Rally and March starting at City Hall, marching to Joe Fresh to demand justice for Bangladeshi garment workers and ending at Little Norway Park in solidarity with striking workers at Porter (Queens Quay and Bathurst)

Videos: bit.ly/MayDayTOVids

More info with links: www.toronto.nooneisillegal.org/MayDay

Poster series imagining a Solidarity City: on.fb.me/12HV9DO

For seven years, you have marched on May Day to celebrate and invigorate migrant justice struggles in Toronto. On International Workers Day, we march to build a Solidarity City. Solidarity City is a unified struggle for: Respect for Indigenous Sovereignty, Status for All, an End to Imperialism and Environmental Destruction, an End to Austerity and Attacks on the Poor and Working class, continued resistance against Patriarchy, Racism, Ableism and Homophobia and Transphobia

Pipelines, tankers, mines, and so-called development projects are being forced onto the lands of Indigenous nations. Harper, like every Prime Minister who came before him, refuses to respect the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and continues to neglect his treaty obligations, as seen in Omnibus Bill C-45. In the face of this and more, land defenders across Turtle Island continue to resist in powerful and inspiring ways. As we look towards an exciting summer of action and resistance fueled by the Idle No More movement, this May Day let us honor all ongoing decolonization struggles and commit to continuing our support for Indigenous sovereignty.

The past year has seen the implementation of C-31, dubbed the Refugee Exclusion Act, further criminalizing migrants and expanding the detention and deportation machine. Jason Kenney announced the creation of a designated countries of origin, a racist, two tiered system under which refugees get fewer rights based on their place of birth. This past November, many of us honored our communities and confronted Minister Kenney when he showed up in Toronto. On May 1st, let us take to the streets to build community alliances and resistance once again.

Exploitative temporary worker programs continue to expand and many migrant workers continue to meet deportation, injuries and in some cases death. Workers are being forced to pay thousands of dollars to get jobs in Canada for which entire families go in to debt, yet no provisions exist for status on landing. Since Harper came into power, over 72,000 people have been locked up in immigration detention. In December we rallied in solidarity with security certificate detainees Mohammad Mahjoub, Mohamed Harkat and Mahmoud Jaballah and all those locked up in immigration detention. This May Day let us take to the streets to end detentions and deportations and to call for freedom to move, freedom to stay and freedom to return!

On February 21st, Toronto City Hall reaffirmed its promise to providing services to residents without full immigration status. We will continue to build a Solidarity City where communities work together to ensure justice and dignity for all residents. The history of Access Without Fear in Toronto is a long one and on May Day let us march to celebrate our victories and commit to continued struggle.

In the face of austerity, climate destruction, colonial and capitalist wars and interventions here and across the world that push people out of their homes, let us fight for status for all. Status for All is the struggle for self-determination, just livelihood, housing, food, education, healthcare, childcare, shelter, justice and dignity for all people, with or without immigration status.

Coordinated by a coalition of community groups including Afghans United for Justice, AIDS ACTION NOW!, Anakbayan Toronto, Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Students (APUS), Camp Sis, Casa Salvador Allende, Cinema Politica, Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), Common Cause Toronto,Common Causes, CUPE local 1281,CUPE Local 4772, CUPE 3906 Executive, CUPE 3906 Political Action Committee, CUPE 4308, CUPE Ontario International Solidarity Committee, Educators for Peace and Justice, Faculty for Palestine (F4P), Grassroots Ontario Animal Liberation (GOAL) Network, Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly, Health for All, Independent Jewish Voices, Toronto, Injured Workers Action for Justice, International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Socialists, Jane and Finch Action Against Poverty [JFAAP], Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network, Law Union of Ontario, maggie's: toronto sex workers action project, May 1st Movement, No One Is Illegal - Toronto,Ontario Coalition Against Poverty,OPIRG York, Refugees without Border, Revolutionary Women's Collective-women united against imperialism, Rhythms of Resistance - Toronto,Rising Tide Toronto, Socialist Action / Ligue pour l'Action socialiste. Socialist Party of Ontario,Socialist Project, Student Christian Movement, The Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, The Sanctuary Network, Student Christian Movement, Toronto Haiti Action Committee, Toronto New Socialists, Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multicultural Women Against Rape, Toronto Young New Democrats, Trans Film Series,United Food and Commercial Workers, Women's Coordinating Committe for a Free Wallmapu [Toronto], Workers' Action Centre, York Federation of Students, Local 68 Canadian Federation of Students and more. To endorse the event, fill out this form bit.ly/ZDRwKU

The Hmong (RPA: Hmoob/Moob, IPA: [m̥ɔ̃ŋ]) are an ethnic group from the mountainous regions of China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Hmong are also one of the sub-groups of the Miao ethnicity (苗族) in southern China. Hmong groups began a gradual southward migration in the 18th century due to political unrest and to find more arable land.

During the first and second Indochina Wars, France and the United States recruited thousands of Hmong people in Laos to fight against forces from north and south Vietnam and communist Pathet Lao insurgents, known as the Secret War, during the Vietnam War and the Laotian Civil War. Hundreds of thousands of Hmong refugees fled to Thailand seeking political asylum. Thousands of these refugees have resettled in Western countries since the late 1970s, mostly the United States, but also in Australia, France, French Guiana, Canada, and Argentina. Others have returned to Laos under United Nations-sponsored repatriation programs.

SUBCULTURES

Hmong people have their own terms for their subcultural divisions. Hmong Der and Hmong Leng are the terms for two of the largest groups in America and Southeast Asia. In the Romanized Popular Alphabet, developed in the 1950s in Laos, these terms are written Hmoob Dawb (White Hmong) and Moob Leeg/Moob Ntsuab (Blue/Green Mong). The final consonants indicate with which of the eight lexical tones the word is pronounced.

White Hmong and Green Hmong speak mutually intelligible dialects of the Hmong language with some differences in pronunciation and vocabulary. One of the most characteristic differences is the use of the voiceless /m̥/ in White Hmong, indicated by a preceding "H" in Romanized Popular Alphabet. Voiceless nasals are not found in the Green Hmong dialect. Hmong groups are often named after the dominant colors or patterns of their traditional clothing, style of head-dress, or the provinces from which they come.

VIETNAM

Vietnamese Hmong women continuing to wear 'traditional' clothing tend to source much of their clothing as 'ready to wear' cotton (as opposed to traditional hemp) from markets, though some add embroidery as a personal touch. In SaPa, now with a 'standardised' clothing look, Black Hmong sub-groups have differentiated themselves by adopting different headwear; those with a large comb embedded in their long hair (but without a hat) call themselves Tao, those with a pillbox hat name themselves Giay, and those with a checked headscarf are Yao. For many, such as Flower Hmong, the heavily beaded skirts and jackets are manufactured in China.

NOMENCLATURE

In Southeast Asia, Hmong people are referred to by other names, including: Vietnamese: Mèo or H'Mông; Lao: ແມ້ວ (Maew) or ມົ້ງ (Mong); Thai: แม้ว (Maew) or ม้ง (Mong); Burmese: မုံလူမျိုး (mun lu-myo). The xenonym, "Mèo", and variants thereof, are considered highly derogatory by many Hmong people and are infrequently used today outside of Southeast Asia.

The Hmong people were also referred to by some European writers as the "Kings of the Jungle," because they used to live in the jungle of Laos. Because the Hmong lived mainly in the highland areas of Southeast Asia and China, the French occupiers of Southeast Asia gave them the name Montagnards or "mountain people", but this should not be confused with the Degar people of Vietnam, who were also referred to as Montagnards.

HMONG, MONG AND MIAO

Some non-Chinese Hmong advocate that the term Hmong be used not only for designating their dialect group, but also for the other Miao groups living in China. They generally claim that the word "Miao" or "Meo" is a derogatory term, with connotations of barbarism, that probably should not be used at all. The term was later adapted by Tai-speaking groups in Southeast Asia where it took on especially insulting associations for Hmong people despite its official status.

In modern China, the term "Miao" does not carry these negative associations and people of the various sub-groups that constitute this officially recognized nationality freely identify themselves as Miao or Chinese, typically reserving more specific ethnonyms for intra-ethnic communication. During the struggle for political recognition after 1949, it was actually members of these ethnic minorities who campaigned for identification under the umbrella term "Miao"-taking advantage of its familiarity and associations of historical political oppression.

Contemporary transnational interactions between Hmong in the West and Miao groups in China, following the 1975 Hmong diaspora, have led to the development of a global Hmong identity that includes linguistically and culturally related minorities in China that previously had no ethnic affiliation. Scholarly and commercial exchanges, increasingly communicated via the Internet, have also resulted in an exchange of terminology, including Hmu and A Hmao people identifying as Hmong and, to a lesser extent, Hmong people accepting the designation "Miao," within the context of China. Such realignments of identity, while largely the concern of economically elite community leaders, reflect a trend towards the interchangeability of the terms "Hmong" and "Miao."

HISTORY

The Hmong claim an origin in the Yellow River region of China. According to Ratliff, there is linguistic evidence to suggest that they have occupied the same areas of southern China for at least the past 2,000 years. Evidence from mitochondrial DNA in Hmong-Mien-speaking populations supports the southern origins of maternal lineages even further back in time, although Hmong-speaking populations show more contact with Han than Mien populations. Chinese sources describe that area being inhabited by 'Miao' people, a group with whom Hmong people are often identified.

The ancient town of Zhuolu, is considered to be the legendary birthplace of the Miao. Today, a statue of Chi You, widely proclaimed as the first Hmong king, has been erected in the town. The Guoyu book, considers Chi You’s Jui Li tribe to be related to the ancient ancestors of the Hmong, the San Miao people

CULTURE

The Hmong culture usually consists of a dominant hierarchy within the family. Males hold dominance over females and thus, a father is considered the head in each household. Courtships take place during the night when a man goes to visit a woman at her house and tries to woo her with sweet-talks through the thin walls of the house where the woman's bedroom may be located. If a man kidnaps an unwilling woman as a bride, she would have to marry him or risk having a tarnished reputation.

Today, bridenapping is uncommon because those marriages can end in divorce since women are no longer afraid of a tarnished reputation. During a marriage, the man pays the woman's family for taking away a daughter who is economically essential to her parents. Hmong women retain their own maiden names following marriage, but attends to the ancestors of their husbands. The children they bear take their husbands' clan names. Consequently, the Hmong favour having sons over daughters because sons perpetuate the clan.

The Hmong practice shamanism and ancestor worship. Like other animists, they also believe that all things are endowed with spiritual beings and so should be respected.

See Anne Fadiman's ethnography: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down for more info.

Hmong families in Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos practice subsistence agriculture, supplemented by hunting and some foraging. Although they have chickens, pigs and cows, the traditional staple of the Hmong consists mostly of vegetable dishes and rice. Domestic animals are highly valued and killed for consumption only during special events such as the New Year's Festival or during events such as a birth, marriage, or funeral ritual.

GEOGRAPHY

Roughly 95% of the Hmong live in Asia. Linguistic data show that the Hmong of the Peninsula stem from the Miao of southern China as one among a set of ethnic groups belonging to the Hmong–Mien language family. Linguistically and culturally speaking, the Hmong and the other sub-groups of the Miao have little in common.

In China the majority of the Hmong today live in Guizhou, Sichuan and Yunnan. The Hmong population is estimated at 3 million. No precise census data exist on the Hmong in China since China does not officially recognise the ethnonym Hmong and instead, clusters that group within the wider Miao group (8,940,116 in 2000). A few centuries ago, the lowland Chinese started moving into the mountain ranges of China's southwest. This migration, combined with major social unrest in southern China in the 18th and 19th century, served to cause some minorities of Guizhou, Sichuan and Yunnan to migrate south. A number of Hmong thus settled in the ranges of the Indochina Peninsula to practise subsistence agriculture.

Vietnam, where their presence is attested from the late 18th century onwards, is likely to be the first Indochinese country into which the Hmong migrated. During the colonization of 'Tonkin' (north Vietnam) between 1883 and 1954, a number of Hmong decided to join the Vietnamese Nationalists and Communists, while many Christianized Hmong sided with the French. After the Viet Minh victory, numerous pro-French Hmong had to fall back to Laos and South Vietnam.

At the 2009 national census, there were 1,068,189 Hmong living in Vietnam, the vast majority of them in the north of the country. The traditional trade in coffin wood with China and the cultivation of the opium poppy – both prohibited only in 1993 in Vietnam – long guaranteed a regular cash income. Today, converting to cash cropping is the main economic activity. As in China and Laos, there is a certain degree of participation of Hmong in the local and regional administration. In the late 1990s, several thousands of Hmong have started moving to the Central Highlands and some have crossed the border into Cambodia, constituting the first attested presence of Hmong settlers in that country.

In 2005, the Hmong in Laos numbered 460,000. Hmong settlement there is nearly as ancient as in Vietnam. After decades of distant relations with the Lao kingdoms, closer relations between the French military and some Hmong on the Xieng Khouang plateau were set up after World War II. There, a particular rivalry between members of the Lo and Ly clans developed into open enmity, also affecting those connected with them by kinship. Clan leaders took opposite sides and as a consequence, several thousand Hmong participated in the fighting against the Pathet Lao Communists, while perhaps as many were enrolled in the People's Liberation Army. As in Vietnam, numerous Hmong in Laos also genuinely tried to avoid getting involved in the conflict in spite of the extremely difficult material conditions under which they lived during wartime.

After the 1975 Communist victory, thousands of Hmong from Laos had to seek refuge abroad. Approximately 30 percent of the Hmong left, although the only concrete figure we have is that of 116,000 Hmong from Laos and Vietnam together seeking refuge in Thailand up to 1990.

In 2002 the Hmong in Thailand numbered 151,080. The presence of Hmong settlements there is documented from the end of the 19th century. Initially, the Siamese paid little attention to them. But in the early 1950s, the state suddenly took a number of initiatives aimed at establishing links. Decolonization and nationalism were gaining momentum in the Peninsula and wars of independence were raging. Armed opposition to the state in northern Thailand, triggered by outside influence, started in 1967 while here again, many Hmong refused to take sides in the conflict. Communist guerrilla warfare stopped by 1982 as a result of an international concurrence of events that rendered it pointless. Priority is since given by the Thai state to sedentarizing the mountain population, introducing commercially viable agricultural techniques and national education, with the aim of integrating these non-Tai animists within the national identity.

Burma most likely includes a modest number of Hmong (perhaps around 2,500) but no reliable census has been conducted there recently.

As result of refugee movements in the wake of the Indochina Wars (1946–1975), in particular in Laos, the largest Hmong community to settle outside Asia went to the United States where approximately 100,000 individuals had already arrived by 1990. California became home to half this group, while the remainder went to Minnesota, Wisconsin, Washington, Pennsylvania, Montana, and North Carolina. By the same date, 10,000 Hmong had migrated to France, including 1,400 in French Guyana. Canada admitted 900 individuals, while another 360 went to Australia, 260 to China, and 250 to Argentina. Over the following years and until the definitive closure of the last refugee camps in Thailand in 1998, additional numbers of Hmong have left Asia, but the definitive figures are still to be produced.

WIKIPEDIA

The Hmong (RPA: Hmoob/Moob, IPA: [m̥ɔ̃ŋ]) are an ethnic group from the mountainous regions of China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Hmong are also one of the sub-groups of the Miao ethnicity (苗族) in southern China. Hmong groups began a gradual southward migration in the 18th century due to political unrest and to find more arable land.

During the first and second Indochina Wars, France and the United States recruited thousands of Hmong people in Laos to fight against forces from north and south Vietnam and communist Pathet Lao insurgents, known as the Secret War, during the Vietnam War and the Laotian Civil War. Hundreds of thousands of Hmong refugees fled to Thailand seeking political asylum. Thousands of these refugees have resettled in Western countries since the late 1970s, mostly the United States, but also in Australia, France, French Guiana, Canada, and Argentina. Others have returned to Laos under United Nations-sponsored repatriation programs.

SUBCULTURES

Hmong people have their own terms for their subcultural divisions. Hmong Der and Hmong Leng are the terms for two of the largest groups in America and Southeast Asia. In the Romanized Popular Alphabet, developed in the 1950s in Laos, these terms are written Hmoob Dawb (White Hmong) and Moob Leeg/Moob Ntsuab (Blue/Green Mong). The final consonants indicate with which of the eight lexical tones the word is pronounced.

White Hmong and Green Hmong speak mutually intelligible dialects of the Hmong language with some differences in pronunciation and vocabulary. One of the most characteristic differences is the use of the voiceless /m̥/ in White Hmong, indicated by a preceding "H" in Romanized Popular Alphabet. Voiceless nasals are not found in the Green Hmong dialect. Hmong groups are often named after the dominant colors or patterns of their traditional clothing, style of head-dress, or the provinces from which they come.

VIETNAM

Vietnamese Hmong women continuing to wear 'traditional' clothing tend to source much of their clothing as 'ready to wear' cotton (as opposed to traditional hemp) from markets, though some add embroidery as a personal touch. In SaPa, now with a 'standardised' clothing look, Black Hmong sub-groups have differentiated themselves by adopting different headwear; those with a large comb embedded in their long hair (but without a hat) call themselves Tao, those with a pillbox hat name themselves Giay, and those with a checked headscarf are Yao. For many, such as Flower Hmong, the heavily beaded skirts and jackets are manufactured in China.

NOMENCLATURE

In Southeast Asia, Hmong people are referred to by other names, including: Vietnamese: Mèo or H'Mông; Lao: ແມ້ວ (Maew) or ມົ້ງ (Mong); Thai: แม้ว (Maew) or ม้ง (Mong); Burmese: မုံလူမျိုး (mun lu-myo). The xenonym, "Mèo", and variants thereof, are considered highly derogatory by many Hmong people and are infrequently used today outside of Southeast Asia.

The Hmong people were also referred to by some European writers as the "Kings of the Jungle," because they used to live in the jungle of Laos. Because the Hmong lived mainly in the highland areas of Southeast Asia and China, the French occupiers of Southeast Asia gave them the name Montagnards or "mountain people", but this should not be confused with the Degar people of Vietnam, who were also referred to as Montagnards.

HMONG, MONG AND MIAO

Some non-Chinese Hmong advocate that the term Hmong be used not only for designating their dialect group, but also for the other Miao groups living in China. They generally claim that the word "Miao" or "Meo" is a derogatory term, with connotations of barbarism, that probably should not be used at all. The term was later adapted by Tai-speaking groups in Southeast Asia where it took on especially insulting associations for Hmong people despite its official status.

In modern China, the term "Miao" does not carry these negative associations and people of the various sub-groups that constitute this officially recognized nationality freely identify themselves as Miao or Chinese, typically reserving more specific ethnonyms for intra-ethnic communication. During the struggle for political recognition after 1949, it was actually members of these ethnic minorities who campaigned for identification under the umbrella term "Miao"-taking advantage of its familiarity and associations of historical political oppression.

Contemporary transnational interactions between Hmong in the West and Miao groups in China, following the 1975 Hmong diaspora, have led to the development of a global Hmong identity that includes linguistically and culturally related minorities in China that previously had no ethnic affiliation. Scholarly and commercial exchanges, increasingly communicated via the Internet, have also resulted in an exchange of terminology, including Hmu and A Hmao people identifying as Hmong and, to a lesser extent, Hmong people accepting the designation "Miao," within the context of China. Such realignments of identity, while largely the concern of economically elite community leaders, reflect a trend towards the interchangeability of the terms "Hmong" and "Miao."

HISTORY

The Hmong claim an origin in the Yellow River region of China. According to Ratliff, there is linguistic evidence to suggest that they have occupied the same areas of southern China for at least the past 2,000 years. Evidence from mitochondrial DNA in Hmong-Mien-speaking populations supports the southern origins of maternal lineages even further back in time, although Hmong-speaking populations show more contact with Han than Mien populations. Chinese sources describe that area being inhabited by 'Miao' people, a group with whom Hmong people are often identified.

The ancient town of Zhuolu, is considered to be the legendary birthplace of the Miao. Today, a statue of Chi You, widely proclaimed as the first Hmong king, has been erected in the town. The Guoyu book, considers Chi You’s Jui Li tribe to be related to the ancient ancestors of the Hmong, the San Miao people

CULTURE

The Hmong culture usually consists of a dominant hierarchy within the family. Males hold dominance over females and thus, a father is considered the head in each household. Courtships take place during the night when a man goes to visit a woman at her house and tries to woo her with sweet-talks through the thin walls of the house where the woman's bedroom may be located. If a man kidnaps an unwilling woman as a bride, she would have to marry him or risk having a tarnished reputation.

Today, bridenapping is uncommon because those marriages can end in divorce since women are no longer afraid of a tarnished reputation. During a marriage, the man pays the woman's family for taking away a daughter who is economically essential to her parents. Hmong women retain their own maiden names following marriage, but attends to the ancestors of their husbands. The children they bear take their husbands' clan names. Consequently, the Hmong favour having sons over daughters because sons perpetuate the clan.

The Hmong practice shamanism and ancestor worship. Like other animists, they also believe that all things are endowed with spiritual beings and so should be respected.

See Anne Fadiman's ethnography: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down for more info.

Hmong families in Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos practice subsistence agriculture, supplemented by hunting and some foraging. Although they have chickens, pigs and cows, the traditional staple of the Hmong consists mostly of vegetable dishes and rice. Domestic animals are highly valued and killed for consumption only during special events such as the New Year's Festival or during events such as a birth, marriage, or funeral ritual.

GEOGRAPHY

Roughly 95% of the Hmong live in Asia. Linguistic data show that the Hmong of the Peninsula stem from the Miao of southern China as one among a set of ethnic groups belonging to the Hmong–Mien language family. Linguistically and culturally speaking, the Hmong and the other sub-groups of the Miao have little in common.

In China the majority of the Hmong today live in Guizhou, Sichuan and Yunnan. The Hmong population is estimated at 3 million. No precise census data exist on the Hmong in China since China does not officially recognise the ethnonym Hmong and instead, clusters that group within the wider Miao group (8,940,116 in 2000). A few centuries ago, the lowland Chinese started moving into the mountain ranges of China's southwest. This migration, combined with major social unrest in southern China in the 18th and 19th century, served to cause some minorities of Guizhou, Sichuan and Yunnan to migrate south. A number of Hmong thus settled in the ranges of the Indochina Peninsula to practise subsistence agriculture.

Vietnam, where their presence is attested from the late 18th century onwards, is likely to be the first Indochinese country into which the Hmong migrated. During the colonization of 'Tonkin' (north Vietnam) between 1883 and 1954, a number of Hmong decided to join the Vietnamese Nationalists and Communists, while many Christianized Hmong sided with the French. After the Viet Minh victory, numerous pro-French Hmong had to fall back to Laos and South Vietnam.

At the 2009 national census, there were 1,068,189 Hmong living in Vietnam, the vast majority of them in the north of the country. The traditional trade in coffin wood with China and the cultivation of the opium poppy – both prohibited only in 1993 in Vietnam – long guaranteed a regular cash income. Today, converting to cash cropping is the main economic activity. As in China and Laos, there is a certain degree of participation of Hmong in the local and regional administration. In the late 1990s, several thousands of Hmong have started moving to the Central Highlands and some have crossed the border into Cambodia, constituting the first attested presence of Hmong settlers in that country.

In 2005, the Hmong in Laos numbered 460,000. Hmong settlement there is nearly as ancient as in Vietnam. After decades of distant relations with the Lao kingdoms, closer relations between the French military and some Hmong on the Xieng Khouang plateau were set up after World War II. There, a particular rivalry between members of the Lo and Ly clans developed into open enmity, also affecting those connected with them by kinship. Clan leaders took opposite sides and as a consequence, several thousand Hmong participated in the fighting against the Pathet Lao Communists, while perhaps as many were enrolled in the People's Liberation Army. As in Vietnam, numerous Hmong in Laos also genuinely tried to avoid getting involved in the conflict in spite of the extremely difficult material conditions under which they lived during wartime.

After the 1975 Communist victory, thousands of Hmong from Laos had to seek refuge abroad. Approximately 30 percent of the Hmong left, although the only concrete figure we have is that of 116,000 Hmong from Laos and Vietnam together seeking refuge in Thailand up to 1990.

In 2002 the Hmong in Thailand numbered 151,080. The presence of Hmong settlements there is documented from the end of the 19th century. Initially, the Siamese paid little attention to them. But in the early 1950s, the state suddenly took a number of initiatives aimed at establishing links. Decolonization and nationalism were gaining momentum in the Peninsula and wars of independence were raging. Armed opposition to the state in northern Thailand, triggered by outside influence, started in 1967 while here again, many Hmong refused to take sides in the conflict. Communist guerrilla warfare stopped by 1982 as a result of an international concurrence of events that rendered it pointless. Priority is since given by the Thai state to sedentarizing the mountain population, introducing commercially viable agricultural techniques and national education, with the aim of integrating these non-Tai animists within the national identity.

Burma most likely includes a modest number of Hmong (perhaps around 2,500) but no reliable census has been conducted there recently.

