PROBING, FRAMING, CODING

WE ARE READY TO TALK ABOUT RACE IN CANADA

HOW have you prioritized learning about the root causes of current protests?

HOW are you engaged in conversations about race and racism?

HOW have you engaged others in conversations about race and racism?

NOW it’s time to reflect on our shared humanity.

NOW it’s time to come together, listen, learn, share in grief & in hope.

NOW it’s time to act for a more just, equitable and racially conscious world.

The destructive power of racism & its brutality is a plague.

Failure to address these issues can be deadly.

Fear and discomfort about race and racialized discussions usually lead to our SILENCE, which indirectly sanctions all our learning as false and privileged labour.

SILENCE = DEATH

In any post-secondary context, SILENCE on issues of BIPOC racism and oppression is insulting. If any of your learning contexts FAIL to include contextual attention to the complexities of race, IT IS YOUR JOB TO DEMAND IT. Imagine young BIPOC learners watching us loving and appreciating BIPOC culture —finding pleasure and leisure in BIPOC music, food, fashion, celebrity, and culture—but remaining silent about BIPOC oppression.

SILENCE is a refusal to recognize the resilience of BIPOC people and how its cultures are often born out of necessity. It hurts learners when powerful people FAIL to acknowledge what BIPOC people have done for our worlds and what these same worlds have done to them.

WE’RE ALL PART OF THE STORY

READ

Ibram X. Kendi’s The American Nightmare: To Be Black And Conscious Of Anti-Black Racism Is To Stare Into The Mirror Of Your Own Extinction. The Atlantic, 2020.

<https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/06/american-nightmare/612457/>.

Dylan Scott’s Violent Protests Are Not The Story. Police Violence Is. Vox, 2020.

<https://www.vox.com/2020/5/30/21275507/minneapolis-george-floyd-protests-police-violence>.

QUESTIONS

How are you engaged in conversations about race and racism?

How can you engage people in your community and talk about social justice actions?

Do you know anyone with a background in race-related activism?

How diverse is your community?

Consider what Ibram Kendi means by the moments of “toil and terror and trauma.”

How do Kendi and Scott portray their perceptions? Do you see similarities? With whom can you discuss your responses to this material? How did these conversations work for you? Where do your values fit within this context? (YOU + talking about race=)

A DECADE OF WATCHING BLACK PEOPLE DIE

RESOURCE

LISTEN: <CODE SWITCH> Podcast, NPR, 2020. [22:00].

What’s CODE SWITCH? It’s the fearless conversations about race that you’ve been waiting for! Hosted by journalists of colour, our podcast tackles the subject of race head-on. We explore how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports, and everything in between. This podcast invites ALL OF US to take part in the conversation —because we’re all part of the story.

<https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch>.

<iframe src=”https://www.npr.org/player/embed/865261916/866048444″

width=”100%” height=”290″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no” title=”npr embedded audio player”></iframe>

THE LONG FIGHT FOR RACIAL JUSTICE

In more than 580 cities and towns, hundreds of thousands have gathered to protest the police killing of an African American man named George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Protestors’ call for justice, police accountability, and for an end to the systemic racism deeply embedded in the laws, practices, and institutions mark some of the most widespread protests in the last fifty years. The protests should be seen in the long arc of history and as part of the long black freedom struggle, a struggle that began when the first black people arrived as captive slaves more than four hundred years ago.

Racial injustice is not a new phenomenon, and neither is black activism. In fact, the black activism taking place today builds on organizing strategies from the civil rights movement. BlackLivesMatter champions and extends idea of and values for racial equity.

As Black Lives Matter and Indigenous organizing capture public attention about white privilege and the systemic nature of racism and colonialism, major Canadian institutions (eg, Prime Minister’s Office, RCMP) have finally started acknowledging that they, too, are structured by racism. These institutions include Canadian universities. Previously, the University of Guelph, like most other institutions of higher learning across Canada, deflected accusations of ignoring racism and colonialism and failing to take meaningful and actionable steps to make necessary systemic changes.

The brutal violence committed against the Black community and the increased burden placed on Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) individuals, compounded by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has led to a pivotal moment in our history. In solidarity with the Black community and for the sake of all BIPOC students (past and present) I unequivocally affirm that BLACK LIVES MATTER. Violence against Black people must stop.

We join the international uprising led by Black people against police killings and violence in the wake of George Floyd’s murder by Minnesota Police, Breonna Taylor’s fatal shooting by Louisville Police and the killing of Tony McDade, a Black Trans man by Tallahassee Police.

#SAYTHEIRNAMES

Before we try to foster productive conversations about race and civil disobedience, we need to remember what is at stake, what has been lost, and who has been lost.

Join me in saying the names of BIPOC killed by police in the last decade. I know this initial list is focused on the US. The rate at which black Americans are killed by police is more than twice as high as the rate for white Americans. This is a non-comprehensive list of deaths at the hands of police in the U.S. since Eric Garner’s death in July 2014.

