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George Floyd's murder in Minneapolis in May 2020 sparked the largest racial justice protests in the United States since the Civil Rights Movement. But the movement went far beyond this nation's borders it inspired a global reckoningwith racism.

This time last year, countries across the globe had some of the largest Black Lives Matter protests in their history, all inspired by the video of Floyd brutal death in police custody on May 25, 2020. Crossing continents and cultures, Black activists saw Floyd's death as a symbol of the intolerance and injustice they face at home.

Some of these countries had their own George Floyd a Black person whose death by police brutality or racial violence created national outrage. Everywhere, activistsknew there was no going back to the way things were before they witnessed Floyd's final moments.

President Biden said that when he met with Floyd's young daughter Gianna, she told him, "Daddy changed the world." These worldwide protests show how right she was.

The United Kingdom had the largest Black Lives Matter protests in the world last summer outside of the United States. Even before George Floyd, protesters were already galvanized by a death in their own country.

Belly Mujinga, a Black transport worker in London, died from COVID-19 in April 2020 after saying that a White man spit on her in a racist attack at work. Coworkers said Mujinga had complained before the incident about not having proper protection while working during the pandemic.

Police closed the case, citing a lack of evidence, which mobilized a first wave of protests. Floyd's death fueled this into a larger movement confronting the country's historical and systemic racism.

"England is not an overtly racist country, in my humble opinion," Imarn Ayton, an organizer of the London protests, told CBS News at the time. "It is a covertly racist country. So we are much more subtle and polite with our racism."

But the time to be polite was over.

Protesters and police clashed at some of the demonstrations. Some protesters tore down and vandalized statues of slave traders and political leaders even some who were considered national heroes. A statue of Winston Churchill in London's Parliament Square was spray-painted with a message calling him a "racist."

Within days, London's protests exploded from about 20 people outside the U.S. embassy to more than 20,000 people flooding the streets. Celebrities joined, including Madonna and John Boyega, who gave an impassioned address to protesters.

Months after the protests, the government commissioned a report examining institutional racism in the U.K. But its release in March 2021 stunned activists because it simply rejected their claims of systemic problems.

"Put simply we no longer see a Britain where the system is deliberately rigged against ethnic minorities," the report from the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities said.

"Too often 'racism' is the catch-all explanation, and can be simply implicitly accepted rather than explicitly examined."

That same month, Parliament introduced a bill that would give police greater power to restrict protests. Ironically, it inspired anew round of protests with the rallying cry "Kill The Bill," that also called attention to the problem of violence against women.

"We have taken one step forward and about five steps back since the BLM movement in the U.K.," Ayton said.

"Seeing Black and White people galvanized, standing against racism, scared the living daylights out of the government, out of the Metropolitan Police, out of a lot of people. I think it's purely due to the fact that there was a huge shift in power in that moment."

New Zealand has a global reputation for peace and tolerance. But Black Lives Matter protesters there say that comes from a reluctance to speak directly about race and discrimination. George Floyd finally started those conversations.

"New Zealand's probably one of the most difficult places to be Black in this world," Guled Mire, an organizer for the protesters in the capital city, Wellington, told CBS News. "Imagine you are Black, but you're not allowed to be Black. That's literally how it is over there."

Protests coincided with New Zealand conducting a trial run of arming its police officers something not routinely done there. The experiment was a response to the 2019 mass shootings at two mosques in Christchurch, which were committed by a white supremacist. But Black and Indigenous populations worried that armed police would only put them in danger.

"We addressed the prime minister directly and the government and we said, 'We're not gonna stand for this, and we oppose this,'" said Mazou Q, a rapper who helped organize protests in Auckland. "Because we don't want to end up like the United States."

The government announced days after the first protests that it would scrap plans to arm police, though it did not credit the protests for influencing that decision.

People of African descent compromise less than 1% of New Zealand's population. But the protests brought Black protesters together with Indigenous Mori and Pacific Islanders, creating a movement for racial progress unlike anything the country had seen for years. One protest in Wellington drew more than 20,000 people.

"The kind of escapism that we indulged in in the past wouldn't suffice anymore," Mazbou Q said. "We had to reckon with what was happening, and we had to take a side...There was no more status quo as an option."

In France, protesters rallied against their nation's own history of racial injustice and police brutality, which has very different roots from the U.S.

