Check out our new website at: http://agitateottawa.com

Please be patient as we transfer content into it.

Thank you for all your support for 2009.  We look forward to expanding our network to QPOC.  The QPOCalypse is here!

in solidarity,

The Agitate Team.

Agitate wants to invite you to its rebirth party “Jizz.ism”. This is the new Jizz, homies.

It’s going to be sexy. It’s going to be queer. It’s going to be the jizziest party of the year.

What are we celebrating?

*Expanding our network from queer women of colour to queer people of colour

*Launching a new website and and new logo

*Showcasing amazing queer people of colour artists and performers that include hot DJs, hilarious comics, and rad performance artists

Come bump and grind with us

>> DJ Mikkipedia & DJ yalla!yalla! will make you sweat
>> art displays by Zara and Rah Eleh
>> funnies by Kalyani
>> performances by Faye Estrella and Rah Eleh, and lots more to be announced soon! (stay tuned)

December 19th at Club SAW (67 Nicholas Street)

Show starts at 9pm

Drinks go until 2am

Pay-what-you-can, homos (suggested $5 to $10)

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we love our sponsors:
Venus Envy, OPIRG-GRIPO-Ottawa

agitate! is looking for performers to showcase in our second coming-out party: jizz.ism! we’re looking for talented people whose experiences reflect the intersections of multiple oppressions, and who have, as a result, experienced a lack of access or opportunity to find themselves in the spotlight. those who face other oppressions and barriers than those mentioned above are also encouraged to submit proposals.

jizz.ism is a sexy queer dance-party celebrating agitate’s up-coming and grand endeavors. to start the party off right, we’re looking for sexy and powerful performance pieces.

we’re looking for poets, singers, storytellers, dancers, drag-performers, musicians, performance artists, comedians, etc. if you are a visual artist, and are open to doing live art-making, you are also invited to submit a proposal. if you wish to exhibit visual art, that’s cool too.

proposals:

submit proposals by e-mail to agitate_ottawa@yahoo.ca, with ‘jizz.ism proposal’ in the subject line.

proposals should include the following:

• your name, and a little bit about yourself
• how you find you fit with agitate!’s mission
• contact information
• the length of your performance
• one paragraph explaining what your performance entails
• your technical requirements

submission deadline is november 20th, 2009. there are a limited number of time-slots available, so make sure to get your proposals in before the deadline.

until then,

agitate!

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=169138637498

First Women, First Voices - poster by Elisha Lim

Ladyfest Ottawa is thrilled to present First Women, First Voices - a night dedicated to showcasing and celebrating the work of aboriginal women in spoken word.
We’ll begin this powerful evening with opening sets by TAQRALIK PARTRIDGE and by MOE CLARK & EMILIE MONNET, who will be debuting an excerpt of their new collaborative project, The BirdSong Prophecies.

TAQRALIK PARTRIDGE http://www.myspace.com/taqralikpartridge
MOE CLARK http://www.myspace.com/moeclarkspokenword
EMILIE MONNET http://www.electriques.ca/filles/artistes.e/m/monnet_em.php

Our featured artist for the evening is Calgary’s Sarah Murphy, who will be presenting her performance piece “when bill danced the war.” In this fierce anti-war critique of colonization, Murphy uses words and music to bear witness to her father’s experiences fighting in three wars as an indigenous man and american soldier. She will be accompanied by Toronto musician and performance artist Cheryl L’Hirondelle.

Here’s what one critic had to say about “when bill danced the war”:

“The prose is shot through with arresting images, wry observation and a clear vision of modern society’s twisted perspective on the world and its past. This is storytelling for grown-ups, an unflinching combination of wry wit, a wide perspective (taking the long view both personally and historically) and fury. Sir Laurence Olivier wrote of the play Saved by Edward Bond: ‘Saved is not a play for children but it is for grown-ups, and the grown-ups of this country should have the courage to look at it.’ This is the quality Sarah presents to us. She stands as a direct polar opposite to the mind-numbing presumptions of daytime TV, as a standard bearer for value and as a signpost toward the truth of the world. She’s like a kind of literary aunt who comes over and tells you stuff your parents don’t want you to know.” ~ Bob Lockwood

SARAH MURPHY http://www.wordhoard.co.uk/bill.htm
CHERYL L’HIRONDELLE http://www.myspace.com/cheryllhirondelle

This all-ages event will be hosted by indigenous feminist activist Jessica Yee.

Friday, October 23rd at The Bronson Centre  (211 Bronson St) 

Doors open at 7pm. Show begins at 8pm. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased in advance at Venus Envy (320 Lisgar, near Bank) and Mother Tongue Books (1067 Bank near Sunnyside). You can also get in touch with Agitate! to obtain tickets.

Agitate! Presents…

OutWrite!

Queer / Two Spirit / Trans Writers of Colour and Indigenous Writers refuse to be written out!

