THE AFRICAN COURIER. Reporting Africa and its Diaspora! The African Courier is an international magazine published in Germany to report on Africa and the Diaspora African experience. The first issue of the bimonthly magazine appeared on the newsstands on 15 February 1998. The African Courier is a communication forum for European-African political, economic and cultural exchanges, and a voice for Africa in Europe.
Tens of thousands of people joined Black Lives Matter protests across Germany on Saturday (6 June) against the police murder of George Floyd on 25 May in the US city of Minneapolis. According to The African Network of Germany (TANG), more than 200,000 protesters took part at rallies, which also drew attention to racism and discrimination against people of African descent in Germany, in 30 towns and cities in the country. Following is a report on the rally held in the eastern city of Dresden.
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Silence. Exactly eight minutes and forty-six minutes. So began the demonstration in Dresden of 6 June with its motto “No to racism – together
we are strong” and it remembered George Floyd.
George Floyd was not the first victim of police violence in the United States, but the brutality of his death generated worldwide attention because for
eight minutes and forty-six minutes long the White American policeman Derek Chauvin kneeled on the neck of the African American – unmoved by his calls “I
can´t breathe!” or the begging by pedestrians to check the pulse after George stopped complaining.
The Demonstration in Dresden was one of many all over Germany. It started with an offer to People of Colour to talk to the protesters because many of them were White people and they all did the only right thing: listen.
We, from the association power4africa e.V., prepared a short speech as well. Our leader Bob Hooda spoke about his experiences in the liberation struggle in southern Africa, emphasizing the importance of standing up against racism and police violence together.
After that, the more than 4,000 protesters started moved from the square Altmarkt towards the central police station. Again, People of Colour got the chance to voice their grievances. With their personal experiences they narrated that police violence in Germany is existent as well and how racism effects their daily life.
Afterwards the demonstration continued across the Carola Bridge heading for the square Jorge Gomondai-Platz. Many of the protesters had signs and placards, showing their solidarity against racism and police violence and demanding justice for George Floyd.
Along with our modified street signs they made clear “Black lives matter more than white feelings” because we all know: Racism is a dead end.
Without any untoward incidents the demonstration wound its way to its final destination. The square Jorge-Gomondai-Platz was chosen deliberately because Jorge Gomondai was the first victim of racism in Dresden in 1993 after the reunification of Germany.
For the last time people got an offer to vent our frustrations before the huge crowd. The demonstration made one thing clear: We are many. We dislike racism and police violence. We stand up unequivocally against it. Even if we still have a long way ahead of us, we are on the right track and we will not stop until the task is accomplished.
We will only stop when racism and police brutality are just horror stories from the past.
Anna Linnemann/ power4africa e.V
