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Byron Cruz

Articles by Byron Cruz

LuciaLa mission esta cumplida Lucia no era fantasma

No son fantasmas quienes contruyeron la villa olimpica y la linea del tren, tan poco son fantasmas los que muy tempranito por la manana se levantan preparan su sandwich, su uniforme de contruccion, su casco, mujeres y hombres migrantes de la construccion, mujeres y hombres de la limpieza.  Mujere y hombres migrantes que sabemos planificar, protestar y proponer una política publica. (…)

LuciaAccess Without Fear

Recently members of Sanctuary Health and their allies attended a council meeting at Vancouver City Hall where the Access Without Fear policy was voted on. We made sure that Lucía Vega Jimenez does not remain invisible, she isn’t a ghost. The migrant construction workers that built the Olympic Village and the Canada line aren’t ghosts. (…)

canadian-refugee-camp-graphHealth care services near, but still too far

It was 2am, the first week of the spring. The phone rang at home. We knew it was time to get up and go to provide support for a brave young Latin American girl who did not have access to prenatal care from the Canadian health care system. For Ingrid it was her first experience as a doula, a non-medical person who supports a woman before, during and after childbirth. As an experienced mother, she knew what to do. (…)


 

Amalia lives on

Her name was Amalia, Amalia from Hastings, Amalia from Guatemala.

Amalia was one of the first Latin American women to live and work in the DTES. Amalia had a history of pain, a history of suffering. She had been kidnapped and tortured by the Guatemalan army. Amalia started working in DEYAS (Downtown Eastside Youth Activities Society), and she was always very dedicated to support Latin Americans in the DTES. (…)

bc-reality-mata-130320-copyImmigration officers are unwanted visitors in the Downtown Eastside

Beware, beware! Pay your ticket when using the Sky Train or the transit officers will ask you for your name and they will communicate with immigration officers. An undocumented worker was beaten in the head (a hate crime). He was taken unconscious to hospital, and suddenly woke up to realize that beside his bed there were unwanted visitors (two immigration officers). (…)

   
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Sad Siren Song: By Tracey Morrison

― February 12, 2017

Community Spotlight: Jean Swanson

For our issue on the BC Liberal legacy, Volcano editors turned to our Community Spotlight on a legacy of our own to highlight her over 40 years of anti-poverty work. Jean Swanson is an editor with The Volcano alongside her work with the Carnegie Community Action Project. She previously worked with the Downtown Eastside Residents’ Association (DERA) and is the author of a book titled Poorbashing: The Politics of Exclusion.

You’ve been active in anti-poverty work for a long time. What has been the biggest realization that you have had with regards to poverty in this province? Has your understanding or approach to government changed over time and through experience?

My approach to government has definitely changed. Back in 1979, I actually ran as an NDP MLA candidate because I thought being involved in electoral politics was a way of implementing the things you’ve been fighting for in the community. I ran with COPE for city council too, along with my co-workers Bruce Eriksen and Libby Davies, who were elected. In those days it seemed possible to get city council to do some good things for the Downtown Eastside if we worked hard at it: fund the Carnegie Centre, pass a Standards of Maintenance bylaw, put sprinklers in the hotels.

In the early 90s, after the NDP cut welfare and brought in a whole poorbashing framework to justify it, I couldn’t bring myself to vote at all, let alone run for office.

Read more about Jean Swanson's commitment to anti-poverty organizing here.

The Volcano is published on traditional, ancestral, and unceded Coast Salish Territories.

Alliance Against Displacement: The Volcano is affiliated with the Alliance Against Displacement, a pan-regional anti-displacement network of local communities, organizations, and activists fighting displacement on the ground.

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