“There are all kinds of courage,” said Dumbledore, smiling. “It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends."
"Incidentally, none of the organizations to which I belonged made an effort to incorporate people from the largest bastions of resistance to the mandates and skepticism of the mRNA shots: black and indigenous Canadians, not to mention recent Haitian and African migrants, which would have significantly strengthened our organizations through increased numbers and a broader range of perspectives"
In Quebec, François Amalega who is originally from Cameroon, was very well known in the anti-covidism movement. He even did jail time for resisting and from what I could see, he was very appreciated. Amelega was taking part in the fight for everybody, not just people of his own background. He was never focused on "diversity", from what I could see. He is still implicated in marginal politics in Quebec and seems to belong to the christian conservative school of thought.
I don't remember his name at the moment but up to 2021 there was a haitian computer science doctoral student who whose videos were quite well known in the anti-covidism movement in Quebec. I'm not sure why he disappeared but he was there and well known. I have seen haitians participate as important people in anti-covidism movement zoom calls in Quebec and I have heard haitians speak at protests. I have seen and heard them. I am myself black and I did my (tiny) part in the movement by not injecting, attending a few rallies and stopping by the protest in Ottawa.
You seem to feel that "bipoc" voices were not "centered" and "amplified" enough during that time. Even though I'm black myself, i don't believe in gratuitous "diversity" so I was quite ok with whatever role black people were playing in this movement, as it seemed to genuinely reflect involvement and ability to interact with the other groups. The other groups included people from the far right, probably. For various reasons, I have rubbed shoulders with far right people a lot during my life and i think i can handle them just fine so *shrug*
Re: Trumpian imperialism:
I am disturbed and surprised by it. I've been a Trump fan and a usa fan (to a certain extent) for a while but the way these positive feelings would articulate with me being a canadian is that I would like Canada to be inspired by the usa on some (not all!) issues. I'm surprised and disappointed by the sudden aggressive tone against our country. I'm beginning to worry that he (Trump) may be the one to bring forth the Technate :(
Re: haiti vs Sweden.
You find it bizarre that people in anglospheric western countries find it easier to relate to what's happening in northern europe rather than in Haiti? this is still a western country with its roots in Christendom. We relate easier to other places with similar roots and identity. Including me, even with my background. I'm happy that Haiti managed to sit this one out. I feel the same about the various african countries. Maybe at some point we will have deep discussions about what happened there. We'll see.
There you have, the perspective of a black citizen of immigrant background living in Quebec
I can appreciate your points. My experience is tainted by the fact that all the organizations to which I belonged, were Anglophone. I can see that Quebecois organizations were different in that respect.
"You find it bizarre that people in anglospheric western countries find it easier to relate to what's happening in northern europe rather than in Haiti?"--No, not bizarre: inexcusable. The information was widely available to all. In my own circles, when I kept talking about Haiti, others kept repeating back to me about Sweden. So I am not convinced by this explanation.
By the way, I find the BIPOC label to be totally hideous :)
In my opinion, the freedom convey (or at least the idea behind it) was never a coalesced political group but rather were different people from different backgrounds in Canada who briefly aligned politically due to a common threat. It certainly did seem however that most supporters seemed to veer right of the political divide (or were driven right by the circumstances ... which is to completely ignore the fact right leaning conservative/CAQ provincial governments were complicit and even more directly responsible for the attacks on personal freedoms than the federal government was but I digress). There was of course an organization behind the Freedom convoy, but they do not own the idea it was born from. That said I can of course understand the desire to push momentum forward behind such an organization given what was achieved. But the Trump contingent was always a strong element of that group, and it's hardly surprising to see unfettered support from those that import their ideals and values from a megalomaniac and follow him in blind faith.
My point here is, those "leaders" of the freedom convoy that may be advocating for their own country to be annexed, are not the owners of the movement. They didn't create the movement, they just happened to successfully channel what was already there. For all the hype that the Freedom convoy got there were multiple protests in Montreal alone that had hundreds of thousands of supporters marching, protests that had almost no media coverage at all (or what coverage it did get downplayed the numbers of protestors and of course slandered their reasoning). The freedom convoy was simply another protest that happened to catch wildfire in media and went viral. But I never viewed it any differently than any of the other protests e.g. people aligned by a common threat. As such, any of those organizers that now, without irony, advocate the elimination of freedom by a foreign power, have no rights to claim the movement as their own or speak for anyone but themselves so far as I am concerned. The rest of us will have to find a new rallying point.
"most supporters seemed to veer right of the political divide (or were driven right by the circumstances ... which is to completely ignore the fact right leaning conservative/CAQ provincial governments were complicit ...)"
I'd say that most freedom convoy supporters and most anti-covidism were first of all "non-mainstream". "non-mainstream" rightwingers are not on the same team as mainstream center-right governments.
That's a fair enough distinction though there was also palpable faith that Pierre Pollievre for example, represented salvation from the tyranny of Trudeau during Covid times (and that remains very much true). Maybe many don't have traditional conservative views (the entire idea of left and right is almost completed disconnected from what those ideas originated as anyway), but that vast majority remain tied to the same old arena of politics.
Some sobering observations. As one who spends no time on social media, I haven't any impressions or mis-impressions about the extent of the problem, but the demand for consistency is timely.
