Building a Caribbean Community Study Circle
When: 3rd Saturday of each month, 2-4pm
Where: A Different Booklist, 779 Bathurst St, Toronto (via Bathurst Subway Station)
** Our list of readings, organized by each session can be found below, and printed copies will be available at the bookstore **
From the establishment of Marcus Garvey's United Negro Improvement Association in 1919 on College Steet; fights for desegregation led by the Joint Labour Committee to Combat Racial Intolerance, The Black Women’s Collective’s insistence on addressing racism, sexism, homophobia, and classism as constitutive of an anti-imperialist politics; the rise of the Black Action Defence Committee in response to police brutality in 1988, Justice for Migrant workers fighting against new forms of indentured labour, Indo-Caribbean organizers making movements with Jane and Finch Action Against Poverty - Caribbean peoples in Toronto have a long and proud history of fighting for justice for us all, building up the strength our communities and enriching the culture of the city.
How do we keep this history alive? How do we learn from these stories of organising and struggle? What kinds of questions do we ask of the past today? What lessons might we learn? What does it mean to be Caribbean in the diaspora today?
Starting January 20, 2024, join us as we start to build a space to study, ask questions, learn together and build community through the launch of the Caribbean Community Study Circle.
The goal is to create a community based space in which we talk and think about where, why and how we are living the way we do, but most importantly how we want to live - and how do we get there?
We will begin with a monthly gathering/grounding to study and discuss short readings and learn together as a community - but we also want to know what questions do you have? What issues are you interested in learning about?
Our list of readings, organized by each session can be found below, and printed copies will be available at the bookstore.
2024 dates: January 20th, February 17, March 16, April 20, May 18, June 15, July 20, August 17, September 21, October 19, November 16, December 21
If you have any questions, please email caribbeansolidarity@gmail.com
Readings / Syllabus
April 20, 2024
Facilitated by Tamanisha John & Kevin Edmonds
Questions
Dennis Forsythe. 1971. Blacks and Dialectics.
Lola Olufemi. 2021. Claudia Jones: A Life in Search of the Communist Horizon.
March 16, 2024 - Our Ongoing Struggle for Liberation and the Threat of Fascism
Facilitated by Horace Campbell
Beverly Mullings. Introduction
Horace Campbell. 2018, Emancipation from Enslavement, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.
Horace Campbell. Unpublished. The Rift in the US Military Deepens.
February 17, 2024 - Studying in Order to Act
Facilitated by Rachel Goffe
Questions
What does the transformation of the radio in revolutionary Algeria show us about using the tools of dominant society for liberation? What did the signal enable, even when it was jammed?
Can study, like gathering to listen to the Voice of Free Algeria, become “a fighting instrument for the people and a protective organ against anxiety” (page 217, right column)? What anxieties might we encounter here and now?
Towards the end, Fanon tells a story about how the colonizer’s language became the basis for communication across oppressed groups of distinct backgrounds. For the Caribbean diaspora in Toronto.
How is this relevant? What strategic aids to collaboration exist or need to be developed – languages, communication infrastructures, collective identities, organizations, study circles, a definition of what we’re fighting against?
Frantz Fanon. 1959. A Dying Colonialism. Chapter 2 (This is the Voice of Algeria)
RE-READ Walter Rodney’s The Groundings with My Brothers
January 20, 2024 - Why Study? Why Organize?
Facilitated by Alissa Trotz
Questions
How do we keep this history alive? How do we learn from these stories of organising and struggle? What kinds of questions do we ask of the past today? What lessons might we learn? What does it mean to be Caribbean in the diaspora today?
Walter Rodney. 1996. The Groundings with My Brothers. Chapter 2 (Black Power, Its Relevance to the West Indies) and Chapter 6 (Groundings with my Brothers)
Walter Rodney. 1972. “Some Thoughts on the Political Economy of the Caribbean.” Speech delivered at the Caribbean Unity Conference, Howard University, Washington, DC (April 21).
A Very Canadian Coup in Haiti (20 Years Later)
February 26, 2024 (6:30pm - 9pm)
William Doo Auditorium, 45 Willcocks St, Toronto
FACEBOOK EVENT: LINK
On February 29, 2004, the Canadian military participated in the overthrow of the democratically elected President of Haiti, Jean Bertrand Aristide. Under Aristide, Haiti was making progress towards building a people’s democracy, strengthening political institutions and the rule of law through elections, reforming the economy to redirect resources to build much needed schools and primary clinics and infrastructure for the Haitian people. This was done through a popular platform based on the idea that these modest reforms would transform life for the majority of the Haitian people, moving them “from absolute misery to dignified poverty”. Combine this with the call for reparations, Aristide and the Lavalas party had to go.
