A Uniting Recovery

Today marks the one week anniversary of the Vancouver Stanley Cup riots.  It's clear the riots were not really about the hockey game and that they weren't really Vancouverites causing the damage. Most of us want to move on and we'd rather forget about it completely. However, I feel the need to say my bit so please bare with me.

I was one of the 150,000 civilians downtown watching the hockey game. Fortunately, I was in an apartment with friends on Homer and Robson, a block away from the Fan Zone. We got caught in the riots trying to figure out a way to get out of there, although curiosity did take over in some circumstances. We ended up witnessing an attempted break-in to Louis Vuitton, beatings, and were tear gassed. I'm not going to lie, I froze. I didn't know what to do. I felt like I was in a movie of some kind and couldn't comprehend anything that was going on. As we watched the Boston Bruins bus with the hockey players inside drive down Burrard Street with a full on SWAT team behind them, I felt sorry that they didn't win the cup in their own city, and that they had to witness this embarrassment in ours.

ANYWAYS, my point of writing this blog isn't actually about the night of the riots. It's about what happened after. The city came together and fought back against the hate/anger crimes by writing messages of love and sympathies to the city. I wish I'd gone down in time to take some of my own photos before they changed the wood walls, but I didn't get the chance. Here's one taken from CBC.

It's incredible that after such a devastating event, we can unite and claim back our love for this city. Vancouver is truly an amazing place and I feel so lucky to live here. Thank you Vancouverites for fighting back with love (and giving in footage of the anarchists) for our city.

"You, whose day it is, get out your rainbow colors and make it BEAUTIFUL."

Here's a video that a friend and recording artist, Bonn Will Smith, put together. It's AMAZING!! Check it.