{"id":31349,"date":"2022-05-26T17:34:59","date_gmt":"2022-05-26T21:34:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=31349"},"modified":"2022-06-02T19:21:50","modified_gmt":"2022-06-02T23:21:50","slug":"we-dont-want-to-be-invisible-abc-rallies-aurora-in-solidarity-following-buffalo-shooting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/we-dont-want-to-be-invisible-abc-rallies-aurora-in-solidarity-following-buffalo-shooting\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWe don\u2019t want to be invisible\u201d \u2013 ABC rallies Aurora in solidarity following Buffalo shooting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

People often say they don\u2019t see colour, but that doesn\u2019t cut it, according to Latoya Reid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms. Reid, a York Region District School Board trustee candidate for Newmarket in this fall\u2019s Municipal Election, says that can lead to racialized communities feeling \u201cinvisible\u201d and that\u2019s the last thing that is needed in moving forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want to be invisible,\u201d she said. \u201cWe want you to see our colour and recognize that our colour makes us just as equal as any other colour.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was the message she delivered to dozens of residents on Thursday night as they gathered at Town Hall in solidarity with the victims and everyone impacted by the mass shooting at a grocery store in Buffalo, NY, on May 14, which left 10 dead \u2013 all members of the city\u2019s Black community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The local vigil was organized by the Aurora Black Community to not only stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the community just over the border, but underscore to local leaders we\u2019re not immune to such incidents happening here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur leaders should be shaken and angry when they see any kind of injustice anywhere, any issue, any kind,\u201d said Aurora Black Community (ABC) President Phiona Durrant, who said many leaders were \u201csilent\u201d following the shooting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking ahead of the vigil, Ms. Durrant added: \u201cWe want to advocate and raise our voices for humanity. There have been over seven shootings and stabbings in Aurora (recently) and it has never been shared by any of our Councillors or leaders. We cannot pretend we\u2019re okay here because it is just not okay. [We just want] to stand together and say this is wrong no matter which land it is happening in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms. Reid contends that in addition to the war in Ukraine, there are wars ongoing in Sudan and Somalia, as well as conflicts throughout Latin America which have not merited as much attention from leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat shows the message of us being insignificant and subhuman and when something like that can happen just about an hour-and-a-half away from Ontario, and any person could have been a victim of that \u2013 not just any person, but any Black person because that person (the shooter) was very intentional in his pursuits,\u201d said Ms. Reid. \u201cHe apologized to a White man for being shot and went on and plundered Black people. That sends a very direct message and that is something everyone should be outraged against. Everyone should be outraged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re happy for support [for Ukrainians] but there has to be more tangible support when it comes to the Black community or any racialized community. How are they (leaders) showing support in regards to that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms. Durrant posed the same question and said just a few days prior to last Thursday\u2019s event, she met with a Councillor to press the need for more funding towards Black History events and programs beyond the month of February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is no financial backing for the work that is needed for diversity, equity and inclusion, particularly this ongoing education and awareness,\u201d said Ms. Durrant. \u201cIt requires work. Black history is for everybody. When I spend an hour-and-a-half with another Councillor trying to explain to her the funding that is required for Black history, diversity and equity can\u2019t be the same as whether or not you make a decision to sponsor a hockey team. When your son, your husband, or your grandparents have been shot because they\u2019re Black, that\u2019s no longer the same as you not sponsoring a hockey mom who came and asked the Town for money to do the work. If you (use that comparison) it tells me how much work is needed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thursday\u2019s vigil was attended by Councillors John Gallo, Rachel Gilliland and Sandra Humfryes, incumbent Progressive Conservative candidate Michael Parsa, and representatives from the office of Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill MP Leah Taylor Roy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir<\/strong>
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

People often say they don\u2019t see colour, but that doesn\u2019t cut it, according to Latoya Reid. Ms. Reid, a York Region District School Board trustee candidate for Newmarket in this fall\u2019s Municipal Election, says that can lead to racialized communities feeling \u201cinvisible\u201d and that\u2019s the last thing that is needed in moving forward. \u201cWe don\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":31342,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2022-05-26-03.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-89D","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-14 11:07:52","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31349\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}