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Recent events and reactions around violence and employment have shown us that the promised results in equitable reform made by our different levels of government have once again gone unfulfilled. The senseless murder of Black youth, including the recent shooting death of 11 year old Ephraim Brown, with no solutions offered other than increased policing, is a direct contradiction to the actions we believe must be taken.

Many of our heroic community workers on the front lines have demanded more resources to provide real opportunities and choices for our youth; however, we have seen an increase in electioneering instead of tangible support for community service programs, education, health care, and employment equity for Black youth.

The events surrounding Evon Reid and the accidentally revealed racist remarks from representatives of his government and potential employer provide a clear example of systemic issues that lie within our government. The racism experienced by this young Black man demonstrate that the promise of equal opportunity from the government is mostly lip service. We as Black youth of Toronto need to continue to be critical and challenge all levels of government to be accountable to their commitments to end discrimination, support our communities, and provide sincere opportunities for Black youth in our city.

To conclude, The Black Youth Coalition Against Violence does not want these recent events of violence and employment discrimination to be disregarded and appear as isolated incidents with no connection to the condition of the Black community. The Black Youth Coalition Against Violence calls on all levels of government to immediately implement and support the following solutions as stated by organizations such as the Black Youth Helpline and the New Black Youth Taking Action.

These include:

1. Addressing the issues facing Black Youth which are complex, providing proper resources for proper health and mental health issues and equipping schools to ensure that appropriate professional resources are in place to work with youth.

2. The Government of Ontario involve appropriate Ministries including Ministry of Education; Ministry of Health & Long Term Care; Ministry of Children and Youth Services and appropriate resources from the Black community to develop appropriate, culturally appropriate teams of staff to work with youth who demonstrate disengagement and marginalization from schools. If significant resources are being currently poured into schools, these resources remain largely unresponsive to the special needs of high risk Black youth.

3. The immediate stopping of the construction of the "Super Jail" and diverting the $250 million to alternative programs

4. The immediate repeal of the Safe Schools' Act

5. The establishment of a K-12 Black focused school

6. Changing the curriculum from K-12 to truthfully reflect the contributions of Black people to Western Civilization

Contact: BYCAV Phone: 416-978-4359 Email: info@bycav.com Website: http://www.bycav.com