In 1960, 17 sub-Saharan African nations, including 14 former French colonies, gained independence from their former European colonists. Today, many of the Black people living in France emigrated from those colonies.

With an eye on the United States, children of immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean are bringing race into the French public discourse.

"There is this refusal to take into account the history of slavery and colonization, and how race was part of it and how we're still dealing with the legacy," said Nathalie Etoke, an associate professor of Francophone and Africana Studies at the City University of New York Graduate Center.

The thousands of protesters in Paris were joined by the family of Adama Traore, who died on his 24th birthday in 2016 under circumstances similar to Floyd. Three police officers put their weight on him to restrain him, and he could not be revived after being brought to a police station. There were no charges for his death.

"We're demanding acts of justice, not discussions," Adama's sister Assa Traore said in a press conference last June, as protests continued into their second week. "We'll protest in the streets every week if necessary."

In Colombia, the news of Floyd's death was bookended by two notorious police killings domestically.

On May 22, 2020 just three days before Floyd's killing a young Black man named Anderson Arboleda was beaten to death by police for allegedly violating coronavirus curfew restrictions. Protesters soon marched to the U.S. embassy in Bogota, moved by the deaths of both Arboleda and Floyd.

Then on September 9, 46-year-old Javier Ordez died after being brutalized in police custody which was caught on video. In the footage, Ordez is heard saying "I am choking" and "Enough, no more, please" as officers kneel on him and use stun guns on him.

The deaths set off months of protests, some of which ended in violent and even deadly police crackdowns.During recent protests in Colombia over inequality and police brutality, local activist groups say at least 43 people have been killed by police. More than 2,900 cases of police brutality have also been reported.

Activists say the cases of Floyd and Ordez inspired people to record incidents with police. And protesters say that even the threat of death isn't stopping them from continuing to challenge police violence and systemic brutality.

"A lot of people tell me, 'Yolanda, don't risk your life by marching in the streets knowing it can put you at risk,'" said Yolanda Perea, a human rights defender in Choc. "But I'll continue to march and defend our lives. Because if we don't unite to defend life, they will continue to crush us more every day."

As the summer of protests blazed through the U.S., Washington, D.C. became a national center for the Black Lives Matter movement. The city created Black Lives Matter Plaza, near the White House, less than two weeks after Floyd's death, and it is now a regular gathering space for protest and activism.

Washington was also the site of the nation's most notorious crackdown on protesters. On June 1, law enforcement used tear gas and riot control tactics to push peaceful protesters from Lafayette Square so that then-President Trump could cross the cleared-out street and pose in front of the vandalized St. John's Church, holding a Bible.

The photo-op and use of force drew condemnation from military officials and even some of Mr. Trump's supporters, who believed it crossed a line.

On August 28, thousands gathered for the 2020 March on Washington at the Lincoln Memorial, with George Floyd's brother Philonise addressing the crowd.

Meanwhile, the local Black Lives Matter chapter started mutual aid initiatives in all eight wards of the city to work to bring about some of the changes that they've yet to see from institutions.

"We have built a stronger community and reimagined a world where we keep us safe and we can build a world without police," Neenee Taylor, the former mass engagement and rapid response coordinator for Black Lives Matter D.C., told CBS News. "And so that's what has changed for our community since George Floyd in D.C. But as far as the government hasn't nothing changed."

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The global impact of George Floyd: How Black Lives Matter protests shaped movements around the world - CBS News

On today's episode of 5 Things:One year ago, our country was at the height of the coronavirus pandemic and in the midst of a racial justice movement unlike anything we'd seen since the 1960s. And, it was Pride month.

Last June, the pandemic and turmoil overpolice brutalityandracial injusticepushed the50th anniversary of Pridein new directions.

The 5 Things team is bringing back our Pride month episode from last year because we think the snapshot it provides still matters for the same reasons.

This episode originally aired on June 14th, 2020.

Hit play on the podcast player above and read along with the transcript below.

Claire Thornton:

Hey, there I'm Claire Thornton, and this is 5 Things. It's Sunday, June 6th. These Sunday episodes are special, we're giving you more from in-depth stories you may have already heard.

