Black Lives Matter: together we stand!

“Thousands of people have joined rallies and demonstrations calling for against racism and police brutality. For the People Of Colour in the US it’s clear that policing is not keeping their communities safe. While Trump didn’t cause the American policing crisis, he deliberately makes it worse. Trump’s support for police brutality and threats of violence, like when he tweeted ‘when the looting starts, the shooting starts’, are highly disturbing. The brutal behaviour of the police force and Trump’s lack of ability to recognise the problem of racism in US institutions only prove the point of the protest. According to a rapport mapping the police violence in the US, 99 percent of police killings between 2013–2019 have not resulted in officers being charged with a crime or convicted. The murder of George Floyd by a policeman was a spark which drawn in anger on racist police and the injustice in American institutions. The initiative of City council members in Minneapolis to ‘abolish’ embattled agency and replace with alternative model is therefore very welcomed. This kind of change would be unthinkable only few weeks ago. It is an impact of the massive protest across the US and a landmark in the police and prison abolition movement.

The COVID-19 global pandemic hits in particular People of Colour, the poor and the working-class in America and in many other countries. The virus has heightened racial/ethnic and socioeconomic divides and how these categories intersect with each other. In the US people from other ethnic and racial groups have less access to economic resources. That economic vulnerability often translates to poorer health outcomes.

The Pandemic has so far killed more than 100,000 people across America. Most fatalities have been within communities of color. Black people in Minneapolis make up 34% of COVID-19 cases, despite making up about 19% of its population. In Chicago 72% of people who died of coronavirus were black, although only one-third of the city’s population. To quote the famous line by Malcolm X: ‘You can’t have capitalism without racism’. This is the racial injustice and the class struggle that pushes people on the streets.

Around the world, people protested to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter demonstrations taking place allover America. The call for justice after the deaths of George Floyd and many more black who died from the hands of police has resonated and mobilized others to stand up against racism and injustice in their own communities.