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As the Internet continues to facilitate a greater global awareness and sense of community among people of African descent, we are becoming more present to the challenges each other face in different parts of the world. When parts of Accra, Ghana, flooded in June, friends in the US began to ask questions about our safety, and post Pray for Ghana signs on social media (even if they showed up several days or weeks after the waters had receded). Likewise, the #BringBackOurGirls campaign attracted attention from all kinds of people, including many African Americans.

With last weeks string of police-involved shootings and Black Lives Matter protests dominating major news headlines, concerned Africans in the continent and elsewhere in the Diaspora have also been paying attention. Maybe not in the numbers that some social media commentators would like to see, but the outcry that does exist is a foundation to build on.

Across the pond in London, Afro-Brits and their allies shut down Oxford Street this weekend during a Black Lives Matter protest in solidarity with their African-American family. A smaller protest march happened that same day in Vancouver. In the past, Black Lives Matter protests have been staged in Johannesburg, Toronto, and Israel. The international African media has picked up the story also, with coverage of the killings and subsequent protests appearing in Kenyas Standard and Nigerias Pulse among others.

If there is one element that has remained sadly but unsurprisingly silent, it has been African governments, singularly or under the African Unions umbrella. The main leaders who have displayed the guts to openly challenge the US are the same ones who are often accused of their own internal human rights abuses: Presidents Robert Mugabe, Yahya Jammeh, and Yoweri Musveni come to mind. The Caribbean island nation of the Bahamas surprised a lot of people, however, issuing a travel advisory to warn their citizens about the risk of being beaten or killed while visiting America.

(Outside the Africa Diaspora, China and North Korea have openly condemned Americas record on race relations and police brutality, which is pretty much in line with their relations to the US anyhow.)

On an individual level, Nigerian musical artist Tiwa Savage posted a Black Lives Matter meme to her Instagram and retweeted a few posts relevant to the murders in Minnesota and Louisiana. Afterwards, she faced stiff criticism from some of her fellow Nigerians, who felt that she should first speak out about problems back home.

A less high-profile Nigerian studying at MIT shared his perspective on the need for Black Lives Matter as an immigrant who went from not understanding the American concept of race or blackness to experiencing aggressive racial prejudice firsthand:

I stand there, stunned, waiting to see if hell say anything, but he keeps walking, and in a tone so unlike mine, I yell profanities at him until hes in the bus and out of sight. I turn around, and people are staring at me. Their expressions are variations of a themeannoyed, judgmental, concerned. I keep walking into my dorm, shaking with such anger. When Im in my room, I almost cry. But I force myself not to.

All I see is that mans pink bloated face as he screams in my ears, Why cant you niggers

Young Vincent has learned a critical lesson about race and violence and American policing: Africans from the continent are not exempt from the profiling, abuse, or killings that triggered the Black Lives Matter movement. Over the past 15 years, some of the most publicized instances of police brutality and death by cop have involved recent immigrants from Africa and predominately Black countries such as Amadou Diallo of Guinea, who was shot 41 times by New York police officers; Abner Louima of Haiti, who was brutally beaten and sodomized by other NYPD officers; and more recently, Charly Africa Keunang, a homeless Cameroonian who was killed on Skid Row by Los Angeles police officers in March 2015.

Among my own circle of friends, a handful back in Ghana have acknowledged Philando Castile and Alton Sterling on their pages, offered messages of concern and support, and launched critiques against the U.S. treatment of their brothers and sisters. My heartbeat rate just increased so high, one of my friends messaged me after he watched Alton Sterlings cold-blooded execution in that Louisiana parking lot.

Ive seen a few activists or simply vocal African-Americans complain about the lack of a more organized or widespread outcry by Africans who are still in Africa. For that matter, I suppose, they could also chastise the African-descended people living in Brazil and other South American countries, Central America, and the rest of the Caribbean, too.

