Support for social justice causes stays strong

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This article was published 14/06/2021 (1666 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Although the Black Lives Matter movement isn’t as publicly visible in Brandon now as it was a year ago, social justice causes remain well supported in the community.

Sparked in part by last year’s murder of George Floyd, a Black man, by a police officer during an arrest in Minneapolis, the movement hit Brandon via public parades and rallies in June 2020.

On June 11, hundreds of people marched down city streets toward Princess Park, where a rally was held to discuss not only anti-Black racism but also all manner of racism and prejudice.

This was followed by another such rally two days later.

One of the driving forces behind local efforts was Brandonites Engaged Against Repression (BEAR), which although less visible since that time has maintained a social media presence.

“As the pandemic continues we find it increasingly difficult to host community events and achieve community activism through our group,” BEAR administrator and activist Alexis Cinq-Mars said via emailed correspondence.

The organization’s namesake Facebook page, which had 995 members as of Sunday, “is a place where Brandonites can remain informed on racial issues and find like-minded individuals.”

Their goal, she said, is “to create space for our community to celebrate our diversity,” and doesn’t limit their advocacy to one racial group, but social justice causes in general.

BEAR’s next big project will be partnering with the Assiniboine Community College Student Association to run a letter campaign to their local MLA to advocate for ground searches on former residential school sites.

Similar to the George Floyd murder, last month’s discovery of 215 bodies buried at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School site provides another potential watershed moment for social justice.

It has also resulted in the most public social justice advocacy in Brandon since last year’s Black Lives Matter rallies, including a four-day sacred fire at the Riverbank Discovery Centre grounds and the installation of 215 orange crosses along the medians of the city’s busiest streets.

The crosses were the brainchild of Jordan Wilson, who while not a member of BEAR, shares a similar dedication for social justice causes.

From what she has seen, Wilson said it’s safe to say there’s a lot more local support for social justice causes than there is opposition.

“It was really overwhelming in so many good ways,” she said of the experience. “It’s coming to that point to me where I don’t want to shut my brain off — I want to keep looking and seeing what I can do to help.”

The crosses went up for four days beginning June 6, but after a few days it was found someone had knocked down a number of them.

By the time Wilson visited the scene to repair them, someone had already put them back up.

“They were taped together and it was really sweet because they fixed them. They had some bumps and bruises, but isn’t that how life is, though?” she said, adding she wishes nothing but the best for those who damaged the crosses.

“Whatever’s troubling them, I hope they can overcome it.”

Between this, the positive feedback on social media and the group of volunteers who came together to support the cause, she said there appears to be a strong appetite for social justice in Brandon.

A number of people have also opted to take crosses home to put up in their yards in order to help keep the victims of residential schools at the forefront of public discourse. 

Judging from the reaction she has received, Wilson said it’s likely social justice causes will become more amplified in the coming months as the pandemic restrictions lift and public efforts become less stifled by health measures.

“They’re going to grow,” she said. “They’re going to be heard more — I think their goals are going to actually be implemented.”

» tclarke@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB