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A statue of former British prime minister Winston Churchill in London.

U.S. protests push Europe to face its own histories of injustice

By News & Current Affairs

By Ishan Tharoor with Ruby Mellen, Washington Post — Edward Colston was a 17th-century English merchant who rose to the position of deputy governor of the Royal African Co. His family became fabulously wealthy as a result, profiting from the company’s role in the British trade of African slaves to the New World. Under Colston’s watch, about 84,000 Africans were shipped to lives of bondage and misery. An estimated 19,000 of them perished during the…

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Protests in Spain

Racism, Xenophobia and Police Brutality on the Rise in Spain

By News & Current Affairs

By Youssef Ouled, Rights International Spain — Rights International Spain and the Implementation Team of the International Decade for People of African Descent in Spain have published a report on racism and xenophobia during the COVID-19 state of alarm in Spain. The report examines manifestations of racism and xenophobia between March 15 and May 2 during the COVID-19 state of alarm in Spain. The investigation includes more than 70 racist…

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Dozens of people participate in a protest against Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro, Sao Paulo, Brazil, June 7, 2020.

Brazil Bans Release of COVID-19 Death and Infection Toll

By COVID-19 (Coronavirus), News & Current Affairs

By teleSUR — Brazil’s government stopped publishing the total accumulated COVID-19 deaths and infections, in an attempt to hide the real extent of the disease in Latin America’s largest country. After months of criticism of President Jair Bolsonaro’s handling of the pandemic, the government decided to withdraw a Ministry of Health website, which provided daily figures on deaths and infections. The site was launched a while later, but totals of…

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A new George Floyd mural in Kenya.

Africa’s literary community is lending its voice to calls for justice for George Floyd

By News & Current Affairs

While not at the same scale as in other countries, some street protests against police brutality in the US have also emerged across Africa. By Yomi Kazeem, Quartz Africa — In Africa, the protests of George Floyd’s murder have gone beyond US embassies and the African Union. For its part, Africa’s literary community is lending its voice to amplify the calls for justice after Floyd’s killing in the hands of a…

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Teens Protest

Black Lives Matter Protests Bring Teen Activists Into the Streets

By News & Current Affairs

“My people are being killed.” By Sarah Emily Baum, Teen Vogue — Veteran organizers, like Nupol Kiazolu, the 19-year-old president of Black Lives Matter of Greater New York, are familiar with the ebbs and flows of a protest. She stood nose-to-nose with Nazis in Charlottesville. She’s fled law enforcement with rifle sights set on her chest. She knows it means risking her life, even before the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged the…

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