I mourn your untimely death.
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| PHOTO BY SI |
Missing from the pages of our city's popular press are unapologetic hard-hitting critical commentaries and calls to action to effectively end violence against women and violence against racialized women; and what has to be done now to protect women and prevent similar acts of violence against the women and girls in our city; what has to be done now to honour their stories, and dignify their loss, not through sensationalist recaps of how they died, but through dedications and memorials, art and music, demonstrations and taking to the streets; transformative policies that make our politicians and the institutions of justice represent the needs and concerns of survivors; and much more funding for services that give survivors safer options to help rebuild their lives.
The world needs to know how you lived, how you resisted, how you fought to hold your ground. I want to see your name and life applauded, your suffering and your struggles acknowledged. Yet, the coverage so far has beared witness to so little of you. Let me say to the world now that it is a huge, profound, and tragic loss to our societies and communities that yet another strong, remarkable woman was cheated out of a life, a life that had meaning, hope, potential, beauty, and belief. I hope someday the world will know your story.
May your spirit-force find peace and freedom in the new paths to follow. May you never know such betrayal and pain again. May your wounds heal. And may your memory rouse the power within all of us still here on earth to change the tides so another Precious may live, survive, and thrive.
Rest in peace, angel. Love abides. Justice will prevail.
