St. John's Pride
St. John’s is home to a rich, diverse, and vibrant urban Indigenous community. Located on the ancestral and unceded territory of the Beothuk, the lands and waters in and around the City have traditionally served as a gathering place for the Mi’kmaq. The broader region of Newfoundland and Labrador continues to be home to diverse Indigenous Peoples, including First Nations, Inuit, and Métis. We honour and pay respect to the past, present, and future caretakers of these territories.
With gratitude and respect, St. John’s Pride acknowledges that Canada and its colonies, including the Newfoundland and Labrador shipbuilding and cod fishery industries, are built on the brutality of forced and unpaid labour wilfully extracted from people of African descent and their relations through trans-Atlantic enslavement. We honour the spirits of those who were taken from their homes and perished during the Middle Passage, those who made it and continued to fight for Black liberation in various ways and those yet to be fertilized. We recognize that the systems of colonization and enslavement remains embedded in the Canadian fabric and results in ongoing anti-Black violence and carnage, including lack of safety, capitalism, exploitation, and death, in Black communities and families.
St. John’s Pride vows to make transparent the contributions of African descent people to building the nation state then and now. We are committed to addressing anti-Black racism and achieving Black inclusion systemically and structurally with leadership from African peoples.
St. John's Pride acknowledges Dr. Delores Mullings for the inspiration and gift of these words.
St. John’s Pride is dedicated to providing a space that is accessible, inclusive, and free from oppression, harassment, and discrimination. In our spaces, we will treat each other with respect and dignity, regardless of age, race, gender expression, gender identity, sexual orientation, levels of ability, and all our other diverse identities. Everyone gathering with St. John’s Pride has a responsibility to uphold these values.
In a continuous effort to honour our commitment to intersectionality and the liberation of all peoples, St. John’s Pride has engaged in dialogue with Palestine Action YYT. Recognizing the significance of inclusivity and solidarity, we invited Palestine Action YYT to lead the 2024 Pride Parade. We remain dedicated to using the festival platform to amplify and support the voices of marginalized communities.
In our conversations, Palestine Action YYT, along with representatives from allied groups, proposed commitments for Pride to consider to guide meaningful, inclusive participation and action in the parade and festival.
In a board meeting on June 19, 2024, the board voted to adopt these commitments:
We stand in solidarity with the most vulnerable members of our community and will work in good faith to implement all commitments. We acknowledge the need for ongoing work beyond the 2024 festival and thank our partners for their patience and engagement. We are committed to the liberation of all of us, not some of us.