“There are all kinds of courage,” said Dumbledore, smiling. “It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends."
"Incidentally, none of the organizations to which I belonged made an effort to incorporate people from the largest bastions of resistance to the mandates and skepticism of the mRNA shots: black and indigenous Canadians, not to mention recent Haitian and African migrants, which would have significantly strengthened our organizations through increased numbers and a broader range of perspectives"
In Quebec, François Amalega who is originally from Cameroon, was very well known in the anti-covidism movement. He even did jail time for resisting and from what I could see, he was very appreciated. Amelega was taking part in the fight for everybody, not just people of his own background. He was never focused on "diversity", from what I could see. He is still implicated in marginal politics in Quebec and seems to belong to the christian conservative school of thought.
I don't remember his name at the moment but up to 2021 there was a haitian computer science doctoral student who whose videos were quite well known in the anti-covidism movement in Quebec. I'm not sure why he disappeared but he was there and well known. I have seen haitians participate as important people in anti-covidism movement zoom calls in Quebec and I have heard haitians speak at protests. I have seen and heard them. I am myself black and I did my (tiny) part in the movement by not injecting, attending a few rallies and stopping by the protest in Ottawa.
You seem to feel that "bipoc" voices were not "centered" and "amplified" enough during that time. Even though I'm black myself, i don't believe in gratuitous "diversity" so I was quite ok with whatever role black people were playing in this movement, as it seemed to genuinely reflect involvement and ability to interact with the other groups. The other groups included people from the far right, probably. For various reasons, I have rubbed shoulders with far right people a lot during my life and i think i can handle them just fine so *shrug*
Re: Trumpian imperialism:
I am disturbed and surprised by it. I've been a Trump fan and a usa fan (to a certain extent) for a while but the way these positive feelings would articulate with me being a canadian is that I would like Canada to be inspired by the usa on some (not all!) issues. I'm surprised and disappointed by the sudden aggressive tone against our country. I'm beginning to worry that he (Trump) may be the one to bring forth the Technate :(
Re: haiti vs Sweden.
You find it bizarre that people in anglospheric western countries find it easier to relate to what's happening in northern europe rather than in Haiti? this is still a western country with its roots in Christendom. We relate easier to other places with similar roots and identity. Including me, even with my background. I'm happy that Haiti managed to sit this one out. I feel the same about the various african countries. Maybe at some point we will have deep discussions about what happened there. We'll see.
There you have, the perspective of a black citizen of immigrant background living in Quebec
I can appreciate your points. My experience is tainted by the fact that all the organizations to which I belonged, were Anglophone. I can see that Quebecois organizations were different in that respect.
"You find it bizarre that people in anglospheric western countries find it easier to relate to what's happening in northern europe rather than in Haiti?"--No, not bizarre: inexcusable. The information was widely available to all. In my own circles, when I kept talking about Haiti, others kept repeating back to me about Sweden. So I am not convinced by this explanation.
By the way, I find the BIPOC label to be totally hideous :)
In my opinion, the freedom convey (or at least the idea behind it) was never a coalesced political group but rather were different people from different backgrounds in Canada who briefly aligned politically due to a common threat. It certainly did seem however that most supporters seemed to veer right of the political divide (or were driven right by the circumstances ... which is to completely ignore the fact right leaning conservative/CAQ provincial governments were complicit and even more directly responsible for the attacks on personal freedoms than the federal government was but I digress). There was of course an organization behind the Freedom convoy, but they do not own the idea it was born from. That said I can of course understand the desire to push momentum forward behind such an organization given what was achieved. But the Trump contingent was always a strong element of that group, and it's hardly surprising to see unfettered support from those that import their ideals and values from a megalomaniac and follow him in blind faith.
My point here is, those "leaders" of the freedom convoy that may be advocating for their own country to be annexed, are not the owners of the movement. They didn't create the movement, they just happened to successfully channel what was already there. For all the hype that the Freedom convoy got there were multiple protests in Montreal alone that had hundreds of thousands of supporters marching, protests that had almost no media coverage at all (or what coverage it did get downplayed the numbers of protestors and of course slandered their reasoning). The freedom convoy was simply another protest that happened to catch wildfire in media and went viral. But I never viewed it any differently than any of the other protests e.g. people aligned by a common threat. As such, any of those organizers that now, without irony, advocate the elimination of freedom by a foreign power, have no rights to claim the movement as their own or speak for anyone but themselves so far as I am concerned. The rest of us will have to find a new rallying point.
"most supporters seemed to veer right of the political divide (or were driven right by the circumstances ... which is to completely ignore the fact right leaning conservative/CAQ provincial governments were complicit ...)"
I'd say that most freedom convoy supporters and most anti-covidism were first of all "non-mainstream". "non-mainstream" rightwingers are not on the same team as mainstream center-right governments.
That's a fair enough distinction though there was also palpable faith that Pierre Pollievre for example, represented salvation from the tyranny of Trudeau during Covid times (and that remains very much true). Maybe many don't have traditional conservative views (the entire idea of left and right is almost completed disconnected from what those ideas originated as anyway), but that vast majority remain tied to the same old arena of politics.
Some sobering observations. As one who spends no time on social media, I haven't any impressions or mis-impressions about the extent of the problem, but the demand for consistency is timely.