On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was killed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest for allegedly using a counterfeit bill. The police officer knelt on Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes while Floyd was handcuffed and lying face down in the street, begging for his life and repeatedly saying “I can’t breathe”. Three other officers were present who aided the killing and prevented bystanders helping.
Floyd’s death has triggered demonstrations and protests in more than 75 U.S. cities and around the world against police brutality and lack of accountability and racism.
It has brought to the forefront the #BlackLivesMatter campaign. #BlackLivesMatter was founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer. Black Lives Matter Foundation is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes. By combating and countering acts of violence, creating space for Black imagination and innovation, and centering Black joy, they are winning immediate improvements in the lives of black people.
It is important that South Asian groups, organisations and community’s support our black brothers and sisters – lending our voices to further educate and raise awareness about white privilege, south asian privilege, model minority myth, racism, prejudice, and unconcious bias is tough and draining. My heart breaks for a race that has been vilified and treated with contempt for centuries.
June 2020 is also the 36th anniversary of Operation Bluestar the attacks on Harmandhir Sahib – 1000’s of Sikh were killed as the Indian Government launched a military attack on our holiest shrine. I hold the pain very deeply – it sometimes feels like the spirits of those who were killed are revisiting me reminding me not to forget them and speak out that it is a Sikh Genocide and justice has been denied.
For me, the pain, empathy and motivation to support any injustice I see is driven by those attacks, seeing through the collusion, propaganda and corruption has required a huge effort on my part to open my eyes, educate myself, feel uncomfortable and allow my world narrative to be changed.
I hope you allow it for yourself too.