Several black community groups have stated they don鈥檛 support the Black Lives Matter rally scheduled for noon on June 5.
The rally was co-organized by two 麻豆精选 residents Paige Harrison and Kermisha Pereira, to support black communities in the U.S., as well as giving residents a chance to share their experiences of discrimination.
As a black woman, Pereira said she regularly experiences racial discrimination while doing what would be considered normal things.
鈥淲hen I go into stores, I get followed around even when I don鈥檛 look suspicious or anything like that. People, whenever they want to have an argument with me, will always end up using a racial slur as a way to hurt me,鈥� she said.
Harrison said she has different experiences as a half-black woman but still hears foul language about her race.
However, some black community groups released statements on social media stating they don鈥檛 support the rally because they don鈥檛 amplify black, Indigenous and minority voices.
Hearth, an association of black and Indigenous women, posted they didn鈥檛 support the rally because 鈥渋t was founded without the consultation, consent, or leadership of the larger black community in the Okanagan and also the First Nations who govern these territories.鈥�
鈥淏y firsthand experiences, we know that black and Indigenous peoples were added as an afterthought in organizing this event and those people were later told to leave after expressing their concerns,鈥� Hearth鈥檚 statement continued. The organization asked its followers and members not to attend the rally.
鈥淲e believe it caters to the settler consumption of black trauma, depicted in the sale of cupcakes decorated without consent of the faces of black Americans who have been murdered.鈥�
Hearth said they believed the rally was poorly planned.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an example of inexperience in properly and strategically executing a movement of this global magnitude. There is no sustainability in the agenda of this rally because it is exploitative of our pain and our stories, without implementing meaningful structural and systematic support and decolonization in this country.鈥�
Hearth said they are currently planning to put in place more sustainable programs to help the black and Indigenous communities thrive, and have been since 2018 and that they are now working within the community to implement the programming.
Harrison and Pereira said they didn鈥檛 know the specifics of what triggered the backlash.
鈥淚t could be a couple of reasons, but we don鈥檛 want to insinuate anything鈥� the only thing I can say, and speaking on behalf of Kermisha (Pereira), is that we really wish that they were all here and supporting,鈥� Harrison said.
鈥淭hey would鈥檝e been a part of it just as much as anybody else would鈥檝e been.鈥�
Another event, this time a virtual one, will take place on Saturday, June 6. Titled 鈥淏eyond the Discomfort鈥�, Hearth is encouraging people to attend as there will be discussions on how to actively promote change.
Friday鈥檚 rally was attended by hundreds of people in 麻豆精选鈥檚 Stuart Park. Residents had the chance to go up to microphone and share messages of encouragement, acceptance, as well as share their experiences.
READ: 鈥業t鈥檚 in the looks people give鈥�: 麻豆精选 women use shared experiences to combat racism
READ: 麻豆精选 mayor issues statement on Black Lives Matter rally
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