I would say that there is plenty of room for growth on all sides. Not enough African-Americans are actively paying attention to the activities of the American government in countries around the continent, whether it is military action coordinated through AFRICOM or carried out via diplomacy, USAID, and other agencies. Nor do many of us actively watchdog American NGOs programs and other interventions that too often work under the radar, with very little oversight by the governments in the countries where they work.

It is practically human nature to be most concerned with threats that have an immediate and direct effect to our lives and the lives of those we live among. Thats just common sense and survival. The moral imperative to care and get involved is a noble one, but take a look at the state of our world: there are way too many problems that deserve our full and undivided attention. Nobody has enough time to get deeply involved in every single one.

Vincent, the MIT student, brought up another valid concern that may make people who believe that Black Lives Matter all over the globe hesitate to speak out or turn out in support of the movement:

Ive been in America for three years, and I feel wholly underqualified to speak about matters like this. In Nigeria, they floated past my radar, so why take them on now?

While Vincent goes on to explain that his own personal experience with American racism gave him the courage to speak, how much more reluctant might a person who has never been to the United States and has mostly learned about it through the eyes of mainstream news media and Hollywood entertainment?

Rather than shaming people for not speaking out on issues they may not understand or feel directly connected to, I think it is better to use platforms like this as well as our personal friendships and relationships with people from other parts of the Diaspora to help each other gain more information about what is happening in the United States, how it fits into the historical relationship of Blacks and Whites in this country a history that is just as underexplained in African schools as the details of colonialism are in the American education system why they should care about problems that they cannot personally solve, and even how to balance solidarity with issues abroad against the time and involvement needed to address problems at home. Then we should take time to step out of our American focus and find out whats going on elsewhere, although chances are good that if youre reading this on Face2Face Africa, you are getting regular doses of information around the Diaspora already. So share what you learn with a friend.

I will leave you with a quote from Tiwa Savages rebuttal to the fans who criticized her:

Let us not let the devil distract us by letting us fight amongst ourselves and lose focus on the many tragedies happening around the whole. Yes you as an individual might not be able to fight for every cause but even the little you do will help.

See more here:
Black Lives Matter: Reactions from the Diaspora ...

Illustration: Min Lee

All lives matter.

That was my gut reaction to the media traction of the Black Lives Matter movement. Initially, I was empathetic to the high profile killings of black Americans, but simultaneously upset Pedro Villanueva, Melissa Ventura, Anthony Nuez, Raul Saavedra-Vargas, Vinson Ramos and Alex Nieto, all brown victims of police brutality, were not given the same national empathy.

I was worried the nature of the movement only further highlighted the black and white racial binary in this country. As a community, we are quick to point out our injustices and shortcomings, but are the last to acknowledge the very real, very anti-black sentiments in our community.

Last month, a video surfaced of an off-duty LAPD officer Kevin Ferguson grabbing and dragging a Latino 13 year old, and firing his gun during the confrontation when the 13-year-olds teenage friends tried to intervene. It was hard not to notice the first to step up and attempt to break up the confrontation was the only black teenager.

The video quickly went viral with little attention from the Latinx community to acknowledge, let alone praise, the young black man who set off the resistant actions towards the officer. I found myself listening to conversations that resurfaced dismissive attitudes towards the black community despite this young mans initiative.

I was disappointed, frustrated but understanding. I dont condone their perspectives, but I understand where and why they have the sentiments they maintain. This incident was one tied with state violence, police brutality and institutionalized privilege. When discussing and protesting police violence, its hard not to evoke the dialogue surrounding Black Lives Matter, but due to culturally embedded antiblack sentiments, it can be hard for many Latinx, who like me, at one point or another, could not understand why in the face of authority, we couldnt just say, all lives matter.

It took me making the conscious and active effort to listen, an incredibly patient sociology professor, and the willingness to learn that I was able to confront my cultural prejudices and to see the world beyond my brown lens. A lens that was narrow and lacked intersectionality beyond the identities I grew up with.

