Chapter 2: Creating the Message

Part 1
By The Mischief Makers

I put on my shoes and reach for my bag. As I open the front door, the cold England air blows in my face. Doing up the buttons on my coat, I walk down the steps and find my way to the bus stop. Looking up at the clear, star-filled sky, I am consider that in a few months the world most powerful economic leaders will be holding their annual summit in Scotland. They will meet behind closed doors and the details of their conversations will be kept secret from the public, despite the daunting reality that their decisions directly affect our lives. With Africa's debt to Western nations growing and an escalating climate crisis, many are calling on the G8 to take responsibility for the outcomes of their policies. In the silence of the night, I wonder if that day will ever come.My thoughts are interrupted by the squeaky brakes of a double-decker bus. I step inside and nod at the driver.

"Single please. Cheers mate."

As the bus makes its way towards the city I envision the rich politicians sitting down for exclusive dinners in extravagant hotels, wearing top hats and cleaning their whiskers. I find myself excited about the prospect of going to Scotland and dream of running through the highlands, making life difficult for the delegates attending the summit. I want to send a message; we are going to raise hell unless something changes. The G8 represents the destructiveness caused by the free market economy and the raping of the world’s resources. Even as I child I knew it was wrong to, destroys this planets natural beauty and treats its animals with respect. I'm ashamed to live in this 'civilised' nation, where peoples only cares revolve around sports, soaps and never-ending celebrity gossip. Isn’t anyone paying attention to the reality of our planet? I get off the bus and follow a stream of people heading out for a night on the town.

Crossing the road, my eye catches a display outside one of an art galleriy. I feel drawn to it, and amounst a small group of people I can see two women dressed in white distributing what appear to be copied banknotes. .

"We're asking people to write on this money what they would do if the world economy was in their hands."

With pen and paper in hand, I consider the question. Other notes are pinned to their white dresses;

'I would make sure everyone has a home to live in’

'Take from the poor give to the rich'

'Double taxes for the corporations and free tea for everyone else'

Some of the suggestions make me laugh Others make obvious the painful reality of our current global economic climate; the unequitable way in which our resources are divided, or how the current economy has turned the world upside down. I scribble something about justice and abolishing money on my fake banknote and pin it to the dress. I consider what a fun and clever way this is to engage people with an issue. Instead of handing out leaflets with facts and figures, this approach requires people to question themselves, arrive at an answer and exchange their ideas with others. I let the women know how impressed I am by this ‘conversation’,exchange contact details and I head off.

I later meet up with the two girls I had met dressed up this time in the Geisha like outfits. It was inspiring to see people getting active on issues that lay close to their hearts, even if in a small way. We discuss the upcoming G8 summit and about their performance piece outside the gallery. One girl remarked,

"It's really empowering to give people a pen in the street and ask them to write about their feeling on an issue. It makes them think for themselves. When they pin their note onto our dresses, they were reading other peoples' and in the dialogue that followed they would be enriching their knowledge about the subject. But it is the moment when they could either walk away or decide to talk to us which is most important."

Over the next few weeks, more of us meet up, hanged out, went for drinks and talked about plans for the mobilisation in Scotland. I had been involved in activism for a while and I guess a little set in my ways on how to go about making stuff happen. It was good to meet new people with different views who were eager to put their thoughts and beliefs into action.

With a few phone calls and a chat in the pub, a small group was formed. We decide to organise a workshop and replicate the white dress costumes worn by the girls that chilly winter evening several months ago. Our hope was that Geisha outfits, decorated with G8 policies, would deliver a powerful message while remaining peaceful enough to wort off inevitable altercations with the police. This wasn't a passive protest; there were no meetings or an information sessions. There were no forms to fill in or donations to make. This was something low key, attention grabbing and easy for people to participate in. Very soon we began to see our protest was something much larger than costumes and dresses walking around the G8 protest. You could see that people who had little interest in traditional methods of activism were suddenly becoming involved; talking about the issues and learning what's at stake. We began to hold costume-making workshops;soon more than 20 of us were dressed as beautiful Geishas and on our way to Edinburgh.