UNARMED BLACK PEOPLE KILLED MURDERED BY POLICE IN THE UNITED STATES

MAY-DECEMBER 2020

Tony McDade

David McAtee

Carlos Carson

Rayshard Brooks

Dijon Durand Kizzee

Jonathan Dwayne Price

Marcellis Stinnette

Sincere Pierce

Angelo Crooms

Casey Christopher Goodson, Jr

Andre Maurice Hill

Angelo Quinto

JANUARY-APRIL 2021

Vincent M. Belmonte

Patrick Lynn Warren, Sr

Marvin David Scott III

Daunte Demetrius Wright

Source: <https://www.reneeater.com/on-monuments-blog/tag/list+of+unarmed+black+people+killed+by+police>.

last updated April 15, 2021

MARK’S CONTEXT

In 1991, I worked at the New York City Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project. My job set up a court monitoring system, to track perpetrators through the criminal justice system. One of my first assigned cases was to see justice for Freddy Pereira. I spent many years following the work of law enforcement, the judicial system, and the workings of privilege. Freddy Pereira died in 1991 in the custody of five police officers in Queens, New York. Despite my efforts tracking and tracing Freddy’s case, the ultimate result was frustration, disappointment, and more heartbreak. Charges were dismissed against four police officers and the fifth was cleared.

source:
<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/09/art

s/design/moc

a-cleveland-shaun-leonardo.html?>

POLICE VIDEOS AREN’T GOING AWAY

RESOURCE

POLICE VIDEOS AREN’T GOING AWAY. HOW CAN WE LEARN FROM THEM?

<EMBEDDED> PODCAST. Kelly Mcevers & Tom Dreisbach, NPR, 2020.

Long-form, sound-rich field reporting from around the country and around the world with NPR’s reach and perspective and with a new emphasis on longform narrative and emotional ideas not common in the regular news cycle. Reporters will say “I.” They will admit they are scared or confused. They will wonder what to make of something they’re experiencing for the very first time. In doing this, listeners grow to understand not just what happened in a place, but what it felt like to the people who are in that place.

READ/LISTEN

Kelly Mcevers & Tom Dreisbach. Police Videos Aren’t Going Away. How Can We Learn From Them? EMBEDDED, NPR, 2020.

<https://www.npr.org/2017/03/25/521102557/police-videos-arent-going-away-how-can-we-learn-from-them>.

ONE: Charlotte, N.C.: Confirmation Bias. [43:41].

<iframe src=”https://www.npr.org/player/embed/521102557/521239383″ width=”100%” height=”290″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no” title=”NPR embedded audio player”></iframe>

TWO: Flagstaff, Ariz.: A Video That Takes On A Life Of Its Own. [40:08].

<iframe src=”https://www.npr.org/player/embed/521102557/521239406″ width=”100%” height=”290″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no” title=”NPR embedded audio player”></iframe>

THREE: New Richmond, Ohio: How Videos Change Us. [27:44].

<iframe src=”https://www.npr.org/player/embed/521102557/521239990″ width=”100%” height=”290″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no” title=”NPR embedded audio player”></iframe>

MAPPING POLICE VIOLENCE

Police killed 598 people in 2020.

Police Have Killed ___ People in 2021.

As of April 27, police have killed 335 people in 2021

Global protests demanding an end to police violence have shifted public opinion over the past five years. An estimated 45 million Americans have adopted more progressive views on race and racism since the protests began in 2014. While public opinion has changed, policing outcomes have not. The police killed more people last year than the year before, racial disparities in outcomes such as arrests and deadly force persist, and the criminal justice system is not more likely to hold police accountable.

The US has approximately 18,000 distinctive law enforcement agencies, each with different issues and outcomes. Changing the behaviours of law enforcement requires sustained organizing and advocacy.

A recent report from the US Bureau of Justice Statistics estimated approximately 1,200 people were killed by police between June 2015 and May 2016. The MAPPING POLICE VIOLENCE database identified 1,106 people killed by police over this time. While there are undoubtedly police killings that are not included in our database (namely, those that go unreported by the media), these estimates suggest that the MPV database captures 92% of the total number of police killings that have occurred since 2013.

The MAPPING POLICE VIOLENCE database provides greater transparency and accountability for police departments as part of the ongoing campaign to end police violence.

RESOURCE

MAPPING POLICE VIOLENCE <https://mappingpoliceviolence.org/>.

THE ANNUAL MAPS FROM MAPPING POLICE VIOLENCE

<iframe width=’100%’ height=’520′ frameborder=’0′ src=’https://samswey.carto.com/viz/e1005588-93d2-47b6-9a61-f4c0ed001163/embed_map’ allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe>

QUESTIONS

Have you paid attention to police brutality in the news? What does it mean to you? What is surprising? What is interesting? What is troubling? Are you surprised to learn that police officers have used force and have killed people?

What have you learned about the history of police violence against BIPOC people?

Why do you think police brutality and police killings continue? Why are police officers not held accountable? Should police officers who kill be arrested, prosecuted, convicted?

Identify the types of changes needed for police brutality to stop.

Identify hurdles or obstacles to enacting these types of changes.

Do you know or can you recognize an active voice for racial equality in your life?

What/who facilitates awareness and activism for BIPOC justice on campus?

CANADIAN CONTEXT

Don’t forget: Police violence and killings are also a pressing issue across Canada.

