7th Annual Community March Against Racism
Saturday March 22, 2014
Gather at 2 pm
March begins at Victory Square, Cambie and Hastings
Unceded xʷməθkwəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and Səl̓ílwətaʔ territories.

Family-friendly festivities! Bring your neighbours, banners and drums!

The International Day for the Elimination of Racism marks the anniversary of the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre in South Africa when police opened fire on hundreds of South Africans protesting against Apartheid’s passbook laws, killing 67 and wounding 186. Every year we join friends and allies around the world to mark this day and to speak the truth about racism.

We stand in solidarity with the courageous leadership demonstrated by Indigenous communities across Turtle Island, who are engaging in land defense struggles against ongoing colonialism. This country is founded on the exploitation and marginalization of racialized communities, including dispossession and displacement of Indigenous nations, theft of resources from the global South, as well as the enslavement, exclusion and exploitation of diverse communities of colour.

This country is marked by the forced confinement of Indigenous children in residential schools and the internment of Japanese-Canadian children in camps. Today we see the same logic resulting in Indigenous children being forcibly apprehended from their families, and refugee children being incarcerated and facing mandatory detention.

Today we need to stand together and renew our anti-racist resistance. We need to show that we will not be complicit in racism. These are just some examples of devastating policies and projects that we stand against:

* Mass incarceration under Harper’s new crime bill and mandatory and indefinite detention under the refugee exclusion act.

* The ongoing tragedies of missing and murdered Indigenous women across these lands.

* Bailing out banks while communities of colour live in poverty and face low wages, poor pensions, dangerous working conditions, and unemployment.

* Corporate destruction and environmental racism on Indigenous territories from pipelines in Alberta and BC to Canadian mining operations across Africa and South America.

* Involvement in military occupations and military trade from Afghanistan to Palestine to Saudi Arabia.

* Racist stereotyping, fear-mongering and scapegoating continues to permeate the media, education system, policing institutions, and workplaces.

We encourage our friends and allies to be pro-active in countering racism by attending this march and also by speaking out against all acts of racism both structurally and personally. Join us in solidarity and resistance on March 22nd to celebrate the dignity, strength, and resilience of our communities.

For more information email noii-van@resist.ca or call 604-440-3137