Monika Schaefer Protests Secrecy & Shunning by Yellowhead Festival & Attack on Her Livelihood
Dear Board members of the Yellowhead Regional Arts Festival Society,
Your action of declaring me “not the correct fit” for your September 29th event goes much further than just a single one-time event. You have done something very consequential. You are affecting my livelihood and my reputation. You are signalling to the wider community that I am dangerous and untouchable, and you are signalling to current and potential students that Monika Schaefer should be avoided. You have also subverted your society’s role as a cultural organization to that of a thought-policing agency.
If you think you can do this from a position of anonymity and zero accountability, with all due respect, that is simply not the way it works. Hiding behind a cloak of anonymity while taking this serious action is completely unethical and arguably illegal. The board of a Society must, by definition, be open, transparent and accountable to the public. By your nameless signing-off as a generic board, you demonstrate a profound contempt for civil society. If board-member names are kept secret, then it is not unreasonable for the public to assume that decisions can be dictated by just one person, and in this case someone who has a vendetta against me because they don’t like my thoughts.
It is impossible to know if letters sent to your generic society email address are reaching all the board members. I have been on copy from many concerned people who have sent letters to you in which they genuinely support my right to free speech, and they profoundly disagree with your misguided actions. I wonder if those letters are being disseminated to all board members, or are they being seen by only one person, possibly the person(s) who has strong-armed the rest of the board into taking this drastic action against me.
It has also come to my attention, through the grapevine, that you have been receiving some threatening and vile letters from people who pose as my “supporters”. I have been told that this is now your reason for not disclosing the names of board members, allegedly because there is concern for their safety. It is certainly not the original reason for hiding your identities, because that would have meant you had the power to predict the future.
In my truth-seeking quest, I have learnt many things about the tactics used by those who endeavour to shut down open discussion, investigation and disclosure of any nonconformist information about what may or may not have happened during WW2 . There are many methods being employed to destroy, defame, and shun those who try to point out the inconsistencies in the victors’ version of history.
If it is true that you have received threatening letters, then you need to know that those letters are unequivocally NOT coming from my “supporters”. That is a deliberate tactic, a psychological warfare tactic, to smear me by association. Those letters are coming from people who are actively engaged in “shooting the messenger” and thereby undermining and distracting away from the message. They are agents of deception. I have now seen this numerous times, whereby people exclaim to me “your supporters have threatened me!” or “your supporters have sent profanities!” or other similar statements. Who are those people sending vile messages, and why do they not also send those letters to me? They are definitively NOT supporters of me, my message, or of truth or decency.
By subverting the YRAF Society’s role as a cultural organization to that of a thought-policing agency, you are directly responsible for the messy situation you find yourselves in now. This is not of my making.
You have taken a drastic action against me without having the courtesy (or the courage?) to talk to me face to face. I am now calling for a fair and open hearing in front of your board. I am asking to attend your next board meeting (or please call a special meeting), so that we may have a frank discussion about these matters. I am eager and willing to answer any questions you have, and to address your concerns.
I await your early response,
Monika Schaefer