The Truth and Post-Truth about Pride and Black Lives Matter Toronto
"Toronto’s police force has long been known for its sophisticated, expensive PR machine. It is thus not surprising that in the wake of the January 17th community meeting to set policy for Toronto’s Pride 2017, the police version of 'Pride policy' was quickly taken up and reproduced in countless media stories, many complete with sad comments from gay or lesbian police officers who (no doubt sincerely) believed they had been exiled from Pride events. The truth was that the meeting voted to exclude police force floats and booths from Pride events.

The Pride organizers have not seemed particularly organized lately, so there is some uncertainty about how things will work out. However, what is indeed true is that Black Lives Matter’s demands, accepted by the majority at the community meeting, did not include banning police officers, queer or otherwise, from participation in Pride events."

Teaching Police that Black Lives Matter
by Centre Alumnus Akwasi Owusu--Bempah

"In 2011 and 2012, I interviewed fifty-one black male police officers from the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), as part of a wide-ranging academic project aimed at surveying black attitudes toward the police. They spoke to me candidly but confidentially....

At one stage of my interviews I asked these officers to put forth suggestions on how to improve relations between the police and the black community in the GTA.  Given the robust public discussion that is now taking place in regard to the Black Lives Matter movement - and this month's tragic killings of both innocent black men and police officers in the United States - it is worth exploring these suggestions in some detail.  These suggestions are unique as they are informed by the officers' experiences as black males and their immersion in police culture.  Both perspectives are evident in the text below."