To be continued....see part 2

Chapter 2: Creating the Message

Part 2
Continued from part 1
By The Mischief Makers

Once in Edinburgh, I split off from my Geisha friends and I went to work with other forms of activism. It was an intense fortnight of meetings, discussions, blockades, protests, riots and celebrations. I didn't see any of the original team until our return to Nottingham two weeks later. Everyone was exhausted but agreed it had been a life changing experience. It was the first protest for most of the participants and their first experience with civil disobedience or direct action. There were storie of police brutality, unusual creativity and fun times at the protest camp. I listened intently,

"Well, we decided on a really soft approach because we were feeling quite fearful of what could happen," claimed one group member

"Remember that day we went to the demo where they keep the Trident warships? It was such a powerful image when we stood there as a line of Geishas, opposite the police, who were looking scary and terrifying defending the weapons of mass destruction," said another.

"Yeah, with those people in the lock-ons and we just slid between them and the police, keeping the blockaders safe. It was calmness and madness," a third protester suggested.

I was elated and filled with a sense of pride. This group of young artists were excitedly discussing taking collective action against a major global financial institution that was partly responsible for the problems facing our planet today. They had learned how to inform and organised themselves and even managed to devise their own tactics rather than melting in with the masses of protesters that descended upon Scotland during those epic weeks. In the weeks that followed we continued to meet up and make more plans. Not long after that, we became known as 'The Mischief Makers'.

Our goal was to become a collective that offers support to campaign and action groups by suggesting creative elements to their protests. We focused on street performances, costume making, puppets and banners. We activly encouraged recycling, cycling and vegan cakes. We joined a protest demanding rights for migrant workers. We decorated our bikes with flags and streamers to join a Critical Mass of cycle activists. Some Mischief Makers protested at the 60th Hiroshima and Nagasaki commemoration dressed as Geishas. Personally, I was more comfortable with traditional ways of protesting and direct action; this had a steep learning curve. I began to see the benefits of this different approach. There is power in the creative; , whether it's dressing up in costumes or performance art, is by acting in uncommon ways, it makes passersby stop and question what your doing. Often, it sparks a conversation.

I have spend year trying to discover the way to engage people and inspire them to get active. The Mischief Makers seem to have a solution. . We were building a bridge between the heavy political and inaccessible academic approach and those who are uninformed or uninspired. Whatever we do and wherever we go, we always make sure to create an open, accessible and friendly environment to allow for all people to participate. It is much easier to draw your own conclusions and develop new ways of think when you don’t feel judged or preached at. Just as crucially, we never pretentious to have all the answers. We We listen and talked, to share our ideas and experiences.

Inspired by concept ‘Think Globally Act Locally’ most of our work work with local groups and campaigns in Nottingham,our home town. One of emerging issue was an application lodged by a waste company to expand on a incinerator facility in the city. The incinerator, had been originally built in the 1960's, was already outdated and repeatedly been cited for breaching its emission quotas. Expanding the facility meant more waste would be imported from nearby counties and, as a result, more emissions would be belched up into the air and be 'dispersed'. In addition, the noise pollution increased traffic and planning issues. Needless to say, the expansion proposal didn't go over very well with nearby residents, environmental groups and several local councilors. Also, Nottingham had one of the worst recycling rates in the UK. We were burning an abundance of waste that could be recycled and reused. It was time to take action to ensure that the expansion would be denied and the local waste situation improved.

We helped the local group NAIL (Nottingham Against Incineration and Landfill) organise a public meeting, to raise awareness in the community. Then we dropped a huge banner across a street in Sneinton, the area most effected by the incinerator. Next we also distributed leaflets and posters to spread the word and held a protest rally at the town hall. Within a few months we had enabled the campaign to go from small to un-ignorable. Local councilors began to consider their positions and the media took notice of what was happening. One of our main purposes was to encourage understanding about what was happening to the cities waste. For example,if you buy a sandwich and throw away the wrapper, the garbage is burned. As the emissions are belched out of the incinerator, you breath in the particals that used to be that very bit of packaging. By helping people understand the impacts of their behavior we hoped they would demand the council and the waste companies be held responsible for their behavior.

As the incinerator campaign continued, so did we. We continually campaigned using visuals and had a clear message. Working with the local community most affected by the incinerator’s emissions, we promoted recycling by making wallets, art and costumes out of waste. We made numerous banners and even baked special cakes to get the message out. One of the most important aspects about this campaign was that we had fun.. Having fun and enjoying yourself is vital within activist work, as it can be hard to see results straight away. At times, this can be disheartening but by if your having fun, hopefully you stay inspired and active. We went on to organise more community events, banner drops and presented the council with a petition demanding that they refuse the facility permission to build. Within the group, one of us made a short film, someone organised a benefit concert and we helped to promote 'Green-weeks'; a week of activities to promote environmental issues with a focus on local sustainability.