It wasnt until I confronted the harsh realities of my ingrained cultural prejudices, that I was able to understand that the expulsion of my communities contributions to Americas social fabric is not the fault of black Americans. It was never their fault, but it was a convenient narrative to feed one community of color, to condemn and further marginalize another.

The brown community, can not and should not condemn a whole other community because historically America has undermined the political standing of all ethnic groups. To condemn one community, is to condemn all communities. All communities of color are victims of state violence. Historically, we have all lacked equal access. We have all lacked properly funded schools, safe neighborhoods and equitable health care. Condemning one another wont fix those community components, they will just be cemented and perpetuated as our permanent state of being.

The Latinx community has problems and systematic injustices unique to its demographic, but that doesnt mean we dont have privileges distinctly our own. For starters, we werent forced to come to the Americas, were from the Americas. We have our own struggles, but we cant deny our anti blackness stems back to the colonization of our countries. A culture where being referred to as morena/o can be used derogatorily, where colorism is so deeply embedded, our telenovelas and media outlets exclusively highlight and celebrate eurocentric features and mannerisms.

Americas identity, history and accumulation of wealth was literally built on the backs of black Americans. Racism is inherently a part of Americas identity. Prejudice towards black Americans is inherent to Americas history. That being said, for many Latinxs, rather than being racially scape goated themselves, assimilating to be American can sometimes mean embracing and retaining anti-black sentiments in order to garner social privileges.

Racial and ethnic stratification in America has made it so that certain races are socially positioned to either garner or be denied privileges. Historically, America has undermined the political standing of all ethnic groups. I can attest that the Latinx communitys collective identity is ambiguous, but I cannot deny its intersectionality and profound anti-blackness.

I will never comprehend what it means to be black in America, but I do know that for those of us who believe in justice and those of us who believe in the power of the people, it is imperative we stand in solidarity and provide an unwavering solidarity to support the community that unapologetically proclaims, Black Lives Matter. To ignore our need to stand in solidarity is to ignore the social and political power of two communities that together, along with other communities of color, can only strengthen Americas social fabric and rectify embedded prejudice.

Alex Nieto Anaheim Anthony Nuez Black Lives Matter Kevin Ferguson LAPD Melissa Ventura Pedro Villanueva police brutality Raul Saavedra-Vargas Vinson Ramos

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Black Lives Matter means solidarity, not division - El Tecolote

NDP Leadership candidate Niki Ashton removed a meme from her social media accounts which included the lyrics to the left from the Beyonce song 'Irreplaceable'.

After posting the meme on Twitter, a Black Lives Matter Vancouver account confronted the NDP leadership hopeful. Appropriating Black culture is not intersectional feminism. Please delete your "to the left" FB post & address the issue, the account tweeted.

Ashton then removed the meme and responded by THANKING the radical BLM account. We removed it.Not our intention to appropriate. We're committed to a platform of racial justice+would appreciate ur feedback, she replied.

She then followed it up with a couple of other tweets. As noted I appreciate the msg from @BLM_Van. Showing respect is what building a movement is all about and I will not tolerate racism or hate speech directed at #BLM or any community.

As iPolitics points out, there was an immediate backlash to Ashton removing the tweet with some calling her to 'have a backbone'.

SOUND OFF: should she have deleted the tweet?

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Niki Ashton kowtows after Black Lives Matter accuses her of 'cultural appropriation' for Beyonce lyrics in campaign meme - The Rebel

An event organizer who sells parody T-shirts has come under fire after putting one on sale in time for St Patricks Day bearing the slogan Drunk Lives Matter.

Some people have claimed the shirt is offensive and scary.

The company behind the parody T-shirt, PubCrawls.com, now appears to be in hot water having adapted the nameof the anti-police movement Black Lives Matter. It uses the same font as BLM shirts.

The Baltimore Radio 92Q Jam attacked the company,saying:For people of color its already scary enough to see masses of drunk white people roaming around town, but to see them intoxicated and making fun of a movement whose goal is to save our very lives? Well, thats damn near terrifying.

