Jane/Finch Centre Public Statement

There is a time, when words are not enough.  There are no words for what the Black community is yet again faced with as they are subject to pain and suffering at the hands of a systemically racist and unjust system.  

We want to acknowledge the pain of millions when yet another Black man, George Floyd, is murdered by the police. We want to acknowledge the despair of Regis Korchinski-Paquet’s family and friends, as they trusted in a police force to support a Black woman, and are now burying their daughter and sister.  We want to acknowledge that these most recent cases are not isolated ones, and that hundreds of Black men and women are murdered annually by the police and police forces in North America.  

As an agency that largely serves BIPOC and low-income residents, we must acknowledge our own institutional privilege and power as recipients of public and private funding to serve the Black Creek community over the last three decades. We must ensure that we use our position of power in the community to be an ally, advocate, and when called upon, a voice for the needs of the residents we serve. And as an agency, we must actively acknowledge anti-black racism and actively work to dismantle the systemic oppressions and policies that uphold it.

We stand in solidarity with the individuals and families in our community and the City of Toronto who continue to experience pervasive anti-black racism, and call for the dismantling of the unjust and oppressive structures of white supremacy.

• The Jane/Finch Community and Family Centre