 Sign at a rally following the 2016 shooting of Philando Castile | |
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"No justice, no peace" is a political slogan which originated during protests against acts of ethnic violence against African Americans. Its precise meaning is contested. The slogan was used as early as 1986, following the killing of Michael Griffith by a mob of youths.
Linguist Ben Zimmer writes that use of the slogan "No justice, no peace" during protests goes back as far as the 1986 killing of Michael Griffith. [1] Griffith, a Trinidadian immigrant, and three friends, all black, were assaulted by a mob of white youths in the Howard Beach, Queens, New York City. Griffith fled the attackers onto a nearby highway, where he was fatally struck by a passing car. [2] In 2014, civil-rights activist Al Sharpton recounted: "In the midst of the protest, someone yelled the slogan, 'No justice, no peace'. Others began doing the same, and from then on I adopted it as a rallying cry each and every time a grave miscarriage of justice has befallen the disenfranchised." [3]
Other sources suggest that the phrase was actually popularized by activist Robert "Sonny" Carson, who is quoted on February 12, 1987 as stating, "'No justice! No peace!' [...] 'No peace for all of you who dare kill our children if they come into your neighborhood...We are going to make one long, hot summer out here...get ready for a new black in this city!," [4] while the New York Times reported on July 6, 1987: "'No justice, no peace,' said Mr. Carson repeatedly in what he said he hopes will emerge as the rallying cry for his cause." [5] Carson appears to have used the phrase conditionally (). [4]
The phrase appears even earlier on a painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Created Equal, in 1984. [6] [ non-primary source needed ].
The 1992 Los Angeles riots are remembered for the use of the slogan, [7] which expressed collective frustration with the existing political order. [8]
The slogan is paraphrased in the song Baltimore by Prince.
The meaning of "no justice, no peace" may change between conditional and conjunctive depending on the speaker. [1] In the conditional interpretation, the slogan is rendered as an "if-then" statement, which implies that peaceful action is impossible without justice, and which urges citizens to demonstrate against injustice even if doing so results in violence. [4] Ben Zimmer writes that during the 1980s and '90s, "'No justice, no peace' was unequivocally understood as conditional, not conjunctive", [1] such as in a 1988 statement by lawyer Ron Kuby before the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Criminal Justice:
'No Justice, No Peace' [...] summarizes the frustration and anger of New York's Black and Latino communities. 'No Justice, No Peace' remains the solemn promise of an increasing number of people in an increasingly polarized city. [1]
After the 2014 shooting of Tamir Rice, journalist Glen Ford wrote:
More than just a threat against Power, the slogan brings clarity of purpose to the participants in the movement. If the existing structures of governance and social organization cannot possibly provide justice for Black people, then those structures must be pushed aside – or there will be no civil peace. [9]
By contrast, in the conjunctive interpretation, one is stating that neither peace or justice can exist without the other. [4] After the acquittal in the Trayvon Martin murder case, the chaplain of the University of Pennsylvania said, "A lack of justice has resulted in a lack of peace", "Heavy hearts now lack peace because of the lack of justice in our nation", and "No peace because of no justice." [10] Sharpton writes, "'No justice, no peace' [...] is a way to expose inequality that would otherwise be ignored." [3]
Yuvraj Joshi traces a longer history of "peace-justice claims" made by activists including Martin Luther King Jr., Bayard Rustin and A. Philip Randolph. [11] In 1967, King visited Santa Rita Jail in California, where protesters against the Vietnam War were imprisoned. There, he drew an explicit parallel between the anti-war movement and the Civil Rights Movement. Using a phrase that is explicitly conjunctive, King said, "There can be no justice without peace. And there can be no peace without justice." [4]
King had previously used the same phrase in a letter to Willem Visser 't Hooft following King's receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize, [12] : 51 and in a 1965 television appearance where he reaffirmed his call for an end to the war, stating:
There can be no peace in the world unless there's justice, and there can be no justice without peace. I think in a sense these problems are inextricably bound together. [12] : 101
During the January 1972 World Day of Peace celebrations, Pope Paul VI said, "If you want peace, work for justice." [13] [14]
The variant "No justice, no peace, no racist police" has been recorded in print since at least 1995. [15] This followed the murder of Joseph Gould, a homeless black man, by an off-duty white Chicago police officer, who fled the scene of the crime while Gould lay dying. [16] Related variants include "No justice, no peace, no more racist police" [17] and "No justice, no peace. Fuck these racist-ass police." [18] [19]
