So far, we have been lucky to have a relatively warm autumn, but last week saw the first snowfall of the season. It didn’t stay for long, but winter is indeed coming.
Last Monday, November 23, the Peterborough Revolutionary Student Movement (RSM) ran “Serve the People: Free Winter Clothing Distribution” in Confederation Park, an event to provide those in need with warm clothing for the coming cold weather.
“[W]e help to get those who need them warm clothes for this winter and build solidarity with them so we can together struggle against capitalism and the harm it does,” read the Facebook event page.
The articles of clothing available ranged from winter jackets to mittens and gloves, toques, and scarves for all ages. The Free Market that runs out of the basement of Sadleir House provided the warm wear for this event.
“There are people in Peterborough right now who can’t afford winter clothing. We need people to be warm in the winter and not freezing,” said Cameron McAlpine of Peterborough’s RSM.
“I think this really highlights the fact that the system has truly failed the people because there are people who cannot afford winter clothing. That’s a problem. It’s a political message as [well].”
Peterborough’s RSM group holds many anti-oppression events to get the community to be active about important issues. Through this event, they reached out for solidarity surrounding issues such as poverty and homelessness.
RSM created awareness of the issue and took action to alleviate the hold capitalism has on our community, instead of being slacktivists; slacktivism is easily achieved with the accessibility of social media.
The Oxford dictionary defines “slacktivism” as “[a]ctions performed via the Internet in support of a political or social cause but regarded as requiring little time or involvement.”
The event ran alongside the weekly Food Not Bombs (FNB) Peterborough community dinner. FNB provided a warm meal containing a variety of soups and hearty vegetable dishes for people to eat and sit under the tent together, and even take away with them at the end of the night.
OPIRG board member Sabrina Calogeracos added that the Free Bin at the Market is overflowing with donated winter clothing. If anyone missed out on the event last week, there is still a chance to find something before the cold sets in at the Free Market.
About the Revolutionary Student Movement: The RSM is a Canada-wide revolutionary, combative, militant, and anti-capitalist student movement. They align their struggles with the broader working class. They are a movement guided by communist principles that serves the people in their fight for emancipation from the capitalist system. They organize proletarian students in the interest of the revolutionary working class movement.