Voices Matter - The Book
Jane-Finch Residents Speak Out
It’s about life in a neighbourhood that has received a lot of media attention since the late 1960s. A lot of this attention has come in form of lurid headlines, making “Jane-Finch” synonymous with all the worst aspects of the “inner-city.”
This book looks beyond the headlines. Members of Jane-Finch On The Move share their stories and opinions throughout the book’s 180 pages. Stereotypes are shattered, as we present stories about obstacles met and overcome, confrontations and compromise, and challenges looming overhead. Policy makers can learn how their decisions affect those living in “priority neighbourhoods.”
“Voices Matter: Jane-Finch Residents Speak Out” is now available. You can order it directly from Amazon through any of these links: Amazon.ca (Canada); Amazon.com (U.S.A.); Amazon UK (Europe)
Free Preview! You can download a 24 page “Excerpt Edition” which contains 2 full chapters plus excerpts from other chapters. The link is here:
Voices_Matter-Excerpt_Version.pdf
The following excerpts are all taken from “Voices Matter: Jane-Finch Residents Speak Out.”
WARNING: Graphic content
These are our stories:
I didn’t have the operation. When I told my husband, he said, “I’ll give you the operation right now.” He put my arms behind my back and he kicked me in my stomach. He beat me and said, “I’ll make the baby come out now.”
I want to continue on this path so my daughter can look at me and see that even though I had situations that I could have used as excuses, I did not. And I don’t want her to end up in the position that I was in. I definitely don’t want to be a thirty year old grandmother.
I froze. The first thing that came to mind was to call someone and get help. So I reached into my pocket and then I was told not to make a move or I will know what a bullet in the back feels like!
These are our insights, opinions, and feelings:
Whenever a black person commits a crime, you always hear “send them back to where they came from.” Nowadays, we send some money back home just in case we get kicked out. With all this talk, now we know that we do not belong here.
I’ve known many people who’ve been arrested for shooting people or were themselves shot, whether they were classmates or acquaintances when I grew up. You become desensitized to it.
My Grade 11 physics teacher once told me I should just drop out and save the taxpayers money.
Community housing is not as communal as one might think. In community housing, there’s a lot of back-biting going on.
Better policing is something we need when looking towards the future. There’s a dialogue that (officers) should engage in - get to know who people are and they’ll talk to you. Let them know you’re just doing your job, then they’ll accept you. We would love to work with you guys, but we can’t trust you.
