Black Lives Matter Protests Around the World

Compton-Warrick Page

In the nearly three weeks since videos surfaced of George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, thousands have participated in the Black Lives Matter protests. In Los Angeles, Athens, Tel Aviv, Sydney, and Mexico City, protestors have left their homes and taken to the streets amid the coronavirus pandemic to honor Floyd, to stand against racism, and to demand justice for others killed by the police. Here are powerful photos from those protests, from multi-lingual signs to Compton Cowboys on horseback.

Minneapolis by Stephen Maturen

Minneapolis

Demonstrators honor George Floyd at the site of his murder on June 3. After 13 days of around-the-clock demonstrations, the city of Minneapolis met protestors’ demands and announced plans to disband their police department, focusing instead on community-led initiatives.

Rotterdam by Pierre Crom

Rotterdam, Netherlands

Dutch protestors gathered on and around the Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam to march in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter protests around the world. The Democrats 66, a political party in the Netherlands, is currently calling for a ban on police chokeholds within their own police forces.

Paris-NurPhoto

Paris

Sparked by Floyd’s murder, protestors gathered in Paris last week with signs that read “Justice pour Adama.” Adama Traoré was a Malian-French man who died in police custody in 2016, in the Paris suburb of Beaumont-sur-Oise. A recent autopsy found the cause of death to be asphyxiation, implicating the police.

Virginia-Zach Gibson

Richmond

As a result of ongoing demands for its removal, and days of on-site protests, the governor of Virginia announced plans to tear down the city’s statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee. Days later, a Richmond judge temporarily blocked the action; though a spokesperson for governor Ralph Northam says that the governor remains committed to removing the racist symbol.

Tokyo-Anadolu Agency

Tokyo

Two protests were held near Shibuya Station in Tokyo on June 7, where demonstrators held signs that read “Stop racism in Japan!” and “Black Lives Matter,” in a dual effort to combat issues within Japan and stand in solidarity with those abroad.

 

NorthhamptonEngland-NurPhoto
Washington DC-Tasos Katapodis

Washington, D.C.

A crowd of protestors walked down Pennsylvania Avenue, with the U.S. Capitol Building looming in the background. This very thoroughfare is also where The Great March in 1987 took place, when 200,000 people protested for gay rights, and where Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders marched on August 5, 1965, in support of home rule legislation.

Poland-Omar Marques

Krakow, Poland

On June 7, masked, sign-and-banner-toting Poles occupied the old town of Krakow to protest police brutality and racism in America, in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.

Harlem-VIEW Press

 

Brookyln-Erik McGregor

Brooklyn

Swells of New Yorkers marched through Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood, behind massive “Defund the NYPD” banners. As part of their effort to reduce police brutality, marchers are demanding that mayor Bill De Blasio cut funding for the city’s law enforcement by $1 billion this year, and reallocate those resources to community-driven services.

Bogata-Vizzor Image

 

Brazil-Andressa Anholete

Brasília

Protestors in Brazil’s capital held an anti-racist, anti-fascist rally, and denounced President Jair Bolsonaro at the city’s Esplanada dos Ministérios on Sunday, June 7. Brazil has a massive police brutality problem of its own, with a reported 1,810 people killed by cops in just Rio de Janeiro last year.

 

 

Compton-Warrick Page

Compton, California

The Compton Cowboys, a coalition of local riders founded in 1988, trotted through South Los Angeles on horseback in a peace ride for George Floyd on June 7. The organization aims to uplift their local community through youth mentorship programs, and highlight the history of Black Americans in cowboy culture.

 

 

LA-David McNew

Los Angeles

In Los Angeles’s usually gridlocked streets, tens of thousands gathered at the intersection of Hollywood and Highland for a Black Lives Matter march on June 7, after more than one week of citywide protests.

 

 

 

Stockholm-Linnea Rheborg

Stockholm

In Sergels Torg, one of Stockholm’s most central public squares, protestors took a knee in support of Black Lives Matter efforts in the U.S. The act of taking a knee, started by NFL player Colin Kaepernick, has become a symbol of solidarity in anti-racist protests throughout the world.

SOURCE Powerful Photos of Black Lives Matter Protests Around the World