Go protest

On Friday, June 14, Montreal will be the training ground for another breed of anti-globalization radicals bent on giving the finger to The Man. Hardened professional activist Simone Arsenault-May will be handing out how-to pom-pom kits and discussing shiny outfits, the philosophy of batoning and cheers. Arsenault-May, 26, is a member of the recently formed U.S.-based Radical Cheerleading movement, which aims to make protesting fun and sexy. Under the auspices of Concordia’s Institute in Management and Community Development’s weeklong summer program, Arsenault-May will spend an hour teaching acolytes new cheers and sexy moves.

“All the cheers are about addressing oppression of one sort or another,” says Arsenault-May. “Economic, racial or gender oppression are all central themes. It’s about educating people on the street in a non-threatening way. Activist movements get co-opted by the media all the time, so part of the funny aspect is that we’ve co-opted the mainstream-defined view of what young women should be doing.”

Arsenault-May’s Squad 416 wiggled their asses in Quebec City last year, wearing red and black-striped knee-high tights, black skirts or pants and a red top with a red bandana.

“We’ll learn a few cheers and have fun,” she says. “If you’re someone who doesn’t think about the issues, seeing a cheerleader shouting an anti-globalization slogan while slapping their ass is funny and silly. We’ve even made the police laugh.” Cheerleader wannabes can check out their Web site at www.torontorc.cjb.net or the Institute schedule at http://carina.concordia.ca/conted/reg/Program2002.pdf.

- Noemi Lopinto