Thursday 27 November 2014

"Fire is Catching!

...If we burn, you burn with us!"
-Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay

If you opened up one of your social media accounts recently, chances are you saw something about one of the many protest and riots happening. There are so many lately, that you could easily loose track of them. So I decided to try and make a short summary of what gets people on the streets currently.

#Ferguson

Protest flared again at the beginning of this week after it went public that Darren Wilson, the white police officer who shot 18 years old, black and unarmed Michael Brown back in August, will not be indicted.

The fact that the decision was made by a St Louis County grand jury, consisting of 9 Caucasian members and 3 African-American members, fueled the protestors' outrage even more. There have been various protests and clashes with the police for the last few days in Ferguson right after the announcement by St. Louis County prosecutor, Robert P. McCulloch. The protest, however, did not restrict to Ferguson. In many other American cities – including New York and Los Angeles – people took to the street as well.



#Mexico

After the disappearance of 43 male students on September 26th, 2014 there have already been many protest throughout Mexico. The students are believed to have been kidnapped by corrupt police members and handed over to one of Mexico's many criminal gangs. The drug gang probably killed and burned them in a pyre of wood and tires.

The angry citizens want President Enrique Peña Nieto to resign, since the whole case shows the corruption of the country. Especially since the mayor of Iguala, where the students went missing, is alleged to have had ties to said drug gang since he assumed office.

Last Thursday more protests fell on the same date as celebration day for the 1910-17 Revolution and papers have already called the protests the new Mexican revolution.



#London

Remember, Remember the Fifth of November...

On November 5th 2014, Guy Fawkes Day, thousands of activists and protestors gathered in London to join the annual Million Mask March in London. The protestors including Russell Brand marched through the city, many of them wearing Guy Fawkes masks. They started at the Parliament Square and made their way towards other locations such as Buckingham Palace and BBC's central studios.

The police presence was enormous. At least five people were arrested during a standoff with the police, but all in all the march went quite peacefully.



#Hong Kong

Yesterday, on November 26th, 2014, parts of the streets in Hong Kong were cleared by authorities. The streets have been blocked by thousands of protestors for the last two months, when the "Umbrella Movement" started.

It all started back in September when Beijing refused to allow universal suffrage* in 2017 in Hong Kong. The decision was followed by groups of activists camping outside the Hong Kong Government headquarters and masses of demonstrators blocking the main roads. Their demand: reform the democracy.

The protests have been on-going for the past two months. They have, however, been loosing steam. Yesterdays clearance and the arrests of about 100 people including student leader Joshua Wong is believed to reinvigorate.

*universal suffrage: every adult is allowed to vote


#France

Last month there have been protests against the building of a controversial dam near Toulouse. The dam should be built on the cost of 40ha of forest and will mainly benefit some industrial farmers.

During a protest on the 25th of October one of the activists, Remi Fraisse, was killed. The 21-year-old was hit by a so-callled 'offensive grenade' by the police and died immediately. His death fueled the civil unrest even more. In the following days numerous protests and marches took place and the civil unrest continues on.





I hope this could give you a better overview of what's going on in the world right now. See you soon!

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