Claire Thornton:

A year ago on June 14th, 2020, we aired an episode called "Protest Is The Origin Story For The Pride And Black Lives Matter Movements."We're re-airing that episode today because we think its message still holds true in so many ways. When the episode originally came out last summer, there were protests in all 50 states following the death of George Floyd. Way back then, one year ago, we wanted to show listeners what the Stonewall Inn riot, the event that sparked the modern LGBTQ movement, has in common with the current movement for racial justice. We talked to LGBTQ activists and experts about how Black, queer leaders fought for racial justice. At the same time, they were advancing LGBTQ rights. In the episode, you'll also hear from journalists who were in the thick of covering Black Lives Matter protests last May and June. And you'll hear from some ordinary folks who are asking themselves how they wanted to celebrate Pride last summer at the height of the coronavirus pandemic and amid a racial justice movement unlike anything our country had seen since the 1960s. That's actually where our story begins. Here it is.

Andy Waller:

Pride sort of, kind of isn't going to happen in the conventional way this year. How can Pride still happen? And how can I make it happen?

Claire Thornton:

That's Andy Waller. They're a small business owner in Richmond, Virginia. Each year, they rely on selling their jarred pickles, salsas and jams at Pride events, but that wasn't going to happen this summer, the 50th anniversary of Pride. So Andy decided to organize a virtual Pride for Richmond, and it looks similar to Pride events happening around the world this weekend. I'm Claire Thornton, and this is 5 Things. It's Sunday, June 14th. These Sunday episodes are special. We're giving you more from in depth stories you may have already heard. Today, we're examining how this year's Pride month looks and feels different. Many Pride events are virtual. You'll hear from LGBTQ leaders who tell us how the modern LGBTQ rights movement started with protests against the way police treated their community. As Black Lives Matter fights for racial justice during this Pride month, LGBTQ leaders are shifting their efforts to help support the movement.

Claire Thornton:

On this episode, you'll hear from a Black LGBTQ activist, a faith leader from St John's church, where President Trump posed with the Bible. And you'll hear from LGBTQ pioneer, Karla Jay, who was part of the uprising at Stonewall Inn. They all have something to say about protest, whether it was 1969 or this month. You'll also hear from medical reporter, Liz Szabo, she's been covering how people across the country are getting injured by tactics police use against protestors. We're talking to people in the thick of developing news stories from cities and communities around the country. Tell us what you think about these Sunday episodes by tweeting us at @usatodaypodcast. We want to hear from you, but first here's Andy Waller again.

Andy Waller:

It started out as a little local Pride market with a little fundraising spin. And from there, it's really blossomed into this full on, what feels like an actual full on Pride event, just virtual.

Claire Thornton:

Pride month is going virtual around the world. People are staying home to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Andy Waller's virtual Pride is also giving part of revenues to Black-run nonprofits in Richmond.

Andy Waller:

The most important aspect of this event is the fundraising aspect, the awareness aspect. It's an awareness event to support and promote the visibility of these organizations that are doing has massively important work in the Black and LGBTQ community.

Claire Thornton:

There's a history of the LGBTQ and Black communities connecting. Leaders like Bayard Rustin, Audre Lorde, and Pauli Murray fought for rights where their identities intersected, along lines of race and queerness. Victoria Kirby York is an activist for the Black and LGBTQ communities. She told me how violence from police is at the heart of both the modern LGBTQ movement and the Black Lives Matter movement.

Victoria Kirby York:

There was a hashtag called Existing While Black, and it was highlighting all the times and ways, whether you're talking about a little kid playing with a water gun in the park, being shot by the police within seconds, of Black peoplejust finding joy and having that joy being criminalized. And the same thing happened during Stonewall and afterwards. Whenever queer and trans folks sought to find joy, we were criminalized and punished for it.

Claire Thornton:

Black and brown trans women and other queer people taking a stand against police violence in June of 1969 led to marches. Then those marches became a movement. LGBTQ activist, Karla Jay was there at the Stonewall Inn the night police showed up and a riot broke out.

Karla Jay:

And the police escalated the Stonewall police raid into a riot that lasted for a week and there's such a similarity here today. If the police hadn't been so aggressive, there wouldn't have been a Stonewall uprising. And the same thing here. The police do these things to communities, they act with extreme aggression in situations that really don't call for it and then social change happens.

Claire Thornton:

We've been seeing protests in all 50 statesthe past few weeks in reaction to the death of George Floyd and countless other Black people at the hands of police. That's audio of police deploying tear gas against protesters outside the Iowa Capitol building on May 30th. The forceful clearing of the Lafayette Square Protest on June 1st captured headlines nationally when police used chemical irritants to clear away for President Trump's photo op in front of St. John's church. John Moore is a founder of the Washington Interfaith Network representing St. John's church. His colleagues were helping Black Lives Matter medics when protesters were forcefully cleared out. John told me how he felt when he learned what happened.

