No More Criminalizing Black Dissent, No More Monuments to Racists and Racism
- Artists in Support of
Black Lives -
 
An Open Letter in Support of Black Lives
Matter Toronto, the Arrestees and Artists
We, a group of artists, arts administrators,
curators and arts professionals, are writing to express our concern and
anger over the criminalization of peaceful protest, artistic
intervention, dissent and Black action. Black Lives Matter Toronto
recently organized a peaceful intervention to call attention to the
ways that Canadian society pays tribute to racism and colonial violence
through the statues of Egerton Ryerson, John A. Macdonald, and King
Edward VII. This protest was met with an egregious amount of police
harassment and intimidation tactics.
It resulted in over 20 police officers kettling
three of the attendees, arresting them, and holding them for over 16
hours without explanation, or confirmation. Access to legal
counsel was not provided for over five hours. The artists were detained
without access to medical attention and without vital medication. When
questioned, the police misled the public and changed their story
multiple times throughout the day. BLM called for a 6:00 pm rally to
call for the release of the artists. At 5:24 pm the police issued a
press release stating that two out of the three artists had
been released. BLM members were unable to reach their 'released'
colleagues. After the press left, some time around 8:00 pm, the police
changed their story and stated that all three were still detained.
The statues are unquestionably racist. Egerton
Ryerson was a principal architect in the development of the Residential
School System in Canada, a genocidal system that terrorized generations
of Indigenous children and their families. He also supported segregated
schooling that separated Black children from white children.
Sir John A. Macdonald created and promoted
genocidal
policies, and oversaw the intentional starvation of Indigenous
communities, resulting in the deaths of more than 10,000 people between
1800-55. Macdonald had close ties to the Maafa, commonly referred to as
the slave trade, in the Americas and was a vocal supporter of the
pro-slavery Confederacy during the American Civil War.
The statue of King Edward VII was a colonial
monument originally installed in a public square in Delhi, India.
Removed by the Indian people after Independence, it was brought to
Canada by a private interest, and was installed, even against the
wishes of the then City Council, in one of Toronto's most well-loved
public spaces.
Artistic interventions on monuments have a long
and well established history. Monuments are not symbols of history but
rather, symbols of intentional emphasis. Artistic responses to the
existence of these monuments is both protected political speech and a
recognized artistic practice.
We affirm our position that these monuments honour
legacies of racial violence, segregation and genocide, and that their
presence in public space emphasizes that the lives and histories of
Black and Indigenous people are not valued in spaces that we all share.
These monuments are physical embodiments of state-sanctioned systems of
oppression and contribute to the ongoing endangerment, imprisonment and
murder of Black and Indigenous people.
These monuments must be removed. We affirm that
the action by Black Lives Matter Toronto and their allies on Saturday
was an artistic intervention to bring attention to and disrupt these
narratives of white supremacy. There is no place for these monuments in
our society and criminalizing those that attend protests calling for
their removal and the defunding of police reinforces the deep rooted
anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism in the Toronto Police force.
Together with BLMTO we demand:
- a removal of these monuments
- an end to criminalizing of peaceful
protest and an end to the continued surveillance of BLMTO
- all charges be dropped against those
detained in connection with the intervention: Jenna Reid, Danielle
Smith and Daniel Gooch
- an immediate reduction of the existing
$1.1 billion Toronto police budget by a minimum of 50% (as opposed to
the 10% cut proposed by Toronto city councillors)
- The establishment of Black and
Indigenous-led, Mad- and disability-informed mental health crisis
support and response teams
Black Lives Matter Toronto are people, mostly
young people, who choose to engage because they believe in the values
of decency, democracy and justice. We demand leadership in a critical
moment that is evolving into a social justice movement -- one that is
truly reflective of communities of care, and that is grounded in
integrity, love, compassion and true equality, for all.
To add your name as a signatory to this letter
please email artistsXforXblackXlives@gmail.com.
To see full list of signatories click
here.
This article was published in
Volume 50 Number 28 - August 1, 2020
Article Link:
No More Criminalizing Black Dissent, No More Monuments to Racists and Racism - Artists in Support of
Black Lives
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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