As a small group of Black activists residing in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia we want to draw attention to our largely inivisibilized communities, celebrate people of colour and work in solidarity with other Black Lives Matter chapters across North America. We also want to encourage and foster the creation of other chapters within Canada.
#BlackLivesMatter was originally created by Patrisse Cullors, Opal Tometi and Alicia Garza as “a call to action for Black people after 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was post-humously placed on trial for his own murder and the killer, George Zimmerman, was not held accountable for the crime he committed. It was a response to the anti-Black racism that permeates our society and also, unfortunately, our movements.”
The majority of the organizing done by the Black Lives Matter Vancouver Coalition, will be taking place on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory and homelands of the Musqueam, Tseil-Watuth and Squamish First Nations. We are very grateful to the Coast Salish people for the knowledge, kindness and indomitable spirit with which they have taken care of this land for millennia. We also acknowledge and mourn the many murdered and missing Indigenous people at the hands of state violence and police brutality.