John Moore:

They, at that moment, were defined as other, and at that moment, they were the object of police enforcement, being called to get them not to do what otherwise their right to be. There was nobody throwing anything around them. And then suddenly out of the blue came this deluge of the police. I felt like I got punched, even though I'm one of the ones that would not normally have that happen.

Claire Thornton:

This month Moore sayspeople need to educate themselves about discrimination and violence they may have had the privilege of never experiencing.

John Moore:

For those of us that aren't in those communities, we need to be made aware and to think about how to correct it.

Claire Thornton:

Karla Jay says the LGBTQ community needs to do more to help support Black causes, whether they overlap with the queer community or not.

Karla Jay:

Police harassment is long known in many communities of color and in the LGBTQ community. We have this common cause. When the LGBT movement started to work primarily for the benefit of their own community, that was a huge mistake. We need to uplift and work for all of our neighbors, whether or not they are sexually identified in the way we are. We need to ally ourselves with other people. We believed in the late 60s and early 70s that none of us are free until all of us are free.

Claire Thornton:

Victoria Kirby York wants more people to remember that Black, queer women started the Black Lives Matter movement in 2013 and 2014. She's speaking about Alicia Garza and PatrisseCullors, two of the three founders of Black Lives Matter.

Victoria Kirby York:

Our movements have always been intersectional, even if our messaging and our policy asks have not always been. The folks who set up the intersections have always had to fight all fronts in order to achieve full liberation. And that's exactly what we're seeing now.

Claire Thornton:

Medical reporter, Liz Szabo, never covered injuries from rubber bullets before this month. In the past two weeks, she's been talking to protestors, doctors and police officers about injuries from less lethal weapons. She found that 3% of people hit with rubber bullets between 1990 and 2017 died from the injury. And based on the dataavailable, 15% of victims were permanently injured.

Liz Szabo:

Rubber bullets is sort of a catchall name for a wide variety of weapons. A lot of rubber bullets are not just rubber, they actually have metal inside. Some of these rounds are called sponge tipped rounds or foam rounds. Again, those names make it sound like you're hitting someone with a party favor. It's not crazy foam. These things are very hard. And what really surprised me the most when I started looking into this for the first time is that they can kill you, they're even worse than getting stabbed in the eye as inconceivable as that is or even shot in the eye.

Claire Thornton:

What did police instructors say about how officers are taught to use rubber bullets?

Liz Szabo:

Police are told explicitly on their first day of training, never aim at the head. If you're aiming at the head, it basically is becoming lethal force. It's no longer a less lethal force. All of the instructors I talked to said, people should never, ever, ever aim at the head. You should only aim at the legs. Paramount, also, you're not supposed to hit peaceful protestors. What's interesting really is just how often they were used just recently, because really police tell me that cops have been very reluctant to use rubber bullets or similar projectiles. I'm using that a catch all term. But really cops don't use rubber bullets all that often. They certainly use them in enormous numbers over the last two weeks so I'm not sure what brought about that change.

Claire Thornton:

Taking to the streets is a big part of both these movements. USA TODAYwill keep examining that risk and you can read more on less lethal force from Liz's story throughout this week. For some people getting onto the streets to March in solidarity is not an option. Disabled people, people more vulnerable to COVID and even people who aren't out as LGBTQ can attend virtual Prides this year. Victoria Kirby York says that's a big deal.

Victoria Kirby York:

There are some people who could have never physically joined a Pride are going to be able to join online even if it's just under the covers in their room.

Claire Thornton:

Access is an important part of Andy Waller's Richmond virtual Pride too.

Andy Waller:

Pride should be for everybody, like Pride should be for every LGBTQ person. Our kind of motto for this is you don't have to come out to show up.

Claire Thornton:

You can check out stories about Pride month, the Black Lives Matter movement and police brutality at the links in the episode notes. Some of the stories are from one year ago, they give a snapshot of what our country was facing last summer, and the facts, statistics, and history in those stories still carries the same weight. If you liked this episode of 5 Things, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. I want to thank Shannon Green for her help editing this show. Thanks for listening. I'm Claire Thornton. Taylor Wilson will be back tomorrow morning with 5 Things You Need To Know For Monday.

