A SOCIALLY-DISTANCED BLACK LIVES MATTER PROTEST WILL TAKE PLACE IN CAERPHILLY THIS SATURDAY FROM 1PM ONWARDS, TO SHOW SOLIDARITY WITH AMERICAN PROTESTERS FIGHTING FOR RACIAL JUSTICE.
DEMONSTRATIONS HAVE SWEPT ACROSS 140 CITIES IN THE US AFTER THE MURDER OF THE BLACK MAN GEORGE FLOYD BY A WHITE COP IN MINESOTA
IT ALSO FOLLOWS PROTESTS IN CARDIFF, MANCHESTER AND LONDON LAST WEEKEND, WITH MORE ORGANISED IN CARDIFF AND WREXHAM THIS WEEKEND.
VOICE.WALES SPEAKS WITH THE 22 YEAR OLD ORGANISER.
Cardiff shows support for George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement in Cardiff last Sunday. Photo: Angharad Arnold
This Saturday, protesters will gather outside Caerphilly Castle in the name of the Black Lives Matter movement and in solidarity with the many demonstrations currently taking place all over the US, after the murder of a black man, George Floyd, by a white Minneapolis cop on 25th May.
George Floyd, who was unarmed, was killed after white police officer Derek Chauvin, knelt on his neck for over eight minutes, while George Floyd is heard pleading that he “can’t breathe.”
In a separate development, police in Arizona state have released details of the killing of another black man, Dion Johnson, in Phoenix on the same day as George Floyd.
Dion Johnson was shot dead by state troopers after being found “passed out in the driver’s seat” of a car which was partially blocking traffic, according to a police statement.
The deaths of both George Floyd and Dion Johnson follow the shooting of Ahmed Aubrey back in February, who was murdered by a white father and son while out jogging in a south Georgia neighbourhood, and previously, the high-profile cases of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in New York.
Prominent civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, said it was not the coronavirus that killed George Floyd but the “pandemic of racism.”
The protests have already influenced elevation to the original charges against the officers involved in the George Floyd murder.
Derek Chauvin had initially faced charges of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, though has now been charged with second-degree murder. However the Floyd family and their attorney are still hoping this will be increased to first-degree murder.
Protesters also continually called for the other three officers involved – who stood by while Chauvin killed George Floyd – to be prosecuted.
Thomas Lane, J Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao, now all face charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder, and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.
A movement calling to defund the police in the US has seen significant gains in the past week, moving from being previously dismissed as a “leftist fantasy” to something of a serious tactic being considered by politicians.
In Minneapolis, the school board on Tuesday voted to end its contract with the police department, while the University of Minnesota has also pledged to cease working with the police.
Protests have erupted in 140 US cities in the past week, with demonstrators expressing rage at not only police brutality towards black people, but the everyday racism they endure.
They continue to be met with significant police force however. At one protest in Washington DC, police fired pepper balls and smoke bombs to disperse demonstrators outside the White House, so that Donald Trump could walk to a nearby church for a photo opportunity.
Protests have also taken place across the UK in support of American demonstrators.
Last weekend, protesters gathered outside Cardiff Castle to show solidarity with the American movement, with many people wearing masks and maintaining social distancing.
This has since inspired demonstrations to be organised in other Welsh towns and cities, including Wrexham, Newport, Merthyr and Swansea with several more protests organised for Cardiff over the weekend.
The Caerphilly Black Lives Matter protest group currently has 742 members, and, given that Caerphilly is a majority-white town which sees far fewer protests than the likes of Cardiff, organiser Jamaine Leah Brown, 22, describes the online response so far as “amazing.”
Having been unable to attend the Cardiff protest due to being further than five miles away – which would break social distancing guidelines – Jamaine decided to take matters into her own hands.
“Basically, I’ve been angry every single day, every single moment of the day,” she says.
“So I thought, I wonder if anybody would do one in Caerphilly? I waited a little while, I fished around and stuff and I didn’t hear about anybody doing one [here]. So I thought, alright, why don’t I set one up myself? I didn’t ever expect it to get as big as it [has], I just wanted a few friends to come to the castle with signs and just to protest within ourselves and it’s just grown massively.”
