Show Up Toronto - May 20th, 2025
Hi folks, happy Tuesday! If you were lucky enough to have the long weekend off, I hope you enjoyed some time outside.
In addition to Instagram and Bluesky, we now have a home on the Fediverse as well. As always, the best way to see all events is directly on the Show Up Toronto website. If you find this project useful, tell your friends to subscribe.
Thanks for showing up!
Jenny
Good things can happen: The Toronto Metropolitan University Faculty Union has voted overwhelmingly to support a joint motion to address anti-Palestinian racism at the university. The Kensington Market Community Land Trust acquired a second mixed-use building in the neighbourhood with entirely community funding and ownership.
Thing you can do right now: City council is voting on the bubble zone bylaw this week. This motion significantly curtails charter rights to protest in the city, which would have hampered events like the rally against 77 years of Nakba this past weekend. Please call your city councillor to protest this bylaw today, especially if your councillor is Brad Bradford, who sucks is behind this motion. Also, sign this petition to urge the city to to bring back open streets programs such as OpenStreetsTO and ActiveTO by 2026.
⭐️ = events added since the last newsletter
Events this week
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
⭐️ 4-6PM — Outreach at Dufferin Station (Dufferin Subway Station)
Hosted by TTC Riders - Join TTC Riders to speak to transit riders at Dufferin Station to advocate for more reliable, fast and frequent bus service. They will be calling for the installation of transit-only lanes and asking riders to speak up in support of transit-only lanes. No experience is required, just show up!
⭐️ 5:30-7:30PM — Criminalizing dissent? The truth about the bubble zone bylaw (TMU Pod 457)
Hosted by SURJ, Disability Justice Network of Ontario, and others - Six local experts from a coalition of orgs unpac the impact of the proposed BUBBLE ZONE bylaw on Black and Indigenous communities, disabled people, Palestinian solidarity efforts, feminist activism, labour organizing, and other already over-policed groups. Followed by a letter-writing and phone zap action.
⭐️ 5:30-6:30PM — Final Phone Zap Against Bubble Law (Virtual)
Hosted by Progress Toronto - Progress Toronto is hosting one final phone zap to protest the bubble zone bylaw being considered by the Toronto City Council this week.
6-9PM — Where to Find the Best Third Spaces (CSI, 720 Bathurst)
Hosted by The Green Line - The Green Line is partnering with Centre for Social Innovation (CSI) event specialist Rachel Rainbow to co-facilitate a community dinner and games night. Connect with new friends to chill and chat and discuss under-the-radar third spaces across Toronto.
7-9PM — Ontario Organizing Meeting (Virtual)
Hosted by Justice for Workers - Monthly Ontario Justice for Workers meeting to discuss critical updates, share strategies, and strengthen collective efforts to fight for better wages, safer workplaces, and fair treatment for workers.
⭐️ 7-8PM — (Dis)connection from Nature in High-Rise Communities (TPL Thorncliffe Branch)
Hosted by Thorncliffe Park Urban Farmers - Join for a presentation on how living in a high-rise community impacts our connection to nature, including a discussion portion where participants can share their experiences with other residents.
Wednesday, May 21, 2025
⭐️ 6-6PM — Radical Thought in a Time of Crisis (Virtual)
Hosted by Canadian Freelance Union - Discussion and webinar with Dr. Charisse Burden- Stelly and Dr. Jodi Dean, co-editors of the book Organize, Fight, Win on the work of radical Black communists. The discussion is geared for members of unions and organizations
⭐️ 6:30-8:30PM — Ride of Silence 2025 (Huron-Washington Parkette)
Hosted by Advocacy for Respect for Cyclists - Part of a worldwide event to honour fallen cyclists. The ride will end at the Peace Garden at Nathan Phillips Square where the names of cyclists who have been killed in the GTA in the past decade will be read out. You never ride alone.
7-8:30PM — Together We Fight: Ending Anti-Asian Racism and Supporting the Resistance of Asian Massage Workers (Virtual)
Hosted by York Centre for Asian Research, York University - Virtual Asian Heritage Month panel on how anti-Asian racism is embedded in the regulation of massage parlours and anti-trafficking policies.
⭐️ 8-10PM — Scotiabank funds genocide - National organizing call (Virtual)
Hosted by World Beyond War Canada - Join the national organizing call launching a new phase in the campaign to push Scotiabank to divest from Elbit Systems, including a campaign briefing with updates from No Arms in the Arts on recent wins.
