In recognition of National Indigenous History Month and National Indigenous Peoples Day this past Sunday, we're highlighting a selection of Indigenous works represented in the Rise Up collection.

The next few months promise to be an exciting and busy time for Rise Up as we welcome five young people to our staff. This is made possible with funding assistance from Young Canada Works in Heritage and Canada Summer Jobs.

Rise Up is thrilled to announce new teaching materials inspired by Diva, a journal of South Asian feminism!

The transformation of Canadian labour laws can be credited to the historic 1978 strike at Fleck Manufacturing, where eighty women fought for 163 days against low wages, horrific work conditions, and unfair labour practices.

Dive into Toronto’s feminist history through Rise Up and Remember - a digital tour created in 2019 for a Social Justice Media course by TMU students in partnership with Rise Up!

The Congress of Black Women of Canada held its ninth conference in Halifax from May 5-7, 1989. With the central theme of "Our Possibilities are Endless," the conference focused on topics such as economic empowerment, ageing, racism and health, the justice system, and young Black women.

This 1996 postcard, addressed to Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, features the slogan “I took a stand….now it’s your turn”. It was distributed by the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) and highlights the December 6th National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.

We're excited to unveil Feminist Presses, a brand new exhibit on our website! Curated by Savi Gellatly-Ladd, this exhibit explores the presses, events, bookstores, and publications that helped shape the feminist movement in Canada from the 1970s to the 1990s.📖

Dive into Toronto’s feminist history through Rise Up and Remember - a digital tour created in 2019 for a Social Justice Media course by TMU students in partnership with Rise Up!

As we get ready to celebrate our 10th anniversary, Rise Up has already developed an ambitious strategic plan to continue preserving and sharing many more histories of feminist activism, advance equity and inclusion, and expand community connections.

The Spring 1988 issue of Women & Environments International features articles on Canadian housing co-ops, Palestinian women living in Gaza, debates over ecofeminism, and more.

Would you like to help preserve an inclusive history of diverse feminist activism in Canada? Rise Up! Feminist Digital Archive is now hiring for the following two positions with funding support from the Young Canada Works in Heritage programs for students and graduates:

Dive into Toronto’s feminist history through Rise Up and Remember - a digital tour created in 2019 for a Social Justice Media course by TMU students in partnership with Rise Up!

We're excited to announce our first conference plenary! Join us for a presentation by Denise Glasbeek & MacKenzie Gott: "An Accidental Archive: Implementing Archival Methodology at Rise Up! Feminist Digital Archive." @riseupfeminist.bsky.social Register: www.archivists.ca/2026-Virtual-Conference.

In this 1984 discussion paper, Hana Aach, for the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC)/Congrès du travail du Canada (CTC) Women’s Bureau, provides background on affirmative action legislation, strategies for union organizing for employment equity, and recommendations for the government and unions.

Dive into Toronto’s feminist history through 'Rise Up and Remember' - a digital tour created in 2019 for a Social Justice Media course by TMU students in partnership with Rise Up!

New item alert! 🗃✨ We recently uploaded 'Pork Roasts,' a 1981 exhibition catalogue featuring 250 feminist cartoons by artists from around the world.

In the 'Women of Colour' Issue of Fireweed, three lesbians of colour discuss their sexualities and overall struggles as both lesbians and racialized people.

With the 98th Academy Awards occurring this Sunday, we wanted to spotlight three Oscar-winning Studio D/NFB films featured in our collection:

Happy International Women's Day! Today, we're looking back at an IWD event in Toronto in 1985, where Angela Davis was the keynote speaker. The talk was organized by the Committee for March 8th, a coalition initiated by the Congress of Canadian Women.

// Content warning: police violence // In March of 1978, 80 of 130 workers – all of them women – at the Fleck auto-wiring plant in Centralia, Ontario, walked out over poor working conditions, low wages, and job insecurity.

Featured here is the poster for the 1978 Socialist Forum on Women's Liberation & Socialism, sponsored by the Revolutionary Workers League and Young Socialists. Guest speakers at the event included French political sociologist Jacqueline Heinen and prominent Canadian activist Jackie Larkin.

How do quilting and other fibre arts - crochet, knitting, embroidery - lend themselves to feminist activism?🪡🧵

Join Rise Up on Saturday, March 7, at Bluebird Bar for a feminist trivia night in celebration of International Women's Day and Rise Up's 10th anniversary!✨

Today, many provinces are celebrating Family Day!

