More than 500 people gathered at the Vancouver Art Gallery Sunday afternoon to show solidarity with Black Lives Matter protests happening around the world.
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The rally is one of many going on nationwide after the killing of two black men last week sparked several days of protests.
Some wore T-shirts that read, “I can’t keep calm I have a black son” or “Black Lives Matter”.
A worker inside Randy’s Donut said the protesters appeared peaceful and customers were still able to access the shop.
It also included memorials for the police officers killed in Dallas Thursday night, and for other black victims of police violence that haven’t yet been memorialized in Vancouver.
“What I’ve learned from doing this work and meeting a bunch of different black folks here, is the lack of community is very isolating, and that can be very stressful”, Bain said.
Organizer Cicely Belle Blain says there is a difference between living as a black person in Canada versus the US. “I would love them to continue and I’d love for non-black people to be here for us when we’re not organizing about a death”.
Blain said they have no plans for Vancouver’s Pride Parade later this month, but they do plan to hold events around that time for queer people of colour.
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Reached Sunday by email, Vancouver Police spokesman Const. Brian Montague said he agreed the VPD has a good relationship with BLM Vancouver.
