June 5, 2020
The board and staff of the AIDS Coalition of Nova Scotia stand with activists across Canada, the United States and around the world fighting against anti-Black racism and police violence.
We stand in solidarity with activists, individuals and communities who are impacted by the deaths of George Floyd (Minneapolis), Tony McDade (Tallahassee), Regis Korchinski-Paquet (Toronto) and others. We support the call for an independent inquiry into Regis Korchinski-Paquet’s death. We support the call for charges to be dropped against Santina Rao. We support the call for the implementation of the African Nova Scotian Policing Strategy.
This week ACNS has made the decision to pause our usual social media content in support of prioritizing Black voices and promoting racial justice.
Anti-Black racism is a pervasive and systemic problem in Nova Scotia that causes harm in many ways. We have seen this in our own work, as systemic racism in Canada has created inequities that leave African, Caribbean and Black Canadians more vulnerable to HIV infection. We have seen anti-Black racism in the disproportionate policing and criminalization of African, Caribbean and Black people by police forces in Nova Scotia, and we know disproportionate incarceration rates have a compounding effect on the risk of HIV and hepatitis C infection.
Anti-Black racism has long been entrenched in our education, healthcare, political and legal systems. It is also entrenched in the work of not-for-profits and charities. Earlier this year ACNS began a process to create an intersectional and anti-oppressive framework to address how our board and staff work with and for all members of the priority communities regarding HIV – including African, Caribbean and Black Nova Scotians.
Beyond this week, ACNS is committed to ongoing education and dialogue within our own organization, and in the broader HIV and sexual health sector in Nova Scotia to confront anti-Black racism. We invite our allies in Nova Scotia and beyond to join us in this important and ongoing work.
Black Lives Matter
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