Over 500 could participate in Niagara Falls #Justice4BlackLives protest on Saturday

A Niagara Falls woman organizing a protest in support of black lives on Saturday says she is overwhelmed with the outpouring of support from the communtiy. 

After learning of the death of George Floyd, whose death has sparked outrage in the U.S over racial injustice, Sherri Darlene says she went numb.

“I just did not have any words to say. I just went numb, but inside a voice said ‘Do something’. So I grabbed my laptop and googled how to organize a protest. That’s pretty much it,” Sherri told Thorold News.

She says there are good indications that over 500 people might show up on Saturday to take a stand against racial injustice and police killings of black individuals in a peaceful protest signed off on by both public health and local police.

“People have reached out to me like you would not believe.”

The manifestation will run from the entrance to Hwy. 420, along the main strip of Victoria Ave., where the sidewalks will be lined with protesters keeping 6 ft apart to comply with public health regulations, all wearing black.

Some will be holding signs bearing the names of people of colour who have lost their lives in ecounters with police.

At 2 p.m. a march will proceed down to the Whirlpool bridge, where fellow protesters on the U.S side are expected to meet them in solidarity on their side of the border.

The group will be taking a knee for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, representing the time that Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was captured on film lodging his knee into George Floyds neck, ultimately ending with Floyd dying in the encounter.

Sherri says the movement now arising out of the outrage isn’t new, but rather something that the black community has tried pleaded for help to tackle for a long time.

Carrying life-long scars from being subjected to racist encounters and discriminatory treatment in her home town of Niagara Falls, she says she still to this day is determined she will not watch the video as it is too painful.

“It has not been easy. I fear for my physical safety when I go to the U.S to visit family. Here in Niagara Falls it is different. It is not as blatant but it exists” said Sherri.

The awareness came early on, passed down by her mother.

“I am 48 today. The first time I was discriminated against was at age 4. My mother talked a lot to me about these issues, so I was aware throughout school, high school, and in every facet of my life.”

She describes how racism has kept following her as she worked her way through numerous jobs in town.

“I was working retail in a big department hardware store when a man was cashing out while talking about his new car. He looked at me and described the color as ’n—-er black.’ These things happen to this day.”

“An HR-manager once asked me if she should describe me as ‘black’ or ‘colored’ when she’s talking about me. I told her that I am good with Sherri. It kind of threw her off when I said that. Why would my skin color be a part of that conversation anyway? I had someone say that ‘black people are supposed to be good cleaners because that is what we are supposed to be good at.’ These subtle things that people have a hard time understanding, and they are only the tip of the iceberg.”

Despite the severity of the situation, Sherri says organizing the protest is starting to restore some faith in humanity, as caucasian population are coming out to support the cause.

Only a small amount of backlash has come in response to the manifestation - one even accusing Sherri of standing in support of the rioting and looting seen during some U.S protests.

“Someone even said that the poster with its spelling errors and logo of the black man holding up his arm inside the clock looked like an ‘armed black man.’ It’s absurd.”

While underlining that the planned protest is peaceful, and that she does not condone fires and looting, she says it is a before-seen response when injustice boils over.

“Martin Luther King said that rioting and burning is the language of the people who are not heard. We have been telling the world what has been going on but it did not listen. I do not condone it but I understand it. I know that rage, I hold hands with it. Now we are linking arms with every race and hoping and praying for the beginning of a new wave.”