Call to Action
Over the course of the Toronto G20 Summit, held in late June 2010, police ignored the civil liberties of Toronto’s citizens through illegal searches, detentions, and mass arrests. Hundreds upon hundreds of people were searched without consent, assaulted and abused, profiled and harassed, and many were beaten on the streets and in their homes, shot at with rubber bullets, gassed without provocation, detained for hours on end and arrested without cause.
Thousands are calling for an independent public inquiry into the abuses of power displayed by the police administered by the G8/G20 Integrated Security Unit during the G20 Summit Weekend. We too support this call, but to this point all levels of government are refusing to let a full public inquiry go forward. And so we’re launching our own cultural inquiry, a look from a variety of creative perspectives at the human impact of these events on Torontonians everywhere.
Don’t Wear Black is a two-day arts/culture/communications micro-festival examining police actions during Toronto’s G20 Summit, taking place in the cabaret space of Buddies in Bad Times Theatre (capacity 150 people) on September 24 and 25, 2011, with ancillary venues such as Trinity Square Video and the 519 Church Street Community Centre utilized as gallery space and sites for panel discussions, a site installation and social space.
What form will the event take?
Artists, creators, communicators and groups will be solicited to submit and present for curator selection an eclectic range of works based on the experiences of those who were swept up in the turmoil of the G20 weekend, with a particular interest in those that incorporate first-hand citizen testimony. We aim to have a number of additional events—a feature film screening, possibly a keynote address—that will provide additional context to the events of the G20 weekend, touching on the War Measures Act, the Toronto bathhouse raids and other pivotal moments in the history of human rights and policing issues in Canada.
Who is the event for?
A wide range of Torontonians were caught up in the events of the G20 Summit: people of all ages, races, political backgrounds and beliefs. While the event will be of special interest to audiences engaged with political and social issues, it will appeal to all viewers and listeners who are curious about how the G20 affected and transformed ordinary citizens whose belief in the law and in their common rights was suddenly called into question.
In addition to traditional arts/theatre/concert audiences, we will be doing targeted outreach to sectors of the community who were particularly affected by the events of the G20 weekend and by concerns that have arisen from those events: youth and students; people of colour; the LGBTQ community; those in circumstances of disadvantage; newcomers to the country; social, legal, civic and political activists; and residents, workers, community leaders and politicians situated within or near the former G20 security zone.
What aspects of the community will be involved?
The event will involve volunteers in a wide range of capacities, from planning to production to promotion to exhibition and presentation. Along with an on-stage youth component, there will also be outreach to targeted communities who have a history of problematic relations with the police, including Toronto’s diverse ethnic communities, queer and trans communities, disabled communities and social activist groups. However, participation from all communities supportive of the project, regardless of their political positions or social stance, will be considered.