DEAR JOE ROSE

A creative call for queer valentines from all lovers

Have you heard of Joe Rose? If you have not heard his name, you might know his legacy left on the Dawson Community, a place thriving in its diversity. Joe Rose was a queer activist before the word queer was even a thing. The founder of the LGBTQ+ association at Dawson: ETCETERA, he was also an AIDS activist and engaged community member. Not afraid to be who he was, he wore pink hair while studying nursing. He was tragically gay bashed and killed on a city bus in March of 1989 by a group of young men spewing homophobic hate. His death provoked many to fight for LGBTQ+ rights in his honor. He is the reason Montreal chapters of ACT UP and QUEER NATION existed and have evolved within our communities to counter anti-gay violence.

This Valentine’s Day the Creative Collective for Change in collaboration with ETCETERA, the DSU, CLL, AR Cité, Sustainability, The Hive and the Warren G. Flowers gallery are reminding us that LOVE is not always about romance, and that love letters can go a long way in building a better world.

Submit your love letter to Joe Rose and remind his soul how our community has been shaped by his efforts. Maybe his activism for queer safety has impacted your life directly, or you would like to share a story about your own love and your pride in it despite being marginalized. Perhaps there is a story of solidarity with queer activism that has shaped you as an ally, or as a parent, teacher, friend, student, neighbor. Perhaps you are joined to his legacy and are fighting for justice and social change. Tell him about it, share your gratitude and even ask him what he might do today if he were with us. 

Feel free to do this in any form (written, collage, photograph, post-card, video etc..). Submit something online: @cc4change #dearjoerose or in person: DSU will accept physical valentines and letters Feb 7 through 17 (look for the pink box). 

Submissions will be displayed at the gallery, around the Joe Rose plaque in Conrod’s. Let us know if you are not ok with exhibiting your work or sign off anonymously if necessary.

With Love,

Creative Collective for Change 

students, teachers, administrators, ​activists, artists and curators working towards developing opportunities for addressing complex social issues in creative, constructive and critical ways. 

UPCOMING:

Objects in the Mirror are Closer than they Appear: POP UP EXHIBITS

Join us for some pop-up exhibits in and around the college that engages in conversations around policing and experiences with law enforcement through art making. Check back here or @cc4change for more information about how you can participate!

PAST EVENTS:

CRITICAL COMMOTION

Creative Collective for Change is asking our community to make a Critical Commotion around ideas of law enforcement. With the help of our alumni group, Peace Week, the DSU and Humanities and Public Life Conference, we will be doing a series of events that starts a conversation by asking: What is your experience with law enforcement? What do you want them to do? How can we understand the system better through our experiences?

September 13 – 16 Conrod’s during Dawson Dining (11AM-1PM) “Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear” Join in an interactive art exhibit with a collage artist, some sharpies and a story.

September 19 (4PM) Academic Talk with Pat Romano  5B.15 “A Real Alternative? Reflecting on nonviolence as war rages on”

September 21 (4PM in 4C.1) Guest Lecture Ayvaunn Penn (#ForBoInitiative)  “Theatre for social change: a community’s response to racial injustice in law enforcement”

Difficult Conversations (part 1): Is there room for making a mistake in the age of “cancel culture”? 

“We have to think with nuance, and unfortunately public discourse rarely allows for nuance. And see where that has gotten us.”

Roxane Gay; from an interview with Aida Edemariam, The Guardian, 27 Dec. 2018

Blurb:

Unjust power structures can be challenged or reproduced in the classroom. Harms can be done, traumas triggered, mistakes made, shame inflicted and apologies given. The goal of this workshop is to work through the complexities present when an educator stumbles into the polarizing social issues of today. By exploring some cases of “cancel culture” in institutions of higher education and beyond, we are prompted to ask: are there distinctions to be made between giving offense and doing harm? Do good intentions matter? Can a defense grounded in the right to academic freedom seem dismissive? Is there room for mistakes and forgiveness?

Space will be limited to 15 participants and some readings will be recommended in advance.

Students and teachers from the Resist Violence CoP