Thursday, May 22, 2025
5-7:30PM — Know Your Rights: Beginner Legal Training Workshop (Wildseed Centre, 24 Cecil St)
Hosted by Real Change - A free beginner workshop to share important general information about legal rights and navigating interactions with law officers, with legal observers from Orange Hats who are experienced and trained in running these workshops.
⭐️ 7-9PM — Emergency webinar to resist Bill 6 (Virtual)
Hosted by Harm Reduction Advocacy Collective and others - Find out how exactly Bill 6, the so-called 'safer municipalities act", will harm Torontonians by further criminalizing poverty, homelessness and substance use, and how you can get involved to stop it. Hosted by a coalition of harm reduction support groups.
⭐️ 8-9:30PM — Tenant organizing training, pt 1 (Virtual)
Hosted by Democratic Socialists of Canada - Part 1 of a 3-week training hosted by the Democratic Socialists of Canada on how to get involved in tenant organizing and form a tenant union yourself. Topics include how to prepare for a campaign, charting a building, developing a power analysis, having effective conversations with neighbours, and more.
Friday, May 23, 2025
6-8PM — Toronto Spring Meeting (Trinity-St. Paul's United Church, 427 Bloor St W)
Hosted by Spring Magazine - Toronto chapter organizing meeting to discuss key political issues and socialist strategies and tactics for becoming effective socialist organizers in movements.
7-10PM — Free Community Screening of The Encampments (Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema, 506 Bloor St W)
Hosted by For Viola series by Hot Docs - A free community screening of this documentary eyewitness account of the Palestine solidarity student protests at Columbia University and the wave of campus actions it inspired around the world. Featuring some of the student leaders including Mahmoud Khalil (illegally detained by ICE), Grant Miner (expelled by Columbia), and Sueda Polot. Q&A with filmmakers to follow.
Saturday, May 24, 2025
⭐️ 10AM-2PM — Youth-led Roundtable for Chinese and Tamil Communities (Scarborough Civic Centre, 150 Borough Dr)
Hosted by Tamil Centre for Civic Action - Take action against racism and build bridges between communities with youth leaders from Chinese and Tamil backgrounds. Both In-person and virtual, English with interpretation (Mandarin, Cantonese, Tamil).
⭐️ 12-1:30PM — Support our kids: Rally for education funding (South Lawn, Queen’s Park, Toronto)
Hosted by Toronto and York Region Labour Council - Join parents, students, educators, education workers, and community members from across Ontario to send a powerful message to the provincial government about the need to fund our public schools that have been chronically underfunded for decades.
1-6PM — African Liberation Day (163 Queen St E)
Hosted by All African People's Revolutionary Party Canada - A space for all African people to join together for a day of education, unity, and empowerment. Theme: Africa for Africans: Revolutionary Pan-Africanist Unity Across Borders in the Battle for Socialism Against Imperialism. Please wear all white as a symbol of unity.
⭐️ 1-6PM — Yard sale fundraiser against CANSEC (Christie Pits Park)
Hosted by Toronto against CANSEC - Toronto against CANSEC is raising money to send local Toronto activists to protest CANSEC, the largest arms and defense conference in North America.
⭐️ 3-6PM — International Students Park Picnic (Christie Pits Park)
Hosted by Migrant Worker's Alliance - Calling all international students at Seneca Polytechnic, Seneca Newnham, George Brown, Centennial, and York University. Bring family and friends to a park picnic to discuss what the future holds for international students when it comes to immigration and dignity at work and make connections for the semesters to come.
⭐️ 3-6PM — Regent Park Community Birthday Celebration (Regent Park Community Centre, 402 Shuter)
Hosted by Friends of Regent Park - The Friends of Regent Park and the Regent Park Community Centre have joined forces to host the first Regent Park Community Birthday Celebration. It will be an afternoon of cake, games, music, and activities. Celebrate with family, friends, and neighbours.
⭐️ 10PM-2AM — Kensington Market DJ Night (Supermarket Bar, 268 Augusta)
Hosted by Kensington Market Community Land Trust - Celebrating the new acquisition of a 3-storey mixed-use building in Kensington Market by the Kensington Market Community Land Trust at an evening of defiant joy and dancing.
