{"id":38210,"date":"2026-05-21T13:40:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T17:40:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=38210"},"modified":"2026-05-21T13:40:33","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T17:40:33","slug":"darker-shade-of-blue-brings-meriths-story-to-life-on-big-screen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/darker-shade-of-blue-brings-meriths-story-to-life-on-big-screen\/","title":{"rendered":"Darker Shade of Blue brings Merith\u2019s story to life on big screen"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In his memoir, \u201cA Darker Shade of Blue\u201d, retired York Regional Police Inspector Keith Merith didn\u2019t hold back on some of the more troubling challenges he faced as one of the few Black officers on the force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His unflinching look at experience with racism from both inside and outside policing, and efforts to bring about a change in culture within kick-started important community conversations when it was first published in 2024 \u2013 and it\u2019s set to do so again as the subject of a new documentary, which will make its Aurora debut next Wednesday, May 27, at Cineplex Aurora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The screening will begin at 6.30 p.m. and will be followed by a chance to meet the cast and crew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The documentary, \u201cA Darker Shade of Blue: 30 Years Behind the Badge\u201d is billed as a \u201cpowerful\u201d look at \u201ctruth, justice, and resilience inside law enforcement. Directed and produced by Irina Volkova and Markham\u2019s ECG (Ethnic Channels Group) Productions, it combines on-camera interviews, firsthand accounts, and re-enactment to bring Merith\u2019s story to life, showing \u201cthe emotional and institutional challenges faced by officers of colour, while exploring themes of courage, integrity, and reform.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt its heart, A Darker Shade of Blue is not only a story about policing \u2013 it is a story about perseverance,\u201d say producers. \u201cThe documentary examines systemic barriers within institutions, the personal cost of speaking out, and the power of community alliances forged in the face of adversity\u2026. The film blends personal testimony with historical context, shedding light on decades of cultural change within law enforcement. The result is a deeply human portrait of one man\u2019s commitment to justice \u2013 both on the streets and within the system itself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reflecting on the journey from book to screen, Merith tells The Auroran says he\u2019s \u201choping for good things\u201d as his story reaches new audiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe documentary walks them down a path; it takes them on a journey with me from the beginnings of joining a police department, from the internal workings of a police department, being a member of the service and being Black,\u201d he says. \u201cIt brings them into that dimension I\u2019m sure most of them have never experienced before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The message at the core of both the book and the documentary, he adds, is \u201cwe all can do better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s really no reason for treating people the way people have been treated. Even though you see on the outside a police service that is supposed to be looking after their citizens, what\u2019s really happening? What\u2019s their thought process? How are they delivering that service? Is it in the best way? Well, not so much. I ask a lot of questions, I get little answers from the organization. There\u2019s a lot of lip service, and I\u2019m not just talking about my service, I\u2019m talking right across the country and Canadian policing because that\u2019s what I deal with specifically. It\u2019s an awareness for the general public there\u2019s a lot of work to be done in holding people accountable for their behaviour.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since he began sharing his story, Merith says he\u2019s had \u201coutstanding, phenomenal\u201d feedback from officers who served with him, including \u201ctough, hard cops I worked with who told me they were shaken by the stories I told.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome of them didn’t know what was going on. Some of them knew what was going on and did nothing about it. Some of them were complicit, and they were very raw with me when they reached out,\u201d he says. \u201cA number of them were in tears when I was talking to them. They didn’t realize how much it affected me and others like me, their behavior. That to me was so gratifying. I didn’t expect that reaction from cops. I really didn’t. I know the community would join in with me, the changemakers and people that want to know what’s going on. I knew that would happen. But the coppers? That threw me off. That really did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

In his memoir, \u201cA Darker Shade of Blue\u201d, retired York Regional Police Inspector Keith Merith didn\u2019t hold back on some of the more troubling challenges he faced as one of the few Black officers on the force. His unflinching look at experience with racism from both inside and outside policing, and efforts to bring about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_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},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-9Wi","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-28 18:26:28","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\/38210","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=38210"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38210\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38211,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38210\/revisions\/38211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}