Rap songs from Public Enemy and Ludacris have been heard at marches over the killing of George Floyd. But the history of Black American music as a form of protest dates back to the 19th century.
The National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama, documents the lynchings of more than 4,400 people between 1877 and 1950.
AP Photo/Beth J. Harpaz
Research into how war-torn and fractured nations find justice and societal reconciliation finds ways to establish sustainable and lasting peace in divided societies.
A vigil in protest against an execution in Virginia in 2009.
Michael Reynolds/EPA
San Francisco mayor London Breed declaring a shelter-in-place order early in the coronavirus pandemic, March 17, 2020.
Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Four decades after Ellen Craig-Jones of Urbancrest, Ohio, became the US’s first Black woman mayor, seven of the nation’s largest cities are lead by Black women. And what a time to be in charge.
An Iraqi militia member inspects the site of an Islamic State attack on Iraqi troops on May 3.
Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP via Getty Images
The Islamic State is asking its followers to worsen the global pandemic, and its fighters are celebrating the toll disease and racism are taking on US society.
A family at the Black Lives Matter children’s march in Haringey, London.
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Black parents cannot afford for their children to break or even bend certain rules.
Protesters cross the Brooklyn Bridge on June 19, 2020 – Juneteenth – in the United States’ third straight week of protest.
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Unrest in the US looks familiar to Latin Americans, who are accustomed to resisting undemocratic governments – and to their protest movements being met with violent suppression.
The Greenwood section of Tulsa, Okla., is seen in flames during in 1921 during one of the worst acts of anti-Black racism in American history.
(Creative Commons)
History will cast a long shadow over Donald Trump’s first campaign rally since the pandemic began.
Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II speaks outside of the St. John’s Episcopal Church Lafayette Square on June 14, 2020.
Oliver Contreras/For The Washington Post via Getty Images
Going to a protest may increase your risk of COVID-19. But calling out the structural racism that takes black lives and affects health outcomes for people of colour is also vital.
People walk on the words ‘defund the police’ that was painted in bright yellow letters in downtown Washington, D.C., on June 7, 2020. The death of unarmed Black man George Floyd in Minneapolis sparked worldwide protests against police brutality.
(AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
Like the COVID-19 pandemic we’re facing, racism is present in every nook and corner of this planet.
Bishop Mark Seitz and priests from his diocese knelt for 8 minutes and 46 seconds to honor George Floyd, El Paso, June 1, 2020.
Courtesy of Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters
Though often seen as socially conservative, the Catholic church has a strong progressive strain that can be traced back 50 years to Latin America’s liberation struggles.
A Black Lives Matter protest in London, UK.
ANDY RAIN/EPA
Why are so many people who have never protested before now joined in the fight against systemic anti-black racism?
Body cameras are increasingly being worn by police forces, like the Vancouver Police Department, to record officer interactions.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
The use of body cameras by police forces raises questions about surveillance, privacy and regulation.
Protesters in front of Boston Police Headquarters during a United Against Racist Police Terror Rally on June 7, 2020.
Matthew J. Lee/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Across the United States, police are shielded from both public and departmental accountability by multiple layers of contractual and legislative protections.
Police forces have a wide range of options for monitoring individuals and crowds.
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Police forces across the country now have access to surveillance technologies that were recently available only to national intelligence services. The digitization of bias and abuse of power followed.
Volunteers helped city workers paint ‘Black Lives Matter’ on the street near the White House.
Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser ordered ‘BLACK LIVES MATTER’ to be painted on a street near the White House. The act would have been considered vandalism had it not been done by city workers.
There are currently at least four major calls to defund police forces in Canada. Here, hundreds of people participate in a Black Lives Matter demonstration in front of Saskatchewan’s Legislative Building in Regina on June 2, 2020.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mark Taylor
Another world is possible when we defund and reimagine policing as we know it. A review of police budgets could mean more money towards community initiatives.
Protesters march on June 6, 2020, in New York. Demonstrations continue across the United States in protest of racism and police brutality, sparked by the May 25 death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis.
(AP Photo/Ragan Clark)
Research on excessive use of force by police and the sociological context and psychological characteristics of killer cops point to useful policy measures.