Folks, it's time for another urban intervention! As college and university students head back to school, it's a great time to recharge your radical batteries. In this issue, we learn a lesson about reclaiming public park space, culture-jamming ads on public transit, asserting that democratic power belongs to the people, not political parties... and sticking it to the colonial queen, all at once! With nothing but an 11-square centimeter black and white sticky piece of paper! At the University of California at Berkeley, people have been fighting for more than thirty-five years to keep People's Park, a public playground that is owned by UC, managed by City Council, used by the masses, and constantly under threat of demolition and development by the powers that be. Food Not Bombs operates out of the park every day, and a Free Box is available on-site 24/7. The Park was originally founded in 1969 when ordinary citizens picked up pick-axes and planted trees and flowers in a vacant lot, in a neighbourhood that sorely lacked any green space. Four weeks later, construction crews and cops invaded the park at 4:45 in the morning, erecting fences to keep people out. 6,000 people marched to the park in protest, and pigs put over 100 of them in the hospital. This was only the first blow in the battle for People's Park. Then-Governor of California Ronald Reagan ordered the National Guard to lock the park down, and rescinded the right to public assembly. 30,000 people march to the park in protest. And when then-President Richard Nixon began not only bombing Vietnam, but strip-mining its resources, too, a crowd ripped the fence down to the ground, permanently.

This month, the country of Canada has a new head of state -- the Queen of England approved a new Governor-General to represent her in Parliament. Bad enough this country is so vast that it has an elite class in Ottawa that decides the fate of people in Vancouver, thousands of miles away; but even the so-called "representatives" of the people aren't sovereign -- they bow to a rich bitch on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. This sad state of affairs is exemplified by the name of the Ontario provincial parliament building in downtown Toronto: QUEEN'S Park. It's also the name of the closest street and subway station. But the power shouldn't be in the hands of any monarch, and definitely one that doesn't do any work or pay any taxes -- not even in England! All power to the people... change the name of the park to PEOPLE'S PARK! So, how to spread this meme? Well, for one, start using it in casual conversation. When people give you a weird look and ask you where People's Park is, respond with, the subway station at College and University. They'll squint their eyes, and give you a distant look, trying to figure out the subway map in their heads. Queen's Park? they'll ask you? No, People's Park, you tell them, *Fuck* the Queen. There's another way we can spread this meme. On every underground train in the city, there are maps of the subway system. Let's go around sticking the name "People's Park," smack dab on top of where the maps currently say "Queen's Park." If we do it in the same font and color as the text that's underneath, upon a quick glance, it'll look official and really fuck with people's heads!

Below is a copy of the "People's Park" sticker, at actual size, and a link to a printable PDF file that's the size of a regular 8.5" X 11" piece of paper, with as many copies of the sticker that can fit on the page at once -- 39, to be exact. I encourage you to download the file, print it out on sticker paper, slice it up into individual pieces, and bomb the whole subway system with revolutionary fervour! Another thing that you can do to make People's Park a reality is to come out to Drum Circle on Tuesday nights. It used to be in Trinity-Bellwoods Park on Queen Street, until the police shut it down, though it was breaking no by-laws -- what else is new? So the Circle moved to Queen's Park -- excuse me, People's Park -- and I can think of no better way to make People's Park manifest, than with a big-ass Party for the People!

Download the PDF version
of a page full of stickers