HEGEMONIC VALUE OF BLACK PEOPLE

In Canada, Black people were considered “property” well into the 1800s. Surprised? Canada has its own legacy of slavery. Despite Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe 1792 call for its abolition, the “practice” of slavery continued in Canada. In fact, a system of slave patrols, sanctioned by the United States Congress’ Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, pursued slaves and monitored Black people in general. It is within this historical context that the Black communities’ relationship with the police was formed and initially defined.

We must understand dominate hegemonic views of Black people. HEGEMONY refers to a dominant group’s social, cultural, ideological and/or economic influence and power. When assessing anti-Black racism (like what you might read in government policy statements, academic commentaries, Black Canadians’ viewpoints and legal rulings) we must start with an acknowledgement of Canadian slavery.

Against a backdrop of Canadian celebrations of 150 years of nationalism, for about 200 years, slavery was legal in New France and in Lower Canada. Slaves were owned by governors, bishops, military officers, merchants, priests, blacksmiths, and tailors. The  COMMODIFICATION of Black bodies lays the groundwork for how people of African and Caribbean descent experience Canadian law enforcement and its agents and officers. The intergenerational impact of slavery and a long history of overt and ongoing systemic racism continues to shape poorer outcomes for Black people today.

TORONTO’S BLACK POPULATION

According to the 2016 Census, the population of Toronto was 2,731,571. “Visible minorities” made up 51.5% of population. The largest “visible minority” groups were South Asian (12.6%), Chinese (11.1%) and Black (8.8%). There were 239,850 Black people in Toronto. Racial profiling and racial discrimination of Black people by the Toronto Police Service (TPS) is an expected practice, as demonstrated in its use of force; stops; questioning and searches; and charges.

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE KILLED MURDERED BY POLICE

TKARONTO is built on sacred land that is part of an agreement between Indigenous peoples and then extended to allied nations to care for it peacefully and respectfully. With your land acknowledgement, you take part in an act of reconciliation, honouring the land and Indigenous heritage.

Agencies serving the Indigenous community in Toronto estimate that there are 70,000

residents from this community. Toronto has the largest Indigenous population in Ontario and the 4th largest in Canada. According to Canada’s 2016 Census (Metropolitan Area statistics), the Indigenous population in Toronto went from 36,995 to 46,315, an increase of 25 per cent. However, other research says Indigenous peoples are undercounted by the national census (likely because the census relies on a fixed address).

In the Our Health Counts Study (2016), the largest urban Indigenous population health study in Canada, where Indigenous organizations owned and controlled the data, the total Indigenous population in Toronto was 69,000. Our Health Counts also reported that over 90 per cent of Toronto’s Indigenous population lives below the low-income cut-off.

AND YET:

The death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet, a Black-Indigenous woman in the presence of Toronto police in May 2020.

The New Brunswick police killing of Indigenous woman Chantel Moore during a ‘wellness’ call, in early June 2019.

The RCMP shooting of Rodney Levi of the Metepenagiag Mi’kmaq Nation.

The Peel police shootings of mental health survivors D’Andre Campbell in April.

The shooting of Ejaz Ahmed Choudry in June.

These are the most recent manifestations of systemic racist deaths of Black, Indigenous, and racialized people at the hands of police forces in Canada. Systemic, institutionalized, violent, anti-Black racism and settler colonialism shape Canadian society and its policing practices. Too many of the people shot and killed by police are people with disabilities.

THIS CANNOT CONTINUE.

The past ten years alone have seen increases in routinized killings of Black, racialized, and Indigenous people across this country. Toronto has a documented record of anti-Black, anti-Indigenous, racist police killings by Police. Violent racist police practices are enmeshed with homophobic, misogynist, anti-trans, anti-disability and anti-poor police violence.

The ongoing oppression and neglect of Black, Indigenous, and racialized people, sex workers, homeless and poor people are often visible on the streets of Toronto. This is shockingly illustrated in the botched investigations of the McArthur disappearances and serial killings of Brown gay men in Toronto’s Gay village and the unsolved murders of sex workers and trans women such as Alloura Wells, a multiracial trans sex worker and Sumaya Dalmar, a Somali Canadian transgender woman.

And the violence continues:

April 8^th, 16-year-old Eishia Hudson

April 9^th. 36-year-old Jason Collins

February 27^th, 2021, Julian Jones.

Source:

<https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2021/3/24/the-indigenous-people-killed-by-canadas-police>.

#SAYTHEIRNAMES

#SAYTHEIRNAMES

|| REGIS KORCHINSKI-PAQUET || CHANTEL MOORE ||

|| RODNEY LEVI || D’ANDRE CAMPBELL || EJAZ AHMED CHOUDRY ||

|| ALLOURA WELLS || SUMAYA DALMAR || EISHIA HUDSON ||

|| JASON COLLINS || JULIAN JONES ||

READ

nindibaajimomin. (2014). Creating and Sharing Digital Stories on the Legacy of Residential Schools: Guides to Support Healing Across the Generations. The Aboriginal Healing Foundation & the University of Winnipeg Oral History Centre.

<www.nindibaajimomin.com>.