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Protest is the origin story for Pride and Black Lives Matter movements: 5 Things podcast - USA TODAY

One year after five young London women organized one of the largest protests ever held in London, what has changed?

We asked several Londoners who were at the June, 2020 rally and march, organized in the wake of the murder of American George Floyd by police, to reflect on the last year.

We built a community for BIPOC people. Before this, I just didn't really know how to make my voice heard or how to make changes. Having such a big platform, I think it's a lot easier to bring things to light, the things that we need to change here in London and in the community as a whole. I now know that I can make a change if I try to make a change.

I think since last year, after George Floyd's death, people became more aware of the injustices in the Black community. Before, it was a handful of people, but since last year, there's been momentum. People have been posting about it, they've called out racism when they see it and acknowledge it when they see it. The job isn't done but educating people is the first step.

There's still a lot of education required, from younger individuals to older people, on issues of people of colour and the Black community. The march was a good start, but it's still a work in progress, and it can't be just one day.

There's a stronger sense of allyshipthis past year. A lot of people are more comfortable speaking on issues. People are more outspoken and less fearful of calling people out. Before, you'd have people who weren't public about it, but people are more outspoken than they have been before.

Ultimately, not enough has changed. It's hard to not to come off as impatient but it's been a long enough wait. It shouldn't have taken a death to be caught on camera and broadcast for the world to see to get people moving.

As far as the reforms locally, there's been some positive changes, or at least talk of positive changes that seem to be accepted by the public in general, but any of the major reforms, or the substantial ideas that come across the table, they get pushed to the side, and that's where my frustration lies.

More people are bringingup racism. More people will ask me a question about racism. They'll try to find a way to segue into a conversation about racism. I didn't realize how little the people who grew up with me knew about my experiences. There's definitely more awareness and more interest to discuss it, but just talking about it doesn't mean they've changed their attitude.

I'm always hopeful. I'm a hopeful guy. I think things will change and can change.

It's changed conversations and how conversations go in terms of applying an equity lens in terms of building policy. It opened up people's minds to the way that things were and it has shifted and adjusted things for the better. There's a long way to go, it's unreal. But it at least has opened the conversation up.

I wish everything was different and that everyone had heard the rallying call. The hardest part is being so vocal, have so much strength come fromthe community, and then be met with a hard break when it comes to working with the city or school boards. The policies get in the way of everything, but we make those policies, so why can't they just move out of the way? What I'm most proud of is the trust thatcommunity members have put into BLM and in the work. There's so many people who say 'I've wanted to say this, but I haven't had the courage or the backing or support,' and we're able to be a catalyst for their voice, and that's what ultimately is my driving force.

I've kept on educating. We've never seen so many people gather from all backgrounds, to support one cause. It's been a year, what really did happen from that? I would say, nothingon a grand scale in the city,but I know that individually people are working differently after seeing what London as a whole can do. People are more aware, I'm not sure if they're receptive.

It's an individual thing. We, ourselves, really need to be educating. It's not the only cause in the world, there's lots going on, but it's something we need to keep talking about. The only frustration is that I'm only one person. Seeing so many people, and I'm just me. A year later, a percentage of those people, for them it was just a parade. I wish I can do so much, but I can only do so muchas one person.

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.

Continued here:
A year after 10K marched through London chanting 'Black Lives Matter,' what has changed? - CBC.ca

A look at the notable changes that took place in Guelph since the Black Lives Matters protest on June 6, 2020

Its been exactly one year since the streets of Guelph were flooded with thousands of people marching for racial justice in Guelph.

They called to defund the police, they called for accountability and they called the names of lives lost to police brutality around the world.

A lot of change can take place in a year. But the fact is, a year is not enough to undo decades if not centuries worth of systemic racism.

Kween, executive director of the Guelph Black Heritage Society who helped organizethe Black Lives Matterprotest, said when she stood in front of over 5,000 people on June 6, she was angry, frustrated and heavily grieving.

But standing there that day, she also felt overwhelmed with joy that the city was celebrating its diversity.

That was just really outstanding, and a really good place to leave us at the end of the protests because I know for so long, so much of this work is so heavy, and we need a space for us as well to feel great about ourselves. We're so much more than this work of anti-racism and anti-oppression. We all have stories, we all live lives, we all are artists, she said.

What happened that dayinGuelph igniteda conversation. It got the ball rolling toward change.

