NOTEBOOK: Rally for Jeffrey: What it means

NOTEBOOK: Rally for Jeffrey: What it means

THE SATURDAY (May 21) rally to demand justice for the fatal shooting of Jeffrey Reodica by a Toronto police officer one year ago is profoundly significant to our community.

For one, it means that we have leaders and individuals, groups and organizations in the community who would not easily let go of a very important issue of injustice without a good fight. One year after the incident and still without satisfactory resolution to the case, aggravated by the whitewash by the Special Investigations Unit, and with the long -awaited promised Coroner’s inquest still remaining a promise, the Reodica family with its legion of supporters, the Justice for Jeffrey Coalition, and the Community Alliance for Social Justice have not shown any sign of battle fatigue. On the other hand, they have grown more determined and militant, more open to support from other groups and communities. This campaign for justice has grown stronger and more mature, despite the dropping out of some initial supporters.

Another new development in the campaign is the active participation of non-Filipino groups from both the  minority and mainstream communi-ties. Among the prominent organizations  that took part in the mass action were Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, Toronto Police Accountability Coalition, People’s Front, Young Left, Black Action Defense Committee, Justice for Otto Vass Campaign, Anti-Racist Action, Coalition Against War and Racism, METRAC, and Urban Alliance.

This one positive development alone signifies a breakthrough in the Filipino community. It doesn’t only mean a broader support to the Justice for Jeffrey campaign. More profoundly, it means a new found openness for many who used to think only within the narrow confines of the Filipino community.

Only last year, weeks after the death of Jeffrey, a rally was organized by anti-racist and anti-poverty groups in Toronto to demand justice on the fatal shooting. Some of the then leaders of Justice for Jeffrey group might have suspected that the issue was going to be used for the agenda of other groups. They shied away from the rally and advised their ranks to stay away. Students at the school of Jeffrey were told on the public address system not to join the rally.

I personally went together with a few from the Justice for Jeffrey group and other Filipino progressive groups. I even videotaped the rally to show those who were scared by the sound of the names of the participating groups. I found that the organizers and the participants were decent, responsible and compassionate human beings. I was particularly touched by the speech of Dudley Laws of Black Action Defense Committee who eloquently decried the long list of people who had died in the hands of  Toronto police officers who were all exonarated by the authorities, particularly the Special Investigations Unit. I watched Spin, arguably Toronto’s   Eminem, and other rappers unleash their beautiful poetry against the injustices in the world, and I listened to impassioned speakers hold high the value of human life against the inhumanity of police violence. My experience in that rally hit me like the proverbial ton of bricks: Jeffrey’s case was not rare and not isolated. And people from other communities feel the same as those Filipinos deeply affected by the killing of Jeffrey.

But back to our assessment of the May 21 rally. Through the months of associating and working with other groups and communities, some leaders of the Justice for Jeffrey Coalition gradually softened on their attitude towards these other groups. As shown by their commitment during the preparations for the rally, these other groups proved to be reliable and more self-sacrificing than the leaders and groups in the community who went back to the routine of their lives.

As shown too by the turnout in the rally, conservativley estimated to exceed 600,  participants from non-Filipino groups might have easily outnumbered Filipino participants. The visible Filipino participation came from  Community Alliance for Social Justice, which is a co-organizer, Philippine Heritage Band, Knights of Rizal, Kababayan Community Centre, Philippine Network for Justice and Peace/Philippine Solidarity Group, Philippine Women Centre, Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance (UKPC-Toronto), Silayan Community Centre, and Philippine Barangay Asso-ciation. Conspicuously absent were individuals who relished the media limelight during the initial stages of the campaign but eventually dropped out for personal and puny reasons.

There is a lot of work to be done in the Filipino community in the area of building political consciousness when it comes to cases like the Justice for Jeffrey issue. But these two developments — the emergence of a group of leaders in the community who are determined to push the issue and mobilize community support; and the newfound openness to other communities and groups — are significant enough for one to visualize and sense that we may be entering a new era of political mobilization in the community. An era that could parallel the First Quarter Storm of 1970 in the Philippines which served as a spark that changed forever the terrain of Philippine politics.