VIDEO SPOTLIGHT

Belcourt, Annie. Healing Through Story: Unpacking Indigenous Resiliency and Hope

&

Simpson, Tai. Indigenous Storytelling As A Political Lens

MEET ANNIE BELCOURT

Annie Belcourt, PhD (Otter Woman) is an enrolled tribal member of the Three Affiliated Tribes, Mandan, Hidatsa, Blackfeet, and Chippewa descent and Professor in the College of Health at the University of Montana’s Pharmacy Practice and School of Public and Community Health Sciences Departments. She currently serves as a Faculty Senator and teaches American Indian public health courses at The University of Montana’s School of Pharmacy and Public Health. She was selected by the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health to serve as a JPB Environmental Health Fellow 2014-2018. She was raised on the Blackfeet Reservation and is mother to three daughters.

Belcourt, Annie. Healing Through Story: Unpacking Indigenous Resiliency and Hope. TEDTalks. 2015. (10:00)

<https://youtu.be/GDVwebiriAo>.

MEET TAI SIMPSON

Tai Simpson is “The Storyteller” in the indigenous language of the Nimiipuu nation (Nez Perce Tribe of Idaho). She believes indigenous “old ways” need to come back in style. They are the principles on which many indigenous communities build their social and political narratives. As an antiracism activism and community leader, she uses contemporary and traditional Indigenous storytelling to depict the lens of “old ways” and how it is used to protect the sacred, build strength in the community, and keep nature in balance. She is a direct descendant of Chief Redheart of the Nez Perce tribe and a tireless advocate for social justice. Tai’s academic background is in Political Philosophy & Public Law at Boise State University where she served as the vice president and president of the Intertribal Native Council student organization. In the community, she serves as an organizer for the local chapter of Idle No More, Idaho.

Simpson, Tai. Indigenous Storytelling As A Political Lens. TEDTalks. 2019. (17:38)

<https://youtu.be/T5RhEStF_bQ>.

RESOURCES

nindibaajimomin’s five-part DIGITAL STORYTELLING TOOLKIT assists in organizing and creating a digital story. By tracking the digital storytelling process, accelerate your skill and expertise as you narrate, record, and circulate your own digital stories.

<http://web.archive.org/web/20190118051650/http://nindibaajimomin.com/the-toolkit/>.

Toronto Aboriginal Research Report

<https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/8f73-tarp-final-report2011.pdf>.

The Urban Indigenous Action Plan: 85% of Indigenous peoples in Ontario live in urban areas

<https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/9737-Urban-Indigenous-Action-Plan-full-report.pdf>.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission: Calls to Action.

<https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/97ba-Truth-and-Reconciliation-Commission-Calls-to-Action.pdf>

United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

<https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/9766-Declaration-on-the-Rights-of-Indigenous-Peoples.pdf>.

Métis Fact Sheet

<https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/9709-Metis-Fact-Sheet-Toronto-2018.pdf>.

An Inclusive Community-Driven Health Survey For Indigenous Peoples In Toronto

<https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/8f84-Project-Overview-Methods-OHC-Toronto.pdf>.

TORONTO POLICE HISTORY OF BIPOC DISCRIMINATION

POLICE USE OF FORCE & WORTLEY REPORT

In 2016, Black people made up 8.8% of the Toronto population. However, from 2013-2017, they made up:

25.4% of Special Investigations Unit investigations;

28.8% of police use of force cases;

36% of police shootings;

61.5% of police use of force cases that resulted in civilian death;

70% of police shootings that resulted in civilian death.

The Wortley Report notes that over-representation of Black civilians increases with seriousness of police conduct. Wortley confirms that Black people are much more likely to experience force against them by Toronto Police, often leading to serious injury or death. The data is disturbing and raises serious concerns about racial discrimination and the use of force. Little to no change is noted since early 2000, when explicit evidence identified how Black people are over-represented in police use of force.

LET THE RECORD STAND

| LET THE RECORD STAND | LET THE RECORD STAND | LET THE RECORD STAND |

TORONTO POLICE’S HISTORY

OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION &

RACIAL PROFILING OF BLACK PEOPLE.

| ANDREW “BUDDY” EVANS | ALBERT JOHNSON | MICHAEL SARGEANT |

| LEANDER SAVOURY | LESTER DONALDSON | SOPHIA COOK | MARLON NEIL |

| JONATHAN HOWELL | ROYAN BAGNAUT | RAYMOND LAWRENCE | IAN COLEY |

| ALBERT MOSES | TOMMY ANTHONY BARNETT | ANDREW BRAMWELL |

| HENRY MUSAKA | ALEXANDER MANON | REYAL JENSEN JARDINE-DOUGLAS |

| ERIC OSAWE | MICHAEL ELIGON | FRANK ANTHONY BERRY | SAMMY YATIM |

| DANIEL CLAUSE | ANDREW LOKU | KWASI SKENE-PETERS | ALEXANDER WETLAUFER |

| DAFONTE MILLER | ANDREW HENRY |

I AM HORRIFIED BY THESE RAMPANT AND REPEATED MURDERS.

I AM HORRIFIED BY THESE RAMPANT AND REPEATED MURDERS.

