This event, along with the majority of the organizing done by the Black Lives Matter Vancouver Coalition, will be taking place on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory and homelands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Skxwú7mesh, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. We are very grateful to these people for the knowledge, kindness and indomitable spirit with which they have taken care of this land for millennia.

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Every day, the list of deaths seems to grow. Every week, we find ourselves mourning another family member lost to us at the hands of murderers who are institutionally shielded from punishment. Our grief crosses borders. The loss of our parents, siblings, spouses, relatives, friends, those we are intimately connected to though we may have never met them – is too much to bear alone.

On Wednesday, October 12, let us come together as a Black community to mourn those who have been taken too soon by this violent system, to celebrate our Blackness and our resilience, and to support one another.

We gather together to remember:

Korryn Gaines, Tiarah Poyau, Skye Mockabee, Abdirahman Abdi, Jermaine Carby, Tawon Boyd, Terence Crutcher, Keith Lamont Scott, Alfred Olango…

…and so many more, because the list stretches back over 400 years and continues to go on. We gather together to say their names. Violence toward one of us is violence toward all of us. Every time one of us dies, a piece of all of us dies.

“It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love each other and support each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains.” – Assata Shakur

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TIME: Wednesday, October 12, 6-8pm.

LOCATION: Gallery Gachet, 88 East Cordova St.

Speakers, performers, open mic and free dinner.

We invite folks from other parts of BC and the West Coast to attend our event and are able to provide accomodation! Please get in touch at blacklivesmattervan@gmail.com!

* * * Black Lives Matter explicitly and wholeheartedly supports all members of the Black community and endeavours to lift up the voices of those living in the intersections of being Black and further marginalized such as Black women and femmes, Black trans and queer folks, Black folks living with disabilities and so on. Therefore, our intention is to create a safe and welcoming space where homophobia, transphobia, sexism and other forms of violence, lateral or otherwise, will not be tolerated.

* * * Please note that this healing space is reserved exclusively for Black folks. Although we will not refuse entrance or remove anyone, please be respectful of this request, and understand that for non-Black folks to attend is to disregard the sacred importance of holding Black space.