When justice stalls
We don’t know what the Halifax Regional Police are doing. Maybe, as I write this, a homicide investigator is carefully …
Photo: Jon Tattrie
Connie Brooks fights for justice
By Jon Tattrie | Jun 1, 2011The family of Tanya Jean Brooks endured heavy rain and wind to hold two memorial walks to mark the second anniversary of the Millbrook woman’s unsolved murder in May. (See the cover story “Justice delayed” from Halifax Magazine, May 2011).
A frail Connie Brooks led the marches of family, friends and supporters of her daughter first in Millbrook First Nation and then in Halifax. The Halifax march from the Mi’kmaq Friendship Centre to the Halifax Regional Police headquarters on Gottingen Street was followed by an intense smudging ceremony and service in the centre.
Tanya Brooks, 35, was found dead at Halifax’s St Patrick’s-Alexander School in 2009 and police have made no arrests in the case. Four officers attended the memorial, but Tanya’s brother Quissy Brooks says it wasn’t enough to bring justice for his “best friend.”
“Today was very difficult,” he says. “I was incarcerated when my sister was murdered. It hurts like hell. Imagine losing your sister to murder on Mother’s Day, of all days.” Quissy Brooks chokes back tears. “There’s a lot of support here—that’s why we come here. This is our people.”
He says if his sister had been white, police would be working flat out to solve the case, but because she was Mi’kmaq her case is being forgotten. Marching is the family’s way of keeping Tanya’s memory alive. “My mother is as tough as nails, but later on, it’ll affect her,” he says. “Healing is happening. This whole thing is about healing a bunch of people—not only the ones who are alive, but also those who are deceased.”
Cheyenne Labrador led a group of Mi’kmaq women in drumming and chanting as part of the memorial. The group performed the Honour song, the Strong Woman song and White Skies. “Being at the drum is like nothing you will ever experience in your life,” Labrador says. “The beat of the drum is Mother Earth’s heartbeat. While we’re singing and we’re drumming, we’re praying for [Tanya].”
Click here to see a video of Cheyenne Labrador leading the Mi’kmaq drummers at Tanya Brooks’s memorial service.
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