Literacy is considered to be a human right—and a tool of personal empowerment
Literacy is considered by the United Nations to be a human right, a tool of personal empowerment and a means for social and human development. Educational opportunities, particularly, depend on literacy. This year’s International Literacy Day—held on September 8th—put the spotlight on the empowering role of literacy and its importance for participation, citizenship and social development. (more…)
Curtis Brick’s tragic death raises the issue of systemic racism
Curtis Brick died last month after lying in the sun at a Vancouver park on one of the hottest days the city had seen all summer. Curtis Brick was a homeless aboriginal man. Though the park was filled with people, he lay for seven hours until an aboriginal outreach worker intervened and called 911. Now questions about the way Curtis Brick was treated by emergency personnel has advocates calling for a coroner’s inquiry. (more…)
Nanaimo poet’s voice returns after a decade
Kim Goldberg is an author, poet, photographer and art activist. She has penned five full-length books, over 2,000 articles, and various chapbooks. Her poetry has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies in North America.
Between 1997 and 2005, her writer’s voice disappeared and when it returned, “new poems started to pour forth.” Kim told the Nanaimo News Bulletin that the new poems “were completely different…they were about the homeless encampments I walk by every day in downtown Nanaimo where I live.” Her poems about urban decay will be published this fall under the name Red Zone. (more…)
Manitoba’s Liberal leader makes the case for a mental health bill of rights
Jon Gerrard, leader of the Liberal party in Manitoba, introduced a bill on December 2, 2008 in the Manitoba Legislature to provide a bill of rights for citizens with mental health disorders. He wrote on his blog, “it is imperative that people with mental illnesses receive services quickly, that their release from an institution such as a hospital be adequately planned, and that adequate support be available for them in the community on discharge.” (more…)
Vancouver’s homelessness advocate Judy Graves pays a visit to Nanaimo’s homeless people
Judy Graves, Coordinator for Vancouver’s Tenant Assistance Program, is a long-time, passionate advocate for the homeless. She began the Vancouver Homeless Outreach Project in 2005 that has successfully housed more than 2,000 people in B.C. She also co-authored the book A Room Somewhere: 101 Solutions to Homelessness.* (more…)
Why Victoria activists are offering needle exchange in a ‘no-go zone’
Harm Reduction Victoria launched what it calls a “guerilla needle exchange” in downtown Victoria in the middle of a so-called “no-go zone”—an area that has been off-limits for needle distribution for a year. Kim Toombs, a member of the harm reduction group, told the Victoria Times Colonist that the group plans to hand out clean needles every evening to drug users in the area.
We speak with Kim Toombs about harm reduction in Victoria, the ‘no-go zone’ and the guerilla needle exchange.
