Thousands demand an end to racism
Jack Poole Plaza protest organizer urges people not to follow ‘code of silence’ after rally ends
Thousands of people packed into Vancouver’s Jack Poole Plaza for a protest focused on confronting systemic racism and inequality.
Many held signs painted with messages such as “Black Lives Matter,” “No Justice, No Peace” and “I Can’t Breathe” — and some called for the City of Vancouver to reduce the police force’s budget. Almost all wore masks to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The protest was to call attention to racism in Canadian school systems, workplaces and institutions. However, it was important to address all acts of racism, no matter how minor, said lead organizer Jacob Callender-Prasad.
“We want people to just understand that being an ally isn’t just reposting (on social media). Being an ally isn’t just coming out to these protests,” Callender-Prasad said.
“What do we take from these protests? When we go back to work, what are we going to do at work when we see these acts happen? Are we going to stay and sit in silence? Are we going to follow the code of silence? Are we going to stand up and say something to support our co-workers and support our peers?
“We all live in this city together, we have to unite.”
The rally, the second held in Vancouver this week, was part of a global movement that is seeing people take to the streets to protest systemic racism and police brutality following the horrifying video of a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of a handcuffed George Floyd, who called out on May 25 that he couldn’t breathe.
The officer, Derek Chauvin, has been arrested and now faces a murder charge in connection with the 46-year-old Floyd’s death. Three other officers have been charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.
“Honestly, the racial profiling that’s going on — you can tell in jails that the majority of the people in there are black African-American,” said Denayden Lee-Daniel, a 14-year-old attending Friday’s rally. “This is not fair to the people, it’s not fair to anyone. I just want change.”
A 17-year-old who said her name was Changich described having no support from peers last year when a classmate posted an antiblack video online.
She read a poem she wrote describing how some people who told her to “get over it” are now screaming “Black Lives Matter.”
“I don’t know if you’re fighting because society says it’s OK now,” Changich said.
“But if your support means that one day black kids will never hear ‘I hate all n-----s,’ if black men will never have to say ‘I can’t breathe,’ if black mothers never have to bury their futures, then I don’t care why you’re fighting for us. Just keep fighting.”
The protesters took a moment to mark what would have been the 27th birthday of Breonna Taylor, a black woman who died two months ago after Kentucky police knocked down her door and shot her eight times.
Friday’s gathering came one day after police in New Brunswick shot and killed a 26-year-old Indigenous woman from Port Alberni.
Chantel Moore, a mother of a five-year-old girl, was killed Thursday morning after police arrived at her Edmundston home in response to a request to check on her well-being.
Edmundston police claim Moore charged at an officer with a knife and the officer fired at her in self-defence.
The EIB, Quebec’s independent police watchdog, said late Thursday that it will be investigating the shooting at the request of the RCMP.