Judy Rebick

I am sitting in a cafe in Calgary crying while I watch another joyous and beautiful video of the pots and pans marches in Quebec - "The Sound Your Life Makes." I don't know if it is the inspiring music of ordinary people coming into the streets to defy an unjust law; the awesome courage and determination of the Quebec students; or the shifting sands of the global youth uprising, but for the first time in my lifetime there is a solidarity movement growing in

I am sitting in a cafe in Calgary crying while I watch another joyous and beautiful video of the pots and pans marches in Quebec - "The Sound Your Life Makes." I don't know if it is the inspiring music of ordinary people coming into the streets to defy an unjust law; the awesome courage and determination of the Quebec students; or the shifting sands of the global youth uprising, but for the first time in my lifetime there is a solidarity movement growing in

I am sitting in a cafe in Calgary crying while I watch another joyous and beautiful video of the pots and pans marches in Quebec - "The Sound Your Life Makes." I don't know if it is the inspiring music of ordinary people coming into the streets to defy an unjust law; the awesome courage and determination of the Quebec students; or the shifting sands of the global youth uprising, but for the first time in my lifetime there is a solidarity movement growing in

 Almost everyone I’ve talked to since what seemed like the sudden announcement of Jack Layton’s death had the same experience that I did. It hit me harder than I expected. I’ve lost other comrades, many closer than Jack was to my politics and my practice but his death hit me harder. I’ve been thinking about why.

As some of you may know, I am working on a memoir.  As part of the journey I returned to New York City where I lived in 1968.  A friend and filmaker Nova Ami asked if she could follow me and make short film about my memories.  I think it's a wonderful film that captures both New York and me in a beautiful, loving and fun way.  Hope you enjoy it.

Today the Voice of Women For Peace celebrates its 50th Anniversary with a free conference at Hart House and a gala dinner.

My last book Ten Thousand Roses: The Making of a Feminist Revolution  starts in the early 1960's with the emergence of an extraordinary group called Voice of Women for Peace that challenged the anti-communist monoculture of the Cold War with a warm embrace directed towards the women who were supposedly our enemies. The Voice of Women, as pioneer feminist Ursula Franklin points out below was the seedbed for the feminist revolution in Canada and we were lucky it came before preparing the ground in many ways.