah, Hashem Ghazal, Atta Ibrahim al-Musquid,
44:39and countless more disabled and deaf Palestinians murdered by the IOF.
44:47Their deaths have happened through the bullets and bombs made here.
44:53Their deaths are justified through media here.
44:58Their deaths are obscured through the so-called charity that provides much for disabled people here.
45:07But this charity does not wash out blood, friends.
45:12And we cannot ignore it anymore.
45:17So I ask you, why do our own communities remain slow to act?
45:24I ask you how we can consider this acceptable years into genocide.
45:31We cannot.
45:33Disability justice, if that is what we truly believe in, is not merely a set of words.
45:41It is a set of material commitments that, while we may fall short of them, they are for us to live up to.
45:50We cannot continue to ignore that disability organizations on these territories ignore these realities
45:58while staking a claim to the same ideological and social foundations that we do.
46:06If you claim it, then we all must work to live it.
46:13Disability justice is not simply a more radical quote to put over the disability movements of the past.
46:25It is not simply a way to vaguely express our politics.
46:31It is anti-capitalist.
46:34It is anti-colonial.
46:36It is anti-imperialist.
46:38It is meant to make the comfortable uncomfortable.
46:42We are not here today, friends, to be comforted.
46:49We know ourselves are enough.
46:52It is the society around us that fails us.
46:56It is capitalism that fails us.
46:59We are strong together, my friends.
47:09We have the power that they cannot hope to wield.
47:13But only we can use it effectively if we build things together.
47:18We have to be unafraid to speak the truths that we see before us.
47:25We have to be unafraid to be anti-capitalists.
47:28That's socialists, communists, anarchists, whatever you want to call yourself.
47:32But we must organize ourselves.
47:35We have to get ready, my friends.
47:38We cannot wait.
47:40Join an organization.
47:42Join a party.
47:43Join whatever group.
47:44And prepare.
47:45Whatever strategies or ideals you hold, get them ready.
47:50And get them ready now.
47:53We have to build a better world together, friends.
48:01We cannot wait.
48:02We must do so now.
48:05Unlike the ruling class, we build beautiful things together, friends.
48:10And that includes our political power.
48:13The pride that I hold today is pride in the power that we have together.
48:19The might that we have in our hands as working class intersecting disabled movements of people in solidarity.
48:28But with that pride, I feel wrath.
48:35I feel rage.
48:37I burn for justice in this world.
48:40And I know that you do too.
48:43But we can do something about that, folks.
48:46We got to build together.
48:49And look, even if the politicians aren't here today, if they're out in their summer homes,
48:57if they're, you know, enjoying a nice stroll,
49:00I want them to be able to hear you from Toronto to Ottawa and wherever else they might be.
49:08So, folks, just to close out, I want folks to repeat after me.
49:13When I say disability pride, I want you to say disability wrath.
49:20Disability.
49:22Thank you, Brad.
49:23And that concludes our speeches for today.
49:24Please give a round of applause to our amazing speakers.
49:38And also, please give a round of applause to our amazing human mic stand, Claire, without whom we could not be speaking today.
49:47As we wait for the bus to load, to those joining us from other communities, we thank you for coming here today.
49:54We hope we will start seeing the interlocking natures of our oppressions as the key to our collective liberation, not a distraction from it.
50:03What happens to each of us has a butterfly effect that will affect every single one of us.
50:09Freedom for disabled people must mean collective liberation.
50:13And those of you joining from other movements must start including disabled liberation and resistance into your own practices.
50:20Our access is not optional.
50:25In what is essential queer crip wisdom, and what has never stopped being true at TDPM, is pride is a protest.
50:37We scream together.
50:41We rise together.
50:42We march together.
50:44And then we live our best lives and celebrate that we are still alive and together.
50:49At Grange Park, we will have some musical performances along with food and celebration as part of disability pride.
50:59So please join us.
51:01To end this off, I want to say a few words from the heart.
51:04When I, Sievert, was growing up, I didn't know any other disabled people, none.
51:09When I was being studied at SickKids, I did it alone.
51:12I didn't see or know anyone else who looked like me.
51:16Standing in front of you all, I no longer feel alone.
51:21Low key, it's actually a bit surreal.
51:25Looking at you all, I think of my Indian and Bengali ancestors who had to endure British colonization,
51:31the Great Bengal Famine, and the Bangladesh Genocide.
51:34I think of my Ukrainian ancestors whose home is now under military occupation by a foreign power.
51:40I would like us all to call upon the spirits of our ancestors, our families, friends, or whoever gives you strength and courage
51:47to stand up to the ableist, racist, classist, and cis-heteronormative powers that oppress us all and say no more.
51:55No more shall we allow them to kill us using MAID.
52:02No more will we allow our disabled children to be ignored, treated like helpless victims or test subjects in hospitals or institutions.
52:11No more will we allow our disabled family members in Palestine, Congo, Iran, Sudan, Tibet, or Haiti to be disposed of.
52:19Instead, instead, today, instead today we rise, today we march, today we fight.
52:30Now we will make our way to the driveway behind us with the cue to start moving and marching,
52:34being the giant disability pride flag will start moving and the drums will start.
52:40Happy Pride!
52:47Happy Pride!
52:48Happy Pride!
52:49Happy Pride!
52:50Happy Pride!
52:51The
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