There’s been a lot of questions raised around whether protest is lawful during the current coronavirus pandemic, but for many – particularly in the US, where the country is still reeling from yet another black death – demonstrators argue they simply can’t afford to stay home and not do anything.
Jamaine says the response to the Caerphilly protest has been “90% positive” so far – though not everyone has been fully on board, with some raising concerns regarding coronavirus restrictions.
Gwent’s police and crime commissioner, Jeff Cuthbert, has already told those hoping to attend to “reconsider their plans” due to the threat of coronavirus.
This isn’t putting Jamaine off however, and on the Facebook group she’s made it clear for people to bring masks and to maintain two-metres social distancing.
“I just want to reassure everybody,” Jamaine says. “Tell them the two-metres social distancing [has] got to be [respected], and you know, not to litter – if there is any, I’ll be picking it up anyway.”
Jamaine explains that she’s reached out to the organisers of the Cardiff BLM protest and that she’s been given “loads of advice” to ensure the protest runs peacefully and successfully.
This isn’t the only obstacle Jamaine has faced, however. Some people have been failing to make the link between what’s happening in the US and why people are taking to the streets here.
“I’ve just had a message on the Instagram page from somebody saying ‘isn’t this happening in America?’” Jamaine says, pausing to check her phone.
“And I said, ‘no it’s happening all over the world.’”
“I have men and uneducated teenagers and young adults – even older people who are uneducated in racism – and they’re replying – no abuse – but they just disagree with the protests in themselves, it’s not because of social distancing.”
“They just hate what protests stand for,” suggests Jamaine. “They’re just saying ‘all lives matter’ and I hate that response so bad.”
“I mean, most people [saying that] are older than me, and some are really young. But the ones who are older than me, I mean, like, how can you not be educated? And that’s when you’ve lived with it longer than I have?”
There’s been lots of discussion on how white people can educate themselves to fully grasp white privilege, white supremacy and systemic racism. In Wales, a petition for UK Black and People of Colour history to be compulsory in Welsh schools has gathered over 24,000 signatures at the time of publication, with this growing by the minute.
For Jamaine, like many other young people in the UK, these topics of colonialism, slavery, and the civil rights movement, were largely absent in her own school education.
“We were advised to watch 12 Years a Slave,” she recalls. “We did have some lessons about black lives and racism. But I was never fully educated. I kind of just grew up seeing it on social media and stuff.”
Jamaine – who is white – admits that in school, despite growing up with friends from all different backgrounds, racist language was rife.
“I just learnt as I grew up really, that racism is not OK. Every day was a lesson,” she says.
“We’re not taught anything, and it is quite astonishing.”
Caerphilly, despite being a Labour through-and-through constituency and ex-mining town, seldom sees protests these days – at least not concerning issues of racial inequality.
The 2011 census – the most recent available – indicates that Caerphilly is 98.4% white.
Earlier this year, Cardiff woman Anne Giwa-Amu, who is Nigerian and Welsh, won her claim for race and age discrimination against the DWP branch in Caerphilly. As well as experiencing racial slurs and persistant racist bullying from colleagues, she was also unlawfully dismissed in 2017, after which she was living on just £55 a week and at one point couldn’t afford food after her final pay cheque was withheld.
Jamaine recognises how big of a deal it is for this protest to be happening in Caerphilly this Saturday.
“I am very overwhelmed with the response – it’s absolutely amazing for the black rights movement,” says Jamaine.
“I think it’s gonna be really good for this town, because it will make people fight more for, you know, the things that we need to fight for.”
Jamaine also recognises the role of protest in historically influencing change.
“I don’t stand by riots, but they have helped us, you know, get where we are with gay rights and women’s rights and eight hour days in work, and so much more,” she says.
“I think this is very much needed, we’re a mostly white town, and we have so much privilege and people are not using that and I think, what I’m trying to do is help people realise that they need to use their white privilege.”
You can join the Caerphilly Black Lives Matter group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/282695012775460
The protest is taking place at Caerphilly Castle from 1pm onwards on Saturday 6th June
People are advised to bring masks, signs, blankets, food and water, and of course, must stick to social distancing 2m guidelines.
