They knew they couldn't sit still and it was time to take a stand.
This was the feeling shared by Chloe and Keenan Hull, Jordan Cangombe, Léa Robertson, Julia Frappier, and Elizabeth White when they set out to organize a community walk in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.
At the start, they thought they might bring out a handful of people outside of their immediate circle to send a small but mighty message. But hundreds of others felt they too had spent too long sitting still.
On Sunday, nearly 1,000 people filled Yonge Street sidewalks and Town Park for a Solidarity Walk, a response not only to the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last month, a murder that has sparked anti-racism demonstrations around the globe, but to countless other “senseless killings” that have taken place in recent years.
“This is an issue that is not just happening out there, it is happening at home,” Ms. Hull told The Auroran as supporters rallied at Yonge and Henderson before marching northward to Town Park. “We wanted to do something in Aurora because it effects people living in Aurora as well. We just knew we couldn't sit still. We're just a group of kids, but we wanted to stand up to social injustice and discrimination.
“We started planning this, thinking it would just be the six of us with our parents, but it is incredible to see the support from our community.”
As she spoke those words, numbers at the marshalling point continued to swell and by the time the march reached Town Park, very few patches of grass were left uncovered as individuals took a stand while attempting to maintain social distancing.
“We are so blown away with how many people turned out,” she told the thousand-strong crowd, which included Newmarket-Aurora MP Tony Van Bynen, Mayor Tom Mrakas, and several Council members. “This was just a dream we had three days ago and… I am absolutely blown away with how much support we have from the community. It is even more crazy that even during COVID-19 that we're still here [and] it just shows how important this issue is to our community that we're still here, even during a pandemic, to show what's right and stand up for what's right.”
They were standing for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner and countless others who are no longer able to do so. They were remembered with two minutes of silence.
“Through this [planning] process, we have learned so much – both good and bad,” she continued. “We have learned that there are some people in Aurora who don't support our effort. We have learned that there are some allies who criticize our involvement and engaged in white-splaining to us how we should be doing this or how we should be advocating for ourselves. We learned there are some fantastic Black people in Aurora who have been very supportive and have given us sound advice. Thank you.
“I give respect to all Black people who are here today. I thank all allies. We are overwhelmed with the response. We're here today to stand up, we're here to celebrate being Black, and we're here today to make a change.”
But they were also there to share a hard reality, a reality that is lived every day by some members of Sunday's crowd, and incomprehensible to others. To underscore this, Chloe shared the experiences of her brother Keenan.
“He felt different,” she said of growing up in Aurora. “He was reminded he was different. At times, he was treated differently by peers, teachers, business owners, employers and, right here in Aurora, it continues today. We tried to fit in. It was a struggle. He felt lonely, he was angry and sad. At times, he was not proud to be who he was, despite the support he received from our dad and other great Black people who were role models in our lives. [At school] he met some great friends and through these relationships and experiences he can say he is a proud young Black man and this journey has brought him here today.”
Others stepped up to share their shared – and unique – journeys and offered some insights on how individuals can collectively “move the needle forward” on race.
Heather Tillock, a Dominica-born resident of Whitchurch-Stouffville said she moved to the York Region community soon after her second child was born thinking this move north from Toronto would give her kids better opportunities.
“I don't think I was actually expecting to experience racism in Stouffville, but I did – every day I got up was a day that something happened that reminded me I was Black, and I don't need a reminder,” she shared. “It made me realize I am not doing enough. Moving my children to Stouffville wasn't enough. We, I, have to do better.
“Maybe these times are necessary. We're all consumed by this COVID pandemic, but the reality for Black people and people of colour is we have a much bigger virus to be concerned about, we have a much bigger virus that is killing us. It is not COVID that is killing us; it is the brutal virus that we call racism.”
Following the death of George Floyd, Ms. Tillock said she was “devastated, hurt, angry, and full of rage.” But something shifted.
“I started to watch the world pay attention. It made me think that maybe this is an opportunity. Maybe finally there is an opportunity here: the stars aligned, COVID forced us all to be at home, COVID forced us all to be on our phones, our devices, so we watched the brutality and the death of a Black man. We all saw it, it wasn't hidden, and now we have an opportunity. There is an opportunity move the needle, finally. There is an opportunity to speak up for justice, finally. There is an opportunity for every single one of us to hold each other accountable, finally.”
Silence is not an option in holding each other accountable, she noted.
Addressing White people in the crowd, she said it's time to get off the fence.
“The fence is done,” she said. “You have to understand that you have privilege. You have privilege and you have to be accountable to that privilege. You have to understand how that privilege contributes to a system of inequality and just be honest about that. Talk to us about that. Be part of the conversation. Until you recognize the privilege and place that you hold, we won't be able to move that needle. No more excuses, guys.
“You have to speak up when you see injustice. You have to ask questions when you're not sure. Silence is not an option. You have to challenge the status quo. You have to question, your parents, your co-workers, your family, and you have to be ready to have the uncomfortable conversations. Nobody is suggesting these conversations are easy to have, but we have to have them.”
She also offered advice to the Black community.
“Give yourself permission to feel all those feelings. We have a right to be angry. We have a right to feel like we need to be violent. We have a right to get an outlet in terms of how we're feeling and all of these emotions that we're feeling. Give yourself permission to feel those things. Stand together, sit together, be together, work together, problem-solve together. We have to be part of this solution, too. We have to stand together. Don't let anyone else tell you what success looks like. Don't let anyone else order your steps. We have got to order our steps. We have got to take back our success. We have to get some of the control back. We have to be accountable too.
“We truly have to stay woke. Make your voice count. Respond in that second. Have you ever been in a situation where someone says something to you, it feels a little bit uncomfortable, they walk away and you're still left feeling really gross and you didn't say anything, and then you're thinking to yourself, ‘I wish I said something.' Don't let any more of those opportunities pass. Every single time you're left to feel uncomfortable, say something. Respond… We cannot let these opportunities pass. We all have a responsibility to not be afraid to speak up.
“Black is beautiful. Black girls rock. Black boys rock. Yes, of course, Black Lives Matter.”
By Brock Weir
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