You don’t have to hate police to agree with Black Lives Matter
Activists marched Sunday to repeat their message and to ‘take up space’
They came. They saw. They disrupted.
Black Lives Matter, whose inspired protest against police in uniform last year brought Toronto Pride to a crashing halt and anti-Black racism among police to the forefront, found their message amplified across North America this year.
Other chapters of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) group protested Pride in various cities: in New York City — where about 100 of Toronto’s finest had made their way in a huff; in Seattle, where they staged a 30-minute protest — one minute for every year in the life of Charleena Lyles, recently killed by police; in Minneapolis, where they protested the death of Philando Castile, chanting “no justice no pride”; in Vancouver, where they staged a separate march altogether to honour queer-trans people of colour. Here, protesters also staged a die-in, in which five people lay down on the hot pavement and others drew chalk figures around them.
In Toronto, where Pride comes during an inquest into the death of Andrew Loku, the mentally ill Black man killed by a police officer in 2015, the young activists showed up on Sunday after the parade had passed, not to put themselves front and centre, but to remind people they are still challenging anti-Black racism within Pride, within queer-trans communities.
“Pride is actually ours. Queer and trans people of colour actually started this,” said BLM co-founder Rodney Diverlus. “We don’t need to register for a deadline, we don’t need to tell you we’re coming, we don’t need to pay money for a float. We’re just going to take up space.”
Perhaps Diverlus should have said “reclaiming our space,” the space created by queer and trans people of colour, who played a major role in the Stonewall Riots 50 years ago this week. The series of riots, named after Stonewall Inn, a New York bar patronized by queer and trans people that was frequently and violently raided by police, were seen as the first major protests against police on behalf of LGBT people.
Key among protesters were transgender community organizers such as the Latina Sylvia Rivera and Black transwomen Marsha P. Johnson and Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, but those roles have been erased over time as the movement has been whitewashed.
No doubt, Toronto is one of the most gay-friendly cities in the world. No doubt, Toronto police are heroes to many people, including gay people of colour. No doubt, BLM doesn’t speak for all Black people — no group ever speaks for all.
Yet, liberation of some is not liberation of all. That’s not so difficult to grasp, is it? There are disparities in how we experience the police. You don’t have to hate the police to agree with BLM — it’s not a zero-sum game. However, there’s a reluctance to understand the unique cruelty of anti-Blackness.
Toronto Zoo’s $19.1-million state-ofthe-art Wildlife Health Centre had its official opening Monday at a reception that included Mayor John Tory.
The hospital and laboratories feature a viewing gallery — the first of its kind in Canada — so visitors, as of July 1, can see first-hand wildlife care staff at work.
The new facility is at the heart of the zoo’s “expanded vision” and will position the zoo as a world-leader in wildlife care and conservation, Toronto Zoo CEO John Tracogna told invited guests.
This spring, a strike by zoo staff delayed the scheduled public launch.
The zoo opened its doors in 1974 and has 5,000 animals, representing almost 450 species from around the world.