As result of refugee movements in the wake of the Indochina Wars (1946–1975), in particular in Laos, the largest Hmong community to settle outside Asia went to the United States where approximately 100,000 individuals had already arrived by 1990. California became home to half this group, while the remainder went to Minnesota, Wisconsin, Washington, Pennsylvania, Montana, and North Carolina. By the same date, 10,000 Hmong had migrated to France, including 1,400 in French Guyana. Canada admitted 900 individuals, while another 360 went to Australia, 260 to China, and 250 to Argentina. Over the following years and until the definitive closure of the last refugee camps in Thailand in 1998, additional numbers of Hmong have left Asia, but the definitive figures are still to be produced.

WIKIPEDIA

. . . what a winning smile . .

_______________________________________

The Hmong (RPA: Hmoob/Moob, IPA: [m̥ɔ̃ŋ]) are an ethnic group from the mountainous regions of China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Hmong are also one of the sub-groups of the Miao ethnicity (苗族) in southern China. Hmong groups began a gradual southward migration in the 18th century due to political unrest and to find more arable land.

During the first and second Indochina Wars, France and the United States recruited thousands of Hmong people in Laos to fight against forces from north and south Vietnam and communist Pathet Lao insurgents, known as the Secret War, during the Vietnam War and the Laotian Civil War. Hundreds of thousands of Hmong refugees fled to Thailand seeking political asylum. Thousands of these refugees have resettled in Western countries since the late 1970s, mostly the United States, but also in Australia, France, French Guiana, Canada, and Argentina. Others have returned to Laos under United Nations-sponsored repatriation programs.

SUBCULTURES

Hmong people have their own terms for their subcultural divisions. Hmong Der and Hmong Leng are the terms for two of the largest groups in America and Southeast Asia. In the Romanized Popular Alphabet, developed in the 1950s in Laos, these terms are written Hmoob Dawb (White Hmong) and Moob Leeg/Moob Ntsuab (Blue/Green Mong). The final consonants indicate with which of the eight lexical tones the word is pronounced.

White Hmong and Green Hmong speak mutually intelligible dialects of the Hmong language with some differences in pronunciation and vocabulary. One of the most characteristic differences is the use of the voiceless /m̥/ in White Hmong, indicated by a preceding "H" in Romanized Popular Alphabet. Voiceless nasals are not found in the Green Hmong dialect. Hmong groups are often named after the dominant colors or patterns of their traditional clothing, style of head-dress, or the provinces from which they come.

VIETNAM

Vietnamese Hmong women continuing to wear 'traditional' clothing tend to source much of their clothing as 'ready to wear' cotton (as opposed to traditional hemp) from markets, though some add embroidery as a personal touch. In SaPa, now with a 'standardised' clothing look, Black Hmong sub-groups have differentiated themselves by adopting different headwear; those with a large comb embedded in their long hair (but without a hat) call themselves Tao, those with a pillbox hat name themselves Giay, and those with a checked headscarf are Yao. For many, such as Flower Hmong, the heavily beaded skirts and jackets are manufactured in China.

NOMENCLATURE

In Southeast Asia, Hmong people are referred to by other names, including: Vietnamese: Mèo or H'Mông; Lao: ແມ້ວ (Maew) or ມົ້ງ (Mong); Thai: แม้ว (Maew) or ม้ง (Mong); Burmese: မုံလူမျိုး (mun lu-myo). The xenonym, "Mèo", and variants thereof, are considered highly derogatory by many Hmong people and are infrequently used today outside of Southeast Asia.

The Hmong people were also referred to by some European writers as the "Kings of the Jungle," because they used to live in the jungle of Laos. Because the Hmong lived mainly in the highland areas of Southeast Asia and China, the French occupiers of Southeast Asia gave them the name Montagnards or "mountain people", but this should not be confused with the Degar people of Vietnam, who were also referred to as Montagnards.

HMONG, MONG AND MIAO

Some non-Chinese Hmong advocate that the term Hmong be used not only for designating their dialect group, but also for the other Miao groups living in China. They generally claim that the word "Miao" or "Meo" is a derogatory term, with connotations of barbarism, that probably should not be used at all. The term was later adapted by Tai-speaking groups in Southeast Asia where it took on especially insulting associations for Hmong people despite its official status.

In modern China, the term "Miao" does not carry these negative associations and people of the various sub-groups that constitute this officially recognized nationality freely identify themselves as Miao or Chinese, typically reserving more specific ethnonyms for intra-ethnic communication. During the struggle for political recognition after 1949, it was actually members of these ethnic minorities who campaigned for identification under the umbrella term "Miao"-taking advantage of its familiarity and associations of historical political oppression.

Contemporary transnational interactions between Hmong in the West and Miao groups in China, following the 1975 Hmong diaspora, have led to the development of a global Hmong identity that includes linguistically and culturally related minorities in China that previously had no ethnic affiliation. Scholarly and commercial exchanges, increasingly communicated via the Internet, have also resulted in an exchange of terminology, including Hmu and A Hmao people identifying as Hmong and, to a lesser extent, Hmong people accepting the designation "Miao," within the context of China. Such realignments of identity, while largely the concern of economically elite community leaders, reflect a trend towards the interchangeability of the terms "Hmong" and "Miao."

HISTORY

The Hmong claim an origin in the Yellow River region of China. According to Ratliff, there is linguistic evidence to suggest that they have occupied the same areas of southern China for at least the past 2,000 years. Evidence from mitochondrial DNA in Hmong-Mien-speaking populations supports the southern origins of maternal lineages even further back in time, although Hmong-speaking populations show more contact with Han than Mien populations. Chinese sources describe that area being inhabited by 'Miao' people, a group with whom Hmong people are often identified.

The ancient town of Zhuolu, is considered to be the legendary birthplace of the Miao. Today, a statue of Chi You, widely proclaimed as the first Hmong king, has been erected in the town. The Guoyu book, considers Chi You’s Jui Li tribe to be related to the ancient ancestors of the Hmong, the San Miao people

CULTURE

The Hmong culture usually consists of a dominant hierarchy within the family. Males hold dominance over females and thus, a father is considered the head in each household. Courtships take place during the night when a man goes to visit a woman at her house and tries to woo her with sweet-talks through the thin walls of the house where the woman's bedroom may be located. If a man kidnaps an unwilling woman as a bride, she would have to marry him or risk having a tarnished reputation.

Today, bridenapping is uncommon because those marriages can end in divorce since women are no longer afraid of a tarnished reputation. During a marriage, the man pays the woman's family for taking away a daughter who is economically essential to her parents. Hmong women retain their own maiden names following marriage, but attends to the ancestors of their husbands. The children they bear take their husbands' clan names. Consequently, the Hmong favour having sons over daughters because sons perpetuate the clan.

The Hmong practice shamanism and ancestor worship. Like other animists, they also believe that all things are endowed with spiritual beings and so should be respected.

See Anne Fadiman's ethnography: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down for more info.

Hmong families in Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos practice subsistence agriculture, supplemented by hunting and some foraging. Although they have chickens, pigs and cows, the traditional staple of the Hmong consists mostly of vegetable dishes and rice. Domestic animals are highly valued and killed for consumption only during special events such as the New Year's Festival or during events such as a birth, marriage, or funeral ritual.

GEOGRAPHY

Roughly 95% of the Hmong live in Asia. Linguistic data show that the Hmong of the Peninsula stem from the Miao of southern China as one among a set of ethnic groups belonging to the Hmong–Mien language family. Linguistically and culturally speaking, the Hmong and the other sub-groups of the Miao have little in common.

In China the majority of the Hmong today live in Guizhou, Sichuan and Yunnan. The Hmong population is estimated at 3 million. No precise census data exist on the Hmong in China since China does not officially recognise the ethnonym Hmong and instead, clusters that group within the wider Miao group (8,940,116 in 2000). A few centuries ago, the lowland Chinese started moving into the mountain ranges of China's southwest. This migration, combined with major social unrest in southern China in the 18th and 19th century, served to cause some minorities of Guizhou, Sichuan and Yunnan to migrate south. A number of Hmong thus settled in the ranges of the Indochina Peninsula to practise subsistence agriculture.

Vietnam, where their presence is attested from the late 18th century onwards, is likely to be the first Indochinese country into which the Hmong migrated. During the colonization of 'Tonkin' (north Vietnam) between 1883 and 1954, a number of Hmong decided to join the Vietnamese Nationalists and Communists, while many Christianized Hmong sided with the French. After the Viet Minh victory, numerous pro-French Hmong had to fall back to Laos and South Vietnam.

At the 2009 national census, there were 1,068,189 Hmong living in Vietnam, the vast majority of them in the north of the country. The traditional trade in coffin wood with China and the cultivation of the opium poppy – both prohibited only in 1993 in Vietnam – long guaranteed a regular cash income. Today, converting to cash cropping is the main economic activity. As in China and Laos, there is a certain degree of participation of Hmong in the local and regional administration. In the late 1990s, several thousands of Hmong have started moving to the Central Highlands and some have crossed the border into Cambodia, constituting the first attested presence of Hmong settlers in that country.

In 2005, the Hmong in Laos numbered 460,000. Hmong settlement there is nearly as ancient as in Vietnam. After decades of distant relations with the Lao kingdoms, closer relations between the French military and some Hmong on the Xieng Khouang plateau were set up after World War II. There, a particular rivalry between members of the Lo and Ly clans developed into open enmity, also affecting those connected with them by kinship. Clan leaders took opposite sides and as a consequence, several thousand Hmong participated in the fighting against the Pathet Lao Communists, while perhaps as many were enrolled in the People's Liberation Army. As in Vietnam, numerous Hmong in Laos also genuinely tried to avoid getting involved in the conflict in spite of the extremely difficult material conditions under which they lived during wartime.

After the 1975 Communist victory, thousands of Hmong from Laos had to seek refuge abroad. Approximately 30 percent of the Hmong left, although the only concrete figure we have is that of 116,000 Hmong from Laos and Vietnam together seeking refuge in Thailand up to 1990.

In 2002 the Hmong in Thailand numbered 151,080. The presence of Hmong settlements there is documented from the end of the 19th century. Initially, the Siamese paid little attention to them. But in the early 1950s, the state suddenly took a number of initiatives aimed at establishing links. Decolonization and nationalism were gaining momentum in the Peninsula and wars of independence were raging. Armed opposition to the state in northern Thailand, triggered by outside influence, started in 1967 while here again, many Hmong refused to take sides in the conflict. Communist guerrilla warfare stopped by 1982 as a result of an international concurrence of events that rendered it pointless. Priority is since given by the Thai state to sedentarizing the mountain population, introducing commercially viable agricultural techniques and national education, with the aim of integrating these non-Tai animists within the national identity.

Burma most likely includes a modest number of Hmong (perhaps around 2,500) but no reliable census has been conducted there recently.

As result of refugee movements in the wake of the Indochina Wars (1946–1975), in particular in Laos, the largest Hmong community to settle outside Asia went to the United States where approximately 100,000 individuals had already arrived by 1990. California became home to half this group, while the remainder went to Minnesota, Wisconsin, Washington, Pennsylvania, Montana, and North Carolina. By the same date, 10,000 Hmong had migrated to France, including 1,400 in French Guyana. Canada admitted 900 individuals, while another 360 went to Australia, 260 to China, and 250 to Argentina. Over the following years and until the definitive closure of the last refugee camps in Thailand in 1998, additional numbers of Hmong have left Asia, but the definitive figures are still to be produced.

WIKIPEDIA

Rally and March starting at City Hall, marching to Joe Fresh to demand justice for Bangladeshi garment workers and ending at Little Norway Park in solidarity with striking workers at Porter (Queens Quay and Bathurst)

Videos: bit.ly/MayDayTOVids

More info with links: www.toronto.nooneisillegal.org/MayDay

Poster series imagining a Solidarity City: on.fb.me/12HV9DO

For seven years, you have marched on May Day to celebrate and invigorate migrant justice struggles in Toronto. On International Workers Day, we march to build a Solidarity City. Solidarity City is a unified struggle for: Respect for Indigenous Sovereignty, Status for All, an End to Imperialism and Environmental Destruction, an End to Austerity and Attacks on the Poor and Working class, continued resistance against Patriarchy, Racism, Ableism and Homophobia and Transphobia

Pipelines, tankers, mines, and so-called development projects are being forced onto the lands of Indigenous nations. Harper, like every Prime Minister who came before him, refuses to respect the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and continues to neglect his treaty obligations, as seen in Omnibus Bill C-45. In the face of this and more, land defenders across Turtle Island continue to resist in powerful and inspiring ways. As we look towards an exciting summer of action and resistance fueled by the Idle No More movement, this May Day let us honor all ongoing decolonization struggles and commit to continuing our support for Indigenous sovereignty.

The past year has seen the implementation of C-31, dubbed the Refugee Exclusion Act, further criminalizing migrants and expanding the detention and deportation machine. Jason Kenney announced the creation of a designated countries of origin, a racist, two tiered system under which refugees get fewer rights based on their place of birth. This past November, many of us honored our communities and confronted Minister Kenney when he showed up in Toronto. On May 1st, let us take to the streets to build community alliances and resistance once again.

Exploitative temporary worker programs continue to expand and many migrant workers continue to meet deportation, injuries and in some cases death. Workers are being forced to pay thousands of dollars to get jobs in Canada for which entire families go in to debt, yet no provisions exist for status on landing. Since Harper came into power, over 72,000 people have been locked up in immigration detention. In December we rallied in solidarity with security certificate detainees Mohammad Mahjoub, Mohamed Harkat and Mahmoud Jaballah and all those locked up in immigration detention. This May Day let us take to the streets to end detentions and deportations and to call for freedom to move, freedom to stay and freedom to return!

On February 21st, Toronto City Hall reaffirmed its promise to providing services to residents without full immigration status. We will continue to build a Solidarity City where communities work together to ensure justice and dignity for all residents. The history of Access Without Fear in Toronto is a long one and on May Day let us march to celebrate our victories and commit to continued struggle.

In the face of austerity, climate destruction, colonial and capitalist wars and interventions here and across the world that push people out of their homes, let us fight for status for all. Status for All is the struggle for self-determination, just livelihood, housing, food, education, healthcare, childcare, shelter, justice and dignity for all people, with or without immigration status.

Coordinated by a coalition of community groups including Afghans United for Justice, AIDS ACTION NOW!, Anakbayan Toronto, Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Students (APUS), Camp Sis, Casa Salvador Allende, Cinema Politica, Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), Common Cause Toronto,Common Causes, CUPE local 1281,CUPE Local 4772, CUPE 3906 Executive, CUPE 3906 Political Action Committee, CUPE 4308, CUPE Ontario International Solidarity Committee, Educators for Peace and Justice, Faculty for Palestine (F4P), Grassroots Ontario Animal Liberation (GOAL) Network, Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly, Health for All, Independent Jewish Voices, Toronto, Injured Workers Action for Justice, International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Socialists, Jane and Finch Action Against Poverty [JFAAP], Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network, Law Union of Ontario, maggie's: toronto sex workers action project, May 1st Movement, No One Is Illegal - Toronto,Ontario Coalition Against Poverty,OPIRG York, Refugees without Border, Revolutionary Women's Collective-women united against imperialism, Rhythms of Resistance - Toronto,Rising Tide Toronto, Socialist Action / Ligue pour l'Action socialiste. Socialist Party of Ontario,Socialist Project, Student Christian Movement, The Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, The Sanctuary Network, Student Christian Movement, Toronto Haiti Action Committee, Toronto New Socialists, Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multicultural Women Against Rape, Toronto Young New Democrats, Trans Film Series,United Food and Commercial Workers, Women's Coordinating Committe for a Free Wallmapu [Toronto], Workers' Action Centre, York Federation of Students, Local 68 Canadian Federation of Students and more. To endorse the event, fill out this form bit.ly/ZDRwKU

Rally and March starting at City Hall, marching to Joe Fresh to demand justice for Bangladeshi garment workers and ending at Little Norway Park in solidarity with striking workers at Porter (Queens Quay and Bathurst)

Videos: bit.ly/MayDayTOVids

More info with links: www.toronto.nooneisillegal.org/MayDay

Poster series imagining a Solidarity City: on.fb.me/12HV9DO

For seven years, you have marched on May Day to celebrate and invigorate migrant justice struggles in Toronto. On International Workers Day, we march to build a Solidarity City. Solidarity City is a unified struggle for: Respect for Indigenous Sovereignty, Status for All, an End to Imperialism and Environmental Destruction, an End to Austerity and Attacks on the Poor and Working class, continued resistance against Patriarchy, Racism, Ableism and Homophobia and Transphobia

Pipelines, tankers, mines, and so-called development projects are being forced onto the lands of Indigenous nations. Harper, like every Prime Minister who came before him, refuses to respect the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and continues to neglect his treaty obligations, as seen in Omnibus Bill C-45. In the face of this and more, land defenders across Turtle Island continue to resist in powerful and inspiring ways. As we look towards an exciting summer of action and resistance fueled by the Idle No More movement, this May Day let us honor all ongoing decolonization struggles and commit to continuing our support for Indigenous sovereignty.

The past year has seen the implementation of C-31, dubbed the Refugee Exclusion Act, further criminalizing migrants and expanding the detention and deportation machine. Jason Kenney announced the creation of a designated countries of origin, a racist, two tiered system under which refugees get fewer rights based on their place of birth. This past November, many of us honored our communities and confronted Minister Kenney when he showed up in Toronto. On May 1st, let us take to the streets to build community alliances and resistance once again.

Exploitative temporary worker programs continue to expand and many migrant workers continue to meet deportation, injuries and in some cases death. Workers are being forced to pay thousands of dollars to get jobs in Canada for which entire families go in to debt, yet no provisions exist for status on landing. Since Harper came into power, over 72,000 people have been locked up in immigration detention. In December we rallied in solidarity with security certificate detainees Mohammad Mahjoub, Mohamed Harkat and Mahmoud Jaballah and all those locked up in immigration detention. This May Day let us take to the streets to end detentions and deportations and to call for freedom to move, freedom to stay and freedom to return!

On February 21st, Toronto City Hall reaffirmed its promise to providing services to residents without full immigration status. We will continue to build a Solidarity City where communities work together to ensure justice and dignity for all residents. The history of Access Without Fear in Toronto is a long one and on May Day let us march to celebrate our victories and commit to continued struggle.

In the face of austerity, climate destruction, colonial and capitalist wars and interventions here and across the world that push people out of their homes, let us fight for status for all. Status for All is the struggle for self-determination, just livelihood, housing, food, education, healthcare, childcare, shelter, justice and dignity for all people, with or without immigration status.

Coordinated by a coalition of community groups including Afghans United for Justice, AIDS ACTION NOW!, Anakbayan Toronto, Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Students (APUS), Camp Sis, Casa Salvador Allende, Cinema Politica, Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), Common Cause Toronto,Common Causes, CUPE local 1281,CUPE Local 4772, CUPE 3906 Executive, CUPE 3906 Political Action Committee, CUPE 4308, CUPE Ontario International Solidarity Committee, Educators for Peace and Justice, Faculty for Palestine (F4P), Grassroots Ontario Animal Liberation (GOAL) Network, Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly, Health for All, Independent Jewish Voices, Toronto, Injured Workers Action for Justice, International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Socialists, Jane and Finch Action Against Poverty [JFAAP], Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network, Law Union of Ontario, maggie's: toronto sex workers action project, May 1st Movement, No One Is Illegal - Toronto,Ontario Coalition Against Poverty,OPIRG York, Refugees without Border, Revolutionary Women's Collective-women united against imperialism, Rhythms of Resistance - Toronto,Rising Tide Toronto, Socialist Action / Ligue pour l'Action socialiste. Socialist Party of Ontario,Socialist Project, Student Christian Movement, The Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, The Sanctuary Network, Student Christian Movement, Toronto Haiti Action Committee, Toronto New Socialists, Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multicultural Women Against Rape, Toronto Young New Democrats, Trans Film Series,United Food and Commercial Workers, Women's Coordinating Committe for a Free Wallmapu [Toronto], Workers' Action Centre, York Federation of Students, Local 68 Canadian Federation of Students and more. To endorse the event, fill out this form bit.ly/ZDRwKU

Set 3, Fri Apr 11, 2014, 8:43:01 AM, 8C, 5242x7786, (224+195), 100%, Default Settin, 1/15 s, R48.2, G37.3, B77.5

The rainbow flag is a beacon of the Pride movement, which advances justice and equality for Two Spirit, queer, and transgender people. The black and brown colours represent that this movement must be rooted in decolonization and racial justice. All of our struggles for liberation are connected. We all belong here.

Rally and March starting at City Hall, marching to Joe Fresh to demand justice for Bangladeshi garment workers and ending at Little Norway Park in solidarity with striking workers at Porter (Queens Quay and Bathurst)

Videos: bit.ly/MayDayTOVids

More info with links: www.toronto.nooneisillegal.org/MayDay

Poster series imagining a Solidarity City: on.fb.me/12HV9DO

For seven years, you have marched on May Day to celebrate and invigorate migrant justice struggles in Toronto. On International Workers Day, we march to build a Solidarity City. Solidarity City is a unified struggle for: Respect for Indigenous Sovereignty, Status for All, an End to Imperialism and Environmental Destruction, an End to Austerity and Attacks on the Poor and Working class, continued resistance against Patriarchy, Racism, Ableism and Homophobia and Transphobia

Pipelines, tankers, mines, and so-called development projects are being forced onto the lands of Indigenous nations. Harper, like every Prime Minister who came before him, refuses to respect the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and continues to neglect his treaty obligations, as seen in Omnibus Bill C-45. In the face of this and more, land defenders across Turtle Island continue to resist in powerful and inspiring ways. As we look towards an exciting summer of action and resistance fueled by the Idle No More movement, this May Day let us honor all ongoing decolonization struggles and commit to continuing our support for Indigenous sovereignty.

The past year has seen the implementation of C-31, dubbed the Refugee Exclusion Act, further criminalizing migrants and expanding the detention and deportation machine. Jason Kenney announced the creation of a designated countries of origin, a racist, two tiered system under which refugees get fewer rights based on their place of birth. This past November, many of us honored our communities and confronted Minister Kenney when he showed up in Toronto. On May 1st, let us take to the streets to build community alliances and resistance once again.

Exploitative temporary worker programs continue to expand and many migrant workers continue to meet deportation, injuries and in some cases death. Workers are being forced to pay thousands of dollars to get jobs in Canada for which entire families go in to debt, yet no provisions exist for status on landing. Since Harper came into power, over 72,000 people have been locked up in immigration detention. In December we rallied in solidarity with security certificate detainees Mohammad Mahjoub, Mohamed Harkat and Mahmoud Jaballah and all those locked up in immigration detention. This May Day let us take to the streets to end detentions and deportations and to call for freedom to move, freedom to stay and freedom to return!

On February 21st, Toronto City Hall reaffirmed its promise to providing services to residents without full immigration status. We will continue to build a Solidarity City where communities work together to ensure justice and dignity for all residents. The history of Access Without Fear in Toronto is a long one and on May Day let us march to celebrate our victories and commit to continued struggle.

In the face of austerity, climate destruction, colonial and capitalist wars and interventions here and across the world that push people out of their homes, let us fight for status for all. Status for All is the struggle for self-determination, just livelihood, housing, food, education, healthcare, childcare, shelter, justice and dignity for all people, with or without immigration status.

Coordinated by a coalition of community groups including Afghans United for Justice, AIDS ACTION NOW!, Anakbayan Toronto, Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Students (APUS), Camp Sis, Casa Salvador Allende, Cinema Politica, Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), Common Cause Toronto,Common Causes, CUPE local 1281,CUPE Local 4772, CUPE 3906 Executive, CUPE 3906 Political Action Committee, CUPE 4308, CUPE Ontario International Solidarity Committee, Educators for Peace and Justice, Faculty for Palestine (F4P), Grassroots Ontario Animal Liberation (GOAL) Network, Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly, Health for All, Independent Jewish Voices, Toronto, Injured Workers Action for Justice, International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Socialists, Jane and Finch Action Against Poverty [JFAAP], Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network, Law Union of Ontario, maggie's: toronto sex workers action project, May 1st Movement, No One Is Illegal - Toronto,Ontario Coalition Against Poverty,OPIRG York, Refugees without Border, Revolutionary Women's Collective-women united against imperialism, Rhythms of Resistance - Toronto,Rising Tide Toronto, Socialist Action / Ligue pour l'Action socialiste. Socialist Party of Ontario,Socialist Project, Student Christian Movement, The Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, The Sanctuary Network, Student Christian Movement, Toronto Haiti Action Committee, Toronto New Socialists, Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multicultural Women Against Rape, Toronto Young New Democrats, Trans Film Series,United Food and Commercial Workers, Women's Coordinating Committe for a Free Wallmapu [Toronto], Workers' Action Centre, York Federation of Students, Local 68 Canadian Federation of Students and more. To endorse the event, fill out this form bit.ly/ZDRwKU

Rally and March starting at City Hall, marching to Joe Fresh to demand justice for Bangladeshi garment workers and ending at Little Norway Park in solidarity with striking workers at Porter (Queens Quay and Bathurst)

Videos: bit.ly/MayDayTOVids

More info with links: www.toronto.nooneisillegal.org/MayDay

Poster series imagining a Solidarity City: on.fb.me/12HV9DO

For seven years, you have marched on May Day to celebrate and invigorate migrant justice struggles in Toronto. On International Workers Day, we march to build a Solidarity City. Solidarity City is a unified struggle for: Respect for Indigenous Sovereignty, Status for All, an End to Imperialism and Environmental Destruction, an End to Austerity and Attacks on the Poor and Working class, continued resistance against Patriarchy, Racism, Ableism and Homophobia and Transphobia

Pipelines, tankers, mines, and so-called development projects are being forced onto the lands of Indigenous nations. Harper, like every Prime Minister who came before him, refuses to respect the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and continues to neglect his treaty obligations, as seen in Omnibus Bill C-45. In the face of this and more, land defenders across Turtle Island continue to resist in powerful and inspiring ways. As we look towards an exciting summer of action and resistance fueled by the Idle No More movement, this May Day let us honor all ongoing decolonization struggles and commit to continuing our support for Indigenous sovereignty.

