[sweetlou]

Pride began as a protest march - over the years it's morphed into a tourist-friendly, family-rated, fun, weekend entertainment stuffed full of corporate floats and a guaranteed winner for those who peddle hotel rooms. But it was born out of the 1981 bathhouse raids, when Toronto's finest hauled more than 300 men out of a gay bathhouse and arrested and named them in the street at a time when that ruined careers and caused public humiliation. It took 35 years for TPS to apologize.

I don't go every year but I did this time and was stunned at the hundreds of uniformed police marching in the parade representing much of southern Ontario. That in a way made me uncomfortable - no problem with LBQT cops in the parade, as welcome as anyone else, but the sheer number of cops was jarring. I'm a straight woman but the bathhouse raids sickened me and the G20 was horrific. I guess having police be included is a good thing, on balance, but I wonder if the goodwill has any bearing on the next time a black kid gets beaten up outside of the range of cameras.

At the end of the day, BLM has emerged because as a city, we still piddle around failing to address the tangible problems that our black friends and neighbours have clearly identified. Tory is a milquetoast WASP. People like Desmond Cole speak up loudly and clearly and we all go, "great guy, great writer, now where's the recipe section?" Carding hasn't gone away. So no surprise that BLM went to Pride - high visibility, great coverage, and they didn't have to vandalize or break the law. Nor did they when they camped outside TPS headquarters in winter. Good citizen protesting, good for them. So a few people didn't like having to wait an extra 30 minutes in the sun: big deal.

We could use more citizen protest. Tens of thousands in London protesting Brexit, love it. Anyone remember the Vietnam war protests, all over the world? I may be showing my age, but BLM did what is necessary. Power to the People!

 

[riffraff]

I also find it interesting that Ford, like Farage and Trump since, was instrumental in messaging that racism and a racist tone to public discourse is somehow more honest than "political correctness". Only now we have a blanket concept of "immigrants" as a dog whistle for "otherness". Does using the word Black in BLM make them scarier to our diversity-loving city? Does it make it harder for "progressives" to support their goals?

 

[Jimmi T]

I also find it interesting that Ford, like Farage and Trump since, was instrumental in messaging that racism and a racist tone to public discourse is somehow more honest than "political correctness". Only now we have a blanket concept of "immigrants" as a dog whistle for "otherness". Does using the word Black in BLM make them scarier to our diversity-loving city? Does it make it harder for "progressives" to support their goals?

Ya, and yet somehow blacks and other minorities seemed to love him. I could never understand that.

 

[Jimmi T]

Pride began as a protest march - over the years it's morphed into a tourist-friendly, family-rated, fun, weekend entertainment stuffed full of corporate floats and a guaranteed winner for those who peddle hotel rooms. But it was born out of the 1981 bathhouse raids, when Toronto's finest hauled more than 300 men out of a gay bathhouse and arrested and named them in the street at a time when that ruined careers and caused public humiliation. It took 35 years for TPS to apologize.

I don't go every year but I did this time and was stunned at the hundreds of uniformed police marching in the parade representing much of southern Ontario. That in a way made me uncomfortable - no problem with LBQT cops in the parade, as welcome as anyone else, but the sheer number of cops was jarring. I'm a straight woman but the bathhouse raids sickened me and the G20 was horrific. I guess having police be included is a good thing, on balance, but I wonder if the goodwill has any bearing on the next time a black kid gets beaten up outside of the range of cameras.

At the end of the day, BLM has emerged because as a city, we still piddle around failing to address the tangible problems that our black friends and neighbours have clearly identified. Tory is a milquetoast WASP. People like Desmond Cole speak up loudly and clearly and we all go, "great guy, great writer, now where's the recipe section?" Carding hasn't gone away. So no surprise that BLM went to Pride - high visibility, great coverage, and they didn't have to vandalize or break the law. Nor did they when they camped outside TPS headquarters in winter. Good citizen protesting, good for them. So a few people didn't like having to wait an extra 30 minutes in the sun: big deal.

We could use more citizen protest. Tens of thousands in London protesting Brexit, love it. Anyone remember the Vietnam war protests, all over the world? I may be showing my age, but BLM did what is necessary. Power to the People!

Hmm, ya I guess that's what Pride's all about. But if I was stuck on the Allen when they shut that down I'd be severely annoyed.

To be honest, while Desmond Cole and to a lesser extent Domise seem to be quite well spoken and intelligent, I've found the BLM Toronto reps to be fairly unimpressive when listening to them do interviews.

 

[salsa]

Good citizen protesting, good for them. So a few people didn't like having to wait an extra 30 minutes in the sun: big deal.

The only reason it didn't last longer than 30 minutes is because Pride organizers agreed to a bunch of non-negotiable list of "demands" that should have been negotiated beforehand.

 

[animatronic]

The problem with BLM is that the group confuses being heard with being understood. I suspect that most Torontonians inherently understand that our black community has serious challenges, and are sympathetic to helping find solutions. However, for the life of me I have no idea what BLM wants as an outcome and if it is even feasible.

Being heard can be important, but if they want the movement to go anywhere they need to work on their communication.

 

[adma]

I don't go every year but I did this time and was stunned at the hundreds of uniformed police marching in the parade representing much of southern Ontario. That in a way made me uncomfortable - no problem with LBQT cops in the parade, as welcome as anyone else, but the sheer number of cops was jarring. I'm a straight woman but the bathhouse raids sickened me and the G20 was horrific. I guess having police be included is a good thing, on balance, but I wonder if the goodwill has any bearing on the next time a black kid gets beaten up outside of the range of cameras.