Over the years people have come and gone from the group. Some had kids, others moved to far away places. Some went on to work in theater and others focused on more specific campaigns. The case of the incinerator expansion is ongoing and the G8 still thinks it can make decisions for us. The original Mischief Makers no longer work collectively but continue to use the ideas and tactics learned from the group in their individual efforts. My work with The Mischief Makers showed me that being creative as an activist is an effective, fun and inspiring way to raise awareness and encourage people to get active. We might not have done anything that spectacular, but it all added up. We were just a bunch of friends who cared enough to fight together on issues we found important. In doing, so we learned to creatively communicate our ideas and beliefs in and beyond the activist community and to inspire each other and the people we worked with. That, if anything, is a worthwhile achievement.

- The End -

Eco-Warrior Profile: Junicho Sato & Toru Suzuki

Junicho Sato & Toru Suzuki (a.k.a. the “Tokyo Two”), born in 1977 and 1967 respectively, are two unlikely eco-activists that are now pushing boundaries in their homeland of Japan. Junicho, with a background as an English teacher and who worked with NGO's on poverty issues while Toru had a passion for motorcycles which lead to successful business in automotives. But in January 2008, after both getting involved with Greenpeace Japan, they became eco-leaders in the fight against Japanese whaling.

After a four-month investigation, they became the whistle-blowers to an embezzlement scam of whale meat by crewmembers of the whaling fleet that had apparent official consent. By exposing this crime of illegal trade, they made whaling known across Japan while before it had received little attention. Now, pressure is surmounting against the continuation of whaling for bogus 'science' and an illegal commercial industry within the country.

Junichi Sato

But the cost of making change from within may be their freedom. Instead of the criminals of the embezzlement being p rosecuted, the activists are for trespassing and 'stealing whale meat.' Currently on trial, Junicho and Toru face up to ten years imprisonment for their actions. It is a court case never before seen in Japan, as the issue of whaling is on trial. Using the law to highlight the slaughter and implement change, they have become legal-crusaders for the whales.

More on the " Tokyo Two"

- Greenpeace: Whale meat scandal and the Tokyo Two
- The Tokyo Times - 'Tokyo Two' fight to clear names
- The Huffington Post - The "Tokyo Two" Go To Trial Over Anti-Whaling Activism

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Toru Suzuki

Video on the "Tokyo Two"

Eco-Warrior: Hannah Fraser

Hannah Fraser is an Australian ocean activist, artist, model and - professional mermaid. That's right, a mermaid. Fascinated by the mermaid myth since she was a young girl, she created her first tail when she was only 9 years old, avidly swimming around her pool to practice freediving and breath hold. Working as an artist and model for many years, she now devotes her time to creating exquisite handmade mermaid tails and traveling the world performing as a mermaid for film, television, advertising, events and environmental activism. She and David Rastovich, (pro-surfer) organised the Taiji 'paddle out' in the killing bay of Japan where thousands of dolphins are slain annually in 2007 (showcased in the hit-doc The Cove). In this eco-action, surfers paddled out with the mermaid into the bay of blood to honour the dolphins who were being slain, and to bring awareness to the slaughter on a worldwide scale.

Hannah continues to use her unique link to the ocean to inspire and educate people on the importance of marine life. She has swum with whales, dolphins, sharks, sting rays, sea lions, turtles and many other creatures in the open ocean. She says:

"Being in the ocean is where I feel the most free and expressive. You can feel the connection and abundance of life around you as they move with the same currents, work symbiotically to survive, and adapt to suit their environment. Most sea animals are curious and interested in the humans that enter their world with respect. The ocean is the birthplace of life on Earth, and if I can be a visual link to inspire other humans who have become disconnected from this amazing world, I feel I have done something worthwhile."