The past year has seen the implementation of C-31, dubbed the Refugee Exclusion Act, further criminalizing migrants and expanding the detention and deportation machine. Jason Kenney announced the creation of a designated countries of origin, a racist, two tiered system under which refugees get fewer rights based on their place of birth. This past November, many of us honored our communities and confronted Minister Kenney when he showed up in Toronto. On May 1st, let us take to the streets to build community alliances and resistance once again.

Exploitative temporary worker programs continue to expand and many migrant workers continue to meet deportation, injuries and in some cases death. Workers are being forced to pay thousands of dollars to get jobs in Canada for which entire families go in to debt, yet no provisions exist for status on landing. Since Harper came into power, over 72,000 people have been locked up in immigration detention. In December we rallied in solidarity with security certificate detainees Mohammad Mahjoub, Mohamed Harkat and Mahmoud Jaballah and all those locked up in immigration detention. This May Day let us take to the streets to end detentions and deportations and to call for freedom to move, freedom to stay and freedom to return!

On February 21st, Toronto City Hall reaffirmed its promise to providing services to residents without full immigration status. We will continue to build a Solidarity City where communities work together to ensure justice and dignity for all residents. The history of Access Without Fear in Toronto is a long one and on May Day let us march to celebrate our victories and commit to continued struggle.

In the face of austerity, climate destruction, colonial and capitalist wars and interventions here and across the world that push people out of their homes, let us fight for status for all. Status for All is the struggle for self-determination, just livelihood, housing, food, education, healthcare, childcare, shelter, justice and dignity for all people, with or without immigration status.

Coordinated by a coalition of community groups including Afghans United for Justice, AIDS ACTION NOW!, Anakbayan Toronto, Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Students (APUS), Camp Sis, Casa Salvador Allende, Cinema Politica, Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), Common Cause Toronto,Common Causes, CUPE local 1281,CUPE Local 4772, CUPE 3906 Executive, CUPE 3906 Political Action Committee, CUPE 4308, CUPE Ontario International Solidarity Committee, Educators for Peace and Justice, Faculty for Palestine (F4P), Grassroots Ontario Animal Liberation (GOAL) Network, Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly, Health for All, Independent Jewish Voices, Toronto, Injured Workers Action for Justice, International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Socialists, Jane and Finch Action Against Poverty [JFAAP], Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network, Law Union of Ontario, maggie's: toronto sex workers action project, May 1st Movement, No One Is Illegal - Toronto,Ontario Coalition Against Poverty,OPIRG York, Refugees without Border, Revolutionary Women's Collective-women united against imperialism, Rhythms of Resistance - Toronto,Rising Tide Toronto, Socialist Action / Ligue pour l'Action socialiste. Socialist Party of Ontario,Socialist Project, Student Christian Movement, The Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, The Sanctuary Network, Student Christian Movement, Toronto Haiti Action Committee, Toronto New Socialists, Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multicultural Women Against Rape, Toronto Young New Democrats, Trans Film Series,United Food and Commercial Workers, Women's Coordinating Committe for a Free Wallmapu [Toronto], Workers' Action Centre, York Federation of Students, Local 68 Canadian Federation of Students and more. To endorse the event, fill out this form bit.ly/ZDRwKU

Rally and March starting at City Hall, marching to Joe Fresh to demand justice for Bangladeshi garment workers and ending at Little Norway Park in solidarity with striking workers at Porter (Queens Quay and Bathurst)

Videos: bit.ly/MayDayTOVids

More info with links: www.toronto.nooneisillegal.org/MayDay

Poster series imagining a Solidarity City: on.fb.me/12HV9DO

For seven years, you have marched on May Day to celebrate and invigorate migrant justice struggles in Toronto. On International Workers Day, we march to build a Solidarity City. Solidarity City is a unified struggle for: Respect for Indigenous Sovereignty, Status for All, an End to Imperialism and Environmental Destruction, an End to Austerity and Attacks on the Poor and Working class, continued resistance against Patriarchy, Racism, Ableism and Homophobia and Transphobia

Pipelines, tankers, mines, and so-called development projects are being forced onto the lands of Indigenous nations. Harper, like every Prime Minister who came before him, refuses to respect the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and continues to neglect his treaty obligations, as seen in Omnibus Bill C-45. In the face of this and more, land defenders across Turtle Island continue to resist in powerful and inspiring ways. As we look towards an exciting summer of action and resistance fueled by the Idle No More movement, this May Day let us honor all ongoing decolonization struggles and commit to continuing our support for Indigenous sovereignty.

The past year has seen the implementation of C-31, dubbed the Refugee Exclusion Act, further criminalizing migrants and expanding the detention and deportation machine. Jason Kenney announced the creation of a designated countries of origin, a racist, two tiered system under which refugees get fewer rights based on their place of birth. This past November, many of us honored our communities and confronted Minister Kenney when he showed up in Toronto. On May 1st, let us take to the streets to build community alliances and resistance once again.

Exploitative temporary worker programs continue to expand and many migrant workers continue to meet deportation, injuries and in some cases death. Workers are being forced to pay thousands of dollars to get jobs in Canada for which entire families go in to debt, yet no provisions exist for status on landing. Since Harper came into power, over 72,000 people have been locked up in immigration detention. In December we rallied in solidarity with security certificate detainees Mohammad Mahjoub, Mohamed Harkat and Mahmoud Jaballah and all those locked up in immigration detention. This May Day let us take to the streets to end detentions and deportations and to call for freedom to move, freedom to stay and freedom to return!

On February 21st, Toronto City Hall reaffirmed its promise to providing services to residents without full immigration status. We will continue to build a Solidarity City where communities work together to ensure justice and dignity for all residents. The history of Access Without Fear in Toronto is a long one and on May Day let us march to celebrate our victories and commit to continued struggle.

In the face of austerity, climate destruction, colonial and capitalist wars and interventions here and across the world that push people out of their homes, let us fight for status for all. Status for All is the struggle for self-determination, just livelihood, housing, food, education, healthcare, childcare, shelter, justice and dignity for all people, with or without immigration status.

Coordinated by a coalition of community groups including Afghans United for Justice, AIDS ACTION NOW!, Anakbayan Toronto, Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Students (APUS), Camp Sis, Casa Salvador Allende, Cinema Politica, Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), Common Cause Toronto,Common Causes, CUPE local 1281,CUPE Local 4772, CUPE 3906 Executive, CUPE 3906 Political Action Committee, CUPE 4308, CUPE Ontario International Solidarity Committee, Educators for Peace and Justice, Faculty for Palestine (F4P), Grassroots Ontario Animal Liberation (GOAL) Network, Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly, Health for All, Independent Jewish Voices, Toronto, Injured Workers Action for Justice, International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Socialists, Jane and Finch Action Against Poverty [JFAAP], Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network, Law Union of Ontario, maggie's: toronto sex workers action project, May 1st Movement, No One Is Illegal - Toronto,Ontario Coalition Against Poverty,OPIRG York, Refugees without Border, Revolutionary Women's Collective-women united against imperialism, Rhythms of Resistance - Toronto,Rising Tide Toronto, Socialist Action / Ligue pour l'Action socialiste. Socialist Party of Ontario,Socialist Project, Student Christian Movement, The Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, The Sanctuary Network, Student Christian Movement, Toronto Haiti Action Committee, Toronto New Socialists, Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multicultural Women Against Rape, Toronto Young New Democrats, Trans Film Series,United Food and Commercial Workers, Women's Coordinating Committe for a Free Wallmapu [Toronto], Workers' Action Centre, York Federation of Students, Local 68 Canadian Federation of Students and more. To endorse the event, fill out this form bit.ly/ZDRwKU

Rally and March starting at City Hall, marching to Joe Fresh to demand justice for Bangladeshi garment workers and ending at Little Norway Park in solidarity with striking workers at Porter (Queens Quay and Bathurst)

Videos: bit.ly/MayDayTOVids

More info with links: www.toronto.nooneisillegal.org/MayDay

Poster series imagining a Solidarity City: on.fb.me/12HV9DO

For seven years, you have marched on May Day to celebrate and invigorate migrant justice struggles in Toronto. On International Workers Day, we march to build a Solidarity City. Solidarity City is a unified struggle for: Respect for Indigenous Sovereignty, Status for All, an End to Imperialism and Environmental Destruction, an End to Austerity and Attacks on the Poor and Working class, continued resistance against Patriarchy, Racism, Ableism and Homophobia and Transphobia

Pipelines, tankers, mines, and so-called development projects are being forced onto the lands of Indigenous nations. Harper, like every Prime Minister who came before him, refuses to respect the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and continues to neglect his treaty obligations, as seen in Omnibus Bill C-45. In the face of this and more, land defenders across Turtle Island continue to resist in powerful and inspiring ways. As we look towards an exciting summer of action and resistance fueled by the Idle No More movement, this May Day let us honor all ongoing decolonization struggles and commit to continuing our support for Indigenous sovereignty.

The past year has seen the implementation of C-31, dubbed the Refugee Exclusion Act, further criminalizing migrants and expanding the detention and deportation machine. Jason Kenney announced the creation of a designated countries of origin, a racist, two tiered system under which refugees get fewer rights based on their place of birth. This past November, many of us honored our communities and confronted Minister Kenney when he showed up in Toronto. On May 1st, let us take to the streets to build community alliances and resistance once again.

Exploitative temporary worker programs continue to expand and many migrant workers continue to meet deportation, injuries and in some cases death. Workers are being forced to pay thousands of dollars to get jobs in Canada for which entire families go in to debt, yet no provisions exist for status on landing. Since Harper came into power, over 72,000 people have been locked up in immigration detention. In December we rallied in solidarity with security certificate detainees Mohammad Mahjoub, Mohamed Harkat and Mahmoud Jaballah and all those locked up in immigration detention. This May Day let us take to the streets to end detentions and deportations and to call for freedom to move, freedom to stay and freedom to return!

On February 21st, Toronto City Hall reaffirmed its promise to providing services to residents without full immigration status. We will continue to build a Solidarity City where communities work together to ensure justice and dignity for all residents. The history of Access Without Fear in Toronto is a long one and on May Day let us march to celebrate our victories and commit to continued struggle.

In the face of austerity, climate destruction, colonial and capitalist wars and interventions here and across the world that push people out of their homes, let us fight for status for all. Status for All is the struggle for self-determination, just livelihood, housing, food, education, healthcare, childcare, shelter, justice and dignity for all people, with or without immigration status.

Coordinated by a coalition of community groups including Afghans United for Justice, AIDS ACTION NOW!, Anakbayan Toronto, Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Students (APUS), Camp Sis, Casa Salvador Allende, Cinema Politica, Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), Common Cause Toronto,Common Causes, CUPE local 1281,CUPE Local 4772, CUPE 3906 Executive, CUPE 3906 Political Action Committee, CUPE 4308, CUPE Ontario International Solidarity Committee, Educators for Peace and Justice, Faculty for Palestine (F4P), Grassroots Ontario Animal Liberation (GOAL) Network, Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly, Health for All, Independent Jewish Voices, Toronto, Injured Workers Action for Justice, International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Socialists, Jane and Finch Action Against Poverty [JFAAP], Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network, Law Union of Ontario, maggie's: toronto sex workers action project, May 1st Movement, No One Is Illegal - Toronto,Ontario Coalition Against Poverty,OPIRG York, Refugees without Border, Revolutionary Women's Collective-women united against imperialism, Rhythms of Resistance - Toronto,Rising Tide Toronto, Socialist Action / Ligue pour l'Action socialiste. Socialist Party of Ontario,Socialist Project, Student Christian Movement, The Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, The Sanctuary Network, Student Christian Movement, Toronto Haiti Action Committee, Toronto New Socialists, Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multicultural Women Against Rape, Toronto Young New Democrats, Trans Film Series,United Food and Commercial Workers, Women's Coordinating Committe for a Free Wallmapu [Toronto], Workers' Action Centre, York Federation of Students, Local 68 Canadian Federation of Students and more. To endorse the event, fill out this form bit.ly/ZDRwKU

Rally and March starting at City Hall, marching to Joe Fresh to demand justice for Bangladeshi garment workers and ending at Little Norway Park in solidarity with striking workers at Porter (Queens Quay and Bathurst)

Videos: bit.ly/MayDayTOVids

More info with links: www.toronto.nooneisillegal.org/MayDay

Poster series imagining a Solidarity City: on.fb.me/12HV9DO

For seven years, you have marched on May Day to celebrate and invigorate migrant justice struggles in Toronto. On International Workers Day, we march to build a Solidarity City. Solidarity City is a unified struggle for: Respect for Indigenous Sovereignty, Status for All, an End to Imperialism and Environmental Destruction, an End to Austerity and Attacks on the Poor and Working class, continued resistance against Patriarchy, Racism, Ableism and Homophobia and Transphobia

Pipelines, tankers, mines, and so-called development projects are being forced onto the lands of Indigenous nations. Harper, like every Prime Minister who came before him, refuses to respect the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and continues to neglect his treaty obligations, as seen in Omnibus Bill C-45. In the face of this and more, land defenders across Turtle Island continue to resist in powerful and inspiring ways. As we look towards an exciting summer of action and resistance fueled by the Idle No More movement, this May Day let us honor all ongoing decolonization struggles and commit to continuing our support for Indigenous sovereignty.

The past year has seen the implementation of C-31, dubbed the Refugee Exclusion Act, further criminalizing migrants and expanding the detention and deportation machine. Jason Kenney announced the creation of a designated countries of origin, a racist, two tiered system under which refugees get fewer rights based on their place of birth. This past November, many of us honored our communities and confronted Minister Kenney when he showed up in Toronto. On May 1st, let us take to the streets to build community alliances and resistance once again.

Exploitative temporary worker programs continue to expand and many migrant workers continue to meet deportation, injuries and in some cases death. Workers are being forced to pay thousands of dollars to get jobs in Canada for which entire families go in to debt, yet no provisions exist for status on landing. Since Harper came into power, over 72,000 people have been locked up in immigration detention. In December we rallied in solidarity with security certificate detainees Mohammad Mahjoub, Mohamed Harkat and Mahmoud Jaballah and all those locked up in immigration detention. This May Day let us take to the streets to end detentions and deportations and to call for freedom to move, freedom to stay and freedom to return!

On February 21st, Toronto City Hall reaffirmed its promise to providing services to residents without full immigration status. We will continue to build a Solidarity City where communities work together to ensure justice and dignity for all residents. The history of Access Without Fear in Toronto is a long one and on May Day let us march to celebrate our victories and commit to continued struggle.

In the face of austerity, climate destruction, colonial and capitalist wars and interventions here and across the world that push people out of their homes, let us fight for status for all. Status for All is the struggle for self-determination, just livelihood, housing, food, education, healthcare, childcare, shelter, justice and dignity for all people, with or without immigration status.

Coordinated by a coalition of community groups including Afghans United for Justice, AIDS ACTION NOW!, Anakbayan Toronto, Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Students (APUS), Camp Sis, Casa Salvador Allende, Cinema Politica, Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), Common Cause Toronto,Common Causes, CUPE local 1281,CUPE Local 4772, CUPE 3906 Executive, CUPE 3906 Political Action Committee, CUPE 4308, CUPE Ontario International Solidarity Committee, Educators for Peace and Justice, Faculty for Palestine (F4P), Grassroots Ontario Animal Liberation (GOAL) Network, Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly, Health for All, Independent Jewish Voices, Toronto, Injured Workers Action for Justice, International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Socialists, Jane and Finch Action Against Poverty [JFAAP], Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network, Law Union of Ontario, maggie's: toronto sex workers action project, May 1st Movement, No One Is Illegal - Toronto,Ontario Coalition Against Poverty,OPIRG York, Refugees without Border, Revolutionary Women's Collective-women united against imperialism, Rhythms of Resistance - Toronto,Rising Tide Toronto, Socialist Action / Ligue pour l'Action socialiste. Socialist Party of Ontario,Socialist Project, Student Christian Movement, The Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, The Sanctuary Network, Student Christian Movement, Toronto Haiti Action Committee, Toronto New Socialists, Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multicultural Women Against Rape, Toronto Young New Democrats, Trans Film Series,United Food and Commercial Workers, Women's Coordinating Committe for a Free Wallmapu [Toronto], Workers' Action Centre, York Federation of Students, Local 68 Canadian Federation of Students and more. To endorse the event, fill out this form bit.ly/ZDRwKU

The Hmong (RPA: Hmoob/Moob, IPA: [m̥ɔ̃ŋ]) are an ethnic group from the mountainous regions of China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Hmong are also one of the sub-groups of the Miao ethnicity (苗族) in southern China. Hmong groups began a gradual southward migration in the 18th century due to political unrest and to find more arable land.

During the first and second Indochina Wars, France and the United States recruited thousands of Hmong people in Laos to fight against forces from north and south Vietnam and communist Pathet Lao insurgents, known as the Secret War, during the Vietnam War and the Laotian Civil War. Hundreds of thousands of Hmong refugees fled to Thailand seeking political asylum. Thousands of these refugees have resettled in Western countries since the late 1970s, mostly the United States, but also in Australia, France, French Guiana, Canada, and Argentina. Others have returned to Laos under United Nations-sponsored repatriation programs.

SUBCULTURES

Hmong people have their own terms for their subcultural divisions. Hmong Der and Hmong Leng are the terms for two of the largest groups in America and Southeast Asia. In the Romanized Popular Alphabet, developed in the 1950s in Laos, these terms are written Hmoob Dawb (White Hmong) and Moob Leeg/Moob Ntsuab (Blue/Green Mong). The final consonants indicate with which of the eight lexical tones the word is pronounced.

White Hmong and Green Hmong speak mutually intelligible dialects of the Hmong language with some differences in pronunciation and vocabulary. One of the most characteristic differences is the use of the voiceless /m̥/ in White Hmong, indicated by a preceding "H" in Romanized Popular Alphabet. Voiceless nasals are not found in the Green Hmong dialect. Hmong groups are often named after the dominant colors or patterns of their traditional clothing, style of head-dress, or the provinces from which they come.

VIETNAM

Vietnamese Hmong women continuing to wear 'traditional' clothing tend to source much of their clothing as 'ready to wear' cotton (as opposed to traditional hemp) from markets, though some add embroidery as a personal touch. In SaPa, now with a 'standardised' clothing look, Black Hmong sub-groups have differentiated themselves by adopting different headwear; those with a large comb embedded in their long hair (but without a hat) call themselves Tao, those with a pillbox hat name themselves Giay, and those with a checked headscarf are Yao. For many, such as Flower Hmong, the heavily beaded skirts and jackets are manufactured in China.

NOMENCLATURE

In Southeast Asia, Hmong people are referred to by other names, including: Vietnamese: Mèo or H'Mông; Lao: ແມ້ວ (Maew) or ມົ້ງ (Mong); Thai: แม้ว (Maew) or ม้ง (Mong); Burmese: မုံလူမျိုး (mun lu-myo). The xenonym, "Mèo", and variants thereof, are considered highly derogatory by many Hmong people and are infrequently used today outside of Southeast Asia.

The Hmong people were also referred to by some European writers as the "Kings of the Jungle," because they used to live in the jungle of Laos. Because the Hmong lived mainly in the highland areas of Southeast Asia and China, the French occupiers of Southeast Asia gave them the name Montagnards or "mountain people", but this should not be confused with the Degar people of Vietnam, who were also referred to as Montagnards.

HMONG, MONG AND MIAO

Some non-Chinese Hmong advocate that the term Hmong be used not only for designating their dialect group, but also for the other Miao groups living in China. They generally claim that the word "Miao" or "Meo" is a derogatory term, with connotations of barbarism, that probably should not be used at all. The term was later adapted by Tai-speaking groups in Southeast Asia where it took on especially insulting associations for Hmong people despite its official status.

In modern China, the term "Miao" does not carry these negative associations and people of the various sub-groups that constitute this officially recognized nationality freely identify themselves as Miao or Chinese, typically reserving more specific ethnonyms for intra-ethnic communication. During the struggle for political recognition after 1949, it was actually members of these ethnic minorities who campaigned for identification under the umbrella term "Miao"-taking advantage of its familiarity and associations of historical political oppression.

Contemporary transnational interactions between Hmong in the West and Miao groups in China, following the 1975 Hmong diaspora, have led to the development of a global Hmong identity that includes linguistically and culturally related minorities in China that previously had no ethnic affiliation. Scholarly and commercial exchanges, increasingly communicated via the Internet, have also resulted in an exchange of terminology, including Hmu and A Hmao people identifying as Hmong and, to a lesser extent, Hmong people accepting the designation "Miao," within the context of China. Such realignments of identity, while largely the concern of economically elite community leaders, reflect a trend towards the interchangeability of the terms "Hmong" and "Miao."

HISTORY

The Hmong claim an origin in the Yellow River region of China. According to Ratliff, there is linguistic evidence to suggest that they have occupied the same areas of southern China for at least the past 2,000 years. Evidence from mitochondrial DNA in Hmong-Mien-speaking populations supports the southern origins of maternal lineages even further back in time, although Hmong-speaking populations show more contact with Han than Mien populations. Chinese sources describe that area being inhabited by 'Miao' people, a group with whom Hmong people are often identified.

The ancient town of Zhuolu, is considered to be the legendary birthplace of the Miao. Today, a statue of Chi You, widely proclaimed as the first Hmong king, has been erected in the town. The Guoyu book, considers Chi You’s Jui Li tribe to be related to the ancient ancestors of the Hmong, the San Miao people

CULTURE

The Hmong culture usually consists of a dominant hierarchy within the family. Males hold dominance over females and thus, a father is considered the head in each household. Courtships take place during the night when a man goes to visit a woman at her house and tries to woo her with sweet-talks through the thin walls of the house where the woman's bedroom may be located. If a man kidnaps an unwilling woman as a bride, she would have to marry him or risk having a tarnished reputation.

Today, bridenapping is uncommon because those marriages can end in divorce since women are no longer afraid of a tarnished reputation. During a marriage, the man pays the woman's family for taking away a daughter who is economically essential to her parents. Hmong women retain their own maiden names following marriage, but attends to the ancestors of their husbands. The children they bear take their husbands' clan names. Consequently, the Hmong favour having sons over daughters because sons perpetuate the clan.

The Hmong practice shamanism and ancestor worship. Like other animists, they also believe that all things are endowed with spiritual beings and so should be respected.

See Anne Fadiman's ethnography: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down for more info.

Hmong families in Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos practice subsistence agriculture, supplemented by hunting and some foraging. Although they have chickens, pigs and cows, the traditional staple of the Hmong consists mostly of vegetable dishes and rice. Domestic animals are highly valued and killed for consumption only during special events such as the New Year's Festival or during events such as a birth, marriage, or funeral ritual.

GEOGRAPHY

Roughly 95% of the Hmong live in Asia. Linguistic data show that the Hmong of the Peninsula stem from the Miao of southern China as one among a set of ethnic groups belonging to the Hmong–Mien language family. Linguistically and culturally speaking, the Hmong and the other sub-groups of the Miao have little in common.

In China the majority of the Hmong today live in Guizhou, Sichuan and Yunnan. The Hmong population is estimated at 3 million. No precise census data exist on the Hmong in China since China does not officially recognise the ethnonym Hmong and instead, clusters that group within the wider Miao group (8,940,116 in 2000). A few centuries ago, the lowland Chinese started moving into the mountain ranges of China's southwest. This migration, combined with major social unrest in southern China in the 18th and 19th century, served to cause some minorities of Guizhou, Sichuan and Yunnan to migrate south. A number of Hmong thus settled in the ranges of the Indochina Peninsula to practise subsistence agriculture.

Vietnam, where their presence is attested from the late 18th century onwards, is likely to be the first Indochinese country into which the Hmong migrated. During the colonization of 'Tonkin' (north Vietnam) between 1883 and 1954, a number of Hmong decided to join the Vietnamese Nationalists and Communists, while many Christianized Hmong sided with the French. After the Viet Minh victory, numerous pro-French Hmong had to fall back to Laos and South Vietnam.

