Hundreds showed up for a justice for Black lives demonstration, chanting “no justice, no peace,” “no racist police” and “Black lives matter” in downtown Barrie, Ont., on Thursday evening.
“It felt so unified,” said Shaniqua Goodridge, a co-host of the event. “It was surreal, and it was incredible and motivational and was 100 per cent peaceful.”
After the group marched from Barrie city hall to Meridian Place, it heard a number of speeches and took a long moment of silence — for eight minutes and 49 seconds — the same amount of time that former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on George Floyd‘s neck when he was killed May 25.
The local Barrie protest comes over a week after Floyd, an unarmed Black man, died while being held by police, pleading and gasping for air; and a week after the death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet, a Black woman who fell to her death from a 24th-floor Toronto balcony after police were called.
The demonstration also called for justice for Olando Brown, a Black man who died while in the custody of the Barrie Police Service in June 2018, as well as Tony McDade of Tallahassee, Fla., Breonna Taylor of Louisville, Ky., and all victims of police violence.
“Everything went very smoothly,” Goodridge said of the protest. “It was a perfect evening, a perfect couple hours in the community.”
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Dawn Cain, one of the speakers at the rally, echoed Goodridge’s comments, saying the event felt unified and peaceful.
“It was a way bigger turnout that I think anybody expected,” Cain said. “Everyone was there to listen and to learn.”
Goodridge told Global News that nearly every person at the protest was wearing a mask, and if they weren’t, it was because they had breathing difficulties.
“People had hand sanitizer in their fanny packs and wipes, and people were handing out bottles of water to anyone that needed it,” she said, adding that it’s important the protest happened Thursday because of the need for immediate change.
“It shows to me that we are all the same,” Goodridge added.
“It doesn’t matter where you live, in the bigger cities, the smaller cities, if you’re from a little town, we’re all the same. Our skin colour doesn’t separate us, and it can’t. We can’t let it.”
Julia Bonsu, another speaker at the protest, said the event meant a lot to the community.
“It was able to show that there are thousands of people who are so passionate about equal rights and destroying racism,” Bonsu said.
On Thursday, Barrie Police chief Kimberley Greenwood released a statement commending those who participated in the justice for Black lives rally.
“Community members came together for a very important reason and peacefully demonstrated,” Greenwood said.
“You had a message to share and your message was clearly heard.”
Greenwood said the Barrie Police Service recognizes that diversity and inclusion are vital pieces in moving forward in the community.
“The death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last week has saddened and shaken our community and our service,” the police chief said.
“What took place was tragic, untenable and does not reflect the training that Ontario police officers receive.”
Greenwood said the Barrie Police Service holds its officers to “the highest standards” by promoting and facilitating training, procedures and research that ensure each officer “demonstrates acceptable behaviour.”
“Not all cops are bad. Some people were saying that all police are bad, but they’re not,” Goodridge added.
Bonsu told Global News there are several other ways that non-Black people can be allies to the Black community.
“They can start to sign petitions,” she said. “They can donate to local initiatives on Black involvement in the community, they can support Black-owned businesses, they can also destroy racism within their homes.”
Cain agreed, saying people can also continue to show up at protests and educate themselves.
“I just felt that it was very moving,” Cain said of the protest. “I think it signifies change and a new era.”
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