I AM HORRIFIED BY THESE RAMPANT AND REPEATED MURDERS.

| LET THE RECORD STAND | LET THE RECORD STAND | LET THE RECORD STAND |

#SAYTHEIRNAMES

1978 ANDREW “BUDDY” EVANS (24)

1979 ALBERT JOHNSON

1979 MICHAEL SARGEANT

1985 LEANDER SAVOURY

1988 LESTER DONALDSON (44)

1989 SOPHIA COOK (23)

1990 MARLON NEIL (16)

1991 JONATHAN HOWELL (24)

1991 ROYAN BAGNAUT (21)

1992 RAYMOND LAWRENCE (22)

1993 IAN COLEY

1994 ALBERT MOSES (41)

1996 TOMMY ANTHONY BARNETT (22)

1996 ANDREW BRAMWELL (24)

1999 HENRY MUSAKA (26)

2010 ALEXANDER MANON (18)

2010 REYAL JENSEN JARDINE-DOUGLAS (25)

2010 ERIC OSAWE (26)

2012 MICHAEL ELIGON (29)

2012 FRANK ANTHONY BERRY (48)

2013 SAMMY YATIM (18)

2103 DANIEL CLAUSE (33)

2015 ANDREW LOKU

2015 KWASI SKENE-PETERS (21)

2016 ALEXANDER WETLAUFER (21)

2016 DAFONTE MILLER (19)

2017 ANDREW HENRY (43)

REVIEW TORONTO POLICE VIOLENCE in the LAST TEN YEARS

#SAYTHEIRNAMES

2010

ALEXANDER MANON, 18, died in custody of Toronto Police officers.

REYAL JENSEN JARDINE-DOUGLAS, 25, died after being shot several times by a Toronto Police officer.

ERIC OSAWE, 26, was killed in his Etobicoke apartment by a Toronto Police officer.

2012

MICHAEL ELIGON, 29, was fatally shot by a Toronto Police officer.

FRANK ANTHONY BERRY, 48, was fatally shot by Toronto Police officers.

2013

SAMMY YATIM, 18, was fatally shot by a Toronto Police officer. The officer shot him eight times, six of which reportedly occurred once Yatim had already fallen to the ground.

DANIEL CLAUSE, 33, was killed by a Toronto Police officer after being shot four times.

2015

ANDREW LOKU was shot and killed by a Toronto Police officer.

KWASI SKENE-PETERS, 21, was killed by Toronto Police officers.

2016

ALEXANDER WETLAUFER, 21, was shot and killed by Toronto Police officers.

DAFONTE MILLER, 19, suffered serious injuries after being beaten in Durham region by an off-duty Toronto Police officer.

2017

ANDREW HENRY, 43, was arrested after allegedly assaulting Toronto Police officers. While he was face-down on the pavement, he was Tasered twice and repeatedly stomped on by a Toronto Police sergeant.

Between 2013 and 2017, a Black person was far more likely than a white person to be involved in an incident involving Toronto Police use of force that resulted in serious injury or death. A Black person was:

3.1 times more likely than a white person to be involved in a Special Investigations Unit investigation;

3.6 times more likely than a white person to be involved in police use of force;

4.9 times more likely than a white person to be involved in a police shooting that resulted in serious civilian injury or death;

11.3 times more likely than a white person to be involved in police use of force that resulted in civilian death;

19.5 times more likely than a white person to be involved in a police shooting that resulted in civilian death.

Between 2013 and 2017, a Black person in Toronto was nearly 20 times more likely than a White person to be involved in a fatal shooting by the Toronto Police Service (TPS). Despite making up only 8.8% of Toronto’s population, data obtained by the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) from the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) shows that Black people were over-represented in use of force cases (28.8%), shootings (36%), deadly encounters (61.5%) and fatal shootings (70%). Black men make up 4.1% of Toronto’s population yet were complainants in a quarter of SIU cases alleging sexual assault by TPS officers.

RESOURCES

Scot Wortley’s Report: Race & Police Use of Force: An Examination of Special Investigations Unit Cases Involving the Toronto Police Service, Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies, University of Toronto. Submitted to the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC): November 2018.

Scot Wortley and Owusu-Bempah. Akwasi’s “Crime and Justice: The Experiences of Black Canadians,” in Barbara Perry (Ed.) Diversity, Crime and Justice in Canada. Oxford University Press. Pp. 140-167, 2016.

Scot Wortley’s Police Use of Force in Ontario: An Examination of Data from the Special Investigations Unit – Final Report. Toronto: Attorney General of Ontario (Ipperwash Inquiry), Government of Ontario. 2006.

Ontario Human Rights Commission’s A COLLECTIVE IMPACT, 2018.

Interim Report On The Inquiry Into Racial Profiling And Racial Discrimination Of Black Persons By The Toronto Police Service. Ontario Human Rights Commission, Government of Ontario, 2018.

<www.ohrc.on.ca>.

TPS News Release, April 22, 2021.

<http://torontopolice.on.ca/newsreleases/49715>.

OHRC Report:

<http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/disparate-impact-second-interim-report-inquiry-racial-profiling-and-racial-discrimination-black>.

#BLACKTRANSLIVESMATTER

The Black transgender community is already a vulnerable population. Since 2013, at least 118 Black trans women have been murdered in the United States. Witness the rise of anti-transgender stigma enhanced by systemic racism. Along with limited access to essential resources and ongoing denial of opportunities, the well-being of the Black transgender community is in DANGER.

Where is the infrastructure? Where is the policy? Where are the resources?

