Here is a list of the top 5 posts of 2014 on kwe today!

1. Public Issues vs Private Troubles
   • Year after year, this post always makes it to the top of the pile. This post is also the number one post to be found using the search terms “public issues” and “private troubles”. If you are a first year sociology student, you probably were in the search of some examples of a public issue/private trouble and found this post! You’re welcome.
2. What Naomi Klein gets wrong in her #MMIW Article
   • This is a recent post so I am surprised it made the top 5 list. The response to this was interesting to say the least. A lot of people felt I was personally attacking her work and her relationship with Bella’s sister (note: I wasn’t). Some also felt that I was attacking the hard work that went into putting on the event (again, I wasn’t). This post was a direct critique of the Globe and Mail article. Yes, it was beautiful and yes it said a lot of important things. But we have to be honest with ourselves, it also did NOT say a lot of important things. And to the white women who are upset the fight against the injustice of #MMIW isn’t about your feelz, get over it. Fighting colonialism and all of its racism, (hetero)patriachy, and (trans)misogyny is never about white women feelz. Never has been and never will.
3. The problem with restorative justice
   • The title of this blog post is pretty much self-explanatory. I’ve been there, done that with the restorative justice approaches in the criminal justice system and I think we can make some room for improvement–not that I am advocating for improving the criminal justice system since it is a colonial system in itself but if this is what we are working with… yeah, big time improvements. Hey, while we are at it, here is a neat idea: prison abolition!
4. #MMIWG: So you want a national inquiry?
   • This was a post written earlier in the year after politicians began calling for a national inquiry. I wrote this out of anger since I fear (and still do fear) that the MMIW inquiry issue will be taken up as a political tool in the upcoming election. This issue isn’t new. But all of a sudden *poof* the words “national inquiry” has been repeated over and over this year. As the year went on, more and more people (namely non-politicians and Indigenous folks, including families of MMIWG and victims who survived violence) began calling for a national inquiry. If people asked me today about whether there should be a national inquiry, I would have to caution to those that I am only one person and that I do not represent all Indigenous peoples or communities. It is important that we acknowledge that there are many Indigenous communities with many unique needs. Some of these needs include a national response to the MMIW issue and some of the needs include community based responses like #ItStartsWithUs.  I am just fearful that this will become a political tool until it no longer serves the longer range purposes.
5. #c36: People are not there to protect women like me
   • In this post, I discuss the obvious problems with c-36 (Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act). Like many of my other posts relating to sex work and c-36, it calls for the full decriminalization of sex work to help stop the violence against what is defined as the most vulnerable and marginalized, Indigenous women and girls. You can also read this piece I did for NOW on police violence, domestic violence and sexual assault.