Thousands filled Vancouver's Jack Poole Plaza yesterday, spilling out onto surrounding streets for a protest speaking out against racism and violence, standing in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.
Speakers - including a nine-year-old boy - took to the stage to share their experiences with racism, while protestors mourned the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and demanded justice for the police officers who killed them.
Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Mayor Kennedy Stewart released a statement on Twitter Friday commending the demonstration's organizers for "shining a powerful spotlight on the injustices and racism that occur every day in our city and around the world."
He wrote, "This is important work, and I want you all to know I am listening."
Aside from two "instigators" who Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»police arrested for assault during the anti-racism protest Friday, , the thousands of Vancouverites who attended the demonstration ensured it remained a peaceful event.
Most demonstrators wore masks and carried signs, displaying messages like, "Black lives matter," and "No justice, no peace."
Here are a few more of the moving handwritten, handpainted messages from yesterday's protest:
