By Carolyn Harris
Hello
everyone!
I am
currently taking a public history course in university, and one of my
assignments is to write a blog post on a story, event, or object from my own
life that I feel is worth preserving in an online exhibit for future public
history students. The event that I have chosen is the 2016 Ottawa Earthlings
March!
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| Photo posted by Savannah Greene on Facebook (not taken by me). |
The event
On
September 3, 2016, I attended Ottawa’s first annual Earthlings March, which is
a peaceful protest that aims to raise awareness about animal rights issues and
to call for an end to animal exploitation. Earthlings Marches were started by the
animal liberation group Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) and have taken place in dozens of cities around the world—from Montreal to London, and from Tel Aviv to Kharkiv. The
idea behind using the word “Earthlings” is that all humans and animals are
sentient beings who live on the Earth together. Different species though we may
be, we all have the right to be free from abuse and exploitation. The word
“Earthlings” also is used by the documentary of the same name, which is about
the horrors of factory farming.
Ottawa’s march, which was organized by the Ottawa Animal Defense League, started with some speeches by Ottawa-based activists in front of dozens of participants who gathered in Confederation Park. Then, holding signs and chanting, we marched through downtown Ottawa, including past Parliament Hill and the Chateau Laurier. The march lasted for about an hour.
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| Photo by Carolyn Harris. |
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| Speeches before the march. Photo by Carolyn Harris. |
Our chants
These chants were presumably written by (an) animal rights activist(s) involved in the march (but not me).
Freedom for
all,
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| Photo by Carolyn Harris. |
Justice for
animals!
Humans and
animals
We are all
equal
No more oppression,
Animal
liberation
For the
rabbits and the foxes and the mink and the pigs
No excuses
Let the
animals live!
For the
lambs and the cows and the birds and the fish
No excuses
Let the
animals live!
Not just for Cecil
Not just for Harambe
We want
justice for all animals!
Not just
for dogs, not just for cats, no
We want
justice for all animals!
Stop
exploitation
Meat
abolition
One struggle,
one fight
Human
freedom, animal rights
The march
certainly got a lot of attention from passersby, and some onlookers filmed us
with their phones as we walked by. Some march participants handed out leaflets
to passersby, and/or put animal rights stickers on telephone poles along the
route.
Why does
this story need to be remembered?
Amazingly, even
though dozens of us were there (and we made a lot of noise, believe me!), there
was absolutely no coverage of the march by mainstream media. A quick Google search done months later reveals that the only online documentation of what
happened at this event is on Facebook, in one YouTube video (published by one
of the activists who was there), and on my vegan advocacy blog in a previous post.
Despite the
lack of interest by the media, this story is one that needs to be remembered.
The 2016 Ottawa Earthlings March is significant because it was the first of its
kind in Ottawa, and furthermore, it is representative of the modern animal
rights/vegan movement in 2016-2017. The movement has been changing its message
to demand an end to the slaughter (instead of merely suggesting that animals have rights), and it is increasing in its
reach like never before. Veganism is becoming more mainstream through increased
vegan food selection in grocery stores and celebrity figures adopting a vegan
diet. It is quite likely that in fifty years’ time, mainstream Canadian society
will see animal rights as an important social justice issue.
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| Did you know...? |
Regardless
of what will happen in the future, though, remembering this march would be of
interest to public history students because it captures a sense of the new
direction in which this movement is headed. Fifty years from now, they will be
able to compare the movement as it will exist in their time to how it was in
2016-2017.
The fact
is, the history of the animal rights/vegan movement is rarely told in museums
and exhibits around the world. But as the author of my public history textbook
points out, when repositories accept contributions from the public, this can
“allow repositories to ‘actively document those whose voices have been
overlooked or marginalized’ (SAA 2011). Public engagement might contribute to
limiting historical silences in collections” (Cauvin 46).
Through documentation,
the memory of this event will not fade into oblivion quite as quickly as it otherwise would,
and with luck, future historians will give it attention when they are writing
the history of the animal rights movement/the history of Ottawa.
Canada 150
and Canada’s national identity
When
talking about Canada’s national identity, animal rights and veganism do not
usually come to most people’s minds. But, although vegans and
animal rights activists are still the minority in Canada, our stories are nevertheless
worthy of being told.
Besides, I maintain
that the animal rights movement is already in line with Canadian values. Canada
generally stands for respecting others’ right to live and be free. When one
considers the sentience of non-human animals, it becomes apparent that we must
respect animals’ rights, too.
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| Walking past Parliament Hill. Photo by Carolyn Harris. |
Closing
thoughts
Most
importantly, this story needs to be remembered for the billions of animals who
are killed every year for human tastes and profit. When we remember this march,
we are also remembering the animals.
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| Photo posted by Savannah Greene on Facebook (not taken by me). |
(Please note: The first and the last photos in this blog post were downloaded from someone else's post on this event's Facebook Event page. All the other photos are Copyright Carolyn Harris 2016.)
