A Conversation with Idle No More’s Leanne Simpson  Naomi Klein speaks with writer, spoken-word artist, and indigenous academic Leanne Betasamosake Simpson about “extractivism,” why it’s important to talk about memories of the land, and what’s next for Idle No More. In December 2012, the Indigenous protests known as Idle No More exploded onto the Canadian political scene, [...]

The Strategic Importance of Keystone XL Presidential decisions often turn out to be far less significant than imagined, but every now and then what a president decides actually determines how the world turns. Such is the case with the Keystone XL pipeline, which, if built, is slated to bring some of the “dirtiest,” carbon-rich oil [...]

En diciembre del año pasado a raíz de la aprobación de la Ley C-45 que modifica normas sobre pueblos originarios y protección medioambiental de tierras y aguas, indígenas y activistas de todo el país resolvieron darle fuerza al movimiento “Idle no more” (No más pasividad) ocupando avenidas principales, puentes y vías férreas.

I don’t claim to know exactly what’s going on with #IdleNoMore, the surging movement of indigenous activists that started late last year in Canada and is now spreading across the continent — much of the action, from hunger strikes to road and rail blockades, is in scattered and remote places, and even as people around [...]

Idle No More has organized the largest mass mobilizations of indigenous people in recent history. What sparked it off and what’s coming next? It took weeks of protests, flash mobs, letters, rallies, and thousands of righteous tweets, but Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper finally caved. He agreed to a meeting with the woman who had [...]

As Chief Spence starves, Canadians awaken from idleness and remember their roots I woke up just past midnight with a bolt. My six-month-old son was crying. He has a cold – the second of his short life–and his blocked nose frightens him. I was about to get up when he started snoring again. I, on [...]

Las huelgas estudiantiles terminan con una victoria La primera ministra electa anunció un día después de vencer los comicios que cancela la subida de tasas del 75% y la polémica ley antiprotestas estudiantiles. Tras casi siete meses de huelga indefinida en institutos y universidades y más de 2.500 detenidos en manifestaciones y protestas, los estudiantes culminan [...]

I gave a talk last week at Canada’s Wilfrid Laurier University to the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences. Many in the audience had pinned small red squares of felt to their clothing. The carre rouge, or red square, has become the Canadian symbol of revolt. It comes from the French phrase carrement dans [...]

Breve documental sobre la huelga de los estudiantes en Quebec en 2012. Los estudiantes nos han enseñado el camino, hay que seguir su ejemplo. Producido por: Lucho Granados Ceja Para más información en franceses: bloquonslahausse.com Para más información en inglés: quebecprotest.com

Dear Friends, This will be a slightly longer letter than common for the internet age—it’s serious stuff. The short version is we want you to consider doing something hard: coming to Washington in the hottest and stickiest weeks of the summer and engaging in civil disobedience that will likely get you arrested. The full version goes [...]