Herstory In Focus and Megaphone Breakfast: Resilience In Action
Last week I had the fortune of attending two great community events that highlighted the resilience and community vibe of the Downtown East Side.
Herstory in Focus: Downtown Eastside Women's Centre (DEWC)
The Downtown Eastside Women's Centre is an inclusive facility that is there to assist women and children on the DTES of Vancouver. Herstory in Focus was their second annual gala event where women from the DEWC starred in their own fashion show at the Vancouver Art Gallery.
We were treated to the Wildflower Women of Turtle Island drumming in with Women's Warrior Song. Cecilia Point, from Musqueam gave the territorial acknowledgment to open the event. There was also a live auction and greetings from City of Vancouver Mayor, Gregor Robertson.
Carol Martin, a well-known activist and worker at the DEWC emceed the fashion show. She brought a sense of fun and empowerment as she described each woman who walked down the runway. She said that the DEWC helps builds these women up after they've been knocked down and beaten (both literally and figuratively). That they are our daughters, grandmothers, aunties, cousins, sisters, mothers, warriors - sacred life givers. She introduced the fashion show - the women put together their outfits from clothing they received at the DEWC. In addition to their outfits, they also chose the music they walked down the catwalk to - everything from Mariah Carey, Roy Orbison, Cyndi Lauper and Tribe Called Red. Each woman had their story told. They were so excited and exuberant - their spirits high and for a few minutes they were the centre of attention. The crowd leapt to their feet by the end - loud cheers for each woman as the shimmied, sashayed, strutted, walked, shuffled, danced down that runway. You couldn't help but smile and I couldn't help but choke back a few tears, watching this happen in front of us.
The evening ended with a round dance - I grabbed Hollie's hand and 40+ people participated as Cecilia Point and the Wildflower Women of Turtle Island sang and drummed us to the end of the evening.
For such a small organization they sure do a lot of meaningful work and I was happy to hear they were able to raise an additional $50k.
Megaphone Breakfast 2017
The next morning I found myself downtown again, this time at the Central Branch of the Vancouver Public Library for the 2017 Megaphone Breakfast for which CUPE BC was a sponsor.
This annual event is a opportunity to celebrate the work of Megaphone - a magazine that is curated, written by and sold by residents of the DTES. We honoured Bob Dennis, "Vendor of the Year" based in the Cambie Village area of the city. His resilience was very inspiring. The last part of the event featured a panel called "How to Save a Life" that featured raw and emotional stories from the frontlines of the opioid crisis experienced by residents of the DTES. They were moving, funny, honest and resilient as heck. This event demonstrated how the power of inclusion and community is at the root of how we build the power to create social change.
Both of those events left me in awe of (and I am going to use that word again) the resilience in people, people who have been oppressed, subject to violence, and/or have fallen on hard times. One of my friends who came with me to the DEWC event said it best:
"We are so fortunate as union members and employees at UBC, we should share some of what we have - and we learn from others. I'm proud our local is supporting this great event and partnering with the DEWC."
Me too.
That is all.
Herstory in Focus: Downtown Eastside Women's Centre (DEWC)
We were treated to the Wildflower Women of Turtle Island drumming in with Women's Warrior Song. Cecilia Point, from Musqueam gave the territorial acknowledgment to open the event. There was also a live auction and greetings from City of Vancouver Mayor, Gregor Robertson. 
Carol Martin, a well-known activist and worker at the DEWC emceed the fashion show. She brought a sense of fun and empowerment as she described each woman who walked down the runway. She said that the DEWC helps builds these women up after they've been knocked down and beaten (both literally and figuratively). That they are our daughters, grandmothers, aunties, cousins, sisters, mothers, warriors - sacred life givers. She introduced the fashion show - the women put together their outfits from clothing they received at the DEWC. In addition to their outfits, they also chose the music they walked down the catwalk to - everything from Mariah Carey, Roy Orbison, Cyndi Lauper and Tribe Called Red. Each woman had their story told. They were so excited and exuberant - their spirits high and for a few minutes they were the centre of attention. The crowd leapt to their feet by the end - loud cheers for each woman as the shimmied, sashayed, strutted, walked, shuffled, danced down that runway. You couldn't help but smile and I couldn't help but choke back a few tears, watching this happen in front of us. 
The evening ended with a round dance - I grabbed Hollie's hand and 40+ people participated as Cecilia Point and the Wildflower Women of Turtle Island sang and drummed us to the end of the evening. For such a small organization they sure do a lot of meaningful work and I was happy to hear they were able to raise an additional $50k.
Megaphone Breakfast 2017
The next morning I found myself downtown again, this time at the Central Branch of the Vancouver Public Library for the 2017 Megaphone Breakfast for which CUPE BC was a sponsor.This annual event is a opportunity to celebrate the work of Megaphone - a magazine that is curated, written by and sold by residents of the DTES. We honoured Bob Dennis, "Vendor of the Year" based in the Cambie Village area of the city. His resilience was very inspiring. The last part of the event featured a panel called "How to Save a Life" that featured raw and emotional stories from the frontlines of the opioid crisis experienced by residents of the DTES. They were moving, funny, honest and resilient as heck. This event demonstrated how the power of inclusion and community is at the root of how we build the power to create social change.
Both of those events left me in awe of (and I am going to use that word again) the resilience in people, people who have been oppressed, subject to violence, and/or have fallen on hard times. One of my friends who came with me to the DEWC event said it best:
"We are so fortunate as union members and employees at UBC, we should share some of what we have - and we learn from others. I'm proud our local is supporting this great event and partnering with the DEWC."
Me too.
That is all.
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