A homophonic variant is know justice, know peace. [20] It is used for a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Early College podcast, [21] the 2020 Know Justice Know Peace Resolution by the Denver Public Schools Board to better include persons of color in district school curriculums, [22] [23] and a U.S. Jesuit anti-racism retreat. [24]
The variant "no justice, no street" or "no justice, no streets" relates to a disagreement about the fate of George Floyd Square, created in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd in May 2020. In early August 2020, Minneapolis announced that they would reopen the intersection that the Square is located on. However, activists who maintained the barricades around the intersection demanded $156 million in various anti-racism initiatives before they would release control. [25] [26]
Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. is an American civil rights and social justice activist, Baptist minister, radio talk show host, and TV personality, who is also the founder of the National Action Network civil rights organization. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. presidential election. He hosts a weekday radio talk show, Keepin' It Real, which is nationally syndicated by Urban One, and he is a political analyst and weekend host for MSNBC, hosting PoliticsNation.
ACAB, an acronym for 'all cops are bastards', is a political slogan associated with those opposed to the police. It is commonly expressed as a catchphrase in graffiti, tattoos and other forms of imagery in both public spaces and online. The slogan is sometimes numerically rendered as '1312', with each digit representing the position of the corresponding letters in the English alphabet.
Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people and to promote anti-racism. Its primary concerns are police brutality and racially motivated violence against black people. The movement began in response to the killings of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Rekia Boyd, among others. BLM and its related organizations typically advocate for various policy changes related to black liberation and criminal justice reform. While there are specific organizations that label themselves "Black Lives Matter", such as the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, the overall movement is a decentralized network with no formal hierarchy. As of 2021, there are about 40 chapters in the United States and Canada. The slogan "Black Lives Matter" itself has not been trademarked by any group.
White Lives Matter (WLM) is a slogan that emerged in 2015 as a reaction to the Black Lives Matter social justice movement that started a few years prior in 2013. " Proponents of the slogan argue that they use it to raise awareness against a supposed "white genocide" and build support for a white ethnostate, and it has been frequently found at "pro-white" rallies across the United States.
A variety of people and organizations reacted to the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, during an arrest by Minneapolis police. This includes his family and friends, politicians and other political organizations, the police, and other institutions and businesses, including internationally. This is aside from the George Floyd protests.
The George Floyd protests were a series of riots and demonstrations against police brutality that began in Minneapolis in the United States on May 26, 2020. The protests and civil unrest began in Minneapolis as reactions to the murder of George Floyd, a 46-year-old unarmed African American man, by city police during an arrest. They spread nationally and internationally. Veteran officer Derek Chauvin was recorded as kneeling on Floyd's neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds; Floyd complained of not being able to breathe, but three other officers looked on and prevented passers-by from intervening. Chauvin and the other three officers involved were later arrested. In April 2021, Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. In June 2021, Chauvin was sentenced to 22+1⁄2 years in prison.
George Perry Floyd Jr. was an African American man who was murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest made after a store clerk suspected Floyd might have used a counterfeit twenty-dollar bill, on May 25, 2020. Derek Chauvin, one of four police officers who arrived on the scene, knelt on Floyd's neck and back for 9 minutes and 29 seconds, causing his death from a lack of oxygen. After his murder, a series of protests against police brutality, especially towards black people, quickly spread across the United States and globally. His dying words, "I can't breathe", became a rallying slogan.
"I can't breathe" is a slogan associated with the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States. The phrase originates from the last words of Eric Garner, an unarmed man who was killed in 2014 after being put in a chokehold by a New York City Police Officer. A number of other Black Americans, such as Javier Ambler, Manuel Ellis, Elijah McClain, and George Floyd, have said the same phrase prior to dying during similar law-enforcement encounters. According to a 2020 report by The New York Times, the phrase has been used by over 70 people who died in police custody.