Summer 2020. Within EIGHT DAYS, SIX young Black transgender women were KILLED.

BRAYLA STONE | MERCI MACK | SHAKI PETERS

DRAYA MCCARTY | TATIANA HALL | BREE BLACK

Over 50 Black transgender women have been KILLED MURDERED in the US in 2020-2021. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) tracks fatal violence against the transgender community; this is the deadliest period ever recorded.

Sadly, since 2020 over 50 transgender or gender non-conforming people fatally were shot or killed by other violent means. Many of these people were Black and Latinx transgender women.

50 is a general number because too often the stories of transgender of gender non-conforming people are unreported or misreported. The Human Rights Campaign reports on news, events and resources of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation that are of interest to the public and further our common mission to support the LGBTQ community.

These people were murdered by acquaintances, partners, or strangers; some have been arrested and charged; others have not yet been identified. Some of these cases involve clear anti-transgender bias. In other cases, the person’s transgender status may have put them at risk in other ways, such as forcing them into unemployment, poverty, homelessness and/or survival sex work.

While the details of these cases differ, fatal violence disproportionately affects transgender women of color –particularly Black transgender women– living at the intersections of racism, sexism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, and unchecked access to guns. The INTERSECTIONAL WORLDS conspire to deprive them of employment, housing, healthcare, and other survival, and daily life’s necessities.

#BLACKTRANSLIVESMATTER

As the Human Right’s Campaign continues to work toward justice and equality for transgender and gender non-conforming people, I mourn and honour the 44 people murdered in 2020:

1. Dustin Parker, 25, was fatally shot in McAlester, Oklahoma, early on New Year’s Day.
2. Neulisa Luciano Ruiz was fatally shot in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico on February 24.
3. Yampi Méndez Arocho, 19, was killed in Moca, Puerto Rico, on March 5.
4. Scott/ Scottlynn Devore, a 51-year-old gender non-conforming person, was killed in Augusta, Georgia.
5. Monika Diamond, 34, a Black transgender woman, was killed in Charlotte, North Carolina on March 18.
6. Lexi, 33, a transgender woman, was killed in Harlem, New York on March 28. According to reports, Lexi was fatally stabbed in Harlem River Park.
7. Johanna Metzger, a transgender woman, was killed in Baltimore, Maryland on April 11.
8. Serena Angelique Velázquez Ramos, 32, was killed in Puerto Rico on April 21. Ramos was killed alongside Layla Pelaez Sánchez, 21. According to reports, Ramos was visiting the island on vacation, and was set to return to her home in Queens, New York, at the end of the month. On May 1, two men were charged under federal hate crimes law for Ramos’s death.
9. Layla Pelaez Sánchez, 21, was killed in Puerto Rico on April 21. According to reports, Sánchez had recently moved to the island, and was living in the Tejas neighborhood in Las Piedras. On May 1, two Puerto Rican men were charged under federal hate crimes law for Sánchez’s death.
10. Penélope Díaz Ramírez, a transgender woman, was killed in Puerto Rico on April 13.
11. Nina Pop, a Black transgender woman, was killed in Sikeston, Missouri, on May 3.
12. Helle Jae O’Regan, 20, a transgender woman, was killed in San Antonio, Texas, on May 6.
13. Tony McDade, a Black transgender man, was killed in Tallhassee, Florida, on May 27.
14. Dominique “Rem’mie” Fells, a Black transgender woman was killed in Philadelphia, Pennsyania, on June 9.
15. Riah Milton, a 25-year-old Black transgender woman, was killed in Liberty Township, Ohio on June 9.
16. Jayne Thompson, a 33-year-old white transgender woman, was killed in Mesa County, Colorado, on May 9. She was killed by a Colorado State Patrol trooper and misgendered in initial news reports.
17. Selena Reyes-Hernandez, a 37-year-old transgender woman, was killed in Chicago on May 31.
18. Brian “Egypt’ Powers, a 43-year-old Black transgender person, was killed in Akron, Ohio, on June 13.
19. Brayla Stone, a 17-year-old Black transgender girl, was found killed in Little Rock, Arkansas, on June 25. Brayla Stone was a child. On September 4, a man was arrested on a murder charge in connection to her death.
20. Merci Mack, a 22-year-old Black transgender woman, was killed in Dallas, Texas, on June 30. On July 8, a man was arrested on a murder charge in connection to her death.
21. Shaki Peters, a 32-year-old Black transgender woman, was killed in Amite City, Louisiana, on July 1.
22. Bree Black, a 27-year-old Black transgender woman, was killed in Pompano Beach, Florida, on July 3.
23. Summer Taylor, a white non-binary person, was in Seattle, Washington, on July 4. Taylor was participating in the Black Femme March in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and against police brutality.
24. Marilyn Cazares was a transgender Latina killed in Brawley, California.
25. Dior H Ova, who some reports identify as Tiffany Harris, a Black transgender woman, was killed in the Bronx, New York. On August 13, a man was arrested on a murder charge in connection to her death.
26. Queasha D Hardy, a 22-year-old Black transgender woman, was killed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on July 27.
27. Aja Raquell Rhone-Spears, who sometimes used the name Rocky Rhone, a Black transgender woman, was killed in Portland, Oregon, on July 28.
28. Lea Rayshon Daye, a 28-year-old Black transgender woman, died in Cuyahoga County Jail in Cleveland, Ohio on August 30.
29. Kee Sam, a Black transgender woman, was killed in Lafayette, Louisiana, on August 12.
30. Aerrion Burnett, a Black transgender woman, was killed in Independence, Missouri, on September 19.
31. Mia Green, a 29-year-old Black transgender woman, was killed in Philadelphia on September 28.
32. Michelle Michellyn Ramos Vargas, a transgender woman from Puerto Rico in her mid-30s, was killed in San Germán, Puerto Rico on September 30.
33. Felycya Harris, a 33-year-old transgender woman, was killed in Augusta, Georgia in October.
34. Brooklyn Deshuna, 20, a Black transgender woman, was killed in Shreveport, Louisiana, on October 7.
35. Sara Blackwood, a transgender woman, was killed in Indianapolis, Indiana on October 11, recognized as National Coming Out Day.
36. Angel Unique, a 25-year-old Black transgender woman, was killed in Memphis, Tennessee, on October 25.
37. Skylar Heath, a 20-year-old Black trans woman killed on Nov. 4 in Miami, Florida.
38. Yunieski Carey Herrera, also known as Yuni Carey, a 39-year-old Latina transgender woman was killed in Miami, Fl. on Nov. 17.
39. Asia Jynae Foster, a 22-year-old Black transgender woman, was killed on Nov. 20 in Houston, Texas. Her death occurred on Trans Day of Remembrance; a day created to honor those in our community taken by violence.
40. Chae’Meshia Simms, a Black transgender woman in her 30s, was killed on Nov. 23 in Richmond, Virginia.
41. Kimberly Fial, a 55-year-old white transgender woman, was killed on Nov. 22 in San Jose, California, at a homeless shelter where she volunteered.
42. Jaheim Pugh Jaheim Barbie, who might have also used the name Bella, was killed on December 13 in Prichard, Ala.
43. Courtney “Eshay” Key, a 25-year-old Black transgender woman, was killed in Chicago, Ill., on December 25.
44. Alexandria Winchester, a 24-year-old Latina trans woman, was killed on Dec. 26 in the Bronx, New York.

