The next chapter of this series finale of a year has commenced. The United States has descended into chaos following more protests over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man in police custody. The murderer was Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin. The murder was gruesome, Chauvin placed his shin on George Floyds neck and put his whole body weight on him as Floyd screamed “I can’t breathe”. Before he knelt on Floyd's neck, Chauvin was the subject of 18 prior complaints filed against him with the Minneapolis Police Department's Internal Affairs. And yet he was never fired from the force. Both men worked security at the El Nuevo Rodeo club, down the street from Minneapolis' Third Precinct, former club owner Maya Santamaria told CNN. Which started claims that this was a premeditated murder. Derek Chauvin has been charged with third-degree murder, but lawyer Benjamin Crump told CBS news it was a case of first-degree murder.
This has resulted in widespread protests and riots breaking out in all 50 states and around the world. Everywhere from Minneapolis to Amsterdam to Tokyo. States are burning to the ground and stores are getting looted. And rightfully so. People are tired. They’re tired of seeing this story of an unarmed black man being killed in cold blood in front of our eyes. But this time it’s different. It’s different because of the context in which we are living in. This year has had the coronavirus which has halted life as is. The coronavirus has stopped the world in its tracks and has resulted in widespread unemployment and death. People in the United States have been asked to stay home and have been given one stimulus package payment of $1200.
They were asked to stay home, in fear, and many people had to choose between paying rent or buying food. Protests and riots had already started because people didn’t want to be locked in their homes and unable to work anymore. People were afraid, unemployed, locked in their homes, uncertain of their future, and that built resentment towards authority and then that authority was shown killing someone in cold blood. That was the perfect concoction for a riot. The days since the riots have been truly surreal. Multiple videos are being shared of the police inciting violence and havoc, placing bricks so the protesters can use them and attacking peaceful protesters.
President Trump went on to speak about the protests and referred to the protesters as thugs and weaponized the military against the people. Amidst this chaos the hacker group Anonymous returned. The hacker collective was once a regular fixture in the news, targeting those it accused of injustice with cyber-attacks. After years of relative quiet, it appears to have re-emerged in the wake of violent protests in Minneapolis over the death of George Floyd, promising to expose the "many crimes" of the city's police to the world. Anonymous are activists, taking aim at those they accuse of misusing power. They do so in very public ways, such as hijacking websites or forcing them offline. Their symbol is a Guy Fawkes mask, made famous by Alan Moore's graphic novel V for Vendetta, in which an anarchist revolutionary dons the mask to topple a corrupt fascist government.
George Floyd's death has led to what the BBC's New York correspondent Nick Bryant described as the most widespread racial turbulence and civil unrest since the assassination of Martin Luther King in 1968. It is against this backdrop that a Facebook page claiming to be linked to Anonymous released a video about Mr Floyd's death, alleging a string of other crimes involving Minneapolis police, and threatening to act. Anonymous have hit back along with the George Floyd protesters revealing what they call "The Little Black Book of Jeffrey Epstein". A few hours after the Anonymous video hit the internet, the cyber activists exposed the relationship of renowned personalities with the Jeffrey Epstein child trafficking network.
These names included Ivanka and Ivana Trump, Naomi Campbell, and Mick Jagger just to name a few. The list with hundreds of names on it was uploaded through a file on their social networks under the name of "The Little Black Book of Jeffrey Epstein", and in it they exposed all the people who attended parties organised by Jeffrey Epstein, where it is said that he "recruited the children." Although names such as Ivanka and Ivana Trump appear, the group of cyber activists also launched a direct threat against the President of the United States, Donald Trump, whose name also appeared on the aforementioned list and has been accused of raping minors. He is also alleged to have a record on organised crime, a reason given for why he is being blackmailed by Russia, a country that has all the necessary evidence against him. In addition, Anonymous removed the Minneapolis police website, hacked Chicago police radio to play "Fuck the Police”, and exposed the royal family for having been involved with the Princess Diana murder.