People started to look at things differently. Businesses, cities, schools, organizations began to have conversations uncomfortable conversations about the reality of racial injustice of BIPOC people.

Following the protest, the Upper Grand District School Board called for the formation of a task force to investigate the School Resource Officer program in schools, which was removed months later due to an overwhelming response of negative experiences from members ofthe BIPOC and LGBTQ+communities in schools.

The University of Guelph committed to an anti-racism training module for all incoming students and released an action plan to address discrimination for BIPOC after students called for a full anti-oppression course.

The City of Guelph reopened its community plan developed over a year prior to the protest with a renewed equity lens. Part of that was kicking off a local survey to examine residents lived experiences of discrimination to make Guelph and Wellington County more welcoming. A new park and trail in the south end were named after local Black veterans who fought during the First World War.

The GBHS launched a #ChangeStartsNow education campaign in collaboration with the city last summer to present educational resources on Black history and culture for the community. It also launched a four-day anti-racism summit early this year.

A Waterloo teacher launched a Black heritage educational curriculum in collaboration with the Guelph Black Heritage Society focusing on positive aspects of Black life and culture available for teachers to use province-wide.

In January, Guelph became one of 82 municipalities in Canada to join UNESCOs Coalition of Inclusive Municipalities which seeks to bring together cities to improve their policies against racism, discrimination, exclusion and intolerance.

Chief Gordon Cobey said this includes a commitment to provide police services that serve the community so Guelphcan be anexamplefor other cities.

This is not the type of thing where we're ever going to be done, said Cobey in an interview about making change.

I think this is about constantly learning and growing together andcreating a new normal.

In the police board meeting in May, Cobey said the GPSrecognizesthat every individual or group has their own unique thoughts, feelings and lived experiences and no one person can represent the experiences of Guelphs diverse community.

"We have worked really, really hard to, listen, learn, grow and evolve, so we can understand the needs of our community," said Cobey

"I think from the very beginning the community together created a very aspirational goal that we want to be the community that leads by example and shows other communities what's possible."

In the last year, GPS has held numerous sessions for diverse communities in the region to share their lived experiences and perceptions of police and police interactions. For the first time, they began live-streaming their monthly board meetings on YouTube to ensure transparency, they launched a mandatory in-house diversity training video put together by BIPOC leaders in the community, that showed an unfiltered view of BIPOC people in the community and a bias awareness training for all GPS members.

They also enhanced diversity police college training for new recruits and set a goal to develop an in-person training program by 2022 to enable in-person conversations with members of the community. Public members joined the community policing community, the GPS began meeting with representatives of the Guelph Neighbourhood Support Coalition Group to identify opportunities where they could improve servicesand even developed a system to track theirinvolvement in public and volunteer events.

Mayor Cam Guthrie said the city had three main priorities after the protest.To listen to the community to make it more inclusive, to ensure the growth of the cityas an employer and to improve engagement and interaction with citizens.

I feel like there is a renewed focus or even a new focus on using an equity lens on everything that we do, said Guthrie.

Guthrie said in the past year, he himself has had respectful and difficult conversations for change to take place around issues he didnt know existed.

He gives the example of traffic issues. He said in the past year, local immigration partners identified areas that have a low engagement rate with city hall when it comes to asking the city for traffic safety measures. He said either those areas dont know how to engage with city hall or the city is not doing a good responding to traffic concerns in those neighbourhoods.

So now we're looking at how can we be better asacity to help with traffic safety through an equity lens to help people engage with city hall, and if there are issues or barriers that are in their way from engaging with us so that we can help them in those areas," he said.

Guthrie said what makes Guelph stand out is that it has taken a community-led approach rather than relying on city hall or city council to tell its citizens what to do.

We have flipped that, and now it's community-led, and at the end of the day the changes that are made from andbythe community are only going to happen when something like this is community-led, said Guthrie.

My job is to make our city better and better and better every single day. If we can be a city that is a better city when it comes to equity issues, stamping out systemic racism, upholding acceptance and diversity for all individuals, that's the type of city I want to live in, said Guthrie.

Now with all these changes in the past year, have we gotten a lotcloserto where we need to be?

Kween says she already feels the passion behind calling for change is dying down.

I look at some of the places and the spaces that we're at, and I don't see change, I see a lot of performative action. I don't know if that crowd of 8,000 people, we would ever get again, I think that that was part of just what was happening at the time andit was what was cool, said Kween.

