Tackling Systemic Racism and Police Brutality: What can You Do?

Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs (SACPA)

Not only Americans, but Canadians need to have an "uncomfortable conversation" about racism and police violence against black people, particularly around who benefits from it. The difficult conversation is, that racism may not be about some bad feelings inside somebody's heart, but arguably, it's about power that benefits white people and their property. The benefits of white supremacy are not built on the oppression of black communities alone, white people have made careers managing the files of Indigenous children who are being taken from their families. All the money that gets used in these ventures could be used to actually support families and keep them together in Indigenous communities. Likewise, why not redirect some of the money spent on law enforcement to help marginalized people and communities? The speaker will argue that we're sending people armed with guns to somebody who is in crisis, when the answer for the police overwhelmingly should be, to stop heavy policing and to start supporting all member of the community with help from the public and individuals. Speaker: Desmond Cole Desmond Cole was born in Alberta, grew up in Oshawa and attended Queens University. He first emerged on the public stage with his dogged challenges to the practice of police carding in Toronto. He spoke out at community rallies and at Police Services board meetings. He wrote articles, including one for Toronto Life magazine in 2015, about his own experience: “I’ve been stopped by cops on the streets 50 times. I’m not a criminal,” read the arresting cover. Cole became a columnist for the Toronto Star—and resigned when the paper discouraged him from continuing his advocacy work. He is now a leading Black activist and critic of systemic racial injustices targeting Black communities across the country. Date and time: Friday, June 12, 2020 at 10 am YouTube Live link: https://youtu.be/d_QKE6Ax4TU In order to ask questions of our speaker in the chat feature of YouTube, you must have a YouTube account and be signed in. Please do so well ahead of the scheduled start time, so you’ll be ready. Go the YouTube Live link provided in this session flyer and on the top right of your browser click the “sign in” button. If you have Google or Gmail accounts, they can be used to sign in. If you don’t, click “Create Account” and follow along. Once you are signed in, you can return to the live stream and use the chat feature to ask your questions of the speaker. Remember you can only participate in the chat feature while we are livestreaming. Link to SACPA’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFUQ5mUHv1gfmMFVr8d9dNA