Submitted by West Kootenay People for Racial Justice
BIPOC leaders are announcing a call to action for public vigils to be held outside of law enforcement offices across the West Kootenay on May 25 in honour of George Floyd, Chantel Moore, and all the lives of those who have been harmed and killed due to systemic racism within policing and across colonial institutions.
May 25, 2021 marks one year since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, which sparked worldwide anti-racism and anti-police uprisings. Floyd’s murder was followed by the killing of Tla-o-qui-aht woman Chantel Moore by police in Edmundston, N.B., on June 4, 2020.
Vigil organizers are calling for local allies/accomplices to bring prayers, candles, songs, signs, pictures, stories, and names of those who have lost their lives to systemic racism, including police and other forms of colonial violence, white supremacy, and patriarchal power structures.
Vigils will be held throughout the day in order to avoid the formation of large crowds, in respect of the current public health orders. Organizers hope that people come and go as they have time and capacity, to unite over the shared impact citizens have faced for decades and centuries of colonialism and violence.