This is a list of George Floyd protests in Arkansas, United States. Through July 2020, protests occurred in at least thirteen various communities in the state.
This is a list of George Floyd protests in Colorado, United States.
This is a list of protests brought on by the murders of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd in Kentucky, United States. In 2020, there were protests throughout Kentucky in reaction to the shooting of Breonna Taylor and murder of George Floyd by police, as well as the shooting of David McAtee by the Kentucky Army National Guard. The demonstrations happened regularly in the largest cities in Kentucky, including Louisville and Lexington. Many of the smaller cities had protests on at least one day.
Following the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed black man in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25, 2020, protests erupted around the nation and world. Dozens of protests, several involving thousands of protesters have been held in New Jersey. Unlike in other areas of the country, protests have been mainly peaceful. This is attributed to relatively good community-police relations, memories of the race riots of 1967, and activist leadership maintaining focus on systemic racism. After protests in Trenton and Atlantic City grew violent on May 31, curfews were set for the first time. Residents of Atlantic City helped clean up damage after the protests turned destructive.
In the United States, "defund the police" is a slogan that supports removing funds from police departments and reallocating them to non-policing forms of public safety and community support, such as social services, youth services, housing, education, healthcare and other community resources. Activists who use the phrase may do so with varying intentions; some seek modest reductions, while others argue for full divestment as a step toward the abolition of contemporary police services. Activists who support the defunding of police departments often argue that investing in community programs could provide a better crime deterrent for communities; funds would go toward addressing social issues, like poverty, homelessness, and mental disorders. Police abolitionists call for replacing existing police forces with other systems of public safety, like housing, employment, community health, education, and other programs.
Gwen Carr is an American activist, public speaker, and author. Carr's son, Eric Garner, was killed by a New York Police Department officer who used a prohibited chokehold to arrest Garner. Since her son's death, Carr has become active in police reform in the United States, including as a member of Mothers of the Movement and a voice in the Black Lives Matter movement.
Shortly after protests seeking justice for George Floyd, an African American who was murdered during a police arrest, began in the United States, the people of Italy also began to protest to show solidarity with the Americans.
A wave of civil unrest in the United States, initially triggered by the murder of George Floyd during his arrest by Minneapolis police officers on May 25, 2020, led to protests and riots against systemic racism in the United States, including police brutality and other forms of violence. Since the initial national wave and peak ended towards the end of 2020, numerous other incidents of police violence have drawn continued attention and lower intensity unrest in various parts of the country.
Many artworks related to the Black Lives Matter movement were created in Portland, Oregon, United States, during local protests over the murder of George Floyd and other Black Americans. Oregon Arts Watch contextualized the artistic works, stating that a "whitewashed pre-COVID lens" on American life, which obscured systemic racism, had been "cracked", and describing artists' response to racial violence being brought into the public eye was a "marathon, not a sprint".
This is a list of protests that took place in San Diego County, California, following the murder of George Floyd that took place on May 25, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds. These events were created to fight for justice for George Floyd and other Black community members who suffer from police brutality. These demonstrations resulted in a number of policy changes, namely the ban of the cartoid neck restraints use in San Diego County and a city-wide independent review board that would review police practices.
New York City has been the site of many Black Lives Matter protests in response to incidents of police brutality and racially motivated violence against black people. The Black Lives Matter movement began as a hashtag after the shooting death of African-American teen Trayvon Martin, and became nationally recognized for street demonstrations following the 2014 deaths of two African Americans, Michael Brown and Eric Garner. Garner was killed in the Staten Island borough of New York City, leading to protests, demonstrations, and work towards changes in policing and the law. Following the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota in 2020, the global response included extensive protests in New York City, and several subsequent changes to policy.
George Floyd was an African American man who was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer on May 25, 2020. He was memorialized via events, protests, artwork installations, organizations, official designations, and campaigns.
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