Thank you to our friends, allies, and supporters whom we stood alongside in 2011. We are inspired by the global uprisings this past year and we look forward to rising together in yet another year of struggle and liberation – till every wall and fence falls, and all prisons and sweatshops are abolished. serve the people, defend the land. no one is illegal vancouver coast salish territories

ELEVEN NO ONE IS ILLEGAL HIGHLIGHTS FROM 2011

1. Our People v Jason Kenney campaign continued strong this year. We confronted Minister of Censorship, Deportation, and What Not To Wear Jason Kenney in Vancouver on several occasions; organized rallies and banner drops; held community discussions; produced and distributed multilingual factsheets and posters on Harper, Kenney and the Tories; and mobilized nationally against the deportation snitch lines, the human smuggling bill, the conditional permanent residency proposal which puts immigrant women at risk, and Kenney’s anti-family sponsorship regulations.

Take Action against Jason Kenney – Campaign Material:
https://noii-van.resist.ca/?p=2034
Check out our 7 Demands for Migrant Justice:
https://noii-van.resist.ca/?page_id=4096

2. Our “I am a Human Smuggler” Poster Series, featuring Harriet Tubman and Irene Sendler, went viral and were downloaded and distributed in communities from coast to coast! We share them in opposition to the Tories human smuggling bills.
Poster image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nooneisillegal/5366393464/

3. In March 2011, we organized a Community March Against Racism on the International Day for the Elimination of Racism. Approximately 500 people marched to confront racism while celebrating the dignity, strength, and resilience of our communities.
Videos and photos: https://noii-van.resist.ca/?p=3464

4. We launched our “Inheriting Resistance: A Community History Project” to document the untold stories of people in our communities who have shaped a diversity of social justice struggles on unceded Coast Salish Territories over the past 20-40 years. We hope to learn from the lessons shared throughout this project for many years to come. In August, we released an excerpt of our first interview with Jean Swanson.
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FDctWyxfzQ

5. We organized a successful sanction-busting fundraiser dinner for Abousfian Abdelrazik, in active defiance of the unjust UN 1267 sanctions regime. We joined hundreds of individuals and unions across the country who risked federal prosecution by openly making a donation to Mr. Abdelrazik. As a result of an ongoing campaign, including a Canada-wide speaking tour and a delegation to the UN, Abousfian Abdelrazik was removed from this UN blacklist (“a prison without walls”) in Nov 2011.
More info: http://www.peoplescommission.org/en/abdelrazik/

6. We were honoured and humbled to be invited by the First and Second Indigenous Assembly Against Mining and Pipelines to help organize and attend these gatherings. A fundamental principle for NOII is to build alliances in solidarity with Indigenous communities as we fight against racism, colonization, and global systems of apartheid.
Photos:http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/photo/no-mining-native-land/8843

7. We maintained our active support for long-standing land defense struggles in Secwepemc, Stat’imc, Wet’suwet’en, Dene Suline, and Tsilhqot’in territories as well as solidarity with Indigenous peoples impacted by Tar Sands through delegations, court support, organizing panel discussions, participation in action camps etc. As multiracial settlers, migrants, refugees and people of colour struggling against racism and unjust immigration laws, we recognize that our homes and our struggles are being built on Indigenous lands.
Read more: https://noii-van.resist.ca/?page_id=16

8. In October 2011, we were contacted by Nader, an Iranian refugee who had been detained and imprisoned by Canadian Border Services Agency since 2005. We raised awareness and mobilized support on his behalf. We even received correspondence from the Immigration and Refugee Board Communications Department about our community organizing. In December 2011, Nader was released from detention and granted status as a protected person!
Read more: https://noii-van.resist.ca/?p=4596

9. Alongside Justicia for Migrant Workers and the Philippine Women’s Centre, we had our very first flashmob! On International Migrants Day, we went Christmas carolling throughout the malls of Vancouver and Burnaby, providing a rousing rendition of “the 12 Days of Minister Kenney.”
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y97cAnJ42jU

10. We supported and participated in grassroots movements including: G20 defense, local rallies to defend the Arab Spring, Occupy Together movement, justice for missing and murdered Indigenous women in the DTES, BDS actions for Palestine, mining justice organizing, Burnaby anti-homophobia mobilizing led by high school students, solidarity with the refugee revolt in Australian detention centres, the CUPW strike, rally for workers at Brentwood mall, and more.
Photos: http://www.flickr.com/nooneisillegal/

11. We joined the world of social media! Check us out:
Follow our Twitter: https://twitter.com/noii_vancouver
Youtube playlists: http://www.youtube.com/NoOneIsIllegalVan
View our Flickr photo-galleries: http://www.flickr.com/nooneisillegal/
Like our Facebook Page and our Group:
https://www.facebook.com/nooneisillegal and
https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6252584281