Going Old School: Activism Reborn in Winnipeg's Inner City

Abstract

In our first In-Brief discussion, IUS and Mike Maunder team up to explore a longstanding issue facing a local Winnipeg high school trying to secure much needed green space. In this brief discussion, what emerges is a story about how ordinary citizens and others worked collectively to make a difference in the community. We see that getting involved using “old school activism” still works, especially when you introduce modern social media to get the work out. The battle over the Gordon Bell field saw community members, students, government and school officials tussling for years, but finally ending up working together to ensure the right thing was done for a prime inner city parcel of land that would have otherwise been redeveloped. While there were many important people involved in this story, our In-Brief discussion focuses on a few whose story is important to share. We feel it important to focus on the grassroots approach that helped kick-start a successful campaign that won the hearts of many Winnipeggers and gave the school a field. The truth is, this field would not exist if not for the efforts of those highlighted in this paper.