SOLIDARITY MESSAGE for the Vigil and Speak Out against Police Violence
March 15, 2006
UKPC/FCYA-TO members on right, at March 15 vigil spearheaded by J4J Coalition
(Photo courtesy of ML)
Good evening, friends. Warmest greetings from the Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance Toronto Chapter (UKPC-TO). We are here tonight to express our solidarity with all of you in commemorating the victims of police brutality and in celebrating our continuing resistance against it.
UKPC-TO has been an active supporter of the Justice for Jeffrey campaign since its early stages. To us, the death of Jeffrey in the hands of a Toronto police officer caused a great deal of grief and anger. We mourned the loss of a fellow Filipino youth, but at the same time are enraged at the blatant example of systemic racism that Jeffrey’s killing was.
As our community here in Canada continues to grow, we are increasingly becoming targets of systemic racism by police. Since Jeffrey’s death, many of our fellow Filipino youth have begun to share their own stories of unpleasant encounters with police – these include arrests, strip searches or simply being questioned for walking around their own neighbourhoods. Last November, the Toronto Police Service issued a public warning describing a rape suspect as “Latino or Asian, possibly Filipino.” These warnings were posted along public places, such as coffee shops and subway stations.
For the past several years, our community’s identity has been diminished to stereotypes that are the result of limits Canadian society imposes on us. Filipinos are known by many simply as nannies, workers in the lowest-paying and least desirable jobs. Today, the racial profiling of Filipinos creates another false identity for us, that of criminals.
As a youth organization that fights for the rights and well-being of Filipino Canadian youth, we in UKPC-TO are deeply concerned about this because: first, it destroys our identity because it teaches us that we as Filipino Canadian youth have nothing to be proud of; second, it endangers our safety since it makes us potential targets of harassment and brutality by those whose duty is “to serve and protect”; and lastly, it greatly limits the possibilities for our future, and that of our community.
Hence, we in UKPC-TO unite with our Black, Aboriginal, Latino, immigrant, poor, homeless sisters and brothers, and others who have long experienced and struggled against police brutality and systemic oppression. We stand together with you in the struggle to find justice for those who have fallen victim to this, and celebrate our solidarity and continuous and growing resistance against state-sanctioned violence.
For more photos of the vigil visit:
John Bonner's photo gallery (Copyrighted images - for viewing only) - http://johnb.smugmug.com/gallery/1296462
SIKLAB-Ontario's photo album
UKPC/FCYA-TO members on right, at March 15 vigil spearheaded by J4J Coalition(Photo courtesy of ML)
Good evening, friends. Warmest greetings from the Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance Toronto Chapter (UKPC-TO). We are here tonight to express our solidarity with all of you in commemorating the victims of police brutality and in celebrating our continuing resistance against it.
UKPC-TO has been an active supporter of the Justice for Jeffrey campaign since its early stages. To us, the death of Jeffrey in the hands of a Toronto police officer caused a great deal of grief and anger. We mourned the loss of a fellow Filipino youth, but at the same time are enraged at the blatant example of systemic racism that Jeffrey’s killing was.
As our community here in Canada continues to grow, we are increasingly becoming targets of systemic racism by police. Since Jeffrey’s death, many of our fellow Filipino youth have begun to share their own stories of unpleasant encounters with police – these include arrests, strip searches or simply being questioned for walking around their own neighbourhoods. Last November, the Toronto Police Service issued a public warning describing a rape suspect as “Latino or Asian, possibly Filipino.” These warnings were posted along public places, such as coffee shops and subway stations.
For the past several years, our community’s identity has been diminished to stereotypes that are the result of limits Canadian society imposes on us. Filipinos are known by many simply as nannies, workers in the lowest-paying and least desirable jobs. Today, the racial profiling of Filipinos creates another false identity for us, that of criminals.
As a youth organization that fights for the rights and well-being of Filipino Canadian youth, we in UKPC-TO are deeply concerned about this because: first, it destroys our identity because it teaches us that we as Filipino Canadian youth have nothing to be proud of; second, it endangers our safety since it makes us potential targets of harassment and brutality by those whose duty is “to serve and protect”; and lastly, it greatly limits the possibilities for our future, and that of our community.
Hence, we in UKPC-TO unite with our Black, Aboriginal, Latino, immigrant, poor, homeless sisters and brothers, and others who have long experienced and struggled against police brutality and systemic oppression. We stand together with you in the struggle to find justice for those who have fallen victim to this, and celebrate our solidarity and continuous and growing resistance against state-sanctioned violence.
For more photos of the vigil visit:
John Bonner's photo gallery (Copyrighted images - for viewing only) - http://johnb.smugmug.com/gallery/1296462
SIKLAB-Ontario's photo album
posted by ukpc-toronto @ 11:08 p.m.
<< Home