More on Hannah:
- Hannah Mermaid's Website

-ABC's Mermaid Interview

- Curl Magazine: The Killing Cove

Video on Hannah

Chapter 3: The Rising Tide Against Sharkfinning

Part One
By Rob Stewart
Director & Star of the film Sharkwater

In August of 1999, I was a 19-year-old photographer on assignment to photograph sharks in the Galapagos Islands. Instead of finding sharks in all their majesty underwater, I wound up cutting dead and dying sharks from kilometers of illegally set long lines with thousands of baited hooks—sometimes extending 50 to 60 miles in the ocean. The experience launched me on a journey to uncover why there was such a huge demand for sharks, even in the most protected national parks on earth.

The simple answer was the growing demand for shark fin soup. Through much of Asia, shark fin soup is a status symbol of wealth and served as a sign of respect. A single pound of shark fin can sell for more than $300 USD. Shark bodies don’t have substantial value, so fishermen started finning: discarding the bodies and keeping only the fins, wasting 95 per cent of the animal.

The huge demand for fins, and poor fishing regulations have decimated shark populations in every ocean on earth. Studies from Dalhousie University in Halifax have shown that shark populations, as well as populations of all large predators in the oceans have dropped an estimated 90 per cent in the last 30 years. Some species of shark, such as the tiger, bull and dusky shark have dropped by more than 95 per cent.

I realized that sharks were going to be wiped out, largely because nobody knew what was going on in the oceans, and if they did know, they didn’t care because they were afraid of sharks. Sharks are viewed by most as dangerous predators, which if removed from the planet, would make the world a safer place. The reality, which most scuba divers know, is that sharks are mostly benign to humans, and are incredibly important animals to life on earth.

Therefore, in 2002 I set out to make Sharkwater, a film that would bring the public closer to sharks than ever before. I thought if people could understand sharks, and see them as beautiful, necessary animals, they would fight for their protection.

I joined Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, in Los Angeles. Watson’s ship, the Ocean Warrior, was going to Cocos, Costa Rica, by invitation from the Costa Rican president to deter poaching within the ill-protected marine reserve. Through my journey with Paul, we collided with a pirate finning boat, were charged with attempted murder, exposed corrupt governments, fled for our lives from machine gun toting coast guards, and started filming ourselves to keep ourselves out of prison. This journey changed the film from a beautiful shark movie to a human drama spanning four years, 15 countries and nearly ended my life.

To be continued....(see part 2)

Chapter 1: In Defense of Seals

Part One
By Peter Hammerstedt
1st Mate of M/Y Steve Irwin, Sea Shepherd
Star on Whale Wars, TV show on Discovery & Animal Planet


It was the 12th of April, 2008, when a heavily-armed tactical response unit of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) boarded my vessel by force in international waters. They stormed the wheelhouse and pushed me and the captain down to the deck at gunpoint. I was told to put my hands on my head and not to move. Throughout the ship, the heavy thud of combat boots echoed down narrow wooden companionways, drowning out the screams of the rest of the crew as they too were forced to the deck. Five minutes after boarding, the storm troopers had secured the ship.

In groups of four, we were moved onto a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker. We were handcuffed to a railing that ran along the vessels starboard side. From there, I could see the RCMP comb through the ship, referred to affectionately by the crew as ‘the old Farley’, that had been my home for almost five years. We were taken to Sydney, Nova Scotia, past the heavy ice floes that we’d negotiated several days earlier when first entering the Gulf of St. Lawrence. In our wake, the M/Y Farley Mowat was put under tow, and the single largest mass slaughter of marine mammals in the world, the Canadian seal hunt, would continue virtually unopposed dozens of miles in our wake.

The captain of my vessel, Alexander Cornelissen, and I were subsequently moved to an RCMP detention centre on a Native Canadian reservation, 25 minutes out of Sydney. I was brought in front of Canadian Customs as if I had flown into the country, rather than having been forced in at gunpoint. As I stood in front of them, all my possessions having been confiscated, all of my clothes beyond a t-shirt and pants taken away from me, they asked me if I had “anything to declare into the country”. I didn’t asnwer. They proceeded to ask me the usual Canadian custom questions: if I was bringing any plants or animals into the country. They asked me if I was bringing ten thousand dollars or more into the country. I chose to remain silent.

Every year, 275,000 baby harp seals, most between 4 and 6 weeks old, are clubbed to death on the ice floes of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and along the lonely coast of Labrador. The pups are left on the ice by their mothers while they lose their molting hairs before taking to the water for the first time in their lives—only to fall prey to barbarians with spiked clubs, paid to convert living, feeling beings into leather jackets and Omega-3 supplement capsules. The Canadian government blames the seal for the disappearance of the cod that comprise only a miniscule part of their diet, rather than scrutinizing their own mismanagement of the fishing sector.

