Good morning!
And welcome to another Toronto blog post! This time, it’s all about reading material found on the street recently. In a lot of ways, it’s a snapshot of some of the issues and concerns that occupy us at this particular moment in time.
Papers on boxes, papers on poles, and papers on walls. Protests. Advertisements. Words. Car caravan protest; Take back the night; call Jacki. A potpourri of thoughts and causes. An abundance of opinions and objectives.
below: 62nd Tibetans National Uprising Day, March 10th. In March of 1959, there was an unsuccessful uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet in which about 87,000 people died; it was at this time that the Dalai Lama fled to India (in the Himalayas) where he has lived in exile ever since.
below: Khaleel Seivwright is a carpenter who has been constructing tiny shelters. Some of the funds for the project come from a GoFundMe campaign. These structures have been placed in encampments for the homeless in parks and on other city-owned land but back in February, the city filed an injunction to stop the shelters on city property.
below: Another poster concerning the shortfalls of social housing in this city. As the average cost of house in the GTA hovers around a million dollars, there is a growing lack of affordable housing.
below: Cops aren’t workers – no police unions
below: Defund the police by 50% and invest in community supports and services – on top. And on the bottom, Disco 3000, a weekly (Thursday nights) radio show on Parkdale Private Radio.
below: Covid lockdown protest
below: We got a problem – Because the ones who are causing the problem don’t want us to know what it is.” The people named are all conspiracy theorists and anti-vaxxers.
below: A quote from Maya Angelou: “Nothing will work unless you do”
below: A few survive – “Radical simply means ‘Grasping things at the root’ Angela Davis. Plus, My body; my choice.
below: In Parkdale a lot of the posters have been cut down leaving mysterious bits behind. The words here are written in a different alphabet and I have no idea what the poster was advertising or promoting.
below: Beside the stairs – Free Hong Hong; Free Tibet