As a global justice organization, we have also witnessed this same white supremacy in the form of US military, economic and political interventions in the Global South, including the targeting of Afro-descendent Peoples and communities. Just last week, Edwin Fernández from Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras (OFRANEH), was killed by 3 hooded men, as part of the ongoing attacks on the Garifuna community in Honduras by military, corporate and criminal forces. The struggle for Black lives is global.

We also know that many police departments in the US, including the Minneapolis PD, have participated in exchanges and trainings with Israeli military and security agency. Known by many of our allies (such as Jewish Voice for Peace) as the “Deadly Exchange,” these trainings are conducted by military forces whose illegal occupation of Palestine, violent suppression and torture are all-too-familiar to Grassroots International’s partners standing up for human rights in Palestine. We must stop this mutual reinforcement of racist police violence.

Despite the rage and grief, we are also inspired by loving and courageous acts of solidarity – from union bus drivers refusing to bring protesters to jail, to veterans that are part of About Face: Veterans Against the War writing a powerful letter urging Minnesota National Guard members not to participate in the suppression of community members demanding justice.

Ramon Mejía, an organizer with Grassroots Global Justice Alliance and member of About Face: Veterans Against the War, accompanied Grassroots International on a delegation to Palestine in 2018. Ramon shared this insight, “Militarism is a root cause of a number of our global and domestic issues. It prioritizes and glorifies the expansion and aggressive use of formal, organized state violence to further state interests. It threatens and harms the self-determination of peoples and nations abroad, while it’s simultaneously used as a tool of overwhelming control here at home.”

Justice for George Floyd and Solidarity in Defense of Black Life | Grassroots International