Every year, the organization I work with, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society heads to Canada, sometimes by helicopter, often by ship, to bring back video evidence to the world that the slaughter of harp seals in Canada is unsustainable and incredibly cruel. The Veterinary Association of Canada paints an accurate picture of the seal hunt when it draws the parallel between men running around on a football field filled with puppies, smashing their heads in with baseball bats. Sixty per cent of the seals are skinned alive. In 2008, the Sea Shephered crew was once again to bring back footage of seals being skinned alive – if the RCMP hadn’t fouled our plans in an illegal raid.

Upon arriving in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Alex and I were put in separate vehicles and driven to our respective interrogations. For the task, the Canadian Department of Fisheries had enlisted the help of the RCMP ‘Serious Crimes Unit’. But as soon as the RCMP pushed me to the deck at gunpoint after boarding the Farley Mowat in the Cabot Strait, my lips were sealed, and that silence continued until I was released on bail.

I was put in a small concrete room, furnished with a table, three chairs, and a plain bookshelf. An hour and a half into the interview, the interrogating officer trudged into the room, shoved a table aside, removed my hat from my head, and yelled, “when I look at you, I see a twelve-year old Palestinian boy with a backpack full of nails walking into a shopping centre in Israel. Are you that boy!? Are you!?” It was enough for me to almost forget for an instant that the only thing that I was being charged with was allegedly being within 952 meters of a fisherman butchering a defenseless seal pup. I was then told that the only reason that I would have to keep quiet was “if I was planning something like the next 9-11.” It seemed the world had taken a weird turn when this was being compared to my actions of attempting to photograph a seal being skinned alive, the crime that Alex and I stood accused of.

When all else fails, the police draw out on the interrogation for as long as they can, and believe that if they yell enough terrible things at you, you’ll eventually crack. Typically, if you don’t know your rights, it’s very effective. You’re made to feel that the only way out of the situation is to ‘cooperate’. The distempered interrogation officer suddenly yelled, “you’re like a prisoner of war. You just say your name and your rank. But even prisoners of war say what they fight for. They say, ‘I’m fighting for freedom, I’m fighting for America—well, what the hell are you fighting for!?”


To be continued...(see part 2)

Eco-Warrior Profile: Yvonne Bambrick

Yvonne Bambrick is a life-long cyclist in the city of Toronto. But over the last year, the 32-year-old Canadian has turned her two-wheeling into leading an advocacy group for bikes. As she is the first Executive Director of Toronto Cyclists Union. Using a community-based approach to activism, her knack for media and passion for a bike-friendly city - she is making the voice of Toronto cyclists heard. Yvonne includes and engages Toronto cyclists with bike news and activism events. Within local media, Yvonne speaks on behalf of a united cyclist front. And she is literally changing the city by pushing to include bike paths in new infrastructure by working within municipal politics. Recently, an appeal by the bike union for a five-lane Jarvis street to be transformed to include a bike path was approved in the city of Toronto thanks to Yvonne and cyclist supporters. But Yvonne also believes that the streets belong to not just bikes but to people. As she is one of the key organisers of Pedestrian Sundays in Kensington Market, a car-free Sunday in the city of Toronto that takes back streets for people, cultural celebration and ecology in a cosmopolitan sector. She also worked with the Center for Social Innovation as a Community Animator helping to encourage social community innovation. And, as a photographer and writer for Green Power Magazine, Corporate Knights, Dandyhorse, Post City Magazine, Spacing Magazine, Now Magazine, Toronto Star, as well as various others - she has a deep understanding of urban and green life.


