Back-to-back anti-black racism protests held on Windsor waterfront over the weekend
The Rally for Regis was held on Saturday and a Black Lives Matter Balloon Memorial was held Sunday
Two anti-black racism protests were held over the weekend on the Windsor riverfront in the wake of the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis and to demand answers in the death of 29-year-old Toronto resident Regis Korchinski-Paquet.
"Acknowledging fault and not calling the correct people that needed to be called and acknowledging all the other black people that have died from police brutality that are ignored because our media doesn't really put it out there like that," Rally for Regis organizer Sha McAbee said when asked what justice for Regis would look like.
McAbee said that only four people showed up at an earlier rally held for Korchinski-Paquet. McAbee was proud of the large crowd that showed up and lined the sides of Riverside Drive Saturday.
"Anti-blackness is universal," McAbee said.
Lots of car horns honking in support of those rallying. <a href="https://twitter.com/CBCWindsor?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CBCWindsor</a> <a href="https://t.co/z8Cun6MO6M">pic.twitter.com/z8Cun6MO6M</a>
—@JacobBarkerCBC"We have these problems everywhere black people live and we have to talk about it and thinking we're perfect here and we don't encounter racism daily is a huge understatement."
Balloon memorial
On Sunday, a Black Lives Matter (BLM) balloon memorial brought another large crowd out.
"I think that events like these it's really important to be lead by people of colour," Samrah Yohannes, one of the organizers of the event, said.
"It's important that we have allies as well but I think it's really important for us to rally together because you know at the end of the day we know what it's like to experience this first hand, every single day, day in and day out, and it's exhausting."
Black balloons peppered the crowd and a moment of silence was held at 4:15 p.m. that coincided with a moment of silence occurring across the water in Detroit.
"Because we can't physically be there in support with them... we wanted them to know and understand that we are going through it here too and we just all wanted to all take a moment of silence because it's a powerful thing and there could be a lot of reflection in that," Yohannes said.
"A lot of reflection on how we can change for our future."
Yazmin Olla took part in the event and said she feels this is the generation that will make a change.
"Because I don't want to raise my children like this. This is not what I want them to go through," Olla said.
"We're all people, we're all the same and we would be so much stronger if we all worked together."