Like most library picketers during the Metro Toronto Library Strike in 1984, CUPE Local 1582 Vice-President Linda Cornwell was seldom without a book. Library workers engaged in this labour action in an attempt to secure paid maternity leave, prorated benefits for part-time staff, and more.

In celebration of Black History Month, we're highlighting the Black feminist newspaper Our Lives, produced by the Black Women's Collective (BWC)

Looking for a weekend read?📚 Check out Kiegan Lloyd and Alana Cattapan's article "The Burning Times Revisted," an analysis of the 1990 documentary The Burning Times, directed by Donna Read.

Womonspace (1981-2018) was Edmonton's longest-running lesbian social, recreational, and educational group.

Today, we're spotlighting Dr. Jennifer Brant's article, "Indigenous Feminisms and Calls for Reproductive Justice,” one of the feature articles on our website.

Bad Boss Stories: Workers Whose Bosses Break the Law was a project published in 1996 by the Employment Standards Work Group (ESWG). The project collected over 100 personal stories from workers in the Greater Toronto Area experiencing illegal exploitation at the hands of their bosses.

Mama Quilla II was a Toronto-based feminist rock band from 1977 to 1982 that aimed to "combine non-sexist lyrics with extremely danceable music—a feat the band definitely accomplished," according to a 1983 review in Herizons.💥

In the face of continued imperial, colonial, and Western aggression and violence towards Indigenous peoples and sovereign nations across the world, there have always been — and continue to be — acts of coordinated resistance and solidarity from communities here at home.

In the fall of 1974, Isis Women & Film, a women's media production and distribution centre in British Columbia, organized a province-wide women’s film and art festival.

On behalf of Rise Up's staff and volunteers, we would like to extend a huge thank you to our generous donors for their year-end contributions to the organization!❤️

Have you read our article "Apropos of Press Gang"?📑 In this piece, Nancy Pollak brings to life the history and legacy of Press Gang—Vancouver’s pioneering feminist printer and publisher.

🎁 Tomorrow is the last day to donate to Rise Up Feminist Digital Archive and receive a tax receipt for 2025 - visit bit.ly/RiseUp-Contribute 🎊 We are grateful for your support and wish you all the best for the coming year!

Rise Up would like to wish you a safe and happy holiday season! Please note that we will be pausing operations from now until January 5, 2026. See you in the New Year!✨

Rise Up is pleased to share another testimonial from one of our volunteers and founding members, Alana Cattapan. Alana reflects on the early days of Rise Up and her time working in the collective.🗃

In 1979, the volunteer advocacy group INTERCEDE was organized by foreign domestic workers and their feminist supporters. The group called for change in government policies and working conditions that mistreated and discriminated against them.

Rise Up has been lucky to work with countless dedicated and passionate volunteers since the archive came to life almost 10 years ago.🌟 Today, we're sharing a testimonial from Akosua Adasi about her time volunteering with us.

"A Feminist Approach to Pap Tests" was an informational document produced by the Vancouver Women's Health Collective (VWHC) in 1986.

Rise Up is more than just an archive - we provide educational resources, including a variety of lesson plans and school assignments!📚 We're happy to offer eight engaging assignments centred on feminist activism and theory, collective action, digital storytelling, and more.

Sharing a few testimonials from users of the Rise Up archive! As Canada's only community-based, open-access archive preserving and presenting feminist histories from the 1970s to the 1990s, Rise Up serves as an essential resource for educators, students, researchers, and the public alike.

The December 6 Coalition was established in Toronto in 1990 in honour of the fourteen women murdered on December 6, 1989, at L’École Polytechnique in Montreal.

Interested in learning about feminist histories but don't know where to start?🤔 Check out our digital exhibits - a curated selection of archival materials that illustrate the diverse range of feminist activism captured in Rise Up's collection.

Rise Up has come a long way since its launch in October 2016. We have quadrupled our material holdings, with 4,352 items currently in the archive!🗃

We're gearing up to celebrate Rise Up's 10th Anniversary!🎈

Looking for a film to watch this weekend? 📽 Check out the documentary "Long Time Comin'" (1993), directed by poet and novelist Dionne Brand with Studio D/National Film Board of Canada.

In her essay "Running for Gold," Abby Hoffman testifies to the conditions faced by women athletes and confronts damaging myths that continue to keep women out of sports. This essay was published in the September 1976 issue of the Winnipeg Women's Liberation Newsletter.🥇