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“It’s been a long time coming, but I know change gonna come,” sang one protester in front of Parliament Hill at a Black Lives Matter solidarity protest on Sunday evening.
About 200 protesters marched from Major’s Hill Park to Parliament Hill and down Elgin Street to the Human Rights Monument outside city hall to show support for the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement in the U.S. and Canada.
Alicia-Marie LeJour, a community organizer and founder of No Justice, No Peace Ottawa, helped organize the protest in response to The Tenors’ Remigio Pereira, who took it upon himself to change the O Canada lyrics at the Major League Baseball All-Star Game last week. Pereira, while singing solo, reworked the lyrics, changing them from, “With glowing hearts we see thee rise, the True North strong and free,” to, “We’re all brothers and sisters, all lives matter to the great.” He was holding a sign at the time that read “united we stand” and “all lives matter.”
His creative liberties with Canada’s anthem sparked a backlash across North America, including here in Ottawa.
LeJour said she organized the protest to help others understand that Pereira’s message wasn’t one of unity, but one of exclusion.
“If all lives matter was true, we wouldn’t, in fact, need Black Lives Matter,” she said.
LeJour said she wanted to show what unity really looks like in as many North America cities as she could rally in two days.
Unity for LeJour means aligning with people who are pro-BLM, rather than “a white man taking their privilege and changing my national anthem on a national level.”
When asked how a non-black ally could show their support in a constructive way, LeJour’s answer was simple: Listen.
“Just because the majority doesn’t think (something) is offensive doesn’t make it so,” she said. “So just hearing us, and informing yourself and admitting that there’s a problem – saying there is no problem is disrespectful, it’s hurtful and it’s only making matters worse.”
Racism still exists in Canada but our country does a really good job of portraying a “squeakily clean image,” which is why issues of racism don’t get as much attention, said LeJour.
“I would like to see the acknowledgement of a problem first and foremost.”
Protesters of all ages and creeds walked in a diverse display of solidarity for the BLM movement, including 75-year-old Donna McFaul who donned a white shirt with black lettering that read: “Black Lives Matter.”
“I’m here because I think everyone should be here,” she said. “I think the world is broken.”
Protest organizers and those in attendance were glad to see a woman of her generation coming out for the cause.
“It’s beautiful,” said Venessa Appiah, a 20-year-old African Studies major at Carleton University. “A lot of older folks don’t think like us (younger people).”
Sunday’s protest is the second BLM solidarity event organized by LeJour. Just last week, she and co-organizer R.J. Pate helped organize a vigil in front of the U.S. Embassy in the wake of the shooting deaths of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, two black men shot by police officers in Minnesota and Baton Rouge, La. — the same city where three police officers were shot to death on Sunday.
The protest on July 17 also aligned with the second anniversary of Eric Garner’s death. Garner died from suffocation while being arrested by police in New York. Protesters held two moments of silence for the fallen man and chanted his chilling last words, “I can’t breathe.”
LeJour said Ottawa was one of nine cities that participated in the co-ordinated BLM solidarity protests across the U.S. and Canada on Sunday — Toronto and Philadelphia had originally planned to participate but backed out.
The Black Lives Matter protest in front of Parliament Hill on Sunday, July 17, 2016.
Genevieve Langlois creates activist art during the Black Lives Matter protest in Ottawa on Sunday, July 17, 2016.
The Black Lives Matter protest in front of Parliament Hill on Sunday, July 17, 2016.
The Black Lives Matter protest in front of Parliament Hill on Sunday, July 17, 2016.
The Black Lives Matter protest in front of Parliament Hill on Sunday, July 17, 2016.
The Black Lives Matter protest in front of Parliament Hill on Sunday, July 17, 2016.
The Black Lives Matter protest in front of Parliament Hill on Sunday, July 17, 2016.
The Black Lives Matter protest in front of Parliament Hill on Sunday, July 17, 2016.
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About 200 protesters marched from Major’s Hill Park to Parliament Hill and down Elgin Street to the Human Rights Monument outside city hall to show support for the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement in the U.S. and Canada.
Alicia-Marie LeJour, a community organizer and founder of No Justice, No Peace Ottawa, helped organize the protest in response to The Tenors’ Remigio Pereira, who took it upon himself to change the O Canada lyrics at the Major League Baseball All-Star Game last week. Pereira, while singing solo, reworked the lyrics, changing them from, “With glowing hearts we see thee rise, the True North strong and free,” to, “We’re all brothers and sisters, all lives matter to the great.” He was holding a sign at the time that read “united we stand” and “all lives matter.”
His creative liberties with Canada’s anthem sparked a backlash across North America, including here in Ottawa.
LeJour said she organized the protest to help others understand that Pereira’s message wasn’t one of unity, but one of exclusion.
“If all lives matter was true, we wouldn’t, in fact, need Black Lives Matter,” she said.
LeJour said she wanted to show what unity really looks like in as many North America cities as she could rally in two days.
Unity for LeJour means aligning with people who are pro-BLM, rather than “a white man taking their privilege and changing my national anthem on a national level.”
When asked how a non-black ally could show their support in a constructive way, LeJour’s answer was simple: Listen.
“Just because the majority doesn’t think (something) is offensive doesn’t make it so,” she said. “So just hearing us, and informing yourself and admitting that there’s a problem – saying there is no problem is disrespectful, it’s hurtful and it’s only making matters worse.”
Racism still exists in Canada but our country does a really good job of portraying a “squeakily clean image,” which is why issues of racism don’t get as much attention, said LeJour.
“I would like to see the acknowledgement of a problem first and foremost.”
Protesters of all ages and creeds walked in a diverse display of solidarity for the BLM movement, including 75-year-old Donna McFaul who donned a white shirt with black lettering that read: “Black Lives Matter.”
“I’m here because I think everyone should be here,” she said. “I think the world is broken.”
Protest organizers and those in attendance were glad to see a woman of her generation coming out for the cause.
“It’s beautiful,” said Venessa Appiah, a 20-year-old African Studies major at Carleton University. “A lot of older folks don’t think like us (younger people).”
Sunday’s protest is the second BLM solidarity event organized by LeJour. Just last week, she and co-organizer R.J. Pate helped organize a vigil in front of the U.S. Embassy in the wake of the shooting deaths of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, two black men shot by police officers in Minnesota and Baton Rouge, La. — the same city where three police officers were shot to death on Sunday.
The protest on July 17 also aligned with the second anniversary of Eric Garner’s death. Garner died from suffocation while being arrested by police in New York. Protesters held two moments of silence for the fallen man and chanted his chilling last words, “I can’t breathe.”
LeJour said Ottawa was one of nine cities that participated in the co-ordinated BLM solidarity protests across the U.S. and Canada on Sunday — Toronto and Philadelphia had originally planned to participate but backed out.
The Black Lives Matter protest in front of Parliament Hill on Sunday, July 17, 2016.
Genevieve Langlois creates activist art during the Black Lives Matter protest in Ottawa on Sunday, July 17, 2016.
The Black Lives Matter protest in front of Parliament Hill on Sunday, July 17, 2016.
The Black Lives Matter protest in front of Parliament Hill on Sunday, July 17, 2016.
The Black Lives Matter protest in front of Parliament Hill on Sunday, July 17, 2016.
The Black Lives Matter protest in front of Parliament Hill on Sunday, July 17, 2016.
The Black Lives Matter protest in front of Parliament Hill on Sunday, July 17, 2016.
The Black Lives Matter protest in front of Parliament Hill on Sunday, July 17, 2016.
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