The Black Live Matters Movement as Protest to George Floyd's Death in the US
By: Harida Aina Fadhila
George Floyd's death has sparked protests from Berlin to Mexico City. The extraordinary cruelty of his killing has shocked the world. Not exceptional in the US, where the toll of African Americans who have died at police hands is long and shameful. Tens of thousands gathered at the weekend in London, Manchester, Cardiff, Glasgow and other parts of the UK. In Bristol, protesters toppled a statue of slave trader Edward Colston. The movement has also brought people on to the streets in Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires in Abuja and Nairobi; in Barcelona, Copenhagen and Paris. These marches express solidarity and outrage that the wealthiest and most powerful country in the world should continue to treat its people this way. Demonstrators oppose the racial legacy it embodies, and the brutal militarized police response to protests. The movement is called Black Live Matters.
Black Lives Matters is a movement initiated in 2013 in response to the release of the killer Travyon Martin. This movement then formed a foundation called the Black Lives Matter Foundation in the United States (US), United Kingdom, and Canada. Their mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to fight violence against black people. In 2020, George Floyd's demonstration was their first demonstration. Although the location of the incident is in Minneapolis, this demonstration extends to all states and occurs in other countries. The protesters demanded justice for Floyd's death, as well as demanding reforms in the body of the American police, who are often considered discriminatory against African Americans. As horrific as past incidents of police brutality against people of color have been, including the filmed shooting of Georgia jogger Ahmaud Arbery by armed white residents in February, the recent video of Floyd unsuccessfully begging for his life has shaken the nation. "That video helps people try and walk in the shoes of their fellow African American citizens," says Omar Wasou, associate professor of politics at Princeton University in New Jersey and a co-founder of the dot-com-era website, BlackPlanet. "There's no complexity. It's eight minutes and 46 seconds of a cop killing him before our eyes. Seeing that visceral and intimate act of state violence makes it hard to talk around."
Under the agreement with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, the Minneapolis Police Department must also comply with civil rights investigations. It can only use force to control the protesting masses with the approval of the police chief. After approval by the regional judge, the court will enforce the agreement. The Minneapolis ban comes because all states re-examine the power-use policy. This week, Colorado introduced a law to ban the use of a chokehold by law enforcement. On Friday, Governor Gavin Newsom of California called for the removal of neck restraints from the state police training program, saying that such tactics "have no place anymore in policing and 21st-century practice."
References :
1. The New York Times, "George Floyd Protest." https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/05/us /George-floyd-protests.html. On 08 July 2020.
2. Kumparan News. “Aksi Protes Kematian George Floyd Usung Gerakan Black Lives Matter, Apa Artinya?” https://kumparan.com/kumparansains/aksi-protes-kematian-george-floyd-usung-gerakan-black-lives-matter-apa-artinya-1tXZENJr2wx. On 08 July 2020.
3. The Guardian News. "The Guardian view on Black Lives Matter worldwide: a common cause" https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jun/07/the-guardian-view-on-black-lives-matter-worldwide-a-common-cause. On 08 July 2020.
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