Their message is that the police keep arresting protesters instead of arresting the real criminals, and so more secrets will continue to come out. Now, this is huge. Due to the rapid rate in which we consume information this has already begun to pass after the next story broke but I don't think we can let it. The president of the US and a bunch of people in power are confirmed to have a global child sex trafficking ring. This shows us this is not a black and white issue. This is a ruling class vs working class issue. There are people in places of power with the belief that they are above the law. And they have felt that way for decades. Which is why this child sex trafficking ring has been allowed to fly under the radar. Which is why Epstein was killed right in front of our eyes and nothing happened. And the reason why it will probably pass with no repercussion is the exact same reason why there are people agreeing with Trump's call for the military in order to “restore law and order”.
There are people whose worldview allows them to view pacification of disorderly conduct as the most righteous cause. These people invoke visions of impending anarchy in order to legitimize their demands for absolute obedience. They preach law and order, with the major emphasis on order. The media will try to paint this as a black vs white issue when the majority of the protesters are white. Because this is not a black and white issue. This is an issue between the ruling class of an imperial system that has allowed a small portion of people to hoard wealth and resources for personal gain and the people who have been oppressed for centuries and are just now realizing it. And there are people, including black people, that are so hopelessly and irretrievably infatuated with a system that has brought them nothing but turmoil, that they would risk their own lives to protect it.
I love the ideals that America represents. Democracy, equality, freedom, individualism, patriotism, pragmatism, volunteerism, mobility, progress, and the American Dream. These are all great in theory. But as we’ve seen historically these ideals are an illusion used to control the working class and continue this nation's radical tyranny across the world. This nation has used slave labour, war and acts of terrorism abroad and on its own people to maintain its chokehold on the world. And now because a reality show star has taken power, we’re able to see it in front of our eyes.
For centuries this system has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific and political operations to dominate the world. Its preparations have been concealed, not published. Its mistakes were buried, not headlined. Its dissenters were silenced, not praised. No expenditure has been questioned, no rumor was printed, and no secret revealed. Many White Americans have been living in ignorant bliss unaware of the measures it’s country has taken through acts of terror and neocolonialism in order to maintain control over the globe. And now because of advancements in technology, social media and a celebrity as president, the mistakes are laid out in front of our eyes for the world to see.
People are forced to wake up and understand what this nation really is and what this system really is. But the good thing is, the first way to solve any problem is recognizing there is one. And here we are on the entryway of the new world. This is not time for pessimism. This is not the time to idealize the past and look back as if the grass was greener. The world before this was a well maintained illusion. I see people praising Obama even though Obama also called protesters thugs and threw tear gas at protesters in Ferguson, but he was beloved by the media so it didn’t make the headlines. Now is the moment towards real change.
Pessimism is a tool of the ruling class. They don’t want you to be imaginative about a world free from war, genocide, wealth hoarding, patriarchy etc. In the moments you think revolution is impossible it’s important to remember that way of thinking is inherently violent. We as human beings are creators. We are blessed with the ability to adapt, create and coexist. This system has not always existed and every empire in history has been toppled. The reason that democracies exist is to give power to the people. America needs to live by their ideals. That means all power to all the people, equality amongst all men and women, and true freedom to all citizens. And if that’s not what is happening then you can expect people to revolt.
This is what happens when you create a schizophrenic nation of people being fed mixed messages depending on what television frequency they tune into. A change is coming while the world is watching. America is the main superpower in the world and we are all tuned in to see where this is going to take the world. If America is not willing to have a truth and reconciliation summit where everyone involved in all systems of governance are able to discuss their level of involvement in disobeying the fundamental ideals that the nation carries and dismantling systems that are in essence against those ideals, then you can’t be surprised when a Target burns down.
Again I don’t have the answers. I’m just a 21 year old black kid who is passionate about change. And for years I’ve been seeing the same story and have almost become desensitized. But that still doesn’t kill my spirit. We’ve been taught that change is impossible and have been forced to throw away parts of ourselves for this society, but now a movement has begun and it is led by the youth vying for change. So now it’s our turn to create a new world. So this is what I’ll leave you with, to paraphrase Thebe Kgositsile (aka Earl Sweatshirt) don't be afraid right now to dream the way you did before you squashed a part of yourself to accommodate the evil world we live in. The role of fantasy in liberation is huge. We are tasked with creating something that we can't really see. We are building the plane while it's flying. Use your imagination to build a better tomorrow than today.