At the 2009 national census, there were 1,068,189 Hmong living in Vietnam, the vast majority of them in the north of the country. The traditional trade in coffin wood with China and the cultivation of the opium poppy – both prohibited only in 1993 in Vietnam – long guaranteed a regular cash income. Today, converting to cash cropping is the main economic activity. As in China and Laos, there is a certain degree of participation of Hmong in the local and regional administration. In the late 1990s, several thousands of Hmong have started moving to the Central Highlands and some have crossed the border into Cambodia, constituting the first attested presence of Hmong settlers in that country.

In 2005, the Hmong in Laos numbered 460,000. Hmong settlement there is nearly as ancient as in Vietnam. After decades of distant relations with the Lao kingdoms, closer relations between the French military and some Hmong on the Xieng Khouang plateau were set up after World War II. There, a particular rivalry between members of the Lo and Ly clans developed into open enmity, also affecting those connected with them by kinship. Clan leaders took opposite sides and as a consequence, several thousand Hmong participated in the fighting against the Pathet Lao Communists, while perhaps as many were enrolled in the People's Liberation Army. As in Vietnam, numerous Hmong in Laos also genuinely tried to avoid getting involved in the conflict in spite of the extremely difficult material conditions under which they lived during wartime.

After the 1975 Communist victory, thousands of Hmong from Laos had to seek refuge abroad. Approximately 30 percent of the Hmong left, although the only concrete figure we have is that of 116,000 Hmong from Laos and Vietnam together seeking refuge in Thailand up to 1990.

In 2002 the Hmong in Thailand numbered 151,080. The presence of Hmong settlements there is documented from the end of the 19th century. Initially, the Siamese paid little attention to them. But in the early 1950s, the state suddenly took a number of initiatives aimed at establishing links. Decolonization and nationalism were gaining momentum in the Peninsula and wars of independence were raging. Armed opposition to the state in northern Thailand, triggered by outside influence, started in 1967 while here again, many Hmong refused to take sides in the conflict. Communist guerrilla warfare stopped by 1982 as a result of an international concurrence of events that rendered it pointless. Priority is since given by the Thai state to sedentarizing the mountain population, introducing commercially viable agricultural techniques and national education, with the aim of integrating these non-Tai animists within the national identity.

Burma most likely includes a modest number of Hmong (perhaps around 2,500) but no reliable census has been conducted there recently.

As result of refugee movements in the wake of the Indochina Wars (1946–1975), in particular in Laos, the largest Hmong community to settle outside Asia went to the United States where approximately 100,000 individuals had already arrived by 1990. California became home to half this group, while the remainder went to Minnesota, Wisconsin, Washington, Pennsylvania, Montana, and North Carolina. By the same date, 10,000 Hmong had migrated to France, including 1,400 in French Guyana. Canada admitted 900 individuals, while another 360 went to Australia, 260 to China, and 250 to Argentina. Over the following years and until the definitive closure of the last refugee camps in Thailand in 1998, additional numbers of Hmong have left Asia, but the definitive figures are still to be produced.

WIKIPEDIA

Rally and March starting at City Hall, marching to Joe Fresh to demand justice for Bangladeshi garment workers and ending at Little Norway Park in solidarity with striking workers at Porter (Queens Quay and Bathurst)

Videos: bit.ly/MayDayTOVids

More info with links: www.toronto.nooneisillegal.org/MayDay

Poster series imagining a Solidarity City: on.fb.me/12HV9DO

For seven years, you have marched on May Day to celebrate and invigorate migrant justice struggles in Toronto. On International Workers Day, we march to build a Solidarity City. Solidarity City is a unified struggle for: Respect for Indigenous Sovereignty, Status for All, an End to Imperialism and Environmental Destruction, an End to Austerity and Attacks on the Poor and Working class, continued resistance against Patriarchy, Racism, Ableism and Homophobia and Transphobia

Pipelines, tankers, mines, and so-called development projects are being forced onto the lands of Indigenous nations. Harper, like every Prime Minister who came before him, refuses to respect the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and continues to neglect his treaty obligations, as seen in Omnibus Bill C-45. In the face of this and more, land defenders across Turtle Island continue to resist in powerful and inspiring ways. As we look towards an exciting summer of action and resistance fueled by the Idle No More movement, this May Day let us honor all ongoing decolonization struggles and commit to continuing our support for Indigenous sovereignty.

The past year has seen the implementation of C-31, dubbed the Refugee Exclusion Act, further criminalizing migrants and expanding the detention and deportation machine. Jason Kenney announced the creation of a designated countries of origin, a racist, two tiered system under which refugees get fewer rights based on their place of birth. This past November, many of us honored our communities and confronted Minister Kenney when he showed up in Toronto. On May 1st, let us take to the streets to build community alliances and resistance once again.

Exploitative temporary worker programs continue to expand and many migrant workers continue to meet deportation, injuries and in some cases death. Workers are being forced to pay thousands of dollars to get jobs in Canada for which entire families go in to debt, yet no provisions exist for status on landing. Since Harper came into power, over 72,000 people have been locked up in immigration detention. In December we rallied in solidarity with security certificate detainees Mohammad Mahjoub, Mohamed Harkat and Mahmoud Jaballah and all those locked up in immigration detention. This May Day let us take to the streets to end detentions and deportations and to call for freedom to move, freedom to stay and freedom to return!

On February 21st, Toronto City Hall reaffirmed its promise to providing services to residents without full immigration status. We will continue to build a Solidarity City where communities work together to ensure justice and dignity for all residents. The history of Access Without Fear in Toronto is a long one and on May Day let us march to celebrate our victories and commit to continued struggle.

In the face of austerity, climate destruction, colonial and capitalist wars and interventions here and across the world that push people out of their homes, let us fight for status for all. Status for All is the struggle for self-determination, just livelihood, housing, food, education, healthcare, childcare, shelter, justice and dignity for all people, with or without immigration status.

Coordinated by a coalition of community groups including Afghans United for Justice, AIDS ACTION NOW!, Anakbayan Toronto, Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Students (APUS), Camp Sis, Casa Salvador Allende, Cinema Politica, Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), Common Cause Toronto,Common Causes, CUPE local 1281,CUPE Local 4772, CUPE 3906 Executive, CUPE 3906 Political Action Committee, CUPE 4308, CUPE Ontario International Solidarity Committee, Educators for Peace and Justice, Faculty for Palestine (F4P), Grassroots Ontario Animal Liberation (GOAL) Network, Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly, Health for All, Independent Jewish Voices, Toronto, Injured Workers Action for Justice, International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Socialists, Jane and Finch Action Against Poverty [JFAAP], Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network, Law Union of Ontario, maggie's: toronto sex workers action project, May 1st Movement, No One Is Illegal - Toronto,Ontario Coalition Against Poverty,OPIRG York, Refugees without Border, Revolutionary Women's Collective-women united against imperialism, Rhythms of Resistance - Toronto,Rising Tide Toronto, Socialist Action / Ligue pour l'Action socialiste. Socialist Party of Ontario,Socialist Project, Student Christian Movement, The Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, The Sanctuary Network, Student Christian Movement, Toronto Haiti Action Committee, Toronto New Socialists, Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multicultural Women Against Rape, Toronto Young New Democrats, Trans Film Series,United Food and Commercial Workers, Women's Coordinating Committe for a Free Wallmapu [Toronto], Workers' Action Centre, York Federation of Students, Local 68 Canadian Federation of Students and more. To endorse the event, fill out this form bit.ly/ZDRwKU

In the 21st century, historians have increasingly portrayed the 1970s as a "pivot of change" in world history, focusing especially on the economic upheavals that followed the end of the postwar economic boom. On a global scale, it was characterized by frequent coups, domestic conflicts and civil wars, and various political upheavals and armed conflicts which arose from or were related to decolonization, and the global struggle between NATO, the Warsaw Pact, and the Non-Aligned Movement. Many regions had periods of high-intensity conflict, notably Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa.

Wikipedia

Rally and March starting at City Hall, marching to Joe Fresh to demand justice for Bangladeshi garment workers and ending at Little Norway Park in solidarity with striking workers at Porter (Queens Quay and Bathurst)

Videos: bit.ly/MayDayTOVids

More info with links: www.toronto.nooneisillegal.org/MayDay

Poster series imagining a Solidarity City: on.fb.me/12HV9DO

For seven years, you have marched on May Day to celebrate and invigorate migrant justice struggles in Toronto. On International Workers Day, we march to build a Solidarity City. Solidarity City is a unified struggle for: Respect for Indigenous Sovereignty, Status for All, an End to Imperialism and Environmental Destruction, an End to Austerity and Attacks on the Poor and Working class, continued resistance against Patriarchy, Racism, Ableism and Homophobia and Transphobia

Pipelines, tankers, mines, and so-called development projects are being forced onto the lands of Indigenous nations. Harper, like every Prime Minister who came before him, refuses to respect the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and continues to neglect his treaty obligations, as seen in Omnibus Bill C-45. In the face of this and more, land defenders across Turtle Island continue to resist in powerful and inspiring ways. As we look towards an exciting summer of action and resistance fueled by the Idle No More movement, this May Day let us honor all ongoing decolonization struggles and commit to continuing our support for Indigenous sovereignty.

The past year has seen the implementation of C-31, dubbed the Refugee Exclusion Act, further criminalizing migrants and expanding the detention and deportation machine. Jason Kenney announced the creation of a designated countries of origin, a racist, two tiered system under which refugees get fewer rights based on their place of birth. This past November, many of us honored our communities and confronted Minister Kenney when he showed up in Toronto. On May 1st, let us take to the streets to build community alliances and resistance once again.

Exploitative temporary worker programs continue to expand and many migrant workers continue to meet deportation, injuries and in some cases death. Workers are being forced to pay thousands of dollars to get jobs in Canada for which entire families go in to debt, yet no provisions exist for status on landing. Since Harper came into power, over 72,000 people have been locked up in immigration detention. In December we rallied in solidarity with security certificate detainees Mohammad Mahjoub, Mohamed Harkat and Mahmoud Jaballah and all those locked up in immigration detention. This May Day let us take to the streets to end detentions and deportations and to call for freedom to move, freedom to stay and freedom to return!

On February 21st, Toronto City Hall reaffirmed its promise to providing services to residents without full immigration status. We will continue to build a Solidarity City where communities work together to ensure justice and dignity for all residents. The history of Access Without Fear in Toronto is a long one and on May Day let us march to celebrate our victories and commit to continued struggle.

In the face of austerity, climate destruction, colonial and capitalist wars and interventions here and across the world that push people out of their homes, let us fight for status for all. Status for All is the struggle for self-determination, just livelihood, housing, food, education, healthcare, childcare, shelter, justice and dignity for all people, with or without immigration status.

Coordinated by a coalition of community groups including Afghans United for Justice, AIDS ACTION NOW!, Anakbayan Toronto, Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Students (APUS), Camp Sis, Casa Salvador Allende, Cinema Politica, Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), Common Cause Toronto,Common Causes, CUPE local 1281,CUPE Local 4772, CUPE 3906 Executive, CUPE 3906 Political Action Committee, CUPE 4308, CUPE Ontario International Solidarity Committee, Educators for Peace and Justice, Faculty for Palestine (F4P), Grassroots Ontario Animal Liberation (GOAL) Network, Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly, Health for All, Independent Jewish Voices, Toronto, Injured Workers Action for Justice, International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Socialists, Jane and Finch Action Against Poverty [JFAAP], Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network, Law Union of Ontario, maggie's: toronto sex workers action project, May 1st Movement, No One Is Illegal - Toronto,Ontario Coalition Against Poverty,OPIRG York, Refugees without Border, Revolutionary Women's Collective-women united against imperialism, Rhythms of Resistance - Toronto,Rising Tide Toronto, Socialist Action / Ligue pour l'Action socialiste. Socialist Party of Ontario,Socialist Project, Student Christian Movement, The Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, The Sanctuary Network, Student Christian Movement, Toronto Haiti Action Committee, Toronto New Socialists, Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multicultural Women Against Rape, Toronto Young New Democrats, Trans Film Series,United Food and Commercial Workers, Women's Coordinating Committe for a Free Wallmapu [Toronto], Workers' Action Centre, York Federation of Students, Local 68 Canadian Federation of Students and more. To endorse the event, fill out this form bit.ly/ZDRwKU

Rally and March starting at City Hall, marching to Joe Fresh to demand justice for Bangladeshi garment workers and ending at Little Norway Park in solidarity with striking workers at Porter (Queens Quay and Bathurst)

Videos: bit.ly/MayDayTOVids

More info with links: www.toronto.nooneisillegal.org/MayDay

Poster series imagining a Solidarity City: on.fb.me/12HV9DO

For seven years, you have marched on May Day to celebrate and invigorate migrant justice struggles in Toronto. On International Workers Day, we march to build a Solidarity City. Solidarity City is a unified struggle for: Respect for Indigenous Sovereignty, Status for All, an End to Imperialism and Environmental Destruction, an End to Austerity and Attacks on the Poor and Working class, continued resistance against Patriarchy, Racism, Ableism and Homophobia and Transphobia

Pipelines, tankers, mines, and so-called development projects are being forced onto the lands of Indigenous nations. Harper, like every Prime Minister who came before him, refuses to respect the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and continues to neglect his treaty obligations, as seen in Omnibus Bill C-45. In the face of this and more, land defenders across Turtle Island continue to resist in powerful and inspiring ways. As we look towards an exciting summer of action and resistance fueled by the Idle No More movement, this May Day let us honor all ongoing decolonization struggles and commit to continuing our support for Indigenous sovereignty.

The past year has seen the implementation of C-31, dubbed the Refugee Exclusion Act, further criminalizing migrants and expanding the detention and deportation machine. Jason Kenney announced the creation of a designated countries of origin, a racist, two tiered system under which refugees get fewer rights based on their place of birth. This past November, many of us honored our communities and confronted Minister Kenney when he showed up in Toronto. On May 1st, let us take to the streets to build community alliances and resistance once again.

Exploitative temporary worker programs continue to expand and many migrant workers continue to meet deportation, injuries and in some cases death. Workers are being forced to pay thousands of dollars to get jobs in Canada for which entire families go in to debt, yet no provisions exist for status on landing. Since Harper came into power, over 72,000 people have been locked up in immigration detention. In December we rallied in solidarity with security certificate detainees Mohammad Mahjoub, Mohamed Harkat and Mahmoud Jaballah and all those locked up in immigration detention. This May Day let us take to the streets to end detentions and deportations and to call for freedom to move, freedom to stay and freedom to return!

On February 21st, Toronto City Hall reaffirmed its promise to providing services to residents without full immigration status. We will continue to build a Solidarity City where communities work together to ensure justice and dignity for all residents. The history of Access Without Fear in Toronto is a long one and on May Day let us march to celebrate our victories and commit to continued struggle.

In the face of austerity, climate destruction, colonial and capitalist wars and interventions here and across the world that push people out of their homes, let us fight for status for all. Status for All is the struggle for self-determination, just livelihood, housing, food, education, healthcare, childcare, shelter, justice and dignity for all people, with or without immigration status.

Coordinated by a coalition of community groups including Afghans United for Justice, AIDS ACTION NOW!, Anakbayan Toronto, Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Students (APUS), Camp Sis, Casa Salvador Allende, Cinema Politica, Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), Common Cause Toronto,Common Causes, CUPE local 1281,CUPE Local 4772, CUPE 3906 Executive, CUPE 3906 Political Action Committee, CUPE 4308, CUPE Ontario International Solidarity Committee, Educators for Peace and Justice, Faculty for Palestine (F4P), Grassroots Ontario Animal Liberation (GOAL) Network, Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly, Health for All, Independent Jewish Voices, Toronto, Injured Workers Action for Justice, International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Socialists, Jane and Finch Action Against Poverty [JFAAP], Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network, Law Union of Ontario, maggie's: toronto sex workers action project, May 1st Movement, No One Is Illegal - Toronto,Ontario Coalition Against Poverty,OPIRG York, Refugees without Border, Revolutionary Women's Collective-women united against imperialism, Rhythms of Resistance - Toronto,Rising Tide Toronto, Socialist Action / Ligue pour l'Action socialiste. Socialist Party of Ontario,Socialist Project, Student Christian Movement, The Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, The Sanctuary Network, Student Christian Movement, Toronto Haiti Action Committee, Toronto New Socialists, Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multicultural Women Against Rape, Toronto Young New Democrats, Trans Film Series,United Food and Commercial Workers, Women's Coordinating Committe for a Free Wallmapu [Toronto], Workers' Action Centre, York Federation of Students, Local 68 Canadian Federation of Students and more. To endorse the event, fill out this form bit.ly/ZDRwKU

Rally and March starting at City Hall, marching to Joe Fresh to demand justice for Bangladeshi garment workers and ending at Little Norway Park in solidarity with striking workers at Porter (Queens Quay and Bathurst)

Videos: bit.ly/MayDayTOVids

More info with links: www.toronto.nooneisillegal.org/MayDay

Poster series imagining a Solidarity City: on.fb.me/12HV9DO

For seven years, you have marched on May Day to celebrate and invigorate migrant justice struggles in Toronto. On International Workers Day, we march to build a Solidarity City. Solidarity City is a unified struggle for: Respect for Indigenous Sovereignty, Status for All, an End to Imperialism and Environmental Destruction, an End to Austerity and Attacks on the Poor and Working class, continued resistance against Patriarchy, Racism, Ableism and Homophobia and Transphobia

Pipelines, tankers, mines, and so-called development projects are being forced onto the lands of Indigenous nations. Harper, like every Prime Minister who came before him, refuses to respect the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and continues to neglect his treaty obligations, as seen in Omnibus Bill C-45. In the face of this and more, land defenders across Turtle Island continue to resist in powerful and inspiring ways. As we look towards an exciting summer of action and resistance fueled by the Idle No More movement, this May Day let us honor all ongoing decolonization struggles and commit to continuing our support for Indigenous sovereignty.

The past year has seen the implementation of C-31, dubbed the Refugee Exclusion Act, further criminalizing migrants and expanding the detention and deportation machine. Jason Kenney announced the creation of a designated countries of origin, a racist, two tiered system under which refugees get fewer rights based on their place of birth. This past November, many of us honored our communities and confronted Minister Kenney when he showed up in Toronto. On May 1st, let us take to the streets to build community alliances and resistance once again.

Exploitative temporary worker programs continue to expand and many migrant workers continue to meet deportation, injuries and in some cases death. Workers are being forced to pay thousands of dollars to get jobs in Canada for which entire families go in to debt, yet no provisions exist for status on landing. Since Harper came into power, over 72,000 people have been locked up in immigration detention. In December we rallied in solidarity with security certificate detainees Mohammad Mahjoub, Mohamed Harkat and Mahmoud Jaballah and all those locked up in immigration detention. This May Day let us take to the streets to end detentions and deportations and to call for freedom to move, freedom to stay and freedom to return!

On February 21st, Toronto City Hall reaffirmed its promise to providing services to residents without full immigration status. We will continue to build a Solidarity City where communities work together to ensure justice and dignity for all residents. The history of Access Without Fear in Toronto is a long one and on May Day let us march to celebrate our victories and commit to continued struggle.

In the face of austerity, climate destruction, colonial and capitalist wars and interventions here and across the world that push people out of their homes, let us fight for status for all. Status for All is the struggle for self-determination, just livelihood, housing, food, education, healthcare, childcare, shelter, justice and dignity for all people, with or without immigration status.

Coordinated by a coalition of community groups including Afghans United for Justice, AIDS ACTION NOW!, Anakbayan Toronto, Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Students (APUS), Camp Sis, Casa Salvador Allende, Cinema Politica, Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), Common Cause Toronto,Common Causes, CUPE local 1281,CUPE Local 4772, CUPE 3906 Executive, CUPE 3906 Political Action Committee, CUPE 4308, CUPE Ontario International Solidarity Committee, Educators for Peace and Justice, Faculty for Palestine (F4P), Grassroots Ontario Animal Liberation (GOAL) Network, Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly, Health for All, Independent Jewish Voices, Toronto, Injured Workers Action for Justice, International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Socialists, Jane and Finch Action Against Poverty [JFAAP], Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network, Law Union of Ontario, maggie's: toronto sex workers action project, May 1st Movement, No One Is Illegal - Toronto,Ontario Coalition Against Poverty,OPIRG York, Refugees without Border, Revolutionary Women's Collective-women united against imperialism, Rhythms of Resistance - Toronto,Rising Tide Toronto, Socialist Action / Ligue pour l'Action socialiste. Socialist Party of Ontario,Socialist Project, Student Christian Movement, The Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, The Sanctuary Network, Student Christian Movement, Toronto Haiti Action Committee, Toronto New Socialists, Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multicultural Women Against Rape, Toronto Young New Democrats, Trans Film Series,United Food and Commercial Workers, Women's Coordinating Committe for a Free Wallmapu [Toronto], Workers' Action Centre, York Federation of Students, Local 68 Canadian Federation of Students and more. To endorse the event, fill out this form bit.ly/ZDRwKU

The Hmong (RPA: Hmoob/Moob, IPA: [m̥ɔ̃ŋ]) are an ethnic group from the mountainous regions of China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Hmong are also one of the sub-groups of the Miao ethnicity (苗族) in southern China. Hmong groups began a gradual southward migration in the 18th century due to political unrest and to find more arable land.

During the first and second Indochina Wars, France and the United States recruited thousands of Hmong people in Laos to fight against forces from north and south Vietnam and communist Pathet Lao insurgents, known as the Secret War, during the Vietnam War and the Laotian Civil War. Hundreds of thousands of Hmong refugees fled to Thailand seeking political asylum. Thousands of these refugees have resettled in Western countries since the late 1970s, mostly the United States, but also in Australia, France, French Guiana, Canada, and Argentina. Others have returned to Laos under United Nations-sponsored repatriation programs.

SUBCULTURES

Hmong people have their own terms for their subcultural divisions. Hmong Der and Hmong Leng are the terms for two of the largest groups in America and Southeast Asia. In the Romanized Popular Alphabet, developed in the 1950s in Laos, these terms are written Hmoob Dawb (White Hmong) and Moob Leeg/Moob Ntsuab (Blue/Green Mong). The final consonants indicate with which of the eight lexical tones the word is pronounced.

White Hmong and Green Hmong speak mutually intelligible dialects of the Hmong language with some differences in pronunciation and vocabulary. One of the most characteristic differences is the use of the voiceless /m̥/ in White Hmong, indicated by a preceding "H" in Romanized Popular Alphabet. Voiceless nasals are not found in the Green Hmong dialect. Hmong groups are often named after the dominant colors or patterns of their traditional clothing, style of head-dress, or the provinces from which they come.

VIETNAM

Vietnamese Hmong women continuing to wear 'traditional' clothing tend to source much of their clothing as 'ready to wear' cotton (as opposed to traditional hemp) from markets, though some add embroidery as a personal touch. In SaPa, now with a 'standardised' clothing look, Black Hmong sub-groups have differentiated themselves by adopting different headwear; those with a large comb embedded in their long hair (but without a hat) call themselves Tao, those with a pillbox hat name themselves Giay, and those with a checked headscarf are Yao. For many, such as Flower Hmong, the heavily beaded skirts and jackets are manufactured in China.

NOMENCLATURE

In Southeast Asia, Hmong people are referred to by other names, including: Vietnamese: Mèo or H'Mông; Lao: ແມ້ວ (Maew) or ມົ້ງ (Mong); Thai: แม้ว (Maew) or ม้ง (Mong); Burmese: မုံလူမျိုး (mun lu-myo). The xenonym, "Mèo", and variants thereof, are considered highly derogatory by many Hmong people and are infrequently used today outside of Southeast Asia.

The Hmong people were also referred to by some European writers as the "Kings of the Jungle," because they used to live in the jungle of Laos. Because the Hmong lived mainly in the highland areas of Southeast Asia and China, the French occupiers of Southeast Asia gave them the name Montagnards or "mountain people", but this should not be confused with the Degar people of Vietnam, who were also referred to as Montagnards.

HMONG, MONG AND MIAO

Some non-Chinese Hmong advocate that the term Hmong be used not only for designating their dialect group, but also for the other Miao groups living in China. They generally claim that the word "Miao" or "Meo" is a derogatory term, with connotations of barbarism, that probably should not be used at all. The term was later adapted by Tai-speaking groups in Southeast Asia where it took on especially insulting associations for Hmong people despite its official status.

In modern China, the term "Miao" does not carry these negative associations and people of the various sub-groups that constitute this officially recognized nationality freely identify themselves as Miao or Chinese, typically reserving more specific ethnonyms for intra-ethnic communication. During the struggle for political recognition after 1949, it was actually members of these ethnic minorities who campaigned for identification under the umbrella term "Miao"-taking advantage of its familiarity and associations of historical political oppression.

Contemporary transnational interactions between Hmong in the West and Miao groups in China, following the 1975 Hmong diaspora, have led to the development of a global Hmong identity that includes linguistically and culturally related minorities in China that previously had no ethnic affiliation. Scholarly and commercial exchanges, increasingly communicated via the Internet, have also resulted in an exchange of terminology, including Hmu and A Hmao people identifying as Hmong and, to a lesser extent, Hmong people accepting the designation "Miao," within the context of China. Such realignments of identity, while largely the concern of economically elite community leaders, reflect a trend towards the interchangeability of the terms "Hmong" and "Miao."

