June Monthly Members Meeting

Where: St. Lawrence Recreation Centre

When: Thursday, June 24 @ 6:00pm

The Esplanade Community Group is holding is monthly members meeting this coming Thursday, June 24th at 6pm.

All are welcome to attend, contribute to decision making and to help take up tasks that are necessary for our work to continue. We need to get moving to tackle issues like good jobs, decent housing, social programs and police brutality.

We will be holding our meeting upstairs at the St. Lawrence Recreation Centre. Come out, and encourage friends and family to take part.

We will also be holding a brief educational on "Why Unions?". We also encourage people to attend a solidarity picket at the Novotel Hotel on the Esplanade. Workers in our neighbourhood will be going on strike for decent benefits and workplace security.

We will be meeting at Novotel (45 The Esplanade) at 4pm, and we encourage the whole community to show its support to workers who are fighting the bosses for a decent standard of living.

Let's Stand Up as a Community!

To confirm that you'll be coming to the members meeting, it's best to email us at esplanadegroup@gmail.com.

Upcoming Fundraiser

Esplanade Community Group brings you:

Power to the People; A Night of Empowering Local Artists, Community and Youth

Join us on June 11th for music, drinks, art, politics and community

The Esplanade Community Group has been fighting around issues affecting working class people in our community for the last year. Our cultural event is an opportunity for local Toronto and Esplanade rappers, poets, dancers and bands to promote their talent and promote the struggles in their communities. The Esplanade has been at the forefront in the fight against police brutality, for affordable housing, for adequate youth programming, for funding to social services and for good jobs.

All proceeds of the event go towards various organizing projects on the Esplanade.

Performances include:

Esplanade's Own:
Ian Kamau
4D and R-uh
Teddy F House

Vaughan & Oakwood's:
Wasun

And many others

Tickets are 10$ for adults (19+) and 5$ for Youth.
Please get your tickets in advance.

Contact us at: esplanadegroup@gmail.com

Location: Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People
Address: 165 Front Street East
Date/Time: June 11th, starts at 6:30pm

May Monthly Members Meeting

Hey family,

We will be holding our second monthly members meeting this coming Thursday. If you've been wanting to get down with the community work happening on the Esplanade, and want to contribute to discussion and planning work, its the monthly members meeting where we do this.

Most of you have followed the work or even came out to a forum or movie. It takes organization and commitment to hold these events and move our hood forward, and all are needed to move to end police brutality, win good jobs and ensure decent affordable housing on the Esplanade and in other communities.

The meeting is at 6:30 pm on May 27th (Thursday). It'll be held at the St. Lawrence Recreation Centre.

If you weren't at the last monthly members meeting, and don't personally know some of the Esplanade Community Group activists, send an email to esplanadegroup@gmail.com to let us know you are planning on attending.

Basics Article

18-Year-Old Junior Alexander Manon Beaten to Death by Toronto Police on May 5

by Steve da Silva - BASICS Online

Rally called by family for Friday, May 7 - 9:00am, 25 Grosvenor St. (see below for details)

Running from the police is not a crime punishable by death in Canada. Yet this is the sentence 18-year-old Junior Alexander Manon received on the evening of May 5, 2010 when he ran from the police near York University in Toronto. And by looks of what became of the young Dominican teenager, it’s no surprise that youth like him run when confronted by Toronto police.

Around 6:30pm, Manon jumped out of a car and fled police after a random pull-over on Founders Road and Steeles. Police claim that Manon spontaneously collapsed and died of a heart attack while trying to run from them, despite witness testimonies and a pool of blood to suggest otherwise.

A witness on the scene and another passenger of the vehicle reported that: “They beat him up, he was on the floor, he wasn’t resisting. Two officers on him, punching him in the face, one kicking him in the ribs… And then five more come and jump on him… He’s not that big for seven boy’dem [cops] to be on him like that.”

Choked by her own tears, Junior’s sister Amanda Manon reported to Global News that “there was blood all over the place – he was struggling. It was a painful death, a painful death.”

The emergency call placed by the police indicated that “a man without vital signs was in need of assistance”, reported Global. Manon was later taken to York-Finch hospital where he was pronounced dead upon arrival.

The case is now being handled by the Special Investigations Unit – the supposedly “civilian agency” that oversees the police, but in actuality is heavily staffed by ex-cops, and has a nearly flawless record of exonerating officers who have killed persons in their custody. Not a single officer has ever been convicted of criminal charges for the killing of persons of their custody, despite handling more than 30 such cases since its inception.

With the SIU involved, conveniently the police are not required make a public comment on Manon’s death.

The family reported that Manon’s neck was in a brace, and that his face had exhibited signs of serious beating.

Toronto’s corporate-monopoly media has been widely circulating the story that Manon dropped dead of a heart attack, whitewashing and overshadowing the details provided by direct witnesses. Perhaps worst of all was the Toronto Star's reporting, which said today that "Paramedics arrived at the scene to find the man with no visible injuries...". In what should constitute criminal complicity, the mainstream media is de facto providing cover for the cops until the public forgets this outrageous but not so surprising act of police terror.

There's no doubt that the Jane-Finch community, where Junior was from and was widely known, will mobilize against this outrageous killing of one of their youth.

www.basicsnews.ca

Esplanade Community Organization Notice

Good Jobs and Decent Working Conditions

Are you unhappy with your treatment in the workplace?

Do you feel threatened by your employer or managers?

Do you want to make a change at your workplace?

The Esplanade Community Group is an organization in the Esplanade/St. Lawrence Community. We as an organization believe that everyone is entitled to a decent work environment/conditions free of prejudice and mistreatment. We know that in many workplaces here in our community, managers commonly engage in favouritism, unfair punishment, intimidation and sometimes even outright harassment.

A lot of workers don't know that they can start a union in their workplace. It has been proven that on average part-time unionized employees make $7.43 more per hour then their non-unionized counterparts. Unionized employees also benefit from better working conditions, benefits and working hours.

If you want to organize your workplace or start a union and need information or help, please feel free to contact us by email or phone.

We are aware that some employers and workplaces do not support unions and union organizing so all communication and/or involvement will be kept confidential at all times.

Phone: (647) 204-5312

E-mail: esplanadegroup@gmail.com