'A long time to kneel on someone's neck': Newmarket Black Lives Matter rally

Demonstrations also held in other York Region municipalities

Yorkregion.com
June 8, 2020
Lisa Queen

Dozens of demonstrators marched through downtown Newmarket on the evening of June 6 as one of many Black Lives Matter rallies being held in Canada and around the world.

Like those who gathered for similar protests June 6 in Keswick, Bradford, Stouffville, Markham and Vaughan and those planned for June 7 in Aurora and Oak Ridges, the demonstrators were moved to call 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".

All of the protests in York Region June 6 were peaceful, York Regional Police Duty Insp. Peter Casey said.

The Newmarket rally was one of the biggest local demonstrations.

Here are some meaningful moments from the event:

"I feel it’s important that people who are being marginalized have a voice. It’s been happening for a while, but more people are recognizing what is going on and I feel the strong showing in the community and in the different communities is important and I think it’s important that the steam that has been built up across the country, in America, Canada and other places in the world, it can’t stop , We can’t lose focus of the end goal, to stop the injustices of minorities, black, brown, people who are getting the crappy end of the stick, I feel," Keenen Best, of Newmarket, said as he waited in Riverwalk Commons for the march to begin.

"I am personally here because I have felt racism as a brown person in Newmarket, Ontario. I do know that it goes much deeper than just people to people, it’s things that involve the police, things that involve the government, things that involve workplaces. I’ve experienced people calling me the N-word, I’ve experienced people following me around in stores thinking that I’m stealing when in fact I’m just brown, that’s the only problem that I have. It makes me feel kind of crappy but it makes me feel happy that there are people out here that actually care about things like that and are willing to speak up about it," Josh Alamilla, of Newmarket, said in Riverwalk Commons before the march.

"To actually be a part of history changing is pretty important because we don’t want to see things go back to normal or go back to the way they used to be. With white privilege, we have to use our voices to actually to make change. We see the videos and photos of black people getting mowed down by cops and it’s not all right," Jacob Szabo, of Newmarket, said in Riverwalk Commons before the march.

"No justice, no peace", "Black Lives Matter", and "I can’t breathe", were some of the rallying cries demonstrators called out as they marched from Riverwalk Commons through Fairy Lake and along Main Street, Davis Drive and Timothy Street, before ending the rally outside York Regional Police No. 1 District Headquarters at Prospect and Water streets.

"It’s important to me because all lives matter. People of different races have been getting a raw deal. Me being an Aboriginal woman have had to face that. Me being a gay, Aboriginal woman has suffered discrimination with racists. It’s not right. I’m here because people shouldn’t have to live in fear no matter what colour they are or what their love preferences are or whatever," Tammy Power, of Keswick, said in Riverwalk Commons before demonstrators walked to the police station to end the march.

"A long time, right? A long time to kneel on someone’s neck," demonstrator Shawn Prier, of Newmarket, called out to the demonstrators after they knelt in silence for nine minutes in front of the police station.

"Say his name! George Floyd! Say his name! George Floyd! Say his name! George Floyd!" demonstrators chanted at the end of the event.