HISTORY

The Hmong claim an origin in the Yellow River region of China. According to Ratliff, there is linguistic evidence to suggest that they have occupied the same areas of southern China for at least the past 2,000 years. Evidence from mitochondrial DNA in Hmong-Mien-speaking populations supports the southern origins of maternal lineages even further back in time, although Hmong-speaking populations show more contact with Han than Mien populations. Chinese sources describe that area being inhabited by 'Miao' people, a group with whom Hmong people are often identified.

The ancient town of Zhuolu, is considered to be the legendary birthplace of the Miao. Today, a statue of Chi You, widely proclaimed as the first Hmong king, has been erected in the town. The Guoyu book, considers Chi You’s Jui Li tribe to be related to the ancient ancestors of the Hmong, the San Miao people

CULTURE

The Hmong culture usually consists of a dominant hierarchy within the family. Males hold dominance over females and thus, a father is considered the head in each household. Courtships take place during the night when a man goes to visit a woman at her house and tries to woo her with sweet-talks through the thin walls of the house where the woman's bedroom may be located. If a man kidnaps an unwilling woman as a bride, she would have to marry him or risk having a tarnished reputation.

Today, bridenapping is uncommon because those marriages can end in divorce since women are no longer afraid of a tarnished reputation. During a marriage, the man pays the woman's family for taking away a daughter who is economically essential to her parents. Hmong women retain their own maiden names following marriage, but attends to the ancestors of their husbands. The children they bear take their husbands' clan names. Consequently, the Hmong favour having sons over daughters because sons perpetuate the clan.

The Hmong practice shamanism and ancestor worship. Like other animists, they also believe that all things are endowed with spiritual beings and so should be respected.

See Anne Fadiman's ethnography: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down for more info.

Hmong families in Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos practice subsistence agriculture, supplemented by hunting and some foraging. Although they have chickens, pigs and cows, the traditional staple of the Hmong consists mostly of vegetable dishes and rice. Domestic animals are highly valued and killed for consumption only during special events such as the New Year's Festival or during events such as a birth, marriage, or funeral ritual.

GEOGRAPHY

Roughly 95% of the Hmong live in Asia. Linguistic data show that the Hmong of the Peninsula stem from the Miao of southern China as one among a set of ethnic groups belonging to the Hmong–Mien language family. Linguistically and culturally speaking, the Hmong and the other sub-groups of the Miao have little in common.

In China the majority of the Hmong today live in Guizhou, Sichuan and Yunnan. The Hmong population is estimated at 3 million. No precise census data exist on the Hmong in China since China does not officially recognise the ethnonym Hmong and instead, clusters that group within the wider Miao group (8,940,116 in 2000). A few centuries ago, the lowland Chinese started moving into the mountain ranges of China's southwest. This migration, combined with major social unrest in southern China in the 18th and 19th century, served to cause some minorities of Guizhou, Sichuan and Yunnan to migrate south. A number of Hmong thus settled in the ranges of the Indochina Peninsula to practise subsistence agriculture.

Vietnam, where their presence is attested from the late 18th century onwards, is likely to be the first Indochinese country into which the Hmong migrated. During the colonization of 'Tonkin' (north Vietnam) between 1883 and 1954, a number of Hmong decided to join the Vietnamese Nationalists and Communists, while many Christianized Hmong sided with the French. After the Viet Minh victory, numerous pro-French Hmong had to fall back to Laos and South Vietnam.

At the 2009 national census, there were 1,068,189 Hmong living in Vietnam, the vast majority of them in the north of the country. The traditional trade in coffin wood with China and the cultivation of the opium poppy – both prohibited only in 1993 in Vietnam – long guaranteed a regular cash income. Today, converting to cash cropping is the main economic activity. As in China and Laos, there is a certain degree of participation of Hmong in the local and regional administration. In the late 1990s, several thousands of Hmong have started moving to the Central Highlands and some have crossed the border into Cambodia, constituting the first attested presence of Hmong settlers in that country.

In 2005, the Hmong in Laos numbered 460,000. Hmong settlement there is nearly as ancient as in Vietnam. After decades of distant relations with the Lao kingdoms, closer relations between the French military and some Hmong on the Xieng Khouang plateau were set up after World War II. There, a particular rivalry between members of the Lo and Ly clans developed into open enmity, also affecting those connected with them by kinship. Clan leaders took opposite sides and as a consequence, several thousand Hmong participated in the fighting against the Pathet Lao Communists, while perhaps as many were enrolled in the People's Liberation Army. As in Vietnam, numerous Hmong in Laos also genuinely tried to avoid getting involved in the conflict in spite of the extremely difficult material conditions under which they lived during wartime.

After the 1975 Communist victory, thousands of Hmong from Laos had to seek refuge abroad. Approximately 30 percent of the Hmong left, although the only concrete figure we have is that of 116,000 Hmong from Laos and Vietnam together seeking refuge in Thailand up to 1990.

In 2002 the Hmong in Thailand numbered 151,080. The presence of Hmong settlements there is documented from the end of the 19th century. Initially, the Siamese paid little attention to them. But in the early 1950s, the state suddenly took a number of initiatives aimed at establishing links. Decolonization and nationalism were gaining momentum in the Peninsula and wars of independence were raging. Armed opposition to the state in northern Thailand, triggered by outside influence, started in 1967 while here again, many Hmong refused to take sides in the conflict. Communist guerrilla warfare stopped by 1982 as a result of an international concurrence of events that rendered it pointless. Priority is since given by the Thai state to sedentarizing the mountain population, introducing commercially viable agricultural techniques and national education, with the aim of integrating these non-Tai animists within the national identity.

Burma most likely includes a modest number of Hmong (perhaps around 2,500) but no reliable census has been conducted there recently.

As result of refugee movements in the wake of the Indochina Wars (1946–1975), in particular in Laos, the largest Hmong community to settle outside Asia went to the United States where approximately 100,000 individuals had already arrived by 1990. California became home to half this group, while the remainder went to Minnesota, Wisconsin, Washington, Pennsylvania, Montana, and North Carolina. By the same date, 10,000 Hmong had migrated to France, including 1,400 in French Guyana. Canada admitted 900 individuals, while another 360 went to Australia, 260 to China, and 250 to Argentina. Over the following years and until the definitive closure of the last refugee camps in Thailand in 1998, additional numbers of Hmong have left Asia, but the definitive figures are still to be produced.

WIKIPEDIA

Rally and March starting at City Hall, marching to Joe Fresh to demand justice for Bangladeshi garment workers and ending at Little Norway Park in solidarity with striking workers at Porter (Queens Quay and Bathurst)

Videos: bit.ly/MayDayTOVids

More info with links: www.toronto.nooneisillegal.org/MayDay

Poster series imagining a Solidarity City: on.fb.me/12HV9DO

For seven years, you have marched on May Day to celebrate and invigorate migrant justice struggles in Toronto. On International Workers Day, we march to build a Solidarity City. Solidarity City is a unified struggle for: Respect for Indigenous Sovereignty, Status for All, an End to Imperialism and Environmental Destruction, an End to Austerity and Attacks on the Poor and Working class, continued resistance against Patriarchy, Racism, Ableism and Homophobia and Transphobia

Pipelines, tankers, mines, and so-called development projects are being forced onto the lands of Indigenous nations. Harper, like every Prime Minister who came before him, refuses to respect the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and continues to neglect his treaty obligations, as seen in Omnibus Bill C-45. In the face of this and more, land defenders across Turtle Island continue to resist in powerful and inspiring ways. As we look towards an exciting summer of action and resistance fueled by the Idle No More movement, this May Day let us honor all ongoing decolonization struggles and commit to continuing our support for Indigenous sovereignty.

The past year has seen the implementation of C-31, dubbed the Refugee Exclusion Act, further criminalizing migrants and expanding the detention and deportation machine. Jason Kenney announced the creation of a designated countries of origin, a racist, two tiered system under which refugees get fewer rights based on their place of birth. This past November, many of us honored our communities and confronted Minister Kenney when he showed up in Toronto. On May 1st, let us take to the streets to build community alliances and resistance once again.

Exploitative temporary worker programs continue to expand and many migrant workers continue to meet deportation, injuries and in some cases death. Workers are being forced to pay thousands of dollars to get jobs in Canada for which entire families go in to debt, yet no provisions exist for status on landing. Since Harper came into power, over 72,000 people have been locked up in immigration detention. In December we rallied in solidarity with security certificate detainees Mohammad Mahjoub, Mohamed Harkat and Mahmoud Jaballah and all those locked up in immigration detention. This May Day let us take to the streets to end detentions and deportations and to call for freedom to move, freedom to stay and freedom to return!

On February 21st, Toronto City Hall reaffirmed its promise to providing services to residents without full immigration status. We will continue to build a Solidarity City where communities work together to ensure justice and dignity for all residents. The history of Access Without Fear in Toronto is a long one and on May Day let us march to celebrate our victories and commit to continued struggle.

In the face of austerity, climate destruction, colonial and capitalist wars and interventions here and across the world that push people out of their homes, let us fight for status for all. Status for All is the struggle for self-determination, just livelihood, housing, food, education, healthcare, childcare, shelter, justice and dignity for all people, with or without immigration status.

Coordinated by a coalition of community groups including Afghans United for Justice, AIDS ACTION NOW!, Anakbayan Toronto, Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Students (APUS), Camp Sis, Casa Salvador Allende, Cinema Politica, Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), Common Cause Toronto,Common Causes, CUPE local 1281,CUPE Local 4772, CUPE 3906 Executive, CUPE 3906 Political Action Committee, CUPE 4308, CUPE Ontario International Solidarity Committee, Educators for Peace and Justice, Faculty for Palestine (F4P), Grassroots Ontario Animal Liberation (GOAL) Network, Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly, Health for All, Independent Jewish Voices, Toronto, Injured Workers Action for Justice, International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Socialists, Jane and Finch Action Against Poverty [JFAAP], Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network, Law Union of Ontario, maggie's: toronto sex workers action project, May 1st Movement, No One Is Illegal - Toronto,Ontario Coalition Against Poverty,OPIRG York, Refugees without Border, Revolutionary Women's Collective-women united against imperialism, Rhythms of Resistance - Toronto,Rising Tide Toronto, Socialist Action / Ligue pour l'Action socialiste. Socialist Party of Ontario,Socialist Project, Student Christian Movement, The Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, The Sanctuary Network, Student Christian Movement, Toronto Haiti Action Committee, Toronto New Socialists, Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multicultural Women Against Rape, Toronto Young New Democrats, Trans Film Series,United Food and Commercial Workers, Women's Coordinating Committe for a Free Wallmapu [Toronto], Workers' Action Centre, York Federation of Students, Local 68 Canadian Federation of Students and more. To endorse the event, fill out this form bit.ly/ZDRwKU

Rally and March starting at City Hall, marching to Joe Fresh to demand justice for Bangladeshi garment workers and ending at Little Norway Park in solidarity with striking workers at Porter (Queens Quay and Bathurst)

Videos: bit.ly/MayDayTOVids

More info with links: www.toronto.nooneisillegal.org/MayDay

Poster series imagining a Solidarity City: on.fb.me/12HV9DO

For seven years, you have marched on May Day to celebrate and invigorate migrant justice struggles in Toronto. On International Workers Day, we march to build a Solidarity City. Solidarity City is a unified struggle for: Respect for Indigenous Sovereignty, Status for All, an End to Imperialism and Environmental Destruction, an End to Austerity and Attacks on the Poor and Working class, continued resistance against Patriarchy, Racism, Ableism and Homophobia and Transphobia

Pipelines, tankers, mines, and so-called development projects are being forced onto the lands of Indigenous nations. Harper, like every Prime Minister who came before him, refuses to respect the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and continues to neglect his treaty obligations, as seen in Omnibus Bill C-45. In the face of this and more, land defenders across Turtle Island continue to resist in powerful and inspiring ways. As we look towards an exciting summer of action and resistance fueled by the Idle No More movement, this May Day let us honor all ongoing decolonization struggles and commit to continuing our support for Indigenous sovereignty.

The past year has seen the implementation of C-31, dubbed the Refugee Exclusion Act, further criminalizing migrants and expanding the detention and deportation machine. Jason Kenney announced the creation of a designated countries of origin, a racist, two tiered system under which refugees get fewer rights based on their place of birth. This past November, many of us honored our communities and confronted Minister Kenney when he showed up in Toronto. On May 1st, let us take to the streets to build community alliances and resistance once again.

Exploitative temporary worker programs continue to expand and many migrant workers continue to meet deportation, injuries and in some cases death. Workers are being forced to pay thousands of dollars to get jobs in Canada for which entire families go in to debt, yet no provisions exist for status on landing. Since Harper came into power, over 72,000 people have been locked up in immigration detention. In December we rallied in solidarity with security certificate detainees Mohammad Mahjoub, Mohamed Harkat and Mahmoud Jaballah and all those locked up in immigration detention. This May Day let us take to the streets to end detentions and deportations and to call for freedom to move, freedom to stay and freedom to return!

On February 21st, Toronto City Hall reaffirmed its promise to providing services to residents without full immigration status. We will continue to build a Solidarity City where communities work together to ensure justice and dignity for all residents. The history of Access Without Fear in Toronto is a long one and on May Day let us march to celebrate our victories and commit to continued struggle.

In the face of austerity, climate destruction, colonial and capitalist wars and interventions here and across the world that push people out of their homes, let us fight for status for all. Status for All is the struggle for self-determination, just livelihood, housing, food, education, healthcare, childcare, shelter, justice and dignity for all people, with or without immigration status.

Coordinated by a coalition of community groups including Afghans United for Justice, AIDS ACTION NOW!, Anakbayan Toronto, Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Students (APUS), Camp Sis, Casa Salvador Allende, Cinema Politica, Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), Common Cause Toronto,Common Causes, CUPE local 1281,CUPE Local 4772, CUPE 3906 Executive, CUPE 3906 Political Action Committee, CUPE 4308, CUPE Ontario International Solidarity Committee, Educators for Peace and Justice, Faculty for Palestine (F4P), Grassroots Ontario Animal Liberation (GOAL) Network, Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly, Health for All, Independent Jewish Voices, Toronto, Injured Workers Action for Justice, International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Socialists, Jane and Finch Action Against Poverty [JFAAP], Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network, Law Union of Ontario, maggie's: toronto sex workers action project, May 1st Movement, No One Is Illegal - Toronto,Ontario Coalition Against Poverty,OPIRG York, Refugees without Border, Revolutionary Women's Collective-women united against imperialism, Rhythms of Resistance - Toronto,Rising Tide Toronto, Socialist Action / Ligue pour l'Action socialiste. Socialist Party of Ontario,Socialist Project, Student Christian Movement, The Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, The Sanctuary Network, Student Christian Movement, Toronto Haiti Action Committee, Toronto New Socialists, Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multicultural Women Against Rape, Toronto Young New Democrats, Trans Film Series,United Food and Commercial Workers, Women's Coordinating Committe for a Free Wallmapu [Toronto], Workers' Action Centre, York Federation of Students, Local 68 Canadian Federation of Students and more. To endorse the event, fill out this form bit.ly/ZDRwKU

Rally and March starting at City Hall, marching to Joe Fresh to demand justice for Bangladeshi garment workers and ending at Little Norway Park in solidarity with striking workers at Porter (Queens Quay and Bathurst)

Videos: bit.ly/MayDayTOVids

More info with links: www.toronto.nooneisillegal.org/MayDay

Poster series imagining a Solidarity City: on.fb.me/12HV9DO

For seven years, you have marched on May Day to celebrate and invigorate migrant justice struggles in Toronto. On International Workers Day, we march to build a Solidarity City. Solidarity City is a unified struggle for: Respect for Indigenous Sovereignty, Status for All, an End to Imperialism and Environmental Destruction, an End to Austerity and Attacks on the Poor and Working class, continued resistance against Patriarchy, Racism, Ableism and Homophobia and Transphobia

Pipelines, tankers, mines, and so-called development projects are being forced onto the lands of Indigenous nations. Harper, like every Prime Minister who came before him, refuses to respect the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and continues to neglect his treaty obligations, as seen in Omnibus Bill C-45. In the face of this and more, land defenders across Turtle Island continue to resist in powerful and inspiring ways. As we look towards an exciting summer of action and resistance fueled by the Idle No More movement, this May Day let us honor all ongoing decolonization struggles and commit to continuing our support for Indigenous sovereignty.

The past year has seen the implementation of C-31, dubbed the Refugee Exclusion Act, further criminalizing migrants and expanding the detention and deportation machine. Jason Kenney announced the creation of a designated countries of origin, a racist, two tiered system under which refugees get fewer rights based on their place of birth. This past November, many of us honored our communities and confronted Minister Kenney when he showed up in Toronto. On May 1st, let us take to the streets to build community alliances and resistance once again.

Exploitative temporary worker programs continue to expand and many migrant workers continue to meet deportation, injuries and in some cases death. Workers are being forced to pay thousands of dollars to get jobs in Canada for which entire families go in to debt, yet no provisions exist for status on landing. Since Harper came into power, over 72,000 people have been locked up in immigration detention. In December we rallied in solidarity with security certificate detainees Mohammad Mahjoub, Mohamed Harkat and Mahmoud Jaballah and all those locked up in immigration detention. This May Day let us take to the streets to end detentions and deportations and to call for freedom to move, freedom to stay and freedom to return!

On February 21st, Toronto City Hall reaffirmed its promise to providing services to residents without full immigration status. We will continue to build a Solidarity City where communities work together to ensure justice and dignity for all residents. The history of Access Without Fear in Toronto is a long one and on May Day let us march to celebrate our victories and commit to continued struggle.

In the face of austerity, climate destruction, colonial and capitalist wars and interventions here and across the world that push people out of their homes, let us fight for status for all. Status for All is the struggle for self-determination, just livelihood, housing, food, education, healthcare, childcare, shelter, justice and dignity for all people, with or without immigration status.

Coordinated by a coalition of community groups including Afghans United for Justice, AIDS ACTION NOW!, Anakbayan Toronto, Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Students (APUS), Camp Sis, Casa Salvador Allende, Cinema Politica, Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), Common Cause Toronto,Common Causes, CUPE local 1281,CUPE Local 4772, CUPE 3906 Executive, CUPE 3906 Political Action Committee, CUPE 4308, CUPE Ontario International Solidarity Committee, Educators for Peace and Justice, Faculty for Palestine (F4P), Grassroots Ontario Animal Liberation (GOAL) Network, Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly, Health for All, Independent Jewish Voices, Toronto, Injured Workers Action for Justice, International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Socialists, Jane and Finch Action Against Poverty [JFAAP], Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network, Law Union of Ontario, maggie's: toronto sex workers action project, May 1st Movement, No One Is Illegal - Toronto,Ontario Coalition Against Poverty,OPIRG York, Refugees without Border, Revolutionary Women's Collective-women united against imperialism, Rhythms of Resistance - Toronto,Rising Tide Toronto, Socialist Action / Ligue pour l'Action socialiste. Socialist Party of Ontario,Socialist Project, Student Christian Movement, The Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, The Sanctuary Network, Student Christian Movement, Toronto Haiti Action Committee, Toronto New Socialists, Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multicultural Women Against Rape, Toronto Young New Democrats, Trans Film Series,United Food and Commercial Workers, Women's Coordinating Committe for a Free Wallmapu [Toronto], Workers' Action Centre, York Federation of Students, Local 68 Canadian Federation of Students and more. To endorse the event, fill out this form bit.ly/ZDRwKU

The Institute for LGBT Studies began the new Fall Symposium Series in 2016 with Dr. Luz Calvo of UC Santa Cruz to share their research and co-authored text Decolonize Your Diet with the UA and Tucson Community. The Symposium, "Decolonize Your Diet: Recipes to Sustain Revolutionary Love," included several public lectures, a student led talking circle, and community cooking demonstrations with Tucson High School and the El Rio Community Health Center. In each event, attendees discussed colonial histories, the american diet, and chican@ heritage through remembering, reclaiming, and sustaining a love for traditional knowledge.

Jean Philippe Arthur Dubuffet (31 July 1901 – 12 May 1985) was a French painter and sculptor. His idealistic approach to aesthetics embraced so called "low art" and eschewed traditional standards of beauty in favor of what he believed to be a more authentic and humanistic approach to image-making. He is perhaps best known for founding the art movement Art Brut, and for the collection of works— Collection de l'art brut— that this movement spawned. Dubuffet enjoyed a prolific art career, both in France and in America, and was featured in many exhibitions throughout his lifetime.

Dubuffet was born in Le Havre to a family of wholesale wine merchants who were part of the wealthy bourgeoisie. He moved to Paris in 1918 to study painting at the Académie Julian, becoming close friends with the artists Juan Gris, André Masson, and Fernand Léger. Six months later, upon finding academic training to be distasteful, he left the Académie to study independently. During this time, Dubuffet developed many other interests, including music, poetry, and the study of ancient and modern languages. Dubuffet also traveled to Italy and Brazil, and upon returning to Le Havre in 1925, he married for the first time and went on to start a small wine business in Paris. He took up painting again in 1934 when he made a large series of portraits in which he emphasized the vogues in art history. But again he stopped, developing his wine business at Bercy during the German Occupation of France. Years later, in an autobiographical text, he boasted about having made substantial profits by supplying wine to the Wehrmacht.

In 1942, Dubuffet decided to devote himself again to art. He often chose subjects for his works from everyday life, such as people sitting in the Paris Métro or walking in the country. Dubuffet painted with strong, unbroken colors, recalling the palette of Fauvism, as well as the Brucke painters, with their juxtaposing and discordant patches of color. Many of his works featured an individual or individuals placed in a very cramped space, which had a distinct psychological impact on viewers. His first solo show came in October 1944, at the Galerie Rene Drouin in Paris. This marked Dubuffet's third attempt to become an established artist.

In 1945, Dubuffet attended and was strongly impressed by a show in Paris of Jean Fautrier's paintings in which he recognized meaningful art which expressed directly and purely the depth of a person. Emulating Fautrier, Dubuffet started to use thick oil paint mixed with materials such as mud, sand, coal dust, pebbles, pieces of glass, string, straw, plaster, gravel, cement, and tar. This allowed him to abandon the traditional method of applying oil paint to canvas with a brush; instead, Dubuffet created a paste into which he could create physical marks, such as scratches and slash marks. The impasto technique of mixing and applying paint was best manifested in Dubuffet's series 'Hautes Pâtes' or Thick Impastoes, which he exhibited at his second major exhibition, entitled Microbolus Macadam & Cie/Hautes Pates in 1946 at the Galérie René Drouin. His use of crude materials and the irony that he infused into many of his works incited a significant amount of backlash from critics, who accused Dubuffet of 'anarchy' and 'scraping the dustbin'. He did receive some positive feedback as well—Clement Greenberg took notice of Dubuffet's work and wrote that '[f]rom a distance, Dubuffet seems the most original painter to have come out of the School of Paris since Miro...' Greenberg went on to say that 'Dubuffet is perhaps the one new painter of real importance to have appeared on the scene in Paris in the last decade.' Indeed, Dubuffet was very prolific in the United States in the year following his first exhibition in New York (1951).

After 1946, Dubuffet started a series of portraits, with his own friends Henri Michaux, Francis Ponge, Jean Paulhan and Pierre Matisse serving as 'models'. He painted these portraits in the same thick materials, and in a manner deliberately anti-psychological and anti-personal, as Dubuffet expressed himself. A few years later he approached the surrealist group in 1948, then the College of Pataphysique in 1954. He was friendly with the French playwright, actor and theater director Antonin Artaud, he admired and supported the writer Louis-Ferdinand Céline and was strongly connected with the artistic circle around the surrealist André Masson. In 1944 he started an important relationship with the resistance-fighter and French writer, publisher, Jean Paulhan who was also strongly fighting against 'intellectual terrorism', as he called it.

Dubuffet achieved very rapid success in the American art market, largely due to his inclusion in the Pierre Matisse exhibition in 1946. His association with Matisse proved to be very beneficial. Matisse was a very influential dealer of contemporary European Art in America, and was known for strongly supporting the School of Paris artists. Dubuffet's work was placed among the likes of Picasso, Braque, and Rouault at the gallery exhibit, and he was only one of two young artists to be honored in this manner. A Newsweek article dubbed Dubuffet as the 'darling of Parisian avant-garde circles,' and Greenberg wrote positively about Dubuffet's three canvasses in a review of the exhibit. In 1947, Dubuffet had his first solo exhibition in America, in the same gallery as the Matisse exhibition. Reviews were largely favorable, and this resulted in Dubuffet having at least an annual, if not a biannual exhibition at that gallery.

