Activists are gathering at the Lincoln Memorial for the 2020 #MarchOnWashington — the same place where MLK delivered his iconic address 57 years ago.
Dubbed the "Get Your Knee Off Our Necks" march, it is expected to draw tens of thousands protesting racism and police brutality.
U.S. police have killed at least 751 people in 2020.
In DC, Black mothers, children and families who lost loved ones to police violence are among thousands attending today's #MarchOnWashington:
Black people make up 13% of the U.S. population but 28% of all U.S. police killings in 2020.
According to Mapping Police Violence:
▪️ Police kill unarmed Black people 4X more often than unarmed white people in major police jurisdictions
▪️ In 99% of cases, no charges are brought
Dozens of activists walked from Milwaukee to DC to raise awareness about police brutality & take part in the #MarchOnWashington.
One activist who was allegedly shot during the walk said: “We made it, wasn’t nothing going to stop us.”
The group covered 750 miles in 25 days.
“Demonstration without legislation will not lead to change…We come to let you know that we will come out by these numbers…that we will stand in the polls all day long.”
Rev. Al Sharpton speaks as demonstrators gather for the #MarchOnWashington.
“We will not be a footstool to oppression. Most of all we will not dress up this genocide and call it police brutality. We will only pledge allegence to the truth,” #JacobBlake’s sister said at the #MarchOnWashington, before thousands of demonstrators at the Lincoln Memorial.
Many #MarchOnWashington activists are calling on the Senate to enact the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which includes banning no-knock warrants & halting military supplies to police.
Thousands of protesters are marching through DC to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.
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The International Court of Justice has begun the hearing for South Africa’s case against Israel. In it, South Africa accuses Israel of eight different acts of genocide.
Here’s what they are 🧵
1 - Killing Palestinians
Israeli forces have killed at least 23,708 Palestinians since Oct. 7. 8,000 more Palestinians are missing.
2 - Causing serious bodily and mental harm
Over 59,410 Palestinians have been injured. More than 1,000 children have lost limbs.
The U.S. launched a racist eugenics program in Puerto Rico in the 1930s — sterilizing about one third of Puerto Rican women by 1976, many forced or coerced.
It was just one chapter of U.S. colonial eugenics programs and medical experiments targeting women of color. 🧵(1/8)
The U.S. approved forced sterilization in Puerto Rico in 1937 for what it called "overpopulation."
U.S. land theft and exploitation plunged the island into poverty. Health workers coerced people seeking contraception — mostly targeting Black and brown women — into sterilization.
U.S. occupiers transformed Puerto Rico's economy to focus on sugar — for U.S. interests — after invading in 1898.
70% of Puerto Ricans were made landless by 1925. By the 1930s:
▪️ 1 in 3 people unemployed
▪️ 80% of land owned by 2% of population, mostly white
BREAKING: A 6.3 earthquake hit the Turkey-Syria border, two weeks after the devastating earthquake.
No new casualties were immediately reported but witnesses report damage. Turkey has reported over 6,000 aftershocks since the February 6 earthquake killed over 46,000 people.
The Feb. 6 earthquake made over 1 million homeless in Turkey alone:
▪️ over 20,000 buildings collapsed
▪️ over 105,000 buildings need demolition
The government has been criticized for lax regulations. An ex-minister says that as of 2018, half of all buildings broke regulation.
Over 46,000 people in Turkey and Syria were killed by the February 6 earthquake.
Many are missing, but there is no official count.
The UN says:
▪️ Up to 5 million made homeless in Syria, many are already displaced
▪️ 350,000+ pregnant women need access to shelter, medical care
The UK and the U.S. forcibly displaced an entire Indigenous population from the Chagos Islands to build a military base.
Chagossians were never paid reparations or significant compensation. A new @hrw report accuses both countries of crimes against humanity. 🧵
The Chagos Islands are the UK's last African colony.
Most inhabitants were descendants of African and South Asian people enslaved or indentured to work on coconut plantations.
The UK evicted them in the 1960s to build a U.S. base in exchange for discounts on nuclear weapons.
Up to 2,000 Chagossians were forcibly displaced from their homes from 1965-1973.
The UK:
▪️ blocked supplies of food and medical care to starve the population out
▪️ blocked people returning if they traveled
▪️ intimidated residents by shooting or poisoning over 1,000 pet dogs