Protesters want media to step up
Accountability key when reporting on Black Lives Matter
Protesters gathered at a local news headquarters on Monday to push for accountability when media are reporting on the Black Lives Matter movement, after a week of anti-racism demonstrations.
United People Allyship Movement organized a protest outside Global Calgary’s building to express frustration with the city’s news coverage of the Black Lives Matter movement and protests held last week. The group intends to protest outside each news organization’s building to call for change.
“It’s important that the news is reporting well on this because then the people who we need to get the attention of, will pay attention. But if racism in Canada is being trivialized then they’re not going to pay attention to us and to our pain,” said Shuana Porter, black activist and founder of United People Allyship.
About 150 protesters listened to speakers, cheered and chanted “Black Lives Matter!” to bring attention to their concerns. They called for media organizations to better amplify black voices and to address the racism within their own community.
Porter said the conversation we’re all having about racism now was sparked by the death of George Floyd, a black man in Minnesota who died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes. But she said the conversation here should be focused on racism in Canada that is often swept under the rug because people claim it’s not as bad here as it is in America.
“What is happening in Canada is being trivialized and minimized this entire time,” said Porter. She said a group of black youth talked to her after she spoke at Wednesday’s protest about their own encounters with police brutality in Calgary.
“Every one of us saw herself being George at any moment. When our pain and our experience in Canada is treated as an afterthought, that is what is really pissing me off,” she said. Reports that suggest racism is hidden in Canada aren’t acceptable because that’s not the case.
She said people need to call racism out for what it is instead of using excuses to ignore it.
“Our voices and our struggles and our plights should also be a concern and a priority to you,” said Porter.
“We want to say that all lives matter. I want to get to a place where I can actually say and mean all lives matter. But until we get there, I have to say ‘Black Lives Matter’ because it seems as if they don’t.”
Fellow organizer and ally Dorsa Zamanpour said news media outlets have the ability to reach people who can affect change and it’s important they don’t minimize the impact and prevalence of racism in Canada.
“People are experiencing racism here and, at the protests, I’ve never seen so many people come forward and share their experiences with racism in Calgary and Alberta. The media needs to open up that dialogue and give the black community a voice to show that it does happen and how to change it,” said Zamanpour.
Porter said she had an opportunity to speak with Global employees to express her concerns at the protest.