Due to his participation in a steady stream of art exhibitions within his first few years in New York, Dubuffet became a constant presence in the American art world. Dubuffet's association with the School of Paris provided him with a unique vehicle to reach American audiences, even though he dissociated himself with most of the ideals of the school, and reacted very strongly against the 'great traditions of painting.' Americans were intrigued by Dubuffet's simultaneous roots in the established French vanguard and his work, which was so reactionary to his background. Many painters of the New York school at this time were also trying to seek status within the avant-garde tradition, and drew influence from Dubuffet's work. His reception in America was very closely linked to and dependent upon the New York art world's desire to create their own avant-garde environment.

Between 1945 and 1947, Dubuffet took three separate trips to Algeria—a French colony at the time—in order to find further artistic inspiration. In this sense, Dubuffet is very similar to other artists such as Delacroix, Matisse, and Fromentin. However, the art that Dubuffet produced while he was there was very specific insofar as it recalled Post-War French ethnography in light of decolonization. Dubuffet was fascinated by the nomadic nature of the tribes in Algeria—he admired the ephemeral quality of their existence, in that they did not stay in any one particular area for long, and were constantly shifting. The impermanence of this kind of movement attracted Dubuffet and became a facet of Art Brut. In June 1948, Dubuffet, along with Jean Paulhan, Andre Breton, Charles Ratton, Michel Tapie, and Henri-Pierre Roche, officially established La Compagnie de l'art brut in Paris.[8] This association was dedicated to the discovery, documentation and exhibition of art brut. Dubuffet later amassed his own collection of such art, including artists such as Aloïse Corbaz and Adolf Wölfli. This collection is now housed at the Collection de l'art brut in Lausanne, Switzerland. His Art Brut collection is often referred to as a 'museum without walls,' as it transcended national and ethnic boundaries, and effectively broke down barriers between nationalities and cultures.

Influenced by Hans Prinzhorn's book Artistry of the Mentally Ill, Dubuffet coined the term art brut (meaning "raw art," often referred to as 'outsider art') for art produced by non-professionals working outside aesthetic norms, such as art by psychiatric patients, prisoners, and children. Dubuffet felt that the simple life of the everyday human being contained more art and poetry than did academic art, or great painting. He found the latter to be isolating, mundane, and pretentious, and wrote in his Prospectus aux amateurs de tout genre that his aim was 'not the mere gratification of a handful of specialists, but rather the man in the street when he comes home from work....it is the man in the street whom I feel closest to, with whom I want to make friends and enter into confidence, and he is the one I want to please and enchant by means of my work.' To that end, Dubuffet began to search for an art form in which everyone could participate and by which everyone could be entertained. He sought to create an art as free from intellectual concerns as Art Brut, and as a result, his work often appears primitive and childlike. His form is often compared to wall scratchings and children's art.[9] Nonetheless, Dubuffet appeared to be quite erudite when it came to writing about his own work. According to prominent art critic Hilton Kramer, "There is only one thing wrong with the essays Dubuffet has written on his own work: their dazzling intellectual finesse makes nonsense of his claim to a free and untutored primitivism. They show us a mandarin literary personality, full of chic phrases and up-to-date ideas, that is quite the opposite of the naive visionary."

Dubuffet's art primarily features the resourceful exploitation of unorthodox materials. Many of Dubuffet's works are painted in oil paint using an impasto thickened by materials such as sand, tar and straw, giving the work an unusually textured surface. Dubuffet was the first artist to use this type of thickened paste, called bitumen. Additionally, in his earlier paintings, Dubuffet dismissed the concept of perspective in favor of a more direct, two-dimensional presentation of space. Instead, Dubuffet created the illusion of perspective by crudely overlapping objects within the picture plane. This method most directly contributed to the cramped effect of his works.

From 1962 he produced a series of works in which he limited himself to the colours red, white, black, and blue. Towards the end of the 1960s he turned increasingly to sculpture, producing works in polystyrene which he then painted with vinyl paint.

Other enterprises

In late 1960–1961, Dubuffet began experimenting with music and sound and made several recordings with the Danish painter Asger Jorn, a founding member of the avant-garde movement COBRA. The same period he started making sculpture, but in a very not-sculptural way. As his medium he preferred to use the ordinary materials as papier-mâché and for all the light medium polystyrene, in which he could model very fast and switch easily from one work to another, as sketches on paper. At the end of the 1960s he started to create his large sculpture-habitations, such as 'Tour aux figures',[13] 'Jardin d'Hiver' and 'Villa Falbala' in which people can wander, stay, and contemplate. In 1969 ensued an acquaintance between him and the French Outsider Art artist Jacques Soisson.

In 1978 Dubuffet collaborated with American composer and musician Jasun Martz to create the record album artwork for Martz's avant-garde symphony entitled The Pillory. The much written about drawing has been reproduced internationally in three different editions on tens-of-thousands of record albums and compact discs. A detail of the drawing is also featured on Martz's second symphony (2005), The Pillory/The Battle, performed by The Intercontinental Philharmonic Orchestra and Royal Choir (Wikipedia).

Last year, the city of Seattle officially changed Columbus Day into Indigenous Peoples' Day (time.com/3476651/seattle-indigenous-peoples-day/).

Native folks and non-native folks came together on Duwamish land for a peaceful march from Westlake to Native Park. To raise awareness that Christopher Columbus was no hero and should not be celebrated.

#ColumbusWasNoHero

Event pages:

lastrealindians.com/rise-and-decolonize-abolish-columbus-...

www.facebook.com/events/509831819179656/

Seattle, Washington

October 2015

Honeywell Pentax Spotmatic

Ilford HP5 Plus 400 (expired November 2009)

--

fluxhzard.virb.com/

Rally and March starting at City Hall, marching to Joe Fresh to demand justice for Bangladeshi garment workers and ending at Little Norway Park in solidarity with striking workers at Porter (Queens Quay and Bathurst)

Videos: bit.ly/MayDayTOVids

More info with links: www.toronto.nooneisillegal.org/MayDay

Poster series imagining a Solidarity City: on.fb.me/12HV9DO

For seven years, you have marched on May Day to celebrate and invigorate migrant justice struggles in Toronto. On International Workers Day, we march to build a Solidarity City. Solidarity City is a unified struggle for: Respect for Indigenous Sovereignty, Status for All, an End to Imperialism and Environmental Destruction, an End to Austerity and Attacks on the Poor and Working class, continued resistance against Patriarchy, Racism, Ableism and Homophobia and Transphobia

Pipelines, tankers, mines, and so-called development projects are being forced onto the lands of Indigenous nations. Harper, like every Prime Minister who came before him, refuses to respect the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and continues to neglect his treaty obligations, as seen in Omnibus Bill C-45. In the face of this and more, land defenders across Turtle Island continue to resist in powerful and inspiring ways. As we look towards an exciting summer of action and resistance fueled by the Idle No More movement, this May Day let us honor all ongoing decolonization struggles and commit to continuing our support for Indigenous sovereignty.

The past year has seen the implementation of C-31, dubbed the Refugee Exclusion Act, further criminalizing migrants and expanding the detention and deportation machine. Jason Kenney announced the creation of a designated countries of origin, a racist, two tiered system under which refugees get fewer rights based on their place of birth. This past November, many of us honored our communities and confronted Minister Kenney when he showed up in Toronto. On May 1st, let us take to the streets to build community alliances and resistance once again.

Exploitative temporary worker programs continue to expand and many migrant workers continue to meet deportation, injuries and in some cases death. Workers are being forced to pay thousands of dollars to get jobs in Canada for which entire families go in to debt, yet no provisions exist for status on landing. Since Harper came into power, over 72,000 people have been locked up in immigration detention. In December we rallied in solidarity with security certificate detainees Mohammad Mahjoub, Mohamed Harkat and Mahmoud Jaballah and all those locked up in immigration detention. This May Day let us take to the streets to end detentions and deportations and to call for freedom to move, freedom to stay and freedom to return!

On February 21st, Toronto City Hall reaffirmed its promise to providing services to residents without full immigration status. We will continue to build a Solidarity City where communities work together to ensure justice and dignity for all residents. The history of Access Without Fear in Toronto is a long one and on May Day let us march to celebrate our victories and commit to continued struggle.

In the face of austerity, climate destruction, colonial and capitalist wars and interventions here and across the world that push people out of their homes, let us fight for status for all. Status for All is the struggle for self-determination, just livelihood, housing, food, education, healthcare, childcare, shelter, justice and dignity for all people, with or without immigration status.

Coordinated by a coalition of community groups including Afghans United for Justice, AIDS ACTION NOW!, Anakbayan Toronto, Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Students (APUS), Camp Sis, Casa Salvador Allende, Cinema Politica, Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), Common Cause Toronto,Common Causes, CUPE local 1281,CUPE Local 4772, CUPE 3906 Executive, CUPE 3906 Political Action Committee, CUPE 4308, CUPE Ontario International Solidarity Committee, Educators for Peace and Justice, Faculty for Palestine (F4P), Grassroots Ontario Animal Liberation (GOAL) Network, Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly, Health for All, Independent Jewish Voices, Toronto, Injured Workers Action for Justice, International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Socialists, Jane and Finch Action Against Poverty [JFAAP], Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network, Law Union of Ontario, maggie's: toronto sex workers action project, May 1st Movement, No One Is Illegal - Toronto,Ontario Coalition Against Poverty,OPIRG York, Refugees without Border, Revolutionary Women's Collective-women united against imperialism, Rhythms of Resistance - Toronto,Rising Tide Toronto, Socialist Action / Ligue pour l'Action socialiste. Socialist Party of Ontario,Socialist Project, Student Christian Movement, The Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, The Sanctuary Network, Student Christian Movement, Toronto Haiti Action Committee, Toronto New Socialists, Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multicultural Women Against Rape, Toronto Young New Democrats, Trans Film Series,United Food and Commercial Workers, Women's Coordinating Committe for a Free Wallmapu [Toronto], Workers' Action Centre, York Federation of Students, Local 68 Canadian Federation of Students and more. To endorse the event, fill out this form bit.ly/ZDRwKU

Rally and March starting at City Hall, marching to Joe Fresh to demand justice for Bangladeshi garment workers and ending at Little Norway Park in solidarity with striking workers at Porter (Queens Quay and Bathurst)

Videos: bit.ly/MayDayTOVids

More info with links: www.toronto.nooneisillegal.org/MayDay

Poster series imagining a Solidarity City: on.fb.me/12HV9DO

For seven years, you have marched on May Day to celebrate and invigorate migrant justice struggles in Toronto. On International Workers Day, we march to build a Solidarity City. Solidarity City is a unified struggle for: Respect for Indigenous Sovereignty, Status for All, an End to Imperialism and Environmental Destruction, an End to Austerity and Attacks on the Poor and Working class, continued resistance against Patriarchy, Racism, Ableism and Homophobia and Transphobia

Pipelines, tankers, mines, and so-called development projects are being forced onto the lands of Indigenous nations. Harper, like every Prime Minister who came before him, refuses to respect the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and continues to neglect his treaty obligations, as seen in Omnibus Bill C-45. In the face of this and more, land defenders across Turtle Island continue to resist in powerful and inspiring ways. As we look towards an exciting summer of action and resistance fueled by the Idle No More movement, this May Day let us honor all ongoing decolonization struggles and commit to continuing our support for Indigenous sovereignty.

The past year has seen the implementation of C-31, dubbed the Refugee Exclusion Act, further criminalizing migrants and expanding the detention and deportation machine. Jason Kenney announced the creation of a designated countries of origin, a racist, two tiered system under which refugees get fewer rights based on their place of birth. This past November, many of us honored our communities and confronted Minister Kenney when he showed up in Toronto. On May 1st, let us take to the streets to build community alliances and resistance once again.

Exploitative temporary worker programs continue to expand and many migrant workers continue to meet deportation, injuries and in some cases death. Workers are being forced to pay thousands of dollars to get jobs in Canada for which entire families go in to debt, yet no provisions exist for status on landing. Since Harper came into power, over 72,000 people have been locked up in immigration detention. In December we rallied in solidarity with security certificate detainees Mohammad Mahjoub, Mohamed Harkat and Mahmoud Jaballah and all those locked up in immigration detention. This May Day let us take to the streets to end detentions and deportations and to call for freedom to move, freedom to stay and freedom to return!

On February 21st, Toronto City Hall reaffirmed its promise to providing services to residents without full immigration status. We will continue to build a Solidarity City where communities work together to ensure justice and dignity for all residents. The history of Access Without Fear in Toronto is a long one and on May Day let us march to celebrate our victories and commit to continued struggle.

In the face of austerity, climate destruction, colonial and capitalist wars and interventions here and across the world that push people out of their homes, let us fight for status for all. Status for All is the struggle for self-determination, just livelihood, housing, food, education, healthcare, childcare, shelter, justice and dignity for all people, with or without immigration status.

Coordinated by a coalition of community groups including Afghans United for Justice, AIDS ACTION NOW!, Anakbayan Toronto, Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Students (APUS), Camp Sis, Casa Salvador Allende, Cinema Politica, Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), Common Cause Toronto,Common Causes, CUPE local 1281,CUPE Local 4772, CUPE 3906 Executive, CUPE 3906 Political Action Committee, CUPE 4308, CUPE Ontario International Solidarity Committee, Educators for Peace and Justice, Faculty for Palestine (F4P), Grassroots Ontario Animal Liberation (GOAL) Network, Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly, Health for All, Independent Jewish Voices, Toronto, Injured Workers Action for Justice, International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Socialists, Jane and Finch Action Against Poverty [JFAAP], Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network, Law Union of Ontario, maggie's: toronto sex workers action project, May 1st Movement, No One Is Illegal - Toronto,Ontario Coalition Against Poverty,OPIRG York, Refugees without Border, Revolutionary Women's Collective-women united against imperialism, Rhythms of Resistance - Toronto,Rising Tide Toronto, Socialist Action / Ligue pour l'Action socialiste. Socialist Party of Ontario,Socialist Project, Student Christian Movement, The Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, The Sanctuary Network, Student Christian Movement, Toronto Haiti Action Committee, Toronto New Socialists, Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multicultural Women Against Rape, Toronto Young New Democrats, Trans Film Series,United Food and Commercial Workers, Women's Coordinating Committe for a Free Wallmapu [Toronto], Workers' Action Centre, York Federation of Students, Local 68 Canadian Federation of Students and more. To endorse the event, fill out this form bit.ly/ZDRwKU

Rally and March starting at City Hall, marching to Joe Fresh to demand justice for Bangladeshi garment workers and ending at Little Norway Park in solidarity with striking workers at Porter (Queens Quay and Bathurst)

Videos: bit.ly/MayDayTOVids

More info with links: www.toronto.nooneisillegal.org/MayDay

Poster series imagining a Solidarity City: on.fb.me/12HV9DO

For seven years, you have marched on May Day to celebrate and invigorate migrant justice struggles in Toronto. On International Workers Day, we march to build a Solidarity City. Solidarity City is a unified struggle for: Respect for Indigenous Sovereignty, Status for All, an End to Imperialism and Environmental Destruction, an End to Austerity and Attacks on the Poor and Working class, continued resistance against Patriarchy, Racism, Ableism and Homophobia and Transphobia

Pipelines, tankers, mines, and so-called development projects are being forced onto the lands of Indigenous nations. Harper, like every Prime Minister who came before him, refuses to respect the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and continues to neglect his treaty obligations, as seen in Omnibus Bill C-45. In the face of this and more, land defenders across Turtle Island continue to resist in powerful and inspiring ways. As we look towards an exciting summer of action and resistance fueled by the Idle No More movement, this May Day let us honor all ongoing decolonization struggles and commit to continuing our support for Indigenous sovereignty.

The past year has seen the implementation of C-31, dubbed the Refugee Exclusion Act, further criminalizing migrants and expanding the detention and deportation machine. Jason Kenney announced the creation of a designated countries of origin, a racist, two tiered system under which refugees get fewer rights based on their place of birth. This past November, many of us honored our communities and confronted Minister Kenney when he showed up in Toronto. On May 1st, let us take to the streets to build community alliances and resistance once again.

Exploitative temporary worker programs continue to expand and many migrant workers continue to meet deportation, injuries and in some cases death. Workers are being forced to pay thousands of dollars to get jobs in Canada for which entire families go in to debt, yet no provisions exist for status on landing. Since Harper came into power, over 72,000 people have been locked up in immigration detention. In December we rallied in solidarity with security certificate detainees Mohammad Mahjoub, Mohamed Harkat and Mahmoud Jaballah and all those locked up in immigration detention. This May Day let us take to the streets to end detentions and deportations and to call for freedom to move, freedom to stay and freedom to return!

On February 21st, Toronto City Hall reaffirmed its promise to providing services to residents without full immigration status. We will continue to build a Solidarity City where communities work together to ensure justice and dignity for all residents. The history of Access Without Fear in Toronto is a long one and on May Day let us march to celebrate our victories and commit to continued struggle.

In the face of austerity, climate destruction, colonial and capitalist wars and interventions here and across the world that push people out of their homes, let us fight for status for all. Status for All is the struggle for self-determination, just livelihood, housing, food, education, healthcare, childcare, shelter, justice and dignity for all people, with or without immigration status.

Coordinated by a coalition of community groups including Afghans United for Justice, AIDS ACTION NOW!, Anakbayan Toronto, Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Students (APUS), Camp Sis, Casa Salvador Allende, Cinema Politica, Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), Common Cause Toronto,Common Causes, CUPE local 1281,CUPE Local 4772, CUPE 3906 Executive, CUPE 3906 Political Action Committee, CUPE 4308, CUPE Ontario International Solidarity Committee, Educators for Peace and Justice, Faculty for Palestine (F4P), Grassroots Ontario Animal Liberation (GOAL) Network, Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly, Health for All, Independent Jewish Voices, Toronto, Injured Workers Action for Justice, International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Socialists, Jane and Finch Action Against Poverty [JFAAP], Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network, Law Union of Ontario, maggie's: toronto sex workers action project, May 1st Movement, No One Is Illegal - Toronto,Ontario Coalition Against Poverty,OPIRG York, Refugees without Border, Revolutionary Women's Collective-women united against imperialism, Rhythms of Resistance - Toronto,Rising Tide Toronto, Socialist Action / Ligue pour l'Action socialiste. Socialist Party of Ontario,Socialist Project, Student Christian Movement, The Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, The Sanctuary Network, Student Christian Movement, Toronto Haiti Action Committee, Toronto New Socialists, Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multicultural Women Against Rape, Toronto Young New Democrats, Trans Film Series,United Food and Commercial Workers, Women's Coordinating Committe for a Free Wallmapu [Toronto], Workers' Action Centre, York Federation of Students, Local 68 Canadian Federation of Students and more. To endorse the event, fill out this form bit.ly/ZDRwKU

Rally and March starting at City Hall, marching to Joe Fresh to demand justice for Bangladeshi garment workers and ending at Little Norway Park in solidarity with striking workers at Porter (Queens Quay and Bathurst)

Videos: bit.ly/MayDayTOVids

More info with links: www.toronto.nooneisillegal.org/MayDay

Poster series imagining a Solidarity City: on.fb.me/12HV9DO

For seven years, you have marched on May Day to celebrate and invigorate migrant justice struggles in Toronto. On International Workers Day, we march to build a Solidarity City. Solidarity City is a unified struggle for: Respect for Indigenous Sovereignty, Status for All, an End to Imperialism and Environmental Destruction, an End to Austerity and Attacks on the Poor and Working class, continued resistance against Patriarchy, Racism, Ableism and Homophobia and Transphobia

Pipelines, tankers, mines, and so-called development projects are being forced onto the lands of Indigenous nations. Harper, like every Prime Minister who came before him, refuses to respect the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and continues to neglect his treaty obligations, as seen in Omnibus Bill C-45. In the face of this and more, land defenders across Turtle Island continue to resist in powerful and inspiring ways. As we look towards an exciting summer of action and resistance fueled by the Idle No More movement, this May Day let us honor all ongoing decolonization struggles and commit to continuing our support for Indigenous sovereignty.

The past year has seen the implementation of C-31, dubbed the Refugee Exclusion Act, further criminalizing migrants and expanding the detention and deportation machine. Jason Kenney announced the creation of a designated countries of origin, a racist, two tiered system under which refugees get fewer rights based on their place of birth. This past November, many of us honored our communities and confronted Minister Kenney when he showed up in Toronto. On May 1st, let us take to the streets to build community alliances and resistance once again.

Exploitative temporary worker programs continue to expand and many migrant workers continue to meet deportation, injuries and in some cases death. Workers are being forced to pay thousands of dollars to get jobs in Canada for which entire families go in to debt, yet no provisions exist for status on landing. Since Harper came into power, over 72,000 people have been locked up in immigration detention. In December we rallied in solidarity with security certificate detainees Mohammad Mahjoub, Mohamed Harkat and Mahmoud Jaballah and all those locked up in immigration detention. This May Day let us take to the streets to end detentions and deportations and to call for freedom to move, freedom to stay and freedom to return!

On February 21st, Toronto City Hall reaffirmed its promise to providing services to residents without full immigration status. We will continue to build a Solidarity City where communities work together to ensure justice and dignity for all residents. The history of Access Without Fear in Toronto is a long one and on May Day let us march to celebrate our victories and commit to continued struggle.

In the face of austerity, climate destruction, colonial and capitalist wars and interventions here and across the world that push people out of their homes, let us fight for status for all. Status for All is the struggle for self-determination, just livelihood, housing, food, education, healthcare, childcare, shelter, justice and dignity for all people, with or without immigration status.

Coordinated by a coalition of community groups including Afghans United for Justice, AIDS ACTION NOW!, Anakbayan Toronto, Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Students (APUS), Camp Sis, Casa Salvador Allende, Cinema Politica, Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), Common Cause Toronto,Common Causes, CUPE local 1281,CUPE Local 4772, CUPE 3906 Executive, CUPE 3906 Political Action Committee, CUPE 4308, CUPE Ontario International Solidarity Committee, Educators for Peace and Justice, Faculty for Palestine (F4P), Grassroots Ontario Animal Liberation (GOAL) Network, Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly, Health for All, Independent Jewish Voices, Toronto, Injured Workers Action for Justice, International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Socialists, Jane and Finch Action Against Poverty [JFAAP], Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network, Law Union of Ontario, maggie's: toronto sex workers action project, May 1st Movement, No One Is Illegal - Toronto,Ontario Coalition Against Poverty,OPIRG York, Refugees without Border, Revolutionary Women's Collective-women united against imperialism, Rhythms of Resistance - Toronto,Rising Tide Toronto, Socialist Action / Ligue pour l'Action socialiste. Socialist Party of Ontario,Socialist Project, Student Christian Movement, The Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, The Sanctuary Network, Student Christian Movement, Toronto Haiti Action Committee, Toronto New Socialists, Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multicultural Women Against Rape, Toronto Young New Democrats, Trans Film Series,United Food and Commercial Workers, Women's Coordinating Committe for a Free Wallmapu [Toronto], Workers' Action Centre, York Federation of Students, Local 68 Canadian Federation of Students and more. To endorse the event, fill out this form bit.ly/ZDRwKU

Rally and March starting at City Hall, marching to Joe Fresh to demand justice for Bangladeshi garment workers and ending at Little Norway Park in solidarity with striking workers at Porter (Queens Quay and Bathurst)

Videos: bit.ly/MayDayTOVids

More info with links: www.toronto.nooneisillegal.org/MayDay

Poster series imagining a Solidarity City: on.fb.me/12HV9DO

For seven years, you have marched on May Day to celebrate and invigorate migrant justice struggles in Toronto. On International Workers Day, we march to build a Solidarity City. Solidarity City is a unified struggle for: Respect for Indigenous Sovereignty, Status for All, an End to Imperialism and Environmental Destruction, an End to Austerity and Attacks on the Poor and Working class, continued resistance against Patriarchy, Racism, Ableism and Homophobia and Transphobia

Pipelines, tankers, mines, and so-called development projects are being forced onto the lands of Indigenous nations. Harper, like every Prime Minister who came before him, refuses to respect the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and continues to neglect his treaty obligations, as seen in Omnibus Bill C-45. In the face of this and more, land defenders across Turtle Island continue to resist in powerful and inspiring ways. As we look towards an exciting summer of action and resistance fueled by the Idle No More movement, this May Day let us honor all ongoing decolonization struggles and commit to continuing our support for Indigenous sovereignty.

The past year has seen the implementation of C-31, dubbed the Refugee Exclusion Act, further criminalizing migrants and expanding the detention and deportation machine. Jason Kenney announced the creation of a designated countries of origin, a racist, two tiered system under which refugees get fewer rights based on their place of birth. This past November, many of us honored our communities and confronted Minister Kenney when he showed up in Toronto. On May 1st, let us take to the streets to build community alliances and resistance once again.

Exploitative temporary worker programs continue to expand and many migrant workers continue to meet deportation, injuries and in some cases death. Workers are being forced to pay thousands of dollars to get jobs in Canada for which entire families go in to debt, yet no provisions exist for status on landing. Since Harper came into power, over 72,000 people have been locked up in immigration detention. In December we rallied in solidarity with security certificate detainees Mohammad Mahjoub, Mohamed Harkat and Mahmoud Jaballah and all those locked up in immigration detention. This May Day let us take to the streets to end detentions and deportations and to call for freedom to move, freedom to stay and freedom to return!

