Funeral held for activist Dudley Laws
Posted April 2, 2011 4:04 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Hundreds of mourners came out Saturday to pay their respects to Dudley Laws.
Laws, best-known for taking on Toronto Police for its treatment of black citizens, passed away on March 24 of complications from kidney disease. He was 76.
Laws was remembered Saturday at the Revivaltime Tabernacle on Dufferin Street near Finch Avenue.
“We know he was the freedom fighter for blacks and an eyeopener for all other races,” Archbishop
Dr. Deloris Seiveright said at the service.
“As I walked alongside this graceful man of the subway and all the various events, attend prayer sessions with the black clergy, or the scenes of victims in the homes of the youths, it was a success and encouragement for me,” she said.
“His spirituality and love for the human race gave him protection, gave him love to share, humility and joy for 76 years.”
Born in Jamaica, Laws moved to England and then came to Toronto in 1965. He co-founded the Black Action Defence committee in 1988 in response to several police shootings of black men in and around Toronto.
It was Laws’ efforts that helped to ensure the province developed its police accountability procedures.
In his 50 years of activism, he was involved in grassroots efforts to help recent immigrants in both Britain and Canada and organized campaigns to combat racism in both countries. He co-founded the Black Inmates and Friends Assembly and was involved in several other organizations.