#BLACKTRANSLIVESMATTER

As of April 27th, 2021, fifteen known transgender or gender non-conforming individuals have been killed in the United States in 2021.

1. Tiara Banks, a Black Trans woman
2. Remy Fennell, a Black Trans woman
3. Jaida Peterson, a Black Trans woman
4. Dominique Lucious, a Black Trans woman
5. Rayanna Pardo, a Latina trans woman
6. Diamond Kyree Sanders, a Black Trans woman
7. Jenna Franks, a White Trans woman
8. Jeffrey “JJ” Bright, a Trans boy (16 y/o)
9. Jasmine Cannady, a non-binary person and sibling of JJ Bright
10. Chyna Carrillo, a Latina Trans woman
11. Alexus “Kimmy Icon” Braxton, a Black Trans woman
12. Fifty Bandz, a Black Trans woman
13. Bianca “Muffin” Jackson, a Black Trans woman
14. Samuel Edmund Damián Valentín, a Puerto Rican Trans man
15. Tyianna Alexander, a Black Trans woman

Source: <https://www.hrc.org/news>.

I AM HORRIFIED BY THESE RAMPANT AND REPEATED MURDERS.

I AM HORRIFIED BY THESE RAMPANT AND REPEATED MURDERS.

I AM HORRIFIED BY THESE RAMPANT AND REPEATED MURDERS.

BIPOC = BLACK, INDIGENOUS & PEOPLE OF COLOR

Help build a bank of RESOURCES that support the collective goal to dismantle systemic racism (in the arts and beyond).

I identify the RESOURCES listed as incomplete; there are so many rich RESOURCES. Build your collection of RESOURCES as a living, non-exhaustive list intended to help you and your people develop a deeper understanding of anti-Black racism, racism toward Indigenous folks, and people of colour; as well as provide tools to engage in anti-racism work across our campus and community.

To ALLIES&ACCOMPLICES reviewing these RESOURCES

How do these RESOURCES speak to your role on campus and in your community? Consider ways RESOURCES can inform your active commitment to embedding anti-racism into all spaces you occupy. Reviewing RESOURCES and attending training are a great first step in working toward anti-racism and equity and are tools to inform your present, ongoing, and life commitments.

RESOURCES

COMMUNITY LINKS

Graham Slaughter and Mahima Singh’s Five Charts that Show What Systemic Racism Looks like in Canada, CTV News, 2020.

Canadian Race Relations Foundation’s Addressing Anti-Black Racism in our Schools—a webinar.

Corinne Shutack’s 100 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice, Medium, Equality Includes You, 2017.

Amanda Parris’s 31 Black Canadian female playwrights you need to know, CBC, Arts, 2020.

Aly Seidel’s A Diverse #SummerReading List For Kids, NPR & nprED, 2014. Like us, Seidel recognizes how her list is limited. She writes, “A search of the #WeNeedDiverseBooks and #DiversifyYourShelves hashtag brought up some wonderful ideas.”

