'Black Lives Matter': 1,000 people hold Solidarity Walk in Aurora

Demonstrators march along Yonge Street to Town Park for rally

Yorkregion.com
June 8, 2020
Lisa Queen

About 1,000 demonstrators rallied in Aurora on the afternoon of June 7, calling for an end to the racism black people face in their lives.

The Solidarity Walk saw protestors march north along Yonge Street from Henderson Drive to Town Park, where they gathered to hear speeches, spoken word poetry and music before holding two minutes of silence.

The rally mirrored similar events held this weekend in Newmarket, Keswick, Bradford, Stouffville, Markham, Vaughan and Oak Ridges.

Demonstrators called for an end to racism and police brutality against black people following the tragic death of George Floyd.

The 46-year-old black man died May 25 after white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes while Floyd was handcuffed and lying face down, while pleading, "I can’t breathe".

“We need to do something, we can’t just stand here. And I’m absolutely blown away with how much support we have in our communities,” said Aurora’s Chloe Hull, one of the organizers, adding the event was pulled together in just three days.

“I give respect to all black people who are here today. I thank all allies. We are overwhelmed with the response. We are here today to stand up, we are here to celebrate being black and we are here today to make a change.”

The rally is in response to the “senseless killing” of Floyd and a long list of other black people, Hull said.

Stouffville mother Heather Tillock spoke of her surprise at the racism she has faced since moving to the town 14 years ago when her son was born.

“The idea was that we were going to give our children access to opportunities, a better life. I don’t know, I don’t think I was actually expecting to face racism in Stouffville but I did,” she said.

“Every day that I got up was a day that something happened that reminded me that I was black and I don’t need a reminder. It made me realize I’m not doing enough. Moving my children to Stouffville wasn’t enough. We, I, have to do more. These are incredibly challenging times that we’re living in,but maybe these times are necessary.”

Calling racism a “brutal virus,” Tillock shared advice for white people and her black “brothers and sisters” to create change.

She challenged white people to educate themselves, to speak up when they see injustice, to understand their white privilege and how it contributes to inequality and to challenge the status quo.

She urged black people to give themselves permission to feel emotions.

“We have 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 these emotions that we’re feeling, so give yourself permission to feel those things,” she said.

She also encouraged black people to stand together in solidarity, to have difficult conversations, to take control back and to be accountable for making change happen.