How serious are we about “Black Lives Matter”?
If some of you reading this are like me following too much news in Canada and the U.S. I wonder if we ask ourselves if we really are serious about racism in any form. Just this past week the police have used excessive forces that ended the life of more black Americans, more indigenous people in Canada, and with live video coverage of these events. People all over the world are protesting under the banner of ‘Black Lives Matter” but it will take more than street protests for us to recognize the systemic racism and bias that is built into the systems that structure our lives and our countries. All this unrest is happening at the same time that a serious pandemic is pulling the curtain back on communities that are more adversely affected by this virus. Those communities do not have the same access to goods and services that most of us take for granted. We are learning how more poor, black and Hispanic and some Indigenous communities have suffered more deaths from this virus than white more affluent communities. At the same time, many of the essential services needed during these past months are done by people of colour, putting themselves and their families at risk.
Black Lives Matter protest, London Ontario, June 6, 2020
I was at the rally and march in Victoria Park in London where an estimated 10,000 people attended raising our voices saying enough is enough! But, if that is true, then that march is only the first step in recognizing the deep change that needs to happen. In every system that structures our lives - police, education, health care, social services, religion, politics, and more - we must uncover the inequities in opportunities, in funding, in services that put more of our people with less opportunity at risk. The work of changing our systems in a long hard task that will take careful thought, the ideas and time of many people, and resources needed to create more inclusive communities. I hope the rally at Victoria Park in London and hundreds of rallies all over the world is a commitment that by taking this first step, the next ones will follow. After all, creating a better world benefits every one of us. It is a journey worth walking.
-Sister Joan Atkinson, CSJ