Here are a few of the thousands who marched Friday in Vancouver against racism.
'We built a community'
These are some of the thousands who gathered to rally against racism in Vancouver on Friday
By Maggie MacPherson
June 5, 2020
On June 5 in downtown Vancouver, thousands of people gathered at Jack Poole Plaza in an act of solidarity with wide-sweeping protests across the U.S. after the police killing of George Floyd.
Floyd, an unarmed black man, was killed on May 25 as a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into his neck for nearly nine minutes while Floyd gasped, saying he could not breathe.
Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have marched and demonstrated in every U.S. state and in cities across Canada to condemn racism and police abuses with the rallying call, Black Lives Matter.
In Canada, these protests have also brought attention to police abuse against black and Indigenous Canadians.
Here is what some of the demonstrators had to say on Friday.
“I want you to become friends, all of you. Because at the end of the day we all bleed red.” - Helen Proskow, protest organizer
“Racism is not right.” - Madreadi Skinner, 9, protest speaker
“We had to wait until today and [the release of] that awful video for people to really understand what is BLM.…so lets make police and people who are supposed to protect us accountable for their actions.” - Anonymous
As a tear drops from his eye, Gabriel Lucky Gbeneyei says, “I just want to let everybody know that we are all one. …we are human beings and we deserve to be loved. We deserve to be protected.”
Gabriel Lucky Gbeneyei, 22, speaks during Froday's protest.
“I’m here to protest for the black people and the black lives that have been lost.” -Halima Hassan, 16
“Black Lives Matter” - Orene Askew (DJ O Show)
A man aggressively rushed towards Nanjalah during her speech. He was pulled away before he was able to reach her. When asked why she thinks he did that she says, “It comes from the truth. You know, you have been doing this [being racist] and now someone is telling you it’s wrong. So that truth is hurting you. It is the truth that is hurting you….Because you still hold that [racism]…and they are scared.”
Jacqueline Hakizimana, 16, says the school system is not doing an adequate job of addressing racism. She is calling for real consequences for racist actions rather than using them simply as teachable moments.
“All lives don’t matter until Black Lives Matter and this needs to end the police brutality against black people, Indigenous people, brown people, and Asian people.” - Laurie Meanwell. Left to right: Helen Tommy, Vivian Rose Samby, and Laurie Meanwell
"I really hope the school systems realize that there is truly discrimination and stuff like that that goes on [in schools].” - Tanvi Ahluwalia, 16, protest organizer
“I’m hoping to come away with listening to stories, understanding where they are coming from because I am not a part of that community but I’m here to support them and to love them and try to understand what they are going through and spread awareness and worth.” - Allie Ewloth / From left: Daphne Lewarne, Joel Jeffeels, Allie Ewloth.
“I’m here today to uplift all the black voices that have been lost to police brutality and racism in both Canada and America. We have a problem here too, as well as we do in the States, which is very apparent, and it's time the world sees how much black people are strong and confident and beautiful and worth it, and are worth fighting for.” - Feven Kidane, 22, protest organizer
“We are here to lift up the things that people in the black community are asking for…We hope to eradicate and defund police that are murdering black people and not taking accountability over it.” - Rory MacKlin
“I really want the Vancouver School Board District, the City of Vancouver, the police to all hear our voices and recognize the issue of racism.” - Anisa Brewster, 16, protest organizer
“Black lives matter. Trans men, black women, children, trans people matter. LGBTQ+. They also matter. Everybody in queerdom, they matter. We need to not forget about our brothers and sisters who are disabled, who can't come to these protests, even though we see you. We see you brothers and sisters who can’t make it to rallies.” - Rebekka Freeman
"We built a community. We've now started a movement and this is, this is my dream. And this is what I wanted, to see my city come together as one. United on an issue that's so strong in my heart that I care about so much….This is what Canada is." - Jacob Callender-Prasad, event organizer
![“We had to wait until today and [the release of] that awful video for people to really understand what is BLM.…so lets make police and people who are supposed to protect us accountable for their actions.” - Anonymous](https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/craft-assets/images/anonymous-resized.jpg)
![A man aggressively rushed towards Nanjalah during her speech. He was pulled away before he was able to reach her. When asked why she thinks he did that she says, “It comes from the truth. You know, you have been doing this [being racist] and now someone is telling you it’s wrong. So that truth is hurting you. It is the truth that is hurting you….Because you still hold that [racism]…and they are scared.”](https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/craft-assets/images/resized-87353.jpg)
!["I really hope the school systems realize that there is truly discrimination and stuff like that that goes on [in schools].” - Tanvi Ahluwalia, 16, protest organizer](https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/craft-assets/images/tanvi-resized.jpg)