More on Yvonne Bambrick

- Yvone Bambrick Website: YvonneBambrick.com

- Visible City: Profile on Yvonne Bambrick

- Now Magazine: Q & A with Yvonne Bambrick


Video on Toronto Bike Union Awards

Eco-Warrior Profile: Benjamin Potts

Benjamin Potts, a 29-year old Australian born in Sydney, always felt a connection with nature. His home as a boy was surrounded by two large national parks and the myriad of wildlife. His father worked for the National Parks and Wildlife Service of Australia, and would bring home animals that he had been seized from smugglers and trappers. Father and son would take these snakes, lizards, birds and marsupials either to a wildlife refuge for rehabilitation or, if they were a local species release them into the park. These unique encounters with a myriad of native species gave him the opportunity to form friendships and a respect for Australia’s wildlife. Later, in his 20’s, he ventured to Tasmania and was exposed to direct action campaigning in the form of logging blockades. With the Still Wild, Still Threatened campaign that acts to stop the destruction of the last remaining stands of Australia’s old growth forests. Seeing his country and its inhabitants destroyed for a quick buck made him extremely distressed and angry, at which point, he vowed that he would do what he could to stop it.

This vow later expanded into the oceans when he volunteered with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a radical marine conservation group, for an anti-whaling campaign against Japanese whalers in Antarctica December 2008. Soon after he, and a fellow crew mate, Giles Lane, were asked and dutifully performed the boarding of a Japanese harpoon ship, called the Yushin Maru No. 2. The action took place on the very day that the Federal Court of Australia ruled the Japanese whaling operation was in violation of Australian law. Giles and him boarded the harpoon ship with the intention of notifying the Captain of this fact, as well as pressuring governments to act and not just talk. They were taken hostage for two days following, but later released unharmed. This story became an international media storm and made the whole world pay attention to the Southern Ocean battle for the whales. While Potts was apart of making radical eco-direct action taken seriously again in the mainstream media, which is something one could argue has not happened since 30 years ago. Currently, he is studying marine science and conservation management at Southern Cross University. And he hopes as a species we can find a better relationship with our home and fellow earthlings.


More on Benjamin Potts

- The Age: Anti-Whale Activists 'would do it again'

- Sydney Morning Herald: Benjamin Potts on Whale 'hostage' saga (audio interview)

-Australian Story: Hell or High Water (Potts Interview Transcript)


Video of Pott's Whale Ship Boarding

Eco-Warrior Profile: Ben Powless

Ben Powless is a 22-year-old Mohawk from Six Nations in Ontario, Canada. He is a leader in his own right in making connections between social empowerment, specifically with aboriginal communities, and ecological crusading. Working with the Indigenous Environment Network, he has represented indigenous youth at various international events, most recently at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's High-Level Conference on World Food Security, Climate Change and Bio-energy. Powless also sits on the board of the Nations Council for the Canadian Environmental Network and is apart of the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition since its inception, working at both the national and Ottawa chapter level. He has spent a year in 2007 in an international exchange program studying sustainable rural development between Alberta and Mexico. Currently, Powless studies Human Rights and Environmental Studies at Carleton University in Ottawa. And he aspires to eventually work in national and international issues involving indigenous rights, human rights and their interplay with the environment.



More on Ben Powless

- Rabble.ca: Benjamin Powless - A Young Activist's Journey

- The Dominion: Survival is Non-Negotiable! (Article by Powless)

-Rabble.ca: Ben Powless Blogs

-Transnational Institute: Eyewitness to the G8 protests in Japan (Article by Powless)

Eco-Warrior Profile: Shamez Amlani

For Shamez Amlani, his dislike of car culture - for its destruction of our personal, civic and global health - led him to form Streets are for People! Since 2002, Streets are for People has been an artist / activist organization that uses trumpets, costumes and giant tricycles to “liberate the commons from the mundane rule of the private automobile”. The artist actions of the group include: Croquet in a parking spot, giant street scrabble, a major intersection turned momentarily into a public square, a piano stuck in traffic, a car cut open and filled with dirt. He was also one of the founders of Kensington Pedestrian Sundays in Toronto. After he rallied together local residents, merchants and artists, as well reluctant government bureaucrats to create a car-free neighbourhood several times a year in a Sunday celebration of community, culture and ecology, that has been on-going since 2004. Born in Nairobi, Kenya to parents of East Indian decent, Shamez, now at 39-years-old, has been making creative changes to his immigrated home land of Toronto, Canada using art as a medium to inspire direct action.


More on Shamez Amlani

-Torontoist Interview: Shamez Amlani

-BlogTO: Petition-Car to Queen's Park: Cars Suck

-Spacing Magazine: Construction Zone Picnic



Video on Reclaiming Toronto Streets 08 (Shamez as Mickey Mouse)


Fifth Anniversary Blackout Party
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