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Facing Reality 2006Jan 07 '06 (Updated Jan 10 '06) Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Canada is still an underdeveloped country, that is why many of our citizens turn to our neighboring continents for help.
I want to address my statement when I said Canada is an underdeveloped country. While I hold that statement true, I did not present it in the article to publications, that would be like pulling a Kanye West move with his statement about the Bush Administration, controversial and provoking, but dumb. Get the help first, then make the statement after. Any left wing statements that I make on Epinions.com are strictly because I can make these statements here. You have to manipulate and master the structure before you can exploit it. First of all I want to say that it's been hard. It's still hard. Me being an aspiring journalist has had to face truth that if I submit articles that are not Brash, but more or less perceptive and honest, they won't be acknowledged, so I must, resort to writing light hearted and fun articles to build my portfolio until I am in the door and can write about things that I feel is important. I have written two articles on the same subject, I have submitted them to local, corporate and student newspapers. When I had submitted this one and another about a young community leader for an Africa-Canadian local newspaper,the editor chose the ladder cause they wanted to keep things positive for 2006. Now Toronto had a rough year for 2005, but I my article is not negative, if it is then feel free to critic, but my objective was to acknowledge. So with that being said, I post one of the original articles on Epinoins.com, and you the readers can be the judge. Thank you and good ridden INJUSTICE GONE UN-NOTICED If you live in Toronto, and happened to read the news around the summer of 2004, then you may be familiar with the story of Anthony Wong. Contrary to his last name, Anthony is a young black Canadian of Jamaican descent who grew up on Chester Lea Blvd for most of his life. He had spent three years of a twenty-five year sentence in jail on multiple charges. One of the charges was for second degree murder of Damian Burnaby. Damian was chased by a group of men, beaten and shot in the head. The coincidence is that Anthony had never even met nor had any recollection of Damian in his life. “I didn’t even know until I went to court that I was being arrested for first degree murder.” The three that were involved, Benjamin Allen, Tyrone Crooks, and Gebre Barnes are currently serving their sentences. During his case he built a relationship with Ruben “Hurricane” Carter, former celebrity boxer who had spent 27 years in prison on wrongful accusations for the murder of 3 men. Mr. Carter had given Anthony a scholarship to attend a private school, and provided him with his Lawyer Haig DeRusha who is currently working with Anthony in filing a 200 million dollar law suit against the Toronto Police Board. Anthony now 24, exudes a very polite and gentle persona. He has attentive but weary eyes, and a waif like frame due to not eating properly. “I’m taking pills to stimulate my appetite” Said Anthony. “I barely ate anything for three years. A majority of what I did eat was bread and water.” While in prison, Anthony prayed and fasted, a ritual he still practices daily. Since he’s been out of jail, he has moved to Ajax with his uncle. He doesn’t talk about his parents, but does mention that they live in Brampton and that his mother is a nurse and his father is a mechanic. When he talks he’s frank. It’s clear that he has trouble being able to articulate his words as well as he would like to, but that doesn’t prohibit him from speaking of his experiences in their entirety regardless to how explicit they may seem. On July 17, 2001 Anthony was ambushed by the police on Victoria Park and Finch Ave. E., He was stripped and his body parts were examined for drugs. While in jail, he was handcuffed so tightly that his wrists and ankles bled, and he was beaten almost daily. He spent a year in solitary confinement. “One time they (the guards) wouldn’t let me take a shower for two weeks” explains Anthony. “They never came to check up on me, and they turned my toilet off. So I let my feces and urine build up in a cup. When the guards finally came to open my cell I threw it in hallway.” Being rational when you’re treated like an animal can’t be feasible. There were many occasions when Anthony was told to take medication while in jail, and when he refused, they went so far as to crush the pills and put them in his food. “I was put on the drink Ensure. I told the nurse, you think I’m one that’s crazy, you should give the pills to the guards, they’re the ones that’s crazy. Man I never knew that they treated people like that in prisons here in Canada.” I asked Anthony more than once if he had a history of violence, or an type of syndication with groups involved with organized crime, and when he said no, I believed him. You can’t take things at face value, but Anthony is leader, a distinctive disposition in his character. Anthony is aware that it could take years before his case is won, but his lawyers have assured him that they intend to win. “Right now I can only work on one lawsuit, but when I get enough money I want to file a law suit against all the charges that were put against me. Possession of Cocaine, Possession of a fire arm, First Degree murder, Assaulting a Police Officer. I’m suing the Crown and the witness Nancy Young.” (who later retracted her claim, because she was not at the scene at the time of the murder). When it comes to media coverage, Harold Levy and Joe Fiorito of The Star were the only reporters that took a continuous hold of his story. When I searched the internet there was only one article by a writer named Ryan Masters for a website called www.minnews.org that could be found. Anthony was virtually no where to be seen. “Ryan got me on 88.1 a couple of times, and Joe still keeps in touch with me. My lawyer said CBC wanted to get in touch with me but they never followed up, I approached some reporters but when I told them my story, they looked at me like I was crazy, and said they would look into it. I never heard from them again.” It’s quite ironic that when googling names such as Guy Paul Morin, James Patrick Driscoll and even most recently accused Gordon Folland, it’s not hard to know about who they are. Even Mr. Carter’s former organization Association in Defense of the Wrongfully Convicted, Anthony said didn’t help him. “The only person who really helped me was an American. I can’t even get help in my own country, after a while I just said F*&k it, I don’t want their help.” Anthony’s case has blacklisted him, and he’s still a target amongst the police. “They would see me and say things like, We know you’re a drug dealer your not gonna win that 200 million, and stuff like that. One time, I was on my way to school and I was with my son and his mother and the police held me up with their guns, they said they thought I had a weapon.” A story that consists of false witnesses, planted evidence and intricate plots by the police is normally a story line for a motion picture. Even though Anthony is Canadian, “Jamaican” interpreters were brought into his case, to supposedly decode his conversations with his family and friends. It’s almost as though it would be a relief if Anthony was associated with drugs and gangs rather than being a young dedicated father who was on his way to a basketball scholarship in College, or the fact that he had a keen entrepreneurial mind set since the age of 17. This is because it’s the negative portrayal of a young black man that has become our reality. There are many that know about his case, but not enough to acknowledge it. If his story is going unheard, imagine the other young black men like him who share his experiences? Anthony is still angry but he’s taking that anger and turning it into something positive. He’s registered a business after the name of his 4 year old son, Jah Bless Enterprises, and wants to launch a record label, create a clothing company, put out a book and a movie. “People think I am gonna wait until I win the case and get the money to do this stuff, but I’m not, that’s what I want to show people.” The documents, names and locations are real. This is the memoirs of an innocent man. With the help of his personal spirituality and his lawyer Liam O’Connor, Anthony was acquitted by the judge, Justice Harry Laforme as “Definitely Not Guilty,” as he concluded “there was not enough evidence to on which a properly instructed jury could convict the accused.” Even Anthony was flabbergasted by the how easily the verdict was placed. Before even looking at him as being black, young, and through a statistical standpoint fitting the mold of “common” criminal, we must take into consideration that Anthony has dealt with an injustice, the media does not seem to acknowledge. If he had killed, or if he was anything other than a visible minority, his story would matter. The social and cultural ingrain on today’s society is administered by the media. Many young black men have been the manifestation of what not to be today, and what everyone should fear. Anthony and other men like him are viable tokens, they may not change a community over night, but their influence is vital at a time like this. So if Anthony’s case is one that could make Canadian history why is it not being recognized?  |
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