People took to the streets of Toronto and around the world to commemorate Emancipation Day and raise awareness about anti-Black racism in government institutions.
Emancipation Day is held every year on August 1 to mark the abolition of slavery across the British Empire and its colonies.
It is a solemn day for many to take time and reflect.
Demonstrators were calling for action to end systemic anti-Black racism in key systems including child welfare, policing, the justice system, healthcare, education, arts and culture.
“The bonds and chains are no longer holding us, however, we are still bridled by the fact of racism that exists in the institutions and the systems. We have to break those,” Yvette Blackburn with the Global Jamaican Diaspora Council said.
The demonstration started in front of the Children’s Aids Society of Toronto and made stops at Toronto Police Headquarters, Old City Hall, the Ministry of Education and Mount Sinai Hospital before ending at Queen’s Park.
The march was organized by Not Another Black Life with other organizations, including the Toronto Prisoner’s Rights Project, Palestinian Youth Movement, Keep Your Rent Toronto and Climate Justice Toronto.
Emancipation Day commemorates the Abolition of Slavery Act, which became law on August 1, 1834. This act freed more than 800,000 people of African descent throughout the British Empire.
Only slaves below the age of six were freed. Enslaved people older than six years of age were re-designated as “apprentices” and required to work, 40 hours per week without pay, as part of compensation payment to their former owners. Full emancipation was finally achieved at midnight on 31 July, 1838.
The first Emancipation Day Parade was held in 1932 in Windsor and would come to be known as the ‘Greatest Freedom Show on Earth.’ The parade and festival boasted famous guests like Martin Luther King Jr., Mary McLeod Bethune, Stevie Wonder, Benjamin Mays, Fred Shuttlesworth, Martha Reeves and The Vandellas, and Eleanor Roosevelt.
It ended in 1968 following fears of the Detroit Riot in 1967 when city councillors denied permits to stage the celebration.