An exciting reading event and panel of writers and poets in celebration of Pride. Often writers of marginalized identities face challenges in presenting and publishing their own points of view coupled with the threat of their voices being tokenized and co-opted in the process. Featuring both emerging and established writers from Ottawa and beyond, this panel will explore issues of representation, intersectionality and how identity and experience are expressed in the writers’ craft.

Thursday, August 20^th

Montgomery Legion Hall

330 Kent Street near Somerset Ave (wheelchair accessible)

Doors open at 6:30 pm, reading at 7 pm

Tickets at the door: $10-20 sliding scale

Panel:
Nalo Hopkinson
Trish Salah
Kalyani Pandya
Rob Friday

Additional reading performances by:
Salimah Valiani
Faye Estrella

With Music, Free Snacks and a Cash Bar

Raffles for prizes – proceeds of the raffle go to The Taxicab Drivers’ Relief Account of the CAW Local 1688.

This event will also be a fundraising effort for the Migrants’ Trade Union (MTU) in South Korea. MTU is a union of documented and undocumented migrant workers in South Korea, the only union of its kind in the world today. The MTU has joined in the struggle of GLBT people in South Korea, including defending the needs of its own GLBT members. Agitate feels it is important to connect our work with the struggle of other racialized people in the world, especially as the rights of migrant workers in Canada continue to be largely ignored.

Raffle proceeds will go to The Taxicab Drivers’ Relief Account. Sami Aldoboni was allegedly assaulted on the job recently during an incident with an off duty Ottawa police officer. He has been unable to work since the incident. Abdinsaq Abdullahi was violently attacked on Friday, July l7th and suffered serious injuries and remains in hospital. Both are currently without income and need to support themselves and their families, including children, now and to pay for various expenses, including some medical and rehabilitation expenses.
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Want to get familiar with the featured writer Nalo Hopkinson’s work? Stay tuned for more details on Agitate!’s Book Club.

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This event is proudly sponsored by:
PROMdemonium
Venus Envy
OPIRG-GRIPO uOttawa
CUPE2626
CUPE1281
CUPE1949
CAW-National
Mother Tongue Books
Sexual Assault Support Centre of Ottawa
Ontario Federation of Labour

Do you read books? Do you wish you read more books? Are you interested in reading interesting books about interesting issues by interesting authors? Yeah!

Some important info:
- books that will be chosen will address intersectional issues ie. queerness, race, class, etc.
- discussions will be from an anti-racist/anti-oppressive perspective
- it is open to primarily indigenous peoples and people of colour, though allies may join. but this ain’t no anti-oppression workshop, yo. hah. no seriously. 

We want people to be involved in how the book club runs and help us pick books. Our first book has already been chosen, it will be “Cereus Blooms at Night” by Trinidadian-Canadian author Shani Mootoo. Our first meeting will be about meeting each other and talking about what we would like the book club to look like. You do not have to have anything read by the first meeting. 

Books can either be purchased at some of our lovely local bookstores, or you can rent them from the library. Agitate has a couple of copies of our first book to lend out, so if you are having trouble accessing a copy, please let us know by email or msg here on facebook. 

Location has been decided, we’ll be having it at Venus Envy, corner of Bank & Lisgar! There will be some light snacks.

Stillblackfilm.org:

Directed by experimental filmmaker Kortney Ryan Ziegler, still black is an alternative feature-length documentary that explores the lives of six black transgender men living in the United States. Through the intimate stories of their lives as artists, students, husbands, fathers, lawyers, and teachers, the film offers viewers a complex and multi-faceted image of race, sexuality and trans identity.

The official release is set for Fall 2008. Visit the website to find out more on the film and how to support it.

OTTAWA LAUNCHING OF LOLA GOUINE’S “IT’S RAINING DYKES” ZINE!

Lola Gouine is a queer feminist zinester from Montreal and we are proud to be hosting the launching of the 10th issue of her zine. There is plenty of fun and shenanigans to look forward to, some of which include:

- puppet show!
- it’s raining dykes art for sale
- self-serve silkscreening
- film screening of Lola’s queer film “Gender Poo”
- music and laughter!

We are glad to have Jayda Kelsall joining us to read some pieces from her new zine as well!
DJ CPI will be providing the tooons.

For more info on It’s Raining Dykes, please visit http://ilpleutdesgouines.blogspot.com.

Hope to see you there!

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Ottawa Launching of “It’s Raining Dykes” Zine
Saturday June 7th, 8-10pm
Venus Envy, 320 Lisgar St.
ADMISSION FREE (donations accepted)

Don’t Miss it!

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Thursday, May 29th — 9 pm

Mercury Lounge – 56 Byward Market

Ottawa, Ontario

w/guests : QR5, DJ Trevor Walker & Free Will & Poetic Speed

local sponsors: No One is Illega (NOII) Ottawaa / Stop Canadian Complicity in Torture / Common Cause Ottawa / Agitate – more info below!

$8 – $10 sliding scale

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http://www.ptrmusic.com