On February 21st, Toronto City Hall reaffirmed its promise to providing services to residents without full immigration status. We will continue to build a Solidarity City where communities work together to ensure justice and dignity for all residents. The history of Access Without Fear in Toronto is a long one and on May Day let us march to celebrate our victories and commit to continued struggle.

In the face of austerity, climate destruction, colonial and capitalist wars and interventions here and across the world that push people out of their homes, let us fight for status for all. Status for All is the struggle for self-determination, just livelihood, housing, food, education, healthcare, childcare, shelter, justice and dignity for all people, with or without immigration status.

Coordinated by a coalition of community groups including Afghans United for Justice, AIDS ACTION NOW!, Anakbayan Toronto, Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Students (APUS), Camp Sis, Casa Salvador Allende, Cinema Politica, Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), Common Cause Toronto,Common Causes, CUPE local 1281,CUPE Local 4772, CUPE 3906 Executive, CUPE 3906 Political Action Committee, CUPE 4308, CUPE Ontario International Solidarity Committee, Educators for Peace and Justice, Faculty for Palestine (F4P), Grassroots Ontario Animal Liberation (GOAL) Network, Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly, Health for All, Independent Jewish Voices, Toronto, Injured Workers Action for Justice, International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Socialists, Jane and Finch Action Against Poverty [JFAAP], Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network, Law Union of Ontario, maggie's: toronto sex workers action project, May 1st Movement, No One Is Illegal - Toronto,Ontario Coalition Against Poverty,OPIRG York, Refugees without Border, Revolutionary Women's Collective-women united against imperialism, Rhythms of Resistance - Toronto,Rising Tide Toronto, Socialist Action / Ligue pour l'Action socialiste. Socialist Party of Ontario,Socialist Project, Student Christian Movement, The Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, The Sanctuary Network, Student Christian Movement, Toronto Haiti Action Committee, Toronto New Socialists, Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multicultural Women Against Rape, Toronto Young New Democrats, Trans Film Series,United Food and Commercial Workers, Women's Coordinating Committe for a Free Wallmapu [Toronto], Workers' Action Centre, York Federation of Students, Local 68 Canadian Federation of Students and more. To endorse the event, fill out this form bit.ly/ZDRwKU

Oldschool ICH or readmore?

Youth participating in a demonstration sponsored by Joint Veterans Council of Peekskill, N.Y. proudly show off their work after attacking concert-goers at a scheduled Paul Robeson concert there August 27, 1949.

The concert, organized as a benefit for the Civil Rights Congress, was scheduled to take place on August 27 in Lakeland Acres, just north of Peekskill. Before Robeson arrived, a mob of locals attacked concert-goers with baseball bats and rocks.

This was in the period where the second Red Scare was sweeping the country. The trial of 11 Communist Party leaders was well underway and moves to expel communist-led or influenced unions from the CIO had already begun.

Though Robeson had performed in Peekskill before without incident, the climate had changed.

In recent years Robeson had been increasingly vocal against the Ku Klux Klan and other forces of white supremacy, both domestically and internationally.

Robeson specifically made a transformation from someone who was primarily a singer into a political persona with a vocal support for the decolonization of Africa, anti-Jim Crow legislation, and peace with the USSR.

Robeson had also appeared before the House Committee on Un-American Activities to oppose a bill that would require communists to register as foreign agents

The local police arrived hours later and did little to intervene. Thirteen people were seriously injured, Robeson was lynched in effigy and a cross seen burning on an adjacent hillside.

The rioters formed a phalanx on the one road leading to the grounds and forced concert-goers who attempted to leave the venue to run a gauntlet.

Robeson drove with Helen Rosen, a Peekskill resident, and two others to the concert site and saw marauding groups of young people, a burning cross on a nearby hill and a jeering crowd throwing rocks and chanting "Dirty Commie" and "Dirty Kikes."

Robeson made more than one attempt to get out of the car and confront the mob but was restrained by his friends.

The Joint Veterans Council of Peekskill refused to admit any involvement, describing its activities as a "protest parade... held without disorder and... perfectly disbanded."

Peekskill police officials said the picnic grounds had been outside their jurisdiction; a state police spokesman said there had never been a request for state troopers.

The commander of Peekskill Post 274 of the American Legion stated: "Our objective was to prevent the Paul Robeson concert and I think our objective was reached."

Following the riot, protest meetings were held around the country including Washington, D.C. and another concert was organized for Peekskill.

The rescheduled September 4, 1949 concert itself was free from violence, though marred by the presence of a police helicopter overhead and the flushing out of at least one sniper's nest.

The concert was located on the grounds of the old Hollow Brook Golf Course in Cortlandt Manor, near the site of the original concert. Twenty thousand people showed up. Security was organized by the Communist Party and Communist dominated labor unions.

The men were directed by the Communist Party and some unions to form a line around the outer edge of the concert area and were sitting with Robeson on the stage.

They were there to fight any protestors who objected to Robeson's presence. They effectively kept the local police from the concert area. Robeson and the musicians performed without incident.

--description partially excerpted from Wikipedia

For more information and related images, see flic.kr/s/aHsm8P6hXn

The photographer is unknown. The image is by World Wide Photos and is housed at the D.C. Library Washington Star Collection © Washington Post.

Photo from press preview of "The Project of Independence: Architectures of Decolonization in South Asia, 1947–1985" at the Museum of Modern Art (Feb. 20 – July 2, 2022).

Model of Auroville by Roger Anger, ca. 1968.

Rally and March starting at City Hall, marching to Joe Fresh to demand justice for Bangladeshi garment workers and ending at Little Norway Park in solidarity with striking workers at Porter (Queens Quay and Bathurst)

Videos: bit.ly/MayDayTOVids

More info with links: www.toronto.nooneisillegal.org/MayDay

Poster series imagining a Solidarity City: on.fb.me/12HV9DO

For seven years, you have marched on May Day to celebrate and invigorate migrant justice struggles in Toronto. On International Workers Day, we march to build a Solidarity City. Solidarity City is a unified struggle for: Respect for Indigenous Sovereignty, Status for All, an End to Imperialism and Environmental Destruction, an End to Austerity and Attacks on the Poor and Working class, continued resistance against Patriarchy, Racism, Ableism and Homophobia and Transphobia

Pipelines, tankers, mines, and so-called development projects are being forced onto the lands of Indigenous nations. Harper, like every Prime Minister who came before him, refuses to respect the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and continues to neglect his treaty obligations, as seen in Omnibus Bill C-45. In the face of this and more, land defenders across Turtle Island continue to resist in powerful and inspiring ways. As we look towards an exciting summer of action and resistance fueled by the Idle No More movement, this May Day let us honor all ongoing decolonization struggles and commit to continuing our support for Indigenous sovereignty.

The past year has seen the implementation of C-31, dubbed the Refugee Exclusion Act, further criminalizing migrants and expanding the detention and deportation machine. Jason Kenney announced the creation of a designated countries of origin, a racist, two tiered system under which refugees get fewer rights based on their place of birth. This past November, many of us honored our communities and confronted Minister Kenney when he showed up in Toronto. On May 1st, let us take to the streets to build community alliances and resistance once again.

Exploitative temporary worker programs continue to expand and many migrant workers continue to meet deportation, injuries and in some cases death. Workers are being forced to pay thousands of dollars to get jobs in Canada for which entire families go in to debt, yet no provisions exist for status on landing. Since Harper came into power, over 72,000 people have been locked up in immigration detention. In December we rallied in solidarity with security certificate detainees Mohammad Mahjoub, Mohamed Harkat and Mahmoud Jaballah and all those locked up in immigration detention. This May Day let us take to the streets to end detentions and deportations and to call for freedom to move, freedom to stay and freedom to return!

On February 21st, Toronto City Hall reaffirmed its promise to providing services to residents without full immigration status. We will continue to build a Solidarity City where communities work together to ensure justice and dignity for all residents. The history of Access Without Fear in Toronto is a long one and on May Day let us march to celebrate our victories and commit to continued struggle.

In the face of austerity, climate destruction, colonial and capitalist wars and interventions here and across the world that push people out of their homes, let us fight for status for all. Status for All is the struggle for self-determination, just livelihood, housing, food, education, healthcare, childcare, shelter, justice and dignity for all people, with or without immigration status.

Coordinated by a coalition of community groups including Afghans United for Justice, AIDS ACTION NOW!, Anakbayan Toronto, Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Students (APUS), Camp Sis, Casa Salvador Allende, Cinema Politica, Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), Common Cause Toronto,Common Causes, CUPE local 1281,CUPE Local 4772, CUPE 3906 Executive, CUPE 3906 Political Action Committee, CUPE 4308, CUPE Ontario International Solidarity Committee, Educators for Peace and Justice, Faculty for Palestine (F4P), Grassroots Ontario Animal Liberation (GOAL) Network, Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly, Health for All, Independent Jewish Voices, Toronto, Injured Workers Action for Justice, International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Socialists, Jane and Finch Action Against Poverty [JFAAP], Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network, Law Union of Ontario, maggie's: toronto sex workers action project, May 1st Movement, No One Is Illegal - Toronto,Ontario Coalition Against Poverty,OPIRG York, Refugees without Border, Revolutionary Women's Collective-women united against imperialism, Rhythms of Resistance - Toronto,Rising Tide Toronto, Socialist Action / Ligue pour l'Action socialiste. Socialist Party of Ontario,Socialist Project, Student Christian Movement, The Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, The Sanctuary Network, Student Christian Movement, Toronto Haiti Action Committee, Toronto New Socialists, Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multicultural Women Against Rape, Toronto Young New Democrats, Trans Film Series,United Food and Commercial Workers, Women's Coordinating Committe for a Free Wallmapu [Toronto], Workers' Action Centre, York Federation of Students, Local 68 Canadian Federation of Students and more. To endorse the event, fill out this form bit.ly/ZDRwKU

Rally and March starting at City Hall, marching to Joe Fresh to demand justice for Bangladeshi garment workers and ending at Little Norway Park in solidarity with striking workers at Porter (Queens Quay and Bathurst)

Videos: bit.ly/MayDayTOVids

More info with links: www.toronto.nooneisillegal.org/MayDay

Poster series imagining a Solidarity City: on.fb.me/12HV9DO

For seven years, you have marched on May Day to celebrate and invigorate migrant justice struggles in Toronto. On International Workers Day, we march to build a Solidarity City. Solidarity City is a unified struggle for: Respect for Indigenous Sovereignty, Status for All, an End to Imperialism and Environmental Destruction, an End to Austerity and Attacks on the Poor and Working class, continued resistance against Patriarchy, Racism, Ableism and Homophobia and Transphobia

Pipelines, tankers, mines, and so-called development projects are being forced onto the lands of Indigenous nations. Harper, like every Prime Minister who came before him, refuses to respect the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and continues to neglect his treaty obligations, as seen in Omnibus Bill C-45. In the face of this and more, land defenders across Turtle Island continue to resist in powerful and inspiring ways. As we look towards an exciting summer of action and resistance fueled by the Idle No More movement, this May Day let us honor all ongoing decolonization struggles and commit to continuing our support for Indigenous sovereignty.

The past year has seen the implementation of C-31, dubbed the Refugee Exclusion Act, further criminalizing migrants and expanding the detention and deportation machine. Jason Kenney announced the creation of a designated countries of origin, a racist, two tiered system under which refugees get fewer rights based on their place of birth. This past November, many of us honored our communities and confronted Minister Kenney when he showed up in Toronto. On May 1st, let us take to the streets to build community alliances and resistance once again.

Exploitative temporary worker programs continue to expand and many migrant workers continue to meet deportation, injuries and in some cases death. Workers are being forced to pay thousands of dollars to get jobs in Canada for which entire families go in to debt, yet no provisions exist for status on landing. Since Harper came into power, over 72,000 people have been locked up in immigration detention. In December we rallied in solidarity with security certificate detainees Mohammad Mahjoub, Mohamed Harkat and Mahmoud Jaballah and all those locked up in immigration detention. This May Day let us take to the streets to end detentions and deportations and to call for freedom to move, freedom to stay and freedom to return!

On February 21st, Toronto City Hall reaffirmed its promise to providing services to residents without full immigration status. We will continue to build a Solidarity City where communities work together to ensure justice and dignity for all residents. The history of Access Without Fear in Toronto is a long one and on May Day let us march to celebrate our victories and commit to continued struggle.

In the face of austerity, climate destruction, colonial and capitalist wars and interventions here and across the world that push people out of their homes, let us fight for status for all. Status for All is the struggle for self-determination, just livelihood, housing, food, education, healthcare, childcare, shelter, justice and dignity for all people, with or without immigration status.

Coordinated by a coalition of community groups including Afghans United for Justice, AIDS ACTION NOW!, Anakbayan Toronto, Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Students (APUS), Camp Sis, Casa Salvador Allende, Cinema Politica, Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), Common Cause Toronto,Common Causes, CUPE local 1281,CUPE Local 4772, CUPE 3906 Executive, CUPE 3906 Political Action Committee, CUPE 4308, CUPE Ontario International Solidarity Committee, Educators for Peace and Justice, Faculty for Palestine (F4P), Grassroots Ontario Animal Liberation (GOAL) Network, Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly, Health for All, Independent Jewish Voices, Toronto, Injured Workers Action for Justice, International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Socialists, Jane and Finch Action Against Poverty [JFAAP], Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network, Law Union of Ontario, maggie's: toronto sex workers action project, May 1st Movement, No One Is Illegal - Toronto,Ontario Coalition Against Poverty,OPIRG York, Refugees without Border, Revolutionary Women's Collective-women united against imperialism, Rhythms of Resistance - Toronto,Rising Tide Toronto, Socialist Action / Ligue pour l'Action socialiste. Socialist Party of Ontario,Socialist Project, Student Christian Movement, The Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, The Sanctuary Network, Student Christian Movement, Toronto Haiti Action Committee, Toronto New Socialists, Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multicultural Women Against Rape, Toronto Young New Democrats, Trans Film Series,United Food and Commercial Workers, Women's Coordinating Committe for a Free Wallmapu [Toronto], Workers' Action Centre, York Federation of Students, Local 68 Canadian Federation of Students and more. To endorse the event, fill out this form bit.ly/ZDRwKU

Rally and March starting at City Hall, marching to Joe Fresh to demand justice for Bangladeshi garment workers and ending at Little Norway Park in solidarity with striking workers at Porter (Queens Quay and Bathurst)

Videos: bit.ly/MayDayTOVids

More info with links: www.toronto.nooneisillegal.org/MayDay

Poster series imagining a Solidarity City: on.fb.me/12HV9DO

For seven years, you have marched on May Day to celebrate and invigorate migrant justice struggles in Toronto. On International Workers Day, we march to build a Solidarity City. Solidarity City is a unified struggle for: Respect for Indigenous Sovereignty, Status for All, an End to Imperialism and Environmental Destruction, an End to Austerity and Attacks on the Poor and Working class, continued resistance against Patriarchy, Racism, Ableism and Homophobia and Transphobia

Pipelines, tankers, mines, and so-called development projects are being forced onto the lands of Indigenous nations. Harper, like every Prime Minister who came before him, refuses to respect the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and continues to neglect his treaty obligations, as seen in Omnibus Bill C-45. In the face of this and more, land defenders across Turtle Island continue to resist in powerful and inspiring ways. As we look towards an exciting summer of action and resistance fueled by the Idle No More movement, this May Day let us honor all ongoing decolonization struggles and commit to continuing our support for Indigenous sovereignty.

The past year has seen the implementation of C-31, dubbed the Refugee Exclusion Act, further criminalizing migrants and expanding the detention and deportation machine. Jason Kenney announced the creation of a designated countries of origin, a racist, two tiered system under which refugees get fewer rights based on their place of birth. This past November, many of us honored our communities and confronted Minister Kenney when he showed up in Toronto. On May 1st, let us take to the streets to build community alliances and resistance once again.

Exploitative temporary worker programs continue to expand and many migrant workers continue to meet deportation, injuries and in some cases death. Workers are being forced to pay thousands of dollars to get jobs in Canada for which entire families go in to debt, yet no provisions exist for status on landing. Since Harper came into power, over 72,000 people have been locked up in immigration detention. In December we rallied in solidarity with security certificate detainees Mohammad Mahjoub, Mohamed Harkat and Mahmoud Jaballah and all those locked up in immigration detention. This May Day let us take to the streets to end detentions and deportations and to call for freedom to move, freedom to stay and freedom to return!

On February 21st, Toronto City Hall reaffirmed its promise to providing services to residents without full immigration status. We will continue to build a Solidarity City where communities work together to ensure justice and dignity for all residents. The history of Access Without Fear in Toronto is a long one and on May Day let us march to celebrate our victories and commit to continued struggle.

In the face of austerity, climate destruction, colonial and capitalist wars and interventions here and across the world that push people out of their homes, let us fight for status for all. Status for All is the struggle for self-determination, just livelihood, housing, food, education, healthcare, childcare, shelter, justice and dignity for all people, with or without immigration status.

Coordinated by a coalition of community groups including Afghans United for Justice, AIDS ACTION NOW!, Anakbayan Toronto, Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Students (APUS), Camp Sis, Casa Salvador Allende, Cinema Politica, Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), Common Cause Toronto,Common Causes, CUPE local 1281,CUPE Local 4772, CUPE 3906 Executive, CUPE 3906 Political Action Committee, CUPE 4308, CUPE Ontario International Solidarity Committee, Educators for Peace and Justice, Faculty for Palestine (F4P), Grassroots Ontario Animal Liberation (GOAL) Network, Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly, Health for All, Independent Jewish Voices, Toronto, Injured Workers Action for Justice, International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Socialists, Jane and Finch Action Against Poverty [JFAAP], Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network, Law Union of Ontario, maggie's: toronto sex workers action project, May 1st Movement, No One Is Illegal - Toronto,Ontario Coalition Against Poverty,OPIRG York, Refugees without Border, Revolutionary Women's Collective-women united against imperialism, Rhythms of Resistance - Toronto,Rising Tide Toronto, Socialist Action / Ligue pour l'Action socialiste. Socialist Party of Ontario,Socialist Project, Student Christian Movement, The Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, The Sanctuary Network, Student Christian Movement, Toronto Haiti Action Committee, Toronto New Socialists, Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multicultural Women Against Rape, Toronto Young New Democrats, Trans Film Series,United Food and Commercial Workers, Women's Coordinating Committe for a Free Wallmapu [Toronto], Workers' Action Centre, York Federation of Students, Local 68 Canadian Federation of Students and more. To endorse the event, fill out this form bit.ly/ZDRwKU

The photographic portfolio entitled “GLOBALIZING CONTAMINATIONS” was among the finalists at the PORTFOLIO SIFEST 2018 international award (Italy). This photography project is the result of a one-month period lived in Africa from Kenya to Tanzania. In the 1950s and 1960s, the European colonial powers gradually ceased to administer their African territories. The process of “apparent decolonization” led to the gradual departure of all the expatriate personnel of the colonizing nations: administrators, soldiers and all those who had settled in the “colony”. This process favored the creation of independent states and paved the way for new foreign influences over those of the colonial powers. Therefore, after some years living in Africa, I came to ask myself: “How has the influence, after decolonization, of European countries evolved in the face of the emancipation of African countries and the competition of new powers?”

Fridays For Future. Youth Strike for Climate.

Rally and March starting at City Hall, marching to Joe Fresh to demand justice for Bangladeshi garment workers and ending at Little Norway Park in solidarity with striking workers at Porter (Queens Quay and Bathurst)

Videos: bit.ly/MayDayTOVids

More info with links: www.toronto.nooneisillegal.org/MayDay

Poster series imagining a Solidarity City: on.fb.me/12HV9DO

For seven years, you have marched on May Day to celebrate and invigorate migrant justice struggles in Toronto. On International Workers Day, we march to build a Solidarity City. Solidarity City is a unified struggle for: Respect for Indigenous Sovereignty, Status for All, an End to Imperialism and Environmental Destruction, an End to Austerity and Attacks on the Poor and Working class, continued resistance against Patriarchy, Racism, Ableism and Homophobia and Transphobia

Pipelines, tankers, mines, and so-called development projects are being forced onto the lands of Indigenous nations. Harper, like every Prime Minister who came before him, refuses to respect the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and continues to neglect his treaty obligations, as seen in Omnibus Bill C-45. In the face of this and more, land defenders across Turtle Island continue to resist in powerful and inspiring ways. As we look towards an exciting summer of action and resistance fueled by the Idle No More movement, this May Day let us honor all ongoing decolonization struggles and commit to continuing our support for Indigenous sovereignty.

The past year has seen the implementation of C-31, dubbed the Refugee Exclusion Act, further criminalizing migrants and expanding the detention and deportation machine. Jason Kenney announced the creation of a designated countries of origin, a racist, two tiered system under which refugees get fewer rights based on their place of birth. This past November, many of us honored our communities and confronted Minister Kenney when he showed up in Toronto. On May 1st, let us take to the streets to build community alliances and resistance once again.

Exploitative temporary worker programs continue to expand and many migrant workers continue to meet deportation, injuries and in some cases death. Workers are being forced to pay thousands of dollars to get jobs in Canada for which entire families go in to debt, yet no provisions exist for status on landing. Since Harper came into power, over 72,000 people have been locked up in immigration detention. In December we rallied in solidarity with security certificate detainees Mohammad Mahjoub, Mohamed Harkat and Mahmoud Jaballah and all those locked up in immigration detention. This May Day let us take to the streets to end detentions and deportations and to call for freedom to move, freedom to stay and freedom to return!

On February 21st, Toronto City Hall reaffirmed its promise to providing services to residents without full immigration status. We will continue to build a Solidarity City where communities work together to ensure justice and dignity for all residents. The history of Access Without Fear in Toronto is a long one and on May Day let us march to celebrate our victories and commit to continued struggle.

In the face of austerity, climate destruction, colonial and capitalist wars and interventions here and across the world that push people out of their homes, let us fight for status for all. Status for All is the struggle for self-determination, just livelihood, housing, food, education, healthcare, childcare, shelter, justice and dignity for all people, with or without immigration status.

Coordinated by a coalition of community groups including Afghans United for Justice, AIDS ACTION NOW!, Anakbayan Toronto, Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Students (APUS), Camp Sis, Casa Salvador Allende, Cinema Politica, Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), Common Cause Toronto,Common Causes, CUPE local 1281,CUPE Local 4772, CUPE 3906 Executive, CUPE 3906 Political Action Committee, CUPE 4308, CUPE Ontario International Solidarity Committee, Educators for Peace and Justice, Faculty for Palestine (F4P), Grassroots Ontario Animal Liberation (GOAL) Network, Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly, Health for All, Independent Jewish Voices, Toronto, Injured Workers Action for Justice, International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Socialists, Jane and Finch Action Against Poverty [JFAAP], Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network, Law Union of Ontario, maggie's: toronto sex workers action project, May 1st Movement, No One Is Illegal - Toronto,Ontario Coalition Against Poverty,OPIRG York, Refugees without Border, Revolutionary Women's Collective-women united against imperialism, Rhythms of Resistance - Toronto,Rising Tide Toronto, Socialist Action / Ligue pour l'Action socialiste. Socialist Party of Ontario,Socialist Project, Student Christian Movement, The Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, The Sanctuary Network, Student Christian Movement, Toronto Haiti Action Committee, Toronto New Socialists, Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multicultural Women Against Rape, Toronto Young New Democrats, Trans Film Series,United Food and Commercial Workers, Women's Coordinating Committe for a Free Wallmapu [Toronto], Workers' Action Centre, York Federation of Students, Local 68 Canadian Federation of Students and more. To endorse the event, fill out this form bit.ly/ZDRwKU

Set 3, Thu Apr 17, 2014, 9:23:19 AM, 8C, 5254x7818, (488+144), 100%, Default Settin, 1/25 s, R55.0, G44.2, B84.9

Rally and March starting at City Hall, marching to Joe Fresh to demand justice for Bangladeshi garment workers and ending at Little Norway Park in solidarity with striking workers at Porter (Queens Quay and Bathurst)

Videos: bit.ly/MayDayTOVids

More info with links: www.toronto.nooneisillegal.org/MayDay

Poster series imagining a Solidarity City: on.fb.me/12HV9DO

For seven years, you have marched on May Day to celebrate and invigorate migrant justice struggles in Toronto. On International Workers Day, we march to build a Solidarity City. Solidarity City is a unified struggle for: Respect for Indigenous Sovereignty, Status for All, an End to Imperialism and Environmental Destruction, an End to Austerity and Attacks on the Poor and Working class, continued resistance against Patriarchy, Racism, Ableism and Homophobia and Transphobia

Pipelines, tankers, mines, and so-called development projects are being forced onto the lands of Indigenous nations. Harper, like every Prime Minister who came before him, refuses to respect the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and continues to neglect his treaty obligations, as seen in Omnibus Bill C-45. In the face of this and more, land defenders across Turtle Island continue to resist in powerful and inspiring ways. As we look towards an exciting summer of action and resistance fueled by the Idle No More movement, this May Day let us honor all ongoing decolonization struggles and commit to continuing our support for Indigenous sovereignty.

