My colleague @ArielkeK just shared with me the text of an email she received without revealing the personal info of the sender. I know that this person has, in the past, received assistance from another colleague who intervened asking Councillor K to basically be nice

because this person is a fine upstanding citizen. Councillor K has shared messages from others with me before so, sadly, I wasn’t shocked by the abusive & racist tone and, by all measures, this was probably one of the tamer notes she’s received

but with everything that’s going on right now, I’ve reached my limit with this crap. I’m so done with this. I cannot imagine how she feels inside because I’ve never had to personally deal with racism. I know our wonderful staff at @CityofLdnOnt regularly intercept

the really awful notes that she and our colleague @MohamedMOSalih receive. For those of u who sleep soundly at night thinking we are so much better here in Canada; for those of you who think it’s only those awful Americans whose society is structured to exclude and persecute

citizens based solely on the colour of their skin, I’m telling u today to lose the smug attitude. These 2 colleagues face insults and threats on a regular basis. These 2 colleagues are 2 of the strongest and most forgiving people I know.

They receive this hate yet they do not respond with hate or bitterness. I’ve learned from them what forgiveness truly means. When an elected official who happens to be black in Hamilton is checked for ID (i.e., carded) while waiting for a bus;

when we have elected officials in #LdnOnt who happen to be black, stopped by security at London City Hall as they attempt to walk into a committee room or council chambers to do their job; when our colleagues on council receive threatening and abusive emails on a regular basis;

it’s time for all of us in #LdnOnt and in Canada to say, collectively, ENOUGH! The time of standing by is over. Now is the time for all of us to stand up and speak out.