Who keeps us safe?
Honouring the victims of Vancouver's Lapu-Lapu Day tragedy and how to continue gathering
The following essay discusses the April 26 tragedy at Lapu-Lapu Day in Vancouver, where 11 people were killed and many more were injured. We are shocked and heartbroken by this incomprehensible tragedy and stand in solidarity with the Filipino community in Vancouver and around the globe.
In light of this event, we've noticed that many organizers have responded by cancelling events or by increasing security and collaboration with police. This essay will not go into further detail on the specifics of the incident. It will instead discuss how, as community organizers, we can keep each other safe in our gatherings while avoiding the austerity of increased police and security presence.
If you are looking for ways to support those impacted, we recommend donating through Filipino BC in the spirit of kapwa, or community, interconnectedness, and humanity. If you are unable to donate money, donating blood through Canadian Blood Services to support the recovery of those injured has been recommended.
On Monday, Victor and I were talking about how the Lapu-Lapu tragedy might permanently alter the way we gather in Vancouver and across Canada. I was afraid that people will now completely avoid public events, and retreat into themselves. I was worried that, after years of slow recovery post-pandemic, we would now retreat back into the safety and seclusion of gathering only with our immediate family and friends.
Victor, who is skilled at grounding those around them, shared the words of French writer Antoine Leiris with me. Leiris, whose wife Hélène was killed in the 2015 terrorist attack at the Bataclan Theatre in Paris, wrote an open letter to his wife’s killers that later turned into a memoir on grief and resilience following tragedy. The full letter, Vous n’aurez pas ma haine / You will not have my hate, is worth the full read, but the following line has stuck with me:
“Vous voulez que j’aie peur, que je regarde mes concitoyens avec un œil méfiant, que je sacrifie ma liberté pour la sécurité. Perdu. Même joueur joue encore."
“You want me to be afraid, to regard my fellow citizens with suspicion, and to sacrifice my freedom and security. Wasted. The same player will play again.”
These two tragedies occurred in vastly different contexts and motives. Regardless, both shattered gatherings of joy and community in spaces that were assumed to be “safe.“
As an organization dedicated to bringing people together for joy and celebration, we feel the weight of this tragedy. We recognize that this incident could just have easily occurred at one of our past events.
As organizers, we know how much thoughtfulness and care goes into planning and organizing public events. We are deeply appreciative of the people who choose to show up and spend their evenings with us, and so we try very hard to create spaces that are safe and comfortable. As an organization that often aims to encourage introspection and self-expression, we know how important it is to create safe containers for people to be emotionally vulnerable. That's why it hurts to be reminded that no space is ever completely "safe." There will always be risks in organizing and in gathering.
Leiris' open letter reminds us that by responding to violence with fear and suspicion, we only hurt ourselves and our communities. To truly heal we must continue to work together with love, joy, support, and empathy.
We may never understand why tragedies like these occur, and we don't necessarily need to. Gathering in community brings with it countless risks. We can prepare for some of these, but many more we cannot predict. What we do know is that we should not respond to violence by cancelling community events or by increasing security and police presence at the expense of marginalized community members. We must be brave and continue to show up for each other. We call on organizers and our community to foster not only braver spaces, but also accountable spaces.
sword fern's position on safety
The sword fern collective does not, and does not intend to, work with the Vancouver Police Department, RCMP, or other police and security forces when planning outdoor or in-person events. We believe that our work in strengthening relationships and individual emotional skills contribute to our overall community safety. We will work to develop community-based safety plans that are human-centered and trauma-informed for our future events. In the words of Vancouver Sun writer Dan Fumano, “a tightly-woven social fabric is protective.”
The loss of life at Lapu-Lapu Day reminds us that formal systems of policing continue to be ineffective at ensuring public safety. The people who responded to the incident and restrained the person causing harm before formal responders arrived highlight that public safety often is rooted in community. This past week, community recovery and mutual aid has been led by grassroots organizations, not police, and we honour the labour and resilience of Migrante BC, Anakbayan BC, Bayan BC, and many other community leaders.
We call for increased resourcing to comprehensive community support initiatives and support for alternative public safety models. We call for the reforms to the BC Mental Health Health Act that are underway to take a holistic and just approach to mental health and wellbeing. We call upon individuals, including you, the reader, to practice community care. We ask that you remember that giving aid in times of crisis is protected under the Good Samaritan Act.
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