On July 26, 2020, Black Lives Matter Sudbury hosted a Sunday Sit-In at Memorial Park to commemorate the anniversary of the 1784 Shelburne Race Riots and affirm that the movement for racial justice remains active and urgent. Hundreds of community members attended.

This was the group’s first event since beginning the process of becoming a recognized chapter of the international BLM movement. The sit-in opened at 2 p.m. with speeches from BLMS representatives on the history and significance of what is considered the first race riot in North America.

Participants took part in a social exercise illustrating privilege, followed by the presentation of BLMS’s list of demands for the City of Greater Sudbury and the Province of Ontario. The collective then marched through the downtown core to Tom Davies Square, where attendees used chalk to write the group’s demands across the courtyard.