An estimated 3,000 people from all over Lambton County stood together in downtown Sarnia against racism.

The Black Lives Matter Rally flowed through the downtown for a couple of hours Saturday.

Organizer Tabitha Valdez in a social media post said she expected between 25 and 50 people would show up. “But it has been estimated that over 3000 people were in attendance.”

“Despite the negativity we faced leading up to the event, the day couldn’t have gone any better. We were peaceful, but our message was LOUD and clear,” she says.

Adam Kilner, the minister at Dunlop United Church in Sarnia and a former NDP candidate, talked about standing with all people of every race at the event.

“Today we come from many backgrounds – Muslim, Hindu, atheist, Christian, non-religious, humanist, Buddhist, secular, and more – and yet we stand united in our quest for decency and respect,” he told the crowd at City Hall.

“Today we come from many backgrounds – lesbian, queer, bisexual, gay, straight, two-spirit, transgender and more – and we gather under a common human dream – that our hometowns and cities would become places of safety for us to change and grow as we come to new understandings of what it means to be human.

“Today we come from many backgrounds – Indigenous, White, Black, Asian, and more – and though we have complex backgrounds and histories, we hold to the common thread that every single life has the same value, and thus, every single life should be treated similarly by the law.”