Following the US police brutality incident that led to the death of a black male, George Floyd, the “Black Lives Matter” movement has now gone far beyond U.S. borders. 

The movement has become a global rallying cry against racism and police brutality. The killing of George Floyd by the police has also sparked a worldwide reckoning.

George Floyd, the black man killed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, died when a police officer knelt on his neck for about 8 minutes. This happened despite George Floyed crying that he could not breath. 

The video displaying Floyd’s assault went viral on social media. In Belgium,  Stephanie Collingwoode-Williams, a spokesperson for Belgian Network for Black Lives said the video made “people think about how it was relevant where we were”.

Black Lives Matter Movement protests have gone on nonstop across the US since the death of George Floyed. Several protests have erupted across Europe, Canada, and as far as Australia and New Zealand.

Over the last few weeks, there have been demonstrations in almost every major city in Europe. Tens of thousands of people showed up to protest against racism and police brutality in Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, and London, just to name a few. 

There were equally intense protests across Latin America, and Australia. Surprisingly, Asian cities like Tokyo and Seoul experienced great levels of Black Lives Matter protests.

The Black Lives Matter Movement went worldwide thanks to a boosting video in which Floyd’s six-year-old daughter, Gigi, was seen sitting on a family friend’s shoulder and shouting at the top of her voice the words: “Daddy changed the world!”.

 As an act of solidarity, artists from different parts of the world have shown their support by painting murals of George Floyed and taking to social media.

It is important to note these protests are not just all about the death of Gorge Floyd. Protesters have expanded their demands to include social inequality, the pulling down of statutes of white supremacists and colonial slave owners. 

In Belgium, a country with a dark colonial past in Africa, protesters scaled a statue of King Leopold II, the Belgian ruler who is known to have killed millions of Congolese citizens, pulled it down and hoisted the flag of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Protests continue to erupt across Europe and the rest of the world with many people defying coronavirus restrictions. 

In the UK, citizens took to the streets calling for an end to racism. Urging others to help make the world a better place for them and their children. 

“We stand alone in terms of creating our momentum – not just responding to what’s happening in the US,” said Alex, a 29-year old organizer with Black Lives Matter UK. “I think that’s because we understand that what happens over there also happens over here,” she added. And US activists, she said, know that, as well. “And so we understand the connections there as well as the connections with other people and other parts of Europe. So we’ve also connected with groups in Germany, in France, and in Belgium recently,” Alex added. “There’s so much in common.”

Many people across these different continents, while showing solidarity with the US protests, now demand justice and an end to racism. 

They see police violence against minorities, the honoring of white supremacists and slave owners as a continuation of suppression.