The past year has seen the implementation of C-31, dubbed the Refugee Exclusion Act, further criminalizing migrants and expanding the detention and deportation machine. Jason Kenney announced the creation of a designated countries of origin, a racist, two tiered system under which refugees get fewer rights based on their place of birth. This past November, many of us honored our communities and confronted Minister Kenney when he showed up in Toronto. On May 1st, let us take to the streets to build community alliances and resistance once again.

Exploitative temporary worker programs continue to expand and many migrant workers continue to meet deportation, injuries and in some cases death. Workers are being forced to pay thousands of dollars to get jobs in Canada for which entire families go in to debt, yet no provisions exist for status on landing. Since Harper came into power, over 72,000 people have been locked up in immigration detention. In December we rallied in solidarity with security certificate detainees Mohammad Mahjoub, Mohamed Harkat and Mahmoud Jaballah and all those locked up in immigration detention. This May Day let us take to the streets to end detentions and deportations and to call for freedom to move, freedom to stay and freedom to return!

On February 21st, Toronto City Hall reaffirmed its promise to providing services to residents without full immigration status. We will continue to build a Solidarity City where communities work together to ensure justice and dignity for all residents. The history of Access Without Fear in Toronto is a long one and on May Day let us march to celebrate our victories and commit to continued struggle.

In the face of austerity, climate destruction, colonial and capitalist wars and interventions here and across the world that push people out of their homes, let us fight for status for all. Status for All is the struggle for self-determination, just livelihood, housing, food, education, healthcare, childcare, shelter, justice and dignity for all people, with or without immigration status.

Coordinated by a coalition of community groups including Afghans United for Justice, AIDS ACTION NOW!, Anakbayan Toronto, Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Students (APUS), Camp Sis, Casa Salvador Allende, Cinema Politica, Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), Common Cause Toronto,Common Causes, CUPE local 1281,CUPE Local 4772, CUPE 3906 Executive, CUPE 3906 Political Action Committee, CUPE 4308, CUPE Ontario International Solidarity Committee, Educators for Peace and Justice, Faculty for Palestine (F4P), Grassroots Ontario Animal Liberation (GOAL) Network, Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly, Health for All, Independent Jewish Voices, Toronto, Injured Workers Action for Justice, International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Socialists, Jane and Finch Action Against Poverty [JFAAP], Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network, Law Union of Ontario, maggie's: toronto sex workers action project, May 1st Movement, No One Is Illegal - Toronto,Ontario Coalition Against Poverty,OPIRG York, Refugees without Border, Revolutionary Women's Collective-women united against imperialism, Rhythms of Resistance - Toronto,Rising Tide Toronto, Socialist Action / Ligue pour l'Action socialiste. Socialist Party of Ontario,Socialist Project, Student Christian Movement, The Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, The Sanctuary Network, Student Christian Movement, Toronto Haiti Action Committee, Toronto New Socialists, Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multicultural Women Against Rape, Toronto Young New Democrats, Trans Film Series,United Food and Commercial Workers, Women's Coordinating Committe for a Free Wallmapu [Toronto], Workers' Action Centre, York Federation of Students, Local 68 Canadian Federation of Students and more. To endorse the event, fill out this form bit.ly/ZDRwKU

Rally and March starting at City Hall, marching to Joe Fresh to demand justice for Bangladeshi garment workers and ending at Little Norway Park in solidarity with striking workers at Porter (Queens Quay and Bathurst)

Videos: bit.ly/MayDayTOVids

More info with links: www.toronto.nooneisillegal.org/MayDay

Poster series imagining a Solidarity City: on.fb.me/12HV9DO

For seven years, you have marched on May Day to celebrate and invigorate migrant justice struggles in Toronto. On International Workers Day, we march to build a Solidarity City. Solidarity City is a unified struggle for: Respect for Indigenous Sovereignty, Status for All, an End to Imperialism and Environmental Destruction, an End to Austerity and Attacks on the Poor and Working class, continued resistance against Patriarchy, Racism, Ableism and Homophobia and Transphobia

Pipelines, tankers, mines, and so-called development projects are being forced onto the lands of Indigenous nations. Harper, like every Prime Minister who came before him, refuses to respect the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and continues to neglect his treaty obligations, as seen in Omnibus Bill C-45. In the face of this and more, land defenders across Turtle Island continue to resist in powerful and inspiring ways. As we look towards an exciting summer of action and resistance fueled by the Idle No More movement, this May Day let us honor all ongoing decolonization struggles and commit to continuing our support for Indigenous sovereignty.

The past year has seen the implementation of C-31, dubbed the Refugee Exclusion Act, further criminalizing migrants and expanding the detention and deportation machine. Jason Kenney announced the creation of a designated countries of origin, a racist, two tiered system under which refugees get fewer rights based on their place of birth. This past November, many of us honored our communities and confronted Minister Kenney when he showed up in Toronto. On May 1st, let us take to the streets to build community alliances and resistance once again.

Exploitative temporary worker programs continue to expand and many migrant workers continue to meet deportation, injuries and in some cases death. Workers are being forced to pay thousands of dollars to get jobs in Canada for which entire families go in to debt, yet no provisions exist for status on landing. Since Harper came into power, over 72,000 people have been locked up in immigration detention. In December we rallied in solidarity with security certificate detainees Mohammad Mahjoub, Mohamed Harkat and Mahmoud Jaballah and all those locked up in immigration detention. This May Day let us take to the streets to end detentions and deportations and to call for freedom to move, freedom to stay and freedom to return!

On February 21st, Toronto City Hall reaffirmed its promise to providing services to residents without full immigration status. We will continue to build a Solidarity City where communities work together to ensure justice and dignity for all residents. The history of Access Without Fear in Toronto is a long one and on May Day let us march to celebrate our victories and commit to continued struggle.

In the face of austerity, climate destruction, colonial and capitalist wars and interventions here and across the world that push people out of their homes, let us fight for status for all. Status for All is the struggle for self-determination, just livelihood, housing, food, education, healthcare, childcare, shelter, justice and dignity for all people, with or without immigration status.

Coordinated by a coalition of community groups including Afghans United for Justice, AIDS ACTION NOW!, Anakbayan Toronto, Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Students (APUS), Camp Sis, Casa Salvador Allende, Cinema Politica, Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), Common Cause Toronto,Common Causes, CUPE local 1281,CUPE Local 4772, CUPE 3906 Executive, CUPE 3906 Political Action Committee, CUPE 4308, CUPE Ontario International Solidarity Committee, Educators for Peace and Justice, Faculty for Palestine (F4P), Grassroots Ontario Animal Liberation (GOAL) Network, Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly, Health for All, Independent Jewish Voices, Toronto, Injured Workers Action for Justice, International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Socialists, Jane and Finch Action Against Poverty [JFAAP], Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network, Law Union of Ontario, maggie's: toronto sex workers action project, May 1st Movement, No One Is Illegal - Toronto,Ontario Coalition Against Poverty,OPIRG York, Refugees without Border, Revolutionary Women's Collective-women united against imperialism, Rhythms of Resistance - Toronto,Rising Tide Toronto, Socialist Action / Ligue pour l'Action socialiste. Socialist Party of Ontario,Socialist Project, Student Christian Movement, The Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, The Sanctuary Network, Student Christian Movement, Toronto Haiti Action Committee, Toronto New Socialists, Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multicultural Women Against Rape, Toronto Young New Democrats, Trans Film Series,United Food and Commercial Workers, Women's Coordinating Committe for a Free Wallmapu [Toronto], Workers' Action Centre, York Federation of Students, Local 68 Canadian Federation of Students and more. To endorse the event, fill out this form bit.ly/ZDRwKU

This picture was taken during Decolonizing the Newsroom, July 5-8, 2022. The event was part of Re:Framing Migrants in the European Media, a project coordinated by the European Cultural Foundation.

Picture by Laurent Leger Adame (www.instagram.com/laurent.legeradame/)

Rally and March starting at City Hall, marching to Joe Fresh to demand justice for Bangladeshi garment workers and ending at Little Norway Park in solidarity with striking workers at Porter (Queens Quay and Bathurst)

Videos: bit.ly/MayDayTOVids

More info with links: www.toronto.nooneisillegal.org/MayDay

Poster series imagining a Solidarity City: on.fb.me/12HV9DO

For seven years, you have marched on May Day to celebrate and invigorate migrant justice struggles in Toronto. On International Workers Day, we march to build a Solidarity City. Solidarity City is a unified struggle for: Respect for Indigenous Sovereignty, Status for All, an End to Imperialism and Environmental Destruction, an End to Austerity and Attacks on the Poor and Working class, continued resistance against Patriarchy, Racism, Ableism and Homophobia and Transphobia

Pipelines, tankers, mines, and so-called development projects are being forced onto the lands of Indigenous nations. Harper, like every Prime Minister who came before him, refuses to respect the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and continues to neglect his treaty obligations, as seen in Omnibus Bill C-45. In the face of this and more, land defenders across Turtle Island continue to resist in powerful and inspiring ways. As we look towards an exciting summer of action and resistance fueled by the Idle No More movement, this May Day let us honor all ongoing decolonization struggles and commit to continuing our support for Indigenous sovereignty.

The past year has seen the implementation of C-31, dubbed the Refugee Exclusion Act, further criminalizing migrants and expanding the detention and deportation machine. Jason Kenney announced the creation of a designated countries of origin, a racist, two tiered system under which refugees get fewer rights based on their place of birth. This past November, many of us honored our communities and confronted Minister Kenney when he showed up in Toronto. On May 1st, let us take to the streets to build community alliances and resistance once again.

Exploitative temporary worker programs continue to expand and many migrant workers continue to meet deportation, injuries and in some cases death. Workers are being forced to pay thousands of dollars to get jobs in Canada for which entire families go in to debt, yet no provisions exist for status on landing. Since Harper came into power, over 72,000 people have been locked up in immigration detention. In December we rallied in solidarity with security certificate detainees Mohammad Mahjoub, Mohamed Harkat and Mahmoud Jaballah and all those locked up in immigration detention. This May Day let us take to the streets to end detentions and deportations and to call for freedom to move, freedom to stay and freedom to return!

On February 21st, Toronto City Hall reaffirmed its promise to providing services to residents without full immigration status. We will continue to build a Solidarity City where communities work together to ensure justice and dignity for all residents. The history of Access Without Fear in Toronto is a long one and on May Day let us march to celebrate our victories and commit to continued struggle.

In the face of austerity, climate destruction, colonial and capitalist wars and interventions here and across the world that push people out of their homes, let us fight for status for all. Status for All is the struggle for self-determination, just livelihood, housing, food, education, healthcare, childcare, shelter, justice and dignity for all people, with or without immigration status.

Coordinated by a coalition of community groups including Afghans United for Justice, AIDS ACTION NOW!, Anakbayan Toronto, Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Students (APUS), Camp Sis, Casa Salvador Allende, Cinema Politica, Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), Common Cause Toronto,Common Causes, CUPE local 1281,CUPE Local 4772, CUPE 3906 Executive, CUPE 3906 Political Action Committee, CUPE 4308, CUPE Ontario International Solidarity Committee, Educators for Peace and Justice, Faculty for Palestine (F4P), Grassroots Ontario Animal Liberation (GOAL) Network, Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly, Health for All, Independent Jewish Voices, Toronto, Injured Workers Action for Justice, International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada, International Socialists, Jane and Finch Action Against Poverty [JFAAP], Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network, Law Union of Ontario, maggie's: toronto sex workers action project, May 1st Movement, No One Is Illegal - Toronto,Ontario Coalition Against Poverty,OPIRG York, Refugees without Border, Revolutionary Women's Collective-women united against imperialism, Rhythms of Resistance - Toronto,Rising Tide Toronto, Socialist Action / Ligue pour l'Action socialiste. Socialist Party of Ontario,Socialist Project, Student Christian Movement, The Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, The Sanctuary Network, Student Christian Movement, Toronto Haiti Action Committee, Toronto New Socialists, Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multicultural Women Against Rape, Toronto Young New Democrats, Trans Film Series,United Food and Commercial Workers, Women's Coordinating Committe for a Free Wallmapu [Toronto], Workers' Action Centre, York Federation of Students, Local 68 Canadian Federation of Students and more. To endorse the event, fill out this form bit.ly/ZDRwKU

Maya Angelou (/ˈmaɪ.ə ˈændʒəloʊ/;[1][2] born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American author and poet. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, and several books of poetry, and was credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning more than 50 years. She received dozens of awards and over 30 honorary doctoral degrees. Angelou is best known for her series of seven autobiographies, which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), tells of her life up to the age of seventeen and brought her international recognition and acclaim.

She became a poet and writer after a series of occupations as a young adult, including fry cook, prostitute, nightclub dancer and performer, cast member of the opera Porgy and Bess, coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and journalist in Egypt and Ghana during the days of decolonization. She was an actor, writer, director, and producer of plays, movies, and public television programs. From 1982, she taught at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where she held the first lifetime Reynolds Professorship of American Studies. She was active in the Civil Rights movement, and worked with Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. Beginning in the 1990s, she made around 80 appearances a year on the lecture circuit, something she continued into her eighties. In 1993, Angelou recited her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" (1993) at President Bill Clinton's inauguration, making her the first poet to make an inaugural recitation since Robert Frost at John F. Kennedy's inauguration in 1961.

With the publication of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Angelou publicly discussed aspects of her personal life. She was respected as a spokesperson of black people and women, and her works have been considered a defense of Black culture. Attempts have been made to ban her books from some US libraries, but her works are widely used in schools and universities worldwide. Angelou's major works have been labeled as autobiographical fiction, but many critics have characterized them as autobiographies. She made a deliberate attempt to challenge the common structure of the autobiography by critiquing, changing, and expanding the genre. Her books center on themes such as racism, identity, family, and travel.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_Angelou

Summit Spartan

a/c R, 5 Squadron, Nigerian Air Force

Kananga, Democratic Republic of Congo, March 1962

Personal mount of Flt Lt Sebastian Osigwef

Amid the campaigns for decolonization that swept Africa in the 1950s, the Free Belgium government occupying the Belgium Congo reluctantly agreed to a process leading to independence. As the 1 July 1960 date for the creation of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) approached, the Belgium elites conspired with Katangan separatists, the Second Portuguese Republic, Rhodesia and South Africa to create the breakaway State of Katanga. Rich in minerals, including copper and cobalt, Katanga held the economic key to the DRC’s success. As Katanga had powerful foriegn backers (who thwarted UN action), and the DRC few capable supporters, a war lasting several years ensued.

As the Belgium authorities prepared for the DRC’s independence, they stripped the military of the Belgium Congo of its assets. Tanks, artillery, trucks, Canberra bombers and F-100D/F Super Sabres were sold to the Portuguese. The Congolese Air Force (Force Aérienne Congolaise, or FAC) was let with some twin-engined transports, a few light planes and 7 F4U-5 Corsair fighter-bombers. The Corsairs were surplus USMC/USN examples, maintained by Summit Aviation. Summit was founded in 1947 by a group of former USMC aviators. With experience at maintaining surplus military aircraft, in 1954 the company won a contract to refurbish and sustain 20 F4U-5 Corsairs for delivery to the Free Belgium government for counter-insurgency operations. In early 1960, as the US government realised that the Belgiums were leaving the soon-to-be independent DRC with a dangerously small combat capacity, Summit was contracted to deliver and support 20 more Corsairs to the incoming government. These aircraft were of Summit’s own version of the Corsair, the Spartan. First flown in 1958, the Spartan was built from surplus F4U-5 airframes and featured a beefed-up structure, contemporary tactical avionics and optional wingtip fuel tanks. In 1960, Summit tested and marketed kits for adapting the Spartan to all-weather/night operations, adding bolt-on exhaust anti-glare shields and a radar to the port wingtip pod with weather, surface mapping and terrain avoidance modes. Spartans were sold to El Salvador and Honduras (both without the tip tanks), Indonesia, Nicaragua (without tip tanks), Nigeria and the DRC.

Nigeria, independent from the Free British government since 1955, was the DRC’s main foreign supporter. In October 1960, the Portugese moved troops into Katanga from neighbouring Angola to protect the road and railway line through which most of Katanga’s mineral export flowed. Nigeria responded by sending its own troops and establishing a training and advisory mission to the DRC. In February 1961 the FAC, supported by Summit, and the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) aided by the privately owned Nigerian Aviation (NA) company, established the Spartan Wing at Kinshasa/N'Djili Air Base. A joint wing, it included the FAC’s 3 Squadron (largely manned by foriegn personnel) and the NAF’s 5 Squadron, both flying Spartans. From here, the Spartan Wing deployed detachments to airfields closer to Katanga. The Spartan Wing performed counter-insurgency roles, including convoy escort, road and rail interdiction and close air support. Other NAF support came in the form of airlift capacity and a squadron of F-86H Sabres for air superiority (these Sabres later being donated to the FAC).

By March 1961, the joint FAC/NAF airpower projected over Katanga had gained air superiority. Katanga’s Lockheed AT-33A fighters that had been supplied by the Portugese had mostly been destroyed. Without air defence, the FAC/NAF interdiction effort had forced Katanga’s mining-related road and rail traffic into the hours of darkness. To keep the pressure on, the Nigerians converted 12 of their Spartans with Summit’s night combat kits and deployed these to the DRC in August. That same month, Portuguese F-100Ds began air defence patrols over Katanga and from November ex-South African F-86F Sabres were supplied to the Katangan Air Force. Although the daylight hours were now contested, most of Katanga’s mining exports continued to be transported at night.

The Spartan depicted here was the personal mount of Flt Lt Sebastian Osigwef, of 5 Squadron NAF. It was photographed at the Kananga in June 1962. It carries 88 mission symbols, the 12 yellow bombs denoting daylight combat sorties and the 66 with red interiors are for nocturnal attack missions generated after the aircraft was adapted for night operations. The Redwing text and Native North American illustration relate to Rodd Redwing. The fastest gun in Hollywood, Redwing was an actor and gun, knife and whip instructor to the stars. When Flt Lt Osigwef aced the gunnery and bombing results during training, a Summit Aviation instructor likened him to Redwing and the moniker stuck. As an aside, although Redwing claimed to be Native American, his real name was Roderick Rajpurkaii Jr. and he was born in India.

The aircraft is armed with 4 wing-mounted 20mm cannon, 4 of Mk82 bombs, 2 pods of Orenda Purple Rain 68mm rockets and a pair of locally produced Passendale bombs. The Passendale was designed during the Belgium occupation and named after a Belgium cheese which features many small holes. A combined-effects weapon, it’s core explosive was a brand of commercially available propane tank. This was surrounded by white phosphorus embedded with ball bearings. Its aerodynamic shell featured aluminium fins, nose and rear units and a steel centre barrel that was internally grooved to promote fragmentation. The Passendale was judged to be useful against personnel and soft-skinned transport targets, including trucks and railway rolling stock.

After the Spartan, Summit would go on to make COIN conversions of the North American T-28 Nomad trainer as the AT-28D, T-28D and T-28D-5 Trojan. In the 1970s the company produced the Summit Sentry, using surplus USAF Cessna O-2 Skymasters to create a series of STOL capable COIN, FAC and ISR platforms for export customers. Nigerian Aviation would go on to be Summit’s key African industrial partner, NA also producing COIN conversions of the T-28 as the Nigerian Aviation Fennec. During the 1960s and ‘70s, NA produced several indiginuous light aircraft and trainer designs that were moderately successful in the export market.

Summit Spartan

a/c R, 5 Squadron, Nigerian Air Force

Kananga, Democratic Republic of Congo, March 1962

Personal mount of Flt Lt Sebastian Osigwef

Amid the campaigns for decolonization that swept Africa in the 1950s, the Free Belgium government occupying the Belgium Congo reluctantly agreed to a process leading to independence. As the 1 July 1960 date for the creation of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) approached, the Belgium elites conspired with Katangan separatists, the Second Portuguese Republic, Rhodesia and South Africa to create the breakaway State of Katanga. Rich in minerals, including copper and cobalt, Katanga held the economic key to the DRC’s success. As Katanga had powerful foriegn backers (who thwarted UN action), and the DRC few capable supporters, a war lasting several years ensued.

As the Belgium authorities prepared for the DRC’s independence, they stripped the military of the Belgium Congo of its assets. Tanks, artillery, trucks, Canberra bombers and F-100D/F Super Sabres were sold to the Portuguese. The Congolese Air Force (Force Aérienne Congolaise, or FAC) was let with some twin-engined transports, a few light planes and 7 F4U-5 Corsair fighter-bombers. The Corsairs were surplus USMC/USN examples, maintained by Summit Aviation. Summit was founded in 1947 by a group of former USMC aviators. With experience at maintaining surplus military aircraft, in 1954 the company won a contract to refurbish and sustain 20 F4U-5 Corsairs for delivery to the Free Belgium government for counter-insurgency operations. In early 1960, as the US government realised that the Belgiums were leaving the soon-to-be independent DRC with a dangerously small combat capacity, Summit was contracted to deliver and support 20 more Corsairs to the incoming government. These aircraft were of Summit’s own version of the Corsair, the Spartan. First flown in 1958, the Spartan was built from surplus F4U-5 airframes and featured a beefed-up structure, contemporary tactical avionics and optional wingtip fuel tanks. In 1960, Summit tested and marketed kits for adapting the Spartan to all-weather/night operations, adding bolt-on exhaust anti-glare shields and a radar to the port wingtip pod with weather, surface mapping and terrain avoidance modes. Spartans were sold to El Salvador and Honduras (both without the tip tanks), Indonesia, Nicaragua (without tip tanks), Nigeria and the DRC.

Nigeria, independent from the Free British government since 1955, was the DRC’s main foreign supporter. In October 1960, the Portugese moved troops into Katanga from neighbouring Angola to protect the road and railway line through which most of Katanga’s mineral export flowed. Nigeria responded by sending its own troops and establishing a training and advisory mission to the DRC. In February 1961 the FAC, supported by Summit, and the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) aided by the privately owned Nigerian Aviation (NA) company, established the Spartan Wing at Kinshasa/N'Djili Air Base. A joint wing, it included the FAC’s 3 Squadron (largely manned by foriegn personnel) and the NAF’s 5 Squadron, both flying Spartans. From here, the Spartan Wing deployed detachments to airfields closer to Katanga. The Spartan Wing performed counter-insurgency roles, including convoy escort, road and rail interdiction and close air support. Other NAF support came in the form of airlift capacity and a squadron of F-86H Sabres for air superiority (these Sabres later being donated to the FAC).

By March 1961, the joint FAC/NAF airpower projected over Katanga had gained air superiority. Katanga’s Lockheed AT-33A fighters that had been supplied by the Portugese had mostly been destroyed. Without air defence, the FAC/NAF interdiction effort had forced Katanga’s mining-related road and rail traffic into the hours of darkness. To keep the pressure on, the Nigerians converted 12 of their Spartans with Summit’s night combat kits and deployed these to the DRC in August. That same month, Portuguese F-100Ds began air defence patrols over Katanga and from November ex-South African F-86F Sabres were supplied to the Katangan Air Force. Although the daylight hours were now contested, most of Katanga’s mining exports continued to be transported at night.

The Spartan depicted here was the personal mount of Flt Lt Sebastian Osigwef, of 5 Squadron NAF. It was photographed at the Kananga in June 1962. It carries 88 mission symbols, the 12 yellow bombs denoting daylight combat sorties and the 66 with red interiors are for nocturnal attack missions generated after the aircraft was adapted for night operations. The Redwing text and Native North American illustration relate to Rodd Redwing. The fastest gun in Hollywood, Redwing was an actor and gun, knife and whip instructor to the stars. When Flt Lt Osigwef aced the gunnery and bombing results during training, a Summit Aviation instructor likened him to Redwing and the moniker stuck. As an aside, although Redwing claimed to be Native American, his real name was Roderick Rajpurkaii Jr. and he was born in India.

The aircraft is armed with 4 wing-mounted 20mm cannon, 4 of Mk82 bombs, 2 pods of Orenda Purple Rain 68mm rockets and a pair of locally produced Passendale bombs. The Passendale was designed during the Belgium occupation and named after a Belgium cheese which features many small holes. A combined-effects weapon, it’s core explosive was a brand of commercially available propane tank. This was surrounded by white phosphorus embedded with ball bearings. Its aerodynamic shell featured aluminium fins, nose and rear units and a steel centre barrel that was internally grooved to promote fragmentation. The Passendale was judged to be useful against personnel and soft-skinned transport targets, including trucks and railway rolling stock.

After the Spartan, Summit would go on to make COIN conversions of the North American T-28 Nomad trainer as the AT-28D, T-28D and T-28D-5 Trojan. In the 1970s the company produced the Summit Sentry, using surplus USAF Cessna O-2 Skymasters to create a series of STOL capable COIN, FAC and ISR platforms for export customers. Nigerian Aviation would go on to be Summit’s key African industrial partner, NA also producing COIN conversions of the T-28 as the Nigerian Aviation Fennec. During the 1960s and ‘70s, NA produced several indiginuous light aircraft and trainer designs that were moderately successful in the export market.