The language of activism

Page 5

"Solidarite! This is what democracy looks like!" These were the popular rallying cries of protesters in the streets of Quebec City. Both official languages of the "founding Nations of Canada" myth were represented at the anti-Free Trade Agreement of the Americas Summit demonstration by the predominantly white, middle class activists.

Hours earlier, the group with which I had made the 10-hour drive from Toronto to Quebec City, had decided on our own chants for Saturday's march.

Our cries, like us, were of a different shade. Being a group comprised solely of First Nations and people of color, our chants against the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA) targeted specifically the racist and colonialist agenda of the FTAA. Some of our chants included: "The FTAA is white, white, white! First Nations and people of color unite and fight!" and "Latinos, First Nations, brown and black! People of the Americas are under attack! Latinos, First Nations, brown and black! People of color stand up and fight back!"

Although our chants were empowering, they were still in the language of a culture that had colonized the Indigenous people of North America, and brought free trade. Among our group, a few spoke French or Spanish, as well as English, but not one of us spoke our Native tongue. This was the real legacy of free trade-the loss of culture, land, resources and people. We knew that we had paid dearly for this so called "free" trade between white colonialist governments and their sister corporations in our lands, and that our counterparts in the Americas are going to as well. All one has to do is look at the fur trade to see how much free trade has helped Indigenous people in Canada.

But 34 heads of state were meeting and espousing the nice rhetoric that free trade would promote democracy and help the poor. The fact is that under NAFTA, the gap between the rich and the poor in these countries has grown wider. And the poor in any country are always predominantly Indigenous peoples or people of color.

As we marched up the hill to Old Quebec, the heavily fortified section of the city, we were surrounded by well-meaning members of the dominant culture, who had their hair done in dreadlocks, braids and African head scarves, and were donning buckskin fringe vests and beaded chokers. I guess they thought that their appropriation of "ethnic" hair and clothing meant they were down with the oppressed masses. While us, in our jeans and t-shirts, simply wore our ethnicity on our faces, and the injustice of free trade on our souls, because our people were the real victims of free trade.

We did eventually join in the cry for solidarite with everyone else.

It would be nice if just by shouting for solidarity in the street, all the diverse groups demonstrating in Quebec City could truly be united in solidarity with one another. It would be nice if people were not exploited, cultures not devalued, land and resources not appropriated, primarily because they are those of Indigenous people and people of color. It would be nice if that was what democracy looked like.