Black Shirt Day – Jan. 15

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The CUPE 23 Executive Board has voted to support the call for Jan. 15 to be declared Black Shirt Day in BC schools in recognition of the struggle for civil rights fought by Black and racialized Canadians. We encourage members to wear a black shirt on Jan. 15 in support.

In British Columbia, thousands of students wear pink shirts in support of anti-bullying. Orange Shirt Day has also been introduced across Canadian schools, where students wear orange shirts in solidarity with Indigenous victims of the residential school system.

ARC Vancouver is petitioning for Black Shirt Day to be introduced in BC, in recognition of the struggle for civil rights fought by Black and racialized Canadians. We propose that Black Shirt Day be established on January 15th, the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., the great civil rights leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner.

We believe this will be an important step in raising greater awareness of the ongoing struggle for civil and human rights faced by Black and racialized Canadians, and help to foster solidarity against all forms of racism and hate.

We hereby petition the British Columbia Ministry of Education to designate Friday, January 15th, 2021, as Black Shirt Day in recognition of the struggle for civil rights of Black and racialized Canadians.

We are aiming to have 10,000 signatures on the petition. If spreading the word of our petition on social media, please use #BlackShirtDay. Thank you for your support.