There is no better way to conclude Pride week...

than to do a TEACH workshop. Memorable moment: "I'm not homophobic, I have a friend who's gay and all. I'm not easily shocked so I had no initial reaction but my 6 year old son came up to me the other day and said he'll marry a man..." We gave him definite props for fostering an environment where the child both knew this was a possible future and felt safe to inform his parents.

Where was I Friday? Where I usual am, at an intersection of "sex" and "race". I had family calling and MSNing to wish me Bonne St-Jean while Pride weekend got into full swing. I promised Sandie I'd be at the Plaine D'Abraham next year.
To bring it back to the 1st paragraph, 2 teachers asked if we'd do the workshop in French next year. Please if you know any francophones/francophiles in the GTA who would love to do a real difference in the fight against homophobia have them visit www.teachtoronto.ca! There used to be 4 or 5 TEACH vollies that spoke French but it's not clear they'll be any left next year :(
note: picture will trinkle over the next few days.

a snapshot of The Rebel Sell by Joseph Heath & Andrew Potter

September 2003 [...] Adbusters magazine started accepting orders for the Black Spot Sneaker, its own signature brand of "subversive" running shoes. After that day, no rational person could possibly believe that there is any tension between "mainsteam" and "alternative" culture. After that day, it became obvious to everyone that cultural rebellion, of the type epitomized by Adbusters magazine, is not a threat to the system - it is the system.[...]

Adbusters did not sell out, because there was nothing to sell out in the first place. Adbusters never had a revolutionary doctrine. [...]
Lasn describes the sneaker project as "a ground-breaking marketing scheme to uncool Nike. If it succeeds it will set a precedent that will revolutionize capitalism." Yet how exactly is it supposed to revolutionize capitalism? Reebok, Adidas, Puma, Vans and a half-dozen other companies have been trying to "uncool" Nike for decades. That's called marketplace competition. It is, in fact, the whole point of capitalism. [...]
( Read more... )