The Human Rights Campaign

<https://www.hrc.org/resources/violence-against-the-trans-and-gender-non-conforming-community-in-2020>.

GOVERNMENT ANTI-RACISM STRATEGY: Ontario 3 Year Anti-Racism Strategic Plan

<https://files.ontario.ca/ar-2001_ard_report_tagged_final-s.pdf>.

Federal Anti-Racism Plan

<https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/pch/documents/campaigns/anti-racism-engagement/ARS-Report-EN-2019-2022.pdf>.

THAT WHICH WE SEE &

THAT WHICH WE DO NOT SEE

BROKEN WINDOW POLICING

Broken Window Policing refers to law enforcement policies that patrol and seek to control minor crimes and activities, like visible signs of crime, anti-social behavior, and civil disorder; urban environments with broken windows and other visible signs of destruction encourage further crime, including serious crimes. Broken windows can also count as an indicator of low real estate values, which may deter capital investments. Government agencies, law enforcement, and other institutions of state control support the practice of broken window policing based on an assumption that better monitoring and neat and tidy public spaces (cleaned up streets) help generate order, lawfulness, and economic investment.

The belief that broken window policing is good for the economy is a total fallacy. Economist Frédéric Bastiat’s (1850) “The Parable of the Broken Window” in Ce qu’on voit et ce qu’on ne voit pas [trans: That which we see and that which we do not see] illustrates why vandalism and destruction (like broken windows), which lead to further capital investments that mend destruction, have few, if any social benefits. Opportunity costs and other unintended consequences impact social and economic activities in ways that are unseen or ignored. For example, fixing broken windows may indicate an infusion of capital and resources, like real estate developments—gentrification, whether desired or not. By reducing the number of broken windows in the community, cities appear attractive to consumers.

As a result, urban centers that enforce minor offenses, operationalizing broken window policing, target minor offenses and harmless activities, such as vandalism, loitering, public drinking, jaywalking, fare evasion, sleeping in parks, possessing drugs, looking “suspicious,” or having a mental health crisis. Some of these minor offenses disregard how these behaviours are symptoms of greater social issues like poverty or homelessness. Other minor offenses may indicate underlying issues like drug addiction and mental illness, which should be treated by healthcare professionals and social workers –not police. Police must possess the skills and cultural competence to protect and serve our communities without killing people.

In The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jane Jacobs (1961) spotlights residents’ and non-residents’ contributions to maintaining order on the street. Jacobs explains how local businesses, institutions, and convenience stores provide a sense of having “eyes on the street”. As an original pioneers of the broken window perspective, she insists urban renewal and “slum clearance” do not respect the needs of city-dwellers.

Policing minor offenses and harmless activities promote the criminalization and over-policing of communities of color and excessive force in otherwise harmless situations. As most arrests are for low-level, non-violent activities—increasingly these encounters escalate to violence, police brutality, and deadly force. Disciplinary actions for police misconduct are internally investigated; police accountability and disciplinary consequences are rarely judicious. Communities need an urgent way to ensure law enforcement is held accountable for police violence.

Do you know what to do if stopped by a police officer?

Are police required to give their name, badge number, reason for the stop?

Imagine if this requirement included the distribution of instructions for filing a complaint.

Jane Jacobs. 1961. The Death and Life of Great American Cities.

Frédéric Bastiat. 1850. Ce qu’on voit et ce qu’on ne voit pas.

[That which we see and that which we do not see].

WE CAN LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE THE POLICE DON’T KILL MURDER PEOPLE

CAMPAIGN ZERO

Join Campaign Zero and help imagine SOLUTIONS.

By limiting police interventions, improving community interactions, and ensuring accountability, we can live in a world where the police don’t kill murder people. Campaign Zero is a non-for-profit organization seeking to stimulate policy action.

Campaign Zero demands that local, state, and federal lawmakers take immediate action to adopt data-driven policy solutions that will end police violence and hold police accountable. They propose, for example, policy solutions to restrict the police from using excessive force in everyday interactions with civilians.

TEN POLICY SOLUTIONS

From Campaign Zero

<https://www.campaignzero.org/solutions/#solutionsoverview>.

Campaign Zero’s policy intervention was developed in conjunction with activists, protestors, and researchers across the country, integrating community demands, input from research organizations and the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. Under sustained pressure, elected officials are pressured enact legislation to address police violence. Their web tools track the progress of federal, state, and local legislation that addresses police violence.

TRACKING BODY CAMERA IMPLEMENTATION

Campaign Zero also researches and writes several reports and actionable directives. For example, one area examines the use of body cameras by law enforcement. As body cameras become a policing norm, militarizing surveillance regimes, Campaign Zero examined available police policies regarding the changing uses of this technology. With data from thirty cities, Campaign Zero’s thorough report addresses how and to what extent, these surveillance operations ensure accountability and fairness while protecting and respecting privacy.

RESOURCES

Campaign Zero

The vision: <https://www.campaignzero.org/#vision>.

Web tools: <https://www.joincampaignzero.org/#action>.

The solutions: <https://www.campaignzero.org/solutions/#solutionsoverview>.

The research: <https://www.joincampaignzero.org/s/CZBodyCameraImplementationReport.pdf>.

BLACKLIVESMATTER