Rita Sebastian and Ned Paschene on “Idle No More”

Nelson Terry, Rita Sebastian, Sage Radachowshy and John Murphy in the studio.

Rita Sebastian never fails to impress me with her rare combination of bravery, compassion and tenacity.  She was in the Banned in Boston studio last night as we talked to Ned Paschene, a Cree activist involved with the Idle No More protests erupting across Canada.  A direct link to the episode is here.

Rita has a tendency to get where the action is.  Last week, Rita headed up to Ottawa in answer to an invite from Ned Paschene.  On Friday, January 11, she joined a call for women to prevent Chief Matthew Coon Come of Quebec and others from attending a meeting with Stephen Harper since certain people were excluded. Here’s video of that.

Here’s a clip I shot of Rita last night outside UNregular Radio.  In this second clip, Rita talks about Idle No More, Chief Theresa Spence, and what happened outside Stephen Harper’s meeting.

“Idle No More” and the XL Pipeline

Last night on “Banned in Boston” we discussed connections between “Idle No More” (a protest movement originating among the First Nations, Metis and Inuit peoples of Canada) and the ongoing actions taking place to impede the progress of the XL Pipeline. 

We also talked to someone in Texas who is involved with the pipeline resistance there. He reports on the two brave people who attempted to position themselves in trees yesterday in order to stop the pipeline’s advance.

A direct link to the episode is here.  “Banned in Boston,” an online radio show sponsored by Occupy Boston, broadcasts live every Thursday 8 pm (East Coast time) from the studios of UNregular Radio near Downtown Crossing.