Brittany Drummond, a parishioner at the Church of Saint Andrew in Cole Harbour, held a screening of the movie “The Hate U Give” in January. Brittany shared a bit about why she put on this screening, and what other parishes might do to take action against racism in their communities.
As part of the anti-racism ministry that is starting in the Diocese, my goal was to create a safe place for those who wanted to become allies to the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous & People of Color) communities to come and ask any questions about how they could support us in the fight for equality. This first movie I decided to show was “The Hate U Give” which shows an in-depth look at police brutality similar to what we are seeing more south in the United States but also in Canada.
With the craziness of everything that happened in 2020, George Floyd, Brionna Taylor and so many more lives that were lost to police brutality, there were a majority that wanted to help with the protesting but there were more that couldn’t fully understand what we were fighting for or why. I believe it was more so that it was a disbelief that the BIPOC community could be treated this way. And it wasn’t even just the police brutality, it was the frustration of being racially profiled in stores like Santana Rao.
A small crowd did show up for the movie event and discussion, [limited] because of Covid-19. But once the discussion started, it was difficult to end the evening.
There will be another movie night and discussion once Covid is more settled. My hope is to show more movies or even just have an open and safe environment to hold more of these discussions across the diocese.
While I have been blessed to not have experience the extreme racism that is out there, I am sure that others have witnessed it and not said or done anything. We cannot expect change to happen on its own. Take a moment to put yourself in others shoes, speak when you witness any injustice. Your voice can be the tool needed to hold those accountable to their actions. I understand it can be scary, but I ask for you to use the privilege that God has given to you.
