I attended the protest for #JusticeForRegis and this is what I saw

BY SELINA McCLLUM

“NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE. NO RACIST POLICE,” chanted the thousands of people who marched for the Justice For Regis and Black Lives Matter protest on Saturday, May 30^th.

The protest was put together by a group called Not Another Black Life once they gained knowledge of a young black woman named Regis Korchinski-Paquet falling to her death from the balcony of a 24th-floor Toronto apartment while police were in the home a few days before.

Her death was tragic and suspicious, raising questions from Torontonians on how she had fallen to her death when left alone with police in the apartment, while her mother and brother were outside in the hallway with other officers.

The march was also held for all of the black lives that have been lost in America recently at the hands of police brutality, the most recent being George Floyd.

The organizers posted the details on their Instagram account of the march, which grew from a few hundred followers to over 15 thousand followers in a few days. They urged people to bring masks, water bottles and keep a distance from others.

The protest began at Christie Pitts Park at 2 p.m. Keosha Love, a writer, creator and wellness educator, as well as the Founder of Our Women’s Voices, an organization that strives to empower women to take up space and redefine their stories, said a powerful opening speech as hundreds of people surrounded her.

Love is extremely active in the black community and has been for years now, often speaking at workshops on anti-oppression and anti-racism.

“When I was asked to speak I was honoured. I felt very blessed to have that opportunity and for folks to recognize me as a voice that needed to be heard. It was very powerful and very inspiring,” said Love.

The community activist speaks on what she wanted folks to take away from her speech.

“I really wanted folks to understand what allyship meant and why we are fighting. This is privilege and power we’re talking about, not just one white person. Privilege in itself is not the enemy, it’s the people who abuse it and use it to harm black lives. I wanted people to understand how dangerous this is, and how humane this is,” said Love.

Next to speak were organizers of Not Another Black Life, informing the huge crowd on the route and to emphasize that this is a peaceful protest and there should be no violence during the march.

The family of Korchinski-Paquet and the organizers lead the march at the front of the crowd while they held a long banner that read “Not Another Black Life.”

Most people were wearing masks, but social distancing was not in effect as most people were side by side. The racism pandemic has completely taken over the coronavirus pandemic, making others not afraid of potentially getting sick.

All around me I saw people of every ethnicity. I saw a Tamil man hold up a sign that said, “Tamils For Black Lives.” I also saw another sign that said, “Asians for Black Lives.”

It touched my heart to see so many people of all backgrounds fighting for justice for black people. A majority of the crowd seemed under 30 to me, and that makes me wonder what the future will look like. How will government systems operate, and what will company board of directors look like?

Because of the march and the pressure put on authorities from diverse groups of people all over the world to recognize the racism and discrimination that has been happening for hundreds of years, I feel that the world will truly change.

“Something about this time feels different. Something about the city feels different,” said a photographer, who goes by Black Tux, who came to capture the protest.

Love says it’s not just about your activism on social media, it’s what you do after.

“Some of the changes I’d like to see done after the posts die down on social media is allyship that is not performative. I think everything starts at home, and for us to really make effective change we have to take these conversations to our family members who have been complicit to the violence that we experience every day,” said Love. “This is not limited to black lives, this is a human race conversation for everyone to be involved in.”