Around 900 students from 20 different Winnipeg schools gathered Thursday for an anti-racism march.
The student-led demonstration started with a rally at the Manitoba legislative grounds, before a march that travelled along Memorial and York to Garry Street and back down Broadway to the legislature steps.
Organizers from Students Against Racism Today, or START, said the move comes out of a highly publicized article in January 2015 that declared Winnipeg as the most racist city in Canada.
Eric Koskie, Brianne Jaimeson and Philippe Burns from Oak Park High school decided they wanted to combat that title, and organize an event to show that Winnipeg students and youth want to unite the city as one.
“When I had imagined this (event), I thought it was going to be half as big as this. It’s been beautiful. I’m ecstatic to see how many people came out, minus 40, and they still wanted to come out - still wanted to have their voices heard,” said Philippe Burns
Burns said planning for the march started about a month ago.
Michael Champagne, founder of Aboriginal Youth Opportunities, and Point Douglas MLA Kevin Chief also spoke ahead of the event.
START organizers will have another meeting next week to decide their next steps.
