No Justice, No Peace
“No justice, no peace!” — A rallying cry heard far too many times, and one that is seemingly falling deaf on the ears of some law enforcement and government officials, both in the United States, and right here in Canada.
On Monday, in the shadow of the COVID-19 global pandemic, a crowd of four to five hundred people showed up for a peaceful protest at Gore Park, organized by Michael St. Jean of Foreign Waves International, and co-organizers Mykel, Chancese, and Debbie.
For too long, the black community has been fighting for a proper conversation, a seat at the table, a chance to be heard, and to live as equals in their own communities.
For some, watching the news coming out of the United States for the last 8 days, racism and injustice may seem like it’s not something that happens in Canada. But make no mistake, from the questionable treatment of the indigenous, oppression and injustice for the black community, and even homophobia against the LGQBT+ community, these things are happening right here in Hamilton, and indeed around Canada.
While George Floyd’s murder in the United States may have sparked an international fire, we must not forget the names of those who fell at the hands of the police, and honour the memory of those we may not know about.
I had the opportunity to talk to Michael on Sunday night, prior to Monday’s event. He spoke with so much strength and passion, though he admitted he was nervous. “We’ve never done anything like this (event) before. I don’t know what to expect. We only started planning this on Friday night and traction has just blown up.”
His hope was that things remained peaceful. He also said he and his co-organizers would be taking steps to ensure people respected social distancing, mask wearing, and gloves.
When I arrived on scene on Monday morning, prior to the official 12 pm kick off, those efforts were visible from one end of the park to the other.
Organizers made their best effort to respect social distancing laws by drawing X’s in chalk 8 ft apart, while others handed out masks and gloves for those who did not bring their own.
As noon approached, more and more people arrived, with signs.
The all too familiar chants of “black lives matter” , “no justice, no peace” , and “charge all four” echoed through the downtown core, as passing vehicles honked their horns to show their support.
Also present were Hamilton Police Officers who came to ensure the safety and well-being of those attending the event.
“You see what’s happened down south, and you watch the video, and you feel alone. It’s a disgrace what happened,” said one officer, who asked to remain anonymous as he was not authorized to comment officially. “We’re happy to be here to make sure everyone is safe. These conversations are important.”
While some questioned why such a demonstration was taking place in Hamilton, one of the co-organizers named Chancese shared her own experience: “People say it’s not as bad in Canada as it is the States, but I’ve been in racist situations, right here in Hamilton. We’re here to bring awareness to the people in Hamilton. We all live together in this community together”.
Handmade signs were held in the air with messages of hope and frustration. “I can’t breathe”, “Stop viewing our skin as a weapon”, “Justice can’t wait”,“We all bleed the same”, and “We’re done being targets” were just some of the words seen dotted throughout the crowd.
“Looking at the whole thing right now, first of all I’d like to say ‘thank you’ to everyone that has come out. Thank you to everyone who is supporting the movement and everything,” said Paul, one of the attendees of the event. “There is so much work that needs to be done. This has been going on for years. I feel like the fact that we don’t really know our history, just makes some people feel this is just a thing of now. Like this is like Instagram and Snapchat and social media. But this has been going on for such a long time. To be honest, the balance and everything, I’m tired. I’m tired of the black killing black, whites killing black, I’m just tired of everything in general. Let’s sit down, and actually have a conversation and talk.”
He continued by saying, “It’s not a thing of ‘oh yeah, let’s arrest the cops’, and let’s do this. No. Let’s understand what they want and where they are coming from. What do they actually want, because we’ve been doing the same thing. We had people protest many years ago, we had people fight many years ago and riot and we’re doing the same thing in 2020. It’s not working. So why don’t we try a different approach.”
I asked Paul if he felt that in the last 7 days if the movement has changed, or if it’s become a bigger conversation.
“To be honest, yeah. Not bigger, but I think it’s just become more open. Like, it’s become something people are now more comfortable talking about. Because everyone always had to tip-toe around the whole racism and everything, like ‘I don’t want to say too much, or say the wrong thing or say anything’ but now everyone is like ‘this is clear now’. They literally had the knee on (George Floyd’s) neck, and the guy went unconscious, and he still has his knee on his neck. Like, okay, now it’s time to really have conversations about things. So, the movement and everything has been getting awareness and it’s really cool seeing all over the world people really taking up the whole movement. I think it’s beyond just marching and rioting or breaking things. It’s ‘we should sit down and talk’ and let us know what we’re doing.”
I asked Paul how he felt as he looked over the mixed crowd of people standing together during a global pandemic.
“Looking at this, If I could take a picture of this and put it out there so everyone could see, because there are some black people out there who think ‘every white person is racist’ and there are also some white people who think ‘every black person is a thug’. So if I could put a picture out so everyone could see this and be like, regardless of the pandemic and everything, we’re all out here supporting each other. Because it’s not really a black vs. white or black vs. cops. It’s good vs. bad. That’s just it. If you support positivity, and you support words, and just general goodness of the entire human race [then] you should be out here supporting. But if you’re going to support, do it in a safe manner. The virus is going on, and that’s why we’re handing out gloves; we have masks and everything. We want to make sure everyone is safe”.
I asked Michael the same question. “Honestly, it shows that people do care, even if it doesn’t look like a big crowd. It still shows that there are people out there that care that are standing with us and that makes me feel really good”.
I followed up by asking Michael that given everything that’s happened with George Floyd – and knowing that there are hundreds of years of historical events both in the United States and Canada – if he thought the conversation felt different this time.
“Honestly, I think the conversation has been serious. I think that the George Floyd situation put the topping on the cake. I feel like that’s when nobody was having it anymore. But it sucks because what happened with George Floyd shouldn’t have been like ‘okay now they went too far’. No, they’ve been going too far. This should have been addressed years ago. The thing I find is the most unfortunate is that it’s not going to stop. It’s never going to stop. But if we stop doing what we’re doing, then we are just letting it happen.”
Before I left, I asked Michael what he hoped attendees walked away feeling.
“Keep that same energy. The way you are here, how you guys feel, the positivity and all that, just keep that same mentality and keep that same energy and all that.”