For almost 20 years, Canada pushed the lie that Aristide had resigned and fled the country due to a popular uprising and denied any wrongdoing via this violent intervention into Haiti’s political affairs. Not only was the Canadian military involved, but the Canadian government also directly funded Haiti's elite opposition parties, withheld aid to Aristide to undermine his ability to govern, engaged in a coordinated demonization campaign in the media, and organized the “Ottawa Initiative” in 2003 with the plan to remove Aristide from power. This has now been publicly admitted by those directly involved in the coup, including former Secretary of State for Latin America and Africa, Denis Paradis, and the former French Ambassador to Haiti, Yves Gaudeul.
Much of Haiti’s current crises and political breakdown can be traced back to the catastrophic consequences unleashed by this intervention - but the Canadian government deliberately chooses to downplay and ignore this history. Join us for a conversation with an exciting panel that brings some of the top minds and critical voices together, as we are delighted to host Professor Jemima Pierre, filmmaker and journalist Etant Dupain and activist and educator Jean St. Vil.
PLEASE RESERVE TICKETS, AS CAPACITY IS LIMITED AND FOOD WILL BE SERVED AT 6PM. Eventbrite Link
The Centre for Caribbean Studies would like to thank our many generous co-sponsors: The New College Initiative Fund, The Centre for the Study of the United States, African Studies, Political Science, Geography, History, The Centre for Diaspora and Transnational Studies, Global Development Studies @ UTSC, the Caribbean Studies Student Union and the Caribbean Solidarity Network.
Current Series
The Essequibo Region - Guyana/Venezuela Interview Series.
In late 2023, an old colonial border dispute between Guyana and Venezuela flared up with nationalist fervour on both sides that drew interest from the Caribbean, South America, North America and Europe.
The Caribbean Solidarity Network reached out to critical researchers and analysts familiar with the issue for their perspective.
The Essequibo Region Guyana/Venezuela Interview Series
Janette Bulkan Ep 1.
Vijay Prashad Ep.2,
Ricardo Vaz, Ep. 3.
Tamanisha John Ep. 4
Interview Series
click on post to interview
Featured
Past Events
The Caribbean and the Diaspora
The Caribbean Solidarity Network, CSN, is an organization committed to the principles of Caribbean Liberation and Unity across the region as well as throughout the Diaspora. CSN’s platform is one rooted in a feminist, anti-imperialist, anti-colonial struggle. Our objectives are:
To build community power and through the development of public education and outreach in Toronto
To work with and support progressive forces and organizations in the Caribbean
To challenge the Canadian state and corporate policies which seek to keep the Caribbean region and its peoples in a dependent position.
Who we are
We are from across the Caribbean, and as such are multi-racial. We are also intergenerational and value the experiences of our elders who have experienced political struggle in the region and in Canada. In short, we are open to all people who share in the goals of liberation and unity of the Caribbean. Our politics are rooted in Caribbean radical thought, contributors to the Radical Black Tradition like CLR James, Walter Rodney, Frantz Fanon, Claudia Jones and Celia Sanchez, and many others.
The history of the Caribbean peoples has always been one of freedom and self-determination. The examples of the Haitian and Cuban revolutions and their distinctly internationalist politics are important points of reference. We are guided by four important ideological tendencies, rooted in the Black Radical Tradition: Anti-Imperialist Pan-Africanism, Feminism and Anti-Capitalism as a way to end exploitation in all forms.
Stay up to date on our pan-Caribbean and community events by subscribing and following us on Facebook and Youtube.
What we do
We’re a space for the Caribbean community and invested allies to foment ideas and build collective knowledge and understanding about our present and local circumstances. To support these goals, we focus on these key activities:
Political Education. Communities can only be strong if organizing and activism is grounded in deep historical knowledge, especially in the radical thought of the Caribbean and its diaspora. Our goal is to make history and politics accessible.
Teach-Ins: Sharing with information with the community about political issues and collectively discussing strategies.
CSN Study Circle: 3rd Saturday of each month at A Different Booklist, Toronto. (via Bathurst Subway Station)
CSN Media: Diving into issues around the Caribbean region. We put on live-streamed panels, gather analysis through intevies and hope to connect with scholars, journalists, organizers around critical issues that affect the region.
Building Connections. We connect diaspora to those working towards liberation in the Caribbean region. Locally, we contribute to the political discourse in Toronto and across the region by building connections, relationships with progressive and radical organizations in Toronto and across Canada. We challenge Canadian state policies which seek to keep the Caribbean region and its peoples in a dependent position.
