Photo below by Laurie Shaull, Creative Commons.

By Andrea Loewen
@ms.andreajoy

“I don’t want a gender-less world. I want a gender-full world. I want a world where gender identity matters to people, but it matters as a form of creative expression and not some determination of your self-worth or ability to survive.” -Jacob Tobia

A monthly round up of Resistance Research, including quotes, news, analysis, inspiration, and action items. Let’s break this regime down into actionable items and take it down, bit by bit!

This Month’s Action:

Create a giving plan so that you can tangibly support the causes that you care about, no matter how much money you make. Here is a great resource from Refinery 29 on how to do this.

This Month’s Reading:

WTF List (Keeping Up With the News):

Christchurch Shooting: This was a horrific, coordinated terrorist attack on Mosques in Christchurch New Zealand. Read Prime Minister Ardern’s powerful words immediately following the massacre.

BC Liberal Leader Says People Could Get ‘Carried Away’ With Interest-Free Student Loans: Oh yeah, heaven forbid young people get the education they want or need with slightly less debt… Of course, this is the guy who doesn’t think Starbucks employees belong in West Vancouver.

NBC Taps Lilly Singh to Replace Carson Daly: She is the first woman of colour to take on a late-night talk show and we couldn’t be more excited! Catch up on her work on Youtube here!

NASA Cancels First All-Female Space Walk Due to Spacesuit Size Issue: All the programs getting young girls interested in STEM are meaningless if you can’t get it together to have enough spacesuits to fit the women on your team.

Action Inspo and Instructionals:

Let these alternate guides and examples of resistance inspire you!

Swedish Student Greta Thunberg’s Climate Strike Goes Global: I don’t know about you, but seeing those kids protesting climate change got me all teary-eyed with pride. Also, Thunberg is up for a Nobel Peace Prize!

Women Will Lead on Climate Activism: Women from all sorts of identity intersections are leading the charge against climate change.

Jacinda Ardern Calls for Global Anti-Racism Fight: The Prime Minister of New Zealand has been doing an incredible job in the aftermath of the terrorist attack, as have New Zealand women who wore headscarves to show solidarity.

How to Teach Your Kids About White Supremacy: Educating the next generation is key to making change happen.

Analysis, Opinion, and Enrichment:

These will help you better understand how what’s feeding the madness and expose you to perspectives different from your own.

10 Books About Race to Read Instead of Asking a Person of Colour to Explain Things to You: We all need to expand our reading lists and get up to speed!

What Birth Control Made Possible for Women: Just in case someone you know has forgotten how much the pill (and other easy-to-use birth control) changed our lives.

In Canada, Indigenous Women Are Five Times More LIkely to Die a Violent Death: It’s an issue we need to be reminded of again and again until we make real changes.

My Students Asked Me if I Was Racist, So I Told Them the Truth and Said Yes: This one goes a little deeper than an Avenue Q reference to the fact that everyone’s a little bit racist, sometimes.

Justice for Native Women Begins With Rewriting History: And by rewriting history, of course, we mean to make it even just a little bit more accurate.