FYI: St. Patricks Day is this Friday, March 17. Be careful folks, the radio station added.

Melissa Kravitz, a writer at left-leaning Mic.com, alsoattacked the shirt, claiming itcalls the whole of St Patricks Day into question.

This parody delegitimizes the Black Lives Matter slogan by altering it to encourage a day of debauchery and binge drinking, and the shirt also implies the main point of St. Patricks Day is to get drunk, shewrote.

She added: A swarm of drunken St. Patricks Day celebrators wearing a shirt that essentially denounces the BLM movement is a scary thing to imagine encountering, but PubCrawls.com has made it a possibility.

The t-shirt,sold on Amazon, also attracted some negative reviews. This is extremely racist. Amazon, you should remove this immediately. There is nothing funny about the murder of black people, said one reviewer.

Another review said: I never knew! Oh wait this is supposed to be funny? My bad. In that case its disgusting.

As an African American I CAN NOT give this any stars but Im forced to give it one! I cant imagine what would allow you to think this was a good idea to sell! What could you be thinking apparently YOU WERE NOT thinking about your African American customers and how much this would hurt them! wrote a reviewer.

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Outrage Over 'Offensive and Scary' St. Patrick's Day 'Drunk Lives Matter' T-Shirt - Heat Street

Theres a fundamental us against them flaw in the recurring argument that Black Lives Matter is somehow hijacking Pride.

Just last week, former Vancouver Pride executive director Ray Lam accused BLM Toronto of hijacking Prides across the country, of holding the queer community hostage with its bombastic demand to ban police, of raining on our parade and stealing our voice and power as a community.

Lam also points, in his Georgia Straight column, to pressing queer problems that he considers more worthy of attention, and notes that the petition to keep Vancouver police in the parade drew about three times as many signatures as BLMs petition to remove police.

But what Lam fails to grasp is that were all part of the same movement towards equality, and queers of colour have been in the front lines since Stonewall. BLM is part of our community. And they are telling us the privilege of a comfortable relationship with police does not extend to all of our members.

I agree with Lams suggestion that we need queer community leaders, not party planners parties are an essential part of the economy of Pride but they are not the reason for Pride. This is an opportunity for queer community leaders to support some of our most marginalized members, listen to what theyre telling us, and be part of an ongoing conversation with BLM and police.

Leadership is not necessarily about doing whats popular.

Quoting petition stats is the weakest argument in a debate on social reform. Basing decisions on public polls serves only to support the privileged majority. While frequently mistaken for democracy, its the antithesis of social reform.

If the Gay Alliance Toward Equality had petitioned Vancouverites in 1978, do you think the first Pride parade would ever have happened here?

Even if GATE had only petitioned the existing LGBT population at the time, the results wouldve undoubtedly leaned towards maintaining the status quo and not making a fuss. And Pride has always been about making a fuss.

Of course its terrific that the police have come as far as they have. I was on hand for the planning of demonstrations in front of Torontos 52 Division in the early 90s with other Queer Nationalists. I have witnessed the encouraging developments within police departments across the country. But I only witness a part of the reality the part that directly affects me. And certainly I want to celebrate those developments.

But when a broader reality is brought to my attention when Im told there are still members of my community who are not enjoying the protection and freedom of those developments why would I choose to celebrate a partial win at the expense of queer voices?

Because to contemplate anything else is uncomfortable?

And finally, as a devout Streisandian (who kneels at the altar of Merrill and Styne), I would like to put an end to the blasphemous use of the raining on our parade analogy. It doesnt hold up and its truly tiresome. BLM has not performed a mystical rain-making incantation. Theyre pointing out that while some of us are under the big tent enjoying the catering, others are still standing out in the rain.

If were not willing to listen to the most vulnerable and marginalized voices within the complicated queer community, then our Pride is being regulated by easy choices instead of being liberated by hard truths.

See the original post here:
I fought the cops in the 1990s and I support Black Lives Matter now - Daily Xtra