Sunday, May 25, 2025
⭐️ 9-11AM — Walk Against Israel (Bathurst and Sheppard)
Hosted by GTA 4 Palestine - A counterprotest to stand against a planned march in support of the Israeli state. Join GTA 4 Palestine to protest the glorification of genocide.
⭐️ 11AM-1PM — Gaza Square Sundays (371 Wallace Ave)
Hosted by Davenport 4 Palestine - Join Davenport for Palestine at Gaza square every Sunday for hot chocolate and coffee, buttons and posters, lawn signs and colourful chalk, and meeting your fellow neighbours and organizers to continue building safety in the community
⭐️ 2-4PM — Why we fight for Trans rights (Resistance Bookroom, 427 Bloor W)
Hosted by International Socialists - Trade union organizer Morgan Oddie (they/them) from London, Ontario will host a public forum on trans liberation in the socialist context. Will also be streamed on Zoom.
⭐️ 6-9PM — Bike lane removals: tips for staying safe (St. Stephen-In-The-Fields, 103 Bellevue)
Hosted by The Green Line - The Green Line is partnering with St. Stephen-In-The-Fields church to host a pay-what-you-can community dinner and Story Circle to explore how, with the potential removal of major bike lanes, drivers, cyclists and pedestrians can stay safe.
Monday, May 26, 2025
12:30-1:30PM — Zap 4 Palestine (Virtual)
Hosted by Toronto Zaps For Palestine - Join with organizers from coast to coast in calling, emailing, and faxing demands to newly elected officials to stop Canada's complicity in the genocide.
⭐️ 6-8PM — Intro to Mass Work: What It Is & How to Do It (Hybrid)
Hosted by Students and Workers for the Liberation of Palestine - A hybrid webinar hosted by the SWLP Toronto on the foundation of revolutionary organizing and how mass work raises politicacl consciousness and builds collective power.
⭐️ 6-9PM — CO₂nnect the Dots: Carbon Literacy with Climate North (Industrious, 33 Bloor St E)
Hosted by Climate North - A ticketed panel discussion on carbon literacy, including what carbon looks like in day-to-day life, how to quantify and categorize greenhouse gases, and strategies to track and reduce carbon in high-emission industries. From individual impact to accounting fundamentals to industry examples, this evening will provide some critical foundations in understanding carbon.
Down the road
Tuesday, May 27, 2025
⭐️ 4:30-7PM — National Black Disability Coalition Launch (Hybrid)
⭐️ 5:30-6:30PM — Trans ID Workshop (Virtual)
6-7PM — Asian Pride: Queer Solidarity Against Anti-Asian Racism (Virtual)
⭐️ 7-9PM — Above Guideline Increases Panel (Virtual)
Wednesday, May 28, 2025
⭐️ 6-7:30PM — Bike Marshalling 101 (Bikechain, 230 College St)
Thursday, May 29, 2025
⭐️ 8-10PM — Shut down CANSEC (US Consulate, 360 University)
⭐️ 5-7PM — Substance Use Caregiver Workshop (Virtual)
⭐️ 7-8:30PM — Reckoning with the RCMP (TMU Library, 350 Victoria St)
Friday, May 30, 2025
⭐️ 8-9:30PM — Tenant organizing training, pt 2 (Virtual)
Saturday, May 31, 2025
3-9PM — Community Donation Drive for Gazan Families (Centre for Social Innovation, 192 Spadina)
Sunday, June 1, 2025
⭐️ 10AM-1PM — Don Valley Parkway Cleanup (Multiple locations)
⭐️ 11AM-1PM — Gaza Square Sundays (371 Wallace Ave)
Wednesday, June 4, 2025
⭐️ 7-9:30PM — No Pride in Genocide (Innis Town Hall, 2 Sussex Ave)
Thursday, June 5, 2025
⭐️ 1-3PM — Substance Use Caregiver Workshop (Virtual)
⭐️ 7:30-10PM — Laugh it Forward: Benefit for Davenport Aid Brigade (Society Clubhouse, 967 College)
Friday, June 6, 2025
⭐️ 8-9:30PM — Tenant organizing training, pt 3 (Virtual)
⭐️ 3-6PM — The York Encampment (York Lawns, Vari Hall)
Sunday, June 8, 2025
⭐️ 12:30-4PM — Full Plates, Fuller Hearts (Buddies in Bad Times Theatre)
Monday, June 9, 2025
⭐️ 7-8:30PM — Reckoning with the RCMP (TMU Library, 350 Victoria St)