Anonymous submission to North Shore

It was a picture snapped by a friend of a friend, spotted on a walk, passed around on signal and shared on an anarchist facebook page. A banner waving in the breeze off a rail bridge, proclaiming “Genocide is not an essential service – Solidarity with Wet’suwet’en”. A few kilometers down from the spot where the banner was hung, just a few months ago hundreds of us gathered on the rails. We were part of a wave of actions stopping rail traffic across the country, demanding the RCMP get off Wet’suwet’en territory, and declaring that the Canadian economy couldn’t continue as usual while Indigenous land was invaded in the name of greed and environmental destruction. This banner echoes that moment and to me, is a small spark of hope about moments to come.

I hate to use social media shares as a metric, (but I will) – the response to this photo was really big, and I think that’s telling. Something in this action spoke to people, maybe sparked a memory of a powerful moment for them. Or, maybe gave them a feeling of relief that somebody did something in a moment that feels stuck, horrible and disempowering. The secret is, any of us can paint a banner, string it up over a rail bridge, and share our anger and our solidarity. There is so much all of us can do.

To the creator of this banner, I love you! To all of us, take heart. There is much to be done but also many of us; the state’s powers are vast and yet across the land points of weakness are everywhere. Moving to action is a practice to be cultivated. I believe in us!