Anyone consider that maybe the Orlando shootings have something to do with the increased cop presence?

 

[JWBF]

We could use more citizen protest. Tens of thousands in London protesting Brexit, love it. Anyone remember the Vietnam war protests, all over the world? I may be showing my age, but BLM did what is necessary. Power to the People!

I also remember the Black panthers...

 

[riffraff]

Being heard can be important, but if they want the movement to go anywhere they need to work on their communication.

I agree with you that sometimes BLM gets a little too academic in the info they want and need to convey, but the media coverage that I've seen and heard has been kinda obtuse in their coverage. The take away from Pride Day for most people has been BLM want TPS floats out of the parade, and their presence less heavy handed. I'd like to know how much TPS spends on this kind of PR/"community engagement" stuff, but of course we don't get to see anything about what's in their budget as the figure climbs at a rate higher than any other budget item. Other departments annually have to take cuts. Even studies ordered by the TPSB aren't shared with the TPSB until after the budget is approved. Behind closed doors until it comes to Council and there's no public input.

I don't know about the Pride Day organization and if BLM's "issues" had been previously raised internally. Had BLM asked for a meeting, or were they raised by individuals who got no appropriate responses?

The first Black "migrants" to Canada were bought or brought by the early settlers to Upper and Lower Canada. Most Canadians don't know that fact, just like we knew very little about the history of our Aboriginal peoples until we heard about it directly from them. Maybe we should pay better attention now to this country's racist colonial history and acknowledge that its not up to us to chose who we listen to, because 2016.

The police chief and the Mayor refused to meet publicly with BLM because it wanted some public accountability. Tory had to "consult" with his own hand picked Black community representatives before agreeing to meet with BLM.

BLM's demands of Pride were largely reasonable and in line with the kinds of equality standards we generally expect in society and should certainly expect in large human rights organization.

 

[riffraff]

Anyone consider that maybe the Orlando shootings have something to do with the increased cop presence?

The cops say that they did, but given that mass shootings and the easy availability of military-style assault weapons, and rampant homophobia are uniquely American barbaric cultural realities, I think it could also be racist fearmongering. The shooter was Muslim right? And worked for one of the largest private security companies in the States.

 

[animatronic]

I agree with you that sometimes BLM gets a little too academic in the info they want and need to convey, but the media coverage that I've seen and heard has been kinda obtuse in their coverage. The take away from Pride Day for most people has been BLM want TPS floats out of the parade, and their presence less heavy handed. I'd like to know how much TPS spends on this kind of PR/"community engagement" stuff, but of course we don't get to see anything about what's in their budget as the figure climbs at a rate higher than any other budget item. Other departments annually have to take cuts. Even studies ordered by the TPSB aren't shared with the TPSB until after the budget is approved. Behind closed doors until it comes to Council and there's no public input.

I don't know about the Pride Day organization and if BLM's "issues" had been previously raised internally. Had BLM asked for a meeting, or were they raised by individuals who got no appropriate responses?

The first Black "migrants" to Canada were bought or brought by the early settlers to Upper and Lower Canada. Most Canadians don't know that fact, just like we knew very little about the history of our Aboriginal peoples until we heard about it directly from them. Maybe we should pay better attention now to this country's racist colonial history and acknowledge that its not up to us to chose who we listen to, because 2016.

The police chief and the Mayor refused to meet publicly with BLM because it wanted some public accountability. Tory had to "consult" with his own hand picked Black community representatives before agreeing to meet with BLM.

BLM's demands of Pride were largely reasonable and in line with the kinds of equality standards we generally expect in society and should certainly expect in large human rights organization.

That's the point - if the media gets your story "wrong", it's not the media's fault - it's yours. For example, holding the sit down and shouting through a bullhorn makes for dramatic tv, but they failed to have a coherent spokesperson available on site to make their case via live press interviews. They published an obtuse list of demands but didn't issue a concurrent press release explaining their position in layman's terms. of course the press is going to focus on the banning police floats demand - it's the only sound bite they were given.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Anyone consider that maybe the Orlando shootings have something to do with the increased cop presence?

There were published reports of threats to this specific event from extremists - and with the PM there, should one surprised that there is an increased police presence?

AoD

 

[Jimmi T]

Dougie was on the Newstalk 1010 morning roundtable talking about BLM. He just rehashed stuff we've been hearing from Warmington about Tory being too slow to back police. And he's still pitching his Ferris wheel believe it or not. He seems like such a light weight compared to the other people on the roundtable. He has practically nothing of substance to contribute. It's hard to believe he's considered a serious political contender.

 

[PinkLucy]

It's hard to believe he's considered a serious political contender.

He's not.

 

[riffraff]

Dougie was on the Newstalk 1010 morning roundtable talking about BLM. He just rehashed stuff we've been hearing from Warmington about Tory being too slow to back police. And he's still pitching his Ferris wheel believe it or not. He seems like such a light weight compared to the other people on the roundtable. He has practically nothing of substance to contribute. It's hard to believe he's considered a serious political contender.

Thanks Jimmi for the update. I was thinking the other day that what Tory needs for his Scarborough Subway is to add a couple of splash pads and a huge ferris wheel to make the one-stop more of a draw to boost ridership projections.