| Strike for Black Lives | |
|---|---|
| Part of George Floyd protests, Black Lives Matter, and Fight for $15 | |
| Date | July 20, 2020 |
| Location | |
| Methods | Walkout |
The Strike for Black Lives was a mass walkout that occurred throughout the United States on July 20, 2020. Occurring during the George Floyd protests, the main goals of the strike were to draw attention to systemic racism and racial inequality in the United States, with additional goals including a raising of the minimum wage in the United States, stronger protections for unionizing, and expanded healthcare.
Following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on May 25, 2020, a series of protests occurred, initially in the Twin Cities area, but quickly spreading across the United States and worldwide. [1] As part of the wider Black Lives Matter movement, the protests are rooted in longstanding racial issues in the United States, such as police brutality, institutionalized racism, and racial discrimination. [1] The idea for a mass strike was announced on Twitter on July 8 with the hashtag #StrikeForBlackLives. [2] Over 60 groups helped to organize the event and included such groups as the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the American Federation of Teachers, and the United Farm Workers. [3] [4] The Movement for Black Lives, a coalition of 150 independent Black Lives Matter groups, was also involved in the organization of the strike. [2] President Mary Kay Henry of the Service Employees International Union (which was involved in the strike) stated that the strike was an effort to unite essential workers in the fight for both racial and economic justice. [4] The Associated Press compared the strike to the Memphis sanitation strike, which was also caused by both racial and economic issues. [5] According to organizers, the four main points of the strike were:
"Justice for Black communities, that elected officials use their authority to rewrite the rules so that Black people can thrive, that corporations dismantle racism, white supremacy and economic exploitation including at work and that every worker has the opportunity to join a union." [4]
The strike took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, [4] with African Americans making up a disproportionate percentage of workers impacted by the pandemic and constituting approximately 1 in 4 deaths due to COVID-19. [6]
On July 20, the strike took place in 160 American cities at multiple places of employment. [7] Workers from McDonald's and Walmart locations represented a significant portion of the strikers involved. [2] At noon, many strikers kneeled or took a moment of silence for eight minutes 46 seconds in memory of Floyd. [8] In Ferguson, Missouri, protesters marched to a memorial for Michael Brown, who was killed by police in 2014. [8] In New York City, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer spoke to a crowd of protesters outside of Trump International Hotel and Tower. [4] Protesters there called for the Senate to pass the HEROES Act. [9] In Chicago, protesters met at the James R. Thompson Center and marched to a nearby McDonald's. In Detroit, a mass work stoppage occurred at several nursing homes in the area, [10] and a Fight for $15 protest was held at the same time as the strike. [3] Protesters in Durham, North Carolina, painted a "BLACK LIVES MATTER" street mural at an intersection in downtown. [11] Multiple politicians from the Democratic Party expressed support for the strike, including Senators Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren. [4]
Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement protesting against incidents of police brutality and all racially motivated violence against black people. While there are specific organizations such as the Black Lives Matter Global Network that label themselves simply as "Black Lives Matter", the Black Lives Matter movement comprises a broad array of people and organizations. The slogan "Black Lives Matter" itself remains untrademarked by any group. The broader movement and its related organizations typically advocate against police violence toward black people as well as for various other policy changes considered to be related to black liberation.
The Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) is a coalition of more than 50 groups representing the interests of black communities across the United States. Members include the Black Lives Matter Network, the National Conference of Black Lawyers, and the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. Endorsed by groups such as Color of Change, Race Forward, Brooklyn Movement Center, PolicyLink, Million Women March Cleveland, and ONE DC, the coalition receives communications and tactical support from an organization named Blackbird.
Strikes occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic due to many factors including: hazard pay or low pay, unsafe working conditions, inability to pay rent. These strikes are separate from the various protests that occurred over responses to the pandemic.
The George Floyd protests are an ongoing series of protests against police brutality and racism that began in Minneapolis in the United States on May 26, 2020. The civil unrest and protests began as part of international reactions to the murder of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American man who was killed during an arrest after Derek Chauvin, a Minneapolis Police Department officer, knelt on Floyd's neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds as three other officers looked on and prevented passers-by from intervening. Chauvin and the other three officers involved were later arrested. On April 20, 2021, Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter.
There have been a series of George Floyd protests in New York.
This is a list of George Floyd protests in Kentucky, United States. Throughout Kentucky there have been protests since May 28, 2020 in reaction to the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, by police and David McAtee by the Kentucky Army National Guard. The demonstrations have happened daily in the largest cities in Kentucky, including Louisville and Lexington. Many of the smaller cities had protests on at least one day.
Puerto Rico has seen a series of George Floyd protests with hundreds of participants marching in demonstrations island-wide.
Individuals and organizations throughout the United States and the world have responded to the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent protests and riots.
Protests were held across the United Kingdom following the murder of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man, by police officers while under arrest in the United States on 25 May 2020. Immediately following his death, protests and riots occurred in dozens of cities across the United States. Protests were staged internationally for the first time on 28 May, with a solidarity demonstration outside the United States Embassy in London. They took place during the UK COVID-19 pandemic.
Shortly after protests seeking justice for the murder of George Floyd, an African-American who was killed during a police arrest, began in the United States, people in Canada protested to show solidarity with Americans and to demonstrate against issues with police or racism in Canada. Vigils and protests of up to thousands of participants have taken part nationwide.
Shortly after protests seeking justice for George Floyd, an African-American who was murdered during a police arrest, began in the United States, people in Australia protested to show solidarity with Americans and the Black Lives Matter movement, and to demonstrate against issues with police brutality and institutional racism, racism in Australia, and Aboriginal deaths in custody. Vigils and protests of thousands of participants have taken part nationwide.
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.
Rachel Renee Hardeman is an American public health academic who is Associate Professor of Division of Health Policy and Management at the University of Minnesota. She holds the inaugural Blue Cross Endowed Professorship in Health and Racial Equity. Her research considers how racism impacts health outcomes, particularly for the maternal health of African-Americans.
An ongoing wave of civil unrest in the United States, triggered by the murder of George Floyd during his arrest by Minneapolis police officers on May 25, 2020, has comprised protests and riots against systemic racism towards black people in the United States, such as in the form of police violence. It is partly facilitated by the nationwide Black Lives Matter movement. Following the murder of Floyd, unrest broke out in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area on May 26, and quickly spread across the country and the world. Within Minneapolis, widespread property destruction and looting occurred, including a police station being overrun by demonstrators and set on fire, causing the Minnesota National Guard to be activated and deployed on May 28. After a week of unrest, over $500 million in property damage was reported in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area, with two deaths linked to the riots.
On August 26, 2020, some professional athletes in the United States began to go on strike for their respective sports contests in response to the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin. After the video of Blake's shooting in which he was seriously injured went viral, protests and riots broke out in the city of Kenosha and elsewhere. As a result of the shooting of Blake and the protests which followed, on August 26, professional athletes refused to play in their scheduled sports events, beginning with the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Many artworks related to the Black Lives Matter movement were created in Portland, Oregon, during local protests over the killing 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".
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed health care disparities with African-Americans experiencing the highest current COVID-19 mortality and morbidity rates in the US—more than twice as high as the rate for white people and Asians, who have the lowest current rates.
White Coats for Black Lives is a nonprofit social justice student organization based in the United States. Founded in 2014 in response to the Black Lives Matter movement, WC4BL supports efforts to fight racism in medicine and health care.
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