For us, it's not what's just cool. It's like our everyday living experience. So we need people to get energized again, feel that momentum again. Stop with complacency and really step up.

Kween said shes seen a lotof Black people put in leadership positions by organizationsto quickly show they're taking action.

She said there is no solidarity and Black Lives Matter without support for the entire community. We have to all work towardracial equity because it's affecting all of our community, she said.

Community leader Marva Wisdom, who has been at the forefront of creating change in the UGDSB andthe citys community plan in the past year, said she can see changes in everyday interactions when people askquestions on how to do things right, but the burden should not always fall on the shoulders of the BIPOC community.

When we're talking about systems change, we're talking not only abouteducation, we're talking about awareness, and we're talking about action because people have a difficult time understanding what equity is, and why to have the same level playing field still will not work for those who are marginalized and seeking equity because of historical issues, said Wisdom.

And so those conversations are ongoing and sometimes it takes action from those who are elected."

She said while some things have to do with regulation and legislation, others have to do with attitude and behaviours and for her, the most significant changes are when organizations complete an introspectiveexamination of themselves to make themselves more equitable.

I know the city is doing some work now. And I know there are some other organizations that are doing some work. I think it needs to be continued to be at the top of everyone's agenda, said Wisdom.

And my suggestion to people to make really lasting change is if you have staff meetings, start with a conversation about how are we breaking down barriers today? What are some things that we did yesterday that we're proud of? And what are we going to do today to make progress toward a more equitable organization, a more equitable society.

Now reflecting back on the year, Wisdom says she feels almost the same as she did last June 6 because racial injustice still exists.

Wisdom recalls a quote by Dr. Martin Luther King where he says we are all wrapped in asingle garment of destiny.

I keep wondering when are we going to understand how interconnected we are as a world? she asks. Brutal incidents of police brutality in America still take place and it affects us the same she says.

Why do others have to make an assumption that because you're not practicing exactly as I am, whether it's your faith, or whether you have a different colour skin or an accent, different hair texture, the person that you love, your abilities. Why does that make you less?

She said while she doesn't want to just talk about the great things that are happening, she does see a shift, one that she calls thepre-George Floyd and the post-George Floyd conversation.

People are recognizing that they need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable, said Wisdom.

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One year Later: How the Black Lives Matter protest changed Guelph forever - GuelphToday

Today is theanniversary of Ada's seminalBlack Lives Matter rally and march.

As I prepared to cover this event, I had some vague ideas about how our Black Lives Matter march would play out, and felt like I was ready. In addition to my wide angle and telephoto zooms and my phone, I mounted an extra phone on the hot shoe of my wide angle camera for video, which worked pretty well.

A lot of journalists had been caught up in violence connected to those events, and my wife and a couple of coworkers were nervous about my presence, but I could already feel in the air that it was going to be a positive, peaceful, and meaningful event.

Of course, we waded through some rumors. Busses of white supremacists were supposedly on their way. A pickup full of people with guns was supposedly seen driving up and down Main Street. A sniper was supposedly spotted on a rooftop above the march. I didn't see any evidence of any of these things.

The march started at Ada's famous whittling tree, but as I explained this to my coworkers, they all seemed dumbfounded. Am I the old man who remembers stuff from back in the day? You can see the whittling tree in the early parts of the video I shot that day.

It was very hot and humid out. I wore shorts and my The Ada News shirt with PRESS on the back. As I worked, I would stop and make photos and video, then, because the march was moving at a fair pace, I would run a block and a half to catch up and get in front of it, and do the whole thing all over again. Despite the heat and being loaded with gear, including wearing a Rona mask, I was very pleased with how easy it was, and how quickly my heart rate went back to normal. I was 56 that day, so this is significant.

How I felt once it got going really took me by surprise:at one point during the march, with hundreds of human voices, many my friends, crying out in unison for justice, I felt like I was going to break down and cry. I had to take several long, deep breaths just to keep myself in the game.

It was also a moment of self-doubt: am I getting too old, too emotional, too vulnerable to do the job of news photographer? As journalists, we strive to be both connected to the events we cover, yet remain able to step back and see the situation from as many points of view as we can.

In the end, I found the experience to be one of the most moving and significant I have ever covered.

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Picture This: Black Lives Matter anniversary | Local News | theadanews.com - Theadanews