The ELAN team and Board are united in their shared revulsion at last week\u2019s murder of an unarmed Black man by police in Minneapolis. This incident has sparked international outrage because every country in the world, and every city, has its own share of victims and oppressors, its own glaring inequalities and shameful ongoing \u00a0failure to eliminate systemic racism, racial profiling and violence against Black people, Indigenous peoples and peoples of colour.<\/p>\n
A\u00a0December 2018\u00a0study<\/a><\/strong><\/span> by\u00a0Concordia University\u00a0exposed\u00a0the long and oppressive history of racial profiling in Montreal, focused on the culturally diverse Montreal neighbourhood of Saint-Michel. The report was deeply\u00a0troubling yet\u00a0quickly filed away. In October 2019,\u00a0Montreal’s police department (SPVM)\u00a0released an\u00a0independently commissioned\u00a0study <\/a><\/strong><\/span>revealing that Black, Indigenous and Arab people are\u00a0four times more likely to be stopped by police than white people.\u00a0Described as shocking by Montreal Mayor Val\u00e9rie Plante, the report marked one of the rare times Montreal\u2019s police force publicly recognized that some of it officers may harbour biases toward the city\u2019s minority communities.<\/p>\n As the entire world protests the\u00a0reprehensible\u00a0killing of George Floyd, let us not forget\u00a0our local\u00a0victims who died at the hands of our police. To name a few:\u00a0Anthony Griffin, Fredy Villanueva, Bony Jean-Pierre, Pierre Coriolan, and Nicholas Gibbs.<\/p>\n Now is the time for us to implement real change by supporting Black-led organizations with donations, by continually educating ourselves and our children about the realities of racism, by actively listening to marginalized voices, by calling out racism in real life (not just on social media), and by contacting local officials about acting on systemic change.<\/p>\n Signed unanimously by the ELAN Inclusion Committee<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Established in 2018,<\/strong><\/em> ELAN Inclusion Committee<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u2019s\u00a0mandate is to promote and advance inclusion within the organization, its activities and projects.\u00a0Through action and advocacy, the committee\u00a0addresses\u00a0issues of discrimination, racism, and oppression that directly impact\u00a0the arts and cultural\u00a0communities of Quebec. Interested in sharing ideas to improve inclusion \/ joining\u00a0ELAN\u2019s Inclusion Committee? Please contact Swati Khanna at\u00a0<\/strong>Swati@quebec-elan.org<\/a><\/strong><\/span>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\nEighteen months later,\u00a0there is little evidence of improvement.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nWAYS TO HELP \/ RESOURCES
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\nHere are a few: Hoodstock<\/a>, Black Lives Matter TO<\/a>, Afrique au Feminin<\/a>, Black Theatre Workshop<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span>
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