Paper short abstract:

A visual essay as a global journey of the multiple demonstrations of protest and solidarity across the world, reflecting on how Black Lives Matter sparked actions of solidarity and demands for justice against police violence - everywhere connected by widespread inequality and institutional racism.

Paper long abstract:

Social media, global news, graffitis, murals, performances have visually accompanied the thousands of people who have marched across cities in every part of the world giving support to the Black Lives Matter movement sparked again in June 2020 by George Floyd's infamous murder. Local and global struggles have adapted the call for justice to their contexts of injustices whilst denouncing police brutality against Blacks and First People in the US, aboriginals in Australia, 'braccianti' in Italy, Palestinians in the Middle East. From the townships of Johannesburg to the favelas of Rio de Jaineiro and the plains of South Dakota, a global movement was visually captured through smartphones, news reporters, viral videos and art work. Performative parading and artistic actions were symbols of visual resistance alongside celebrity presence and filmmakers visual statements.

A collage of images from multiple places in different contexts, here aims to reflect on the powerful force of collective action and offer a visual sense of the global dimension of the protest.