Black Lives Matter

June 1, 2020

URFA stands in sol­i­dar­i­ty with the Black com­mu­ni­ty and the demands for jus­tice in the Unit­ed States and in Cana­da. We rec­og­nize the impact that hun­dreds of years of sys­temic racism, and vio­lence against black peo­ple, indige­nous peo­ple, and peo­ple of colour has had. 

We know that racism doesn’t stop at the bor­der. In Saskatchewan, sys­temic racism towards Indige­nous peo­ple has caused immense pain and suf­fer­ing. Too many of our col­leagues and stu­dents who are black, indige­nous, or peo­ple of colour face sys­temic racism and racial dis­crim­i­na­tion every day. We must con­tin­ue to call out and chal­lenge the racism that exists in our com­mu­ni­ties, and do every­thing that we can to work towards an equi­table and just soci­ety for all. 

There is an emer­gency ral­ly being held on June 2 (Tues­day) at the leg­is­la­ture. More infor­ma­tion can be found here. If you are com­fort­able to attend while prac­tic­ing social dis­tanc­ing, we encour­age you to do so. We also encour­age you to donate to an orga­ni­za­tion that sup­ports the Black Lives Mat­ter move­ment if you are able. There are sev­er­al dif­fer­ent orga­ni­za­tions list­ed on the Face­book page for tomorrow’s ral­ly post­ed above that you can sup­port, includ­ing bail funds for those who have been arrest­ed at demon­stra­tions across North America. 

Final­ly, to URFA mem­bers who might be expe­ri­enc­ing hurt and pain right now, know that we are with you. We sup­port you. Black Lives Matter. 

In Sol­i­dar­i­ty,

Claire Carter

Chair, URFA Equi­ty Committee