Black voices should have been heard long before the uprising taking place across the world, said a speaker at a rally in Victoria on Saturday evening.
Moussa Niang said because people haven’t been listening until now, there has been widespread erasure of Black culture and identity. “You strip people of their Blackness, you strip people of their Africanness and then you decide to kill them,” Niang said, speaking to a crowd that covered the legislature lawn.
He said systemic racism results in more than physical violence against Black people. It creates a mental struggle as well, in part because there’s “a specific type of blackness that society expects from Black folks.”
“And we’re constantly having to perform that because we are scared for our lives,” Niang said to loud cheers and clapping from the crowd. “There are two versions of yourself. There is the Africanness that is authentic and there is the version of Black that the society wants us to perform. And that internal battle that is happening within you is constantly eating you away because you want to be your authentic self.”
“The point we are trying to make is we’re being killed by cops,” said another speaker, adding she had been stopped by police officers in Victoria four times during the pandemic and asked for ID.
It was the third rally in the city in as many weeks, sparked by the death of George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis in late May. Protests against anti-Black racism and police brutality have spread around the world.
Several speakers addressed the crowd at the legislature lawn, before people filled Government Street to march to Centennial Square and back to the legislature.
Some people carried megaphones, leading chants of “I can’t breathe,” “George Floyd, say his name,” and “No justice, no peace,” until their voices turned hoarse. Cries of “We are angry, you will hear it,” rang through downtown streets.
Three police officers on motorcycles stopped traffic at intersections along the route, and one officer on foot brought up the end of the group.
When marchers returned to the legislature, people dropped to one knee and raised their fists in the air for eight minutes and 46 seconds of silence, the amount of time a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck.
The area was quiet except for the sounds of distant police sirens, traffic and dogs shaking their collars. Some shifted uncomfortably, switching arms and legs over the course of nearly nine minutes of kneeling. After the moment of silence, organizers turned the microphones over to any Black artists who wanted to perform for an open mic session.
Emily Brynjolfson, the event’s organizer, said she planned the rally to give the Black community in Victoria a space to make their voices heard and to send the message that “we’re tired of this happening.” While the movement started in the U.S., Brynjolfson said it would be a mistake to think Canada or Victoria is immune to racism. “I have experienced it here, where I have been followed in stores. I’ve been profiled, I have been called the n-word and I have faced inequality, living here and being in this community,” said Brynjolfson, who grew up in Victoria.
VicPD used CCTV cameras temporarily during the march. VicPD spokesman Const. Cameron MacIntyre said the cameras were used for public safety and temporary signage was put in place to let the public know. MacIntyre said cameras were not used during last Sunday’s rally at Centennial Square.
