Revolutionary change is possible, Thushani Manthilaka

#Revolutionary change is possible

With an internationalist mass movement against policing, Thushani Manthilakadives into why this time around the Black Lives Matter protests are unprecedented in nature.

IN JUNE 2020, GEORGE Floyd, a black man living in America, was murdered at the hands of the police. No arrests were made and so the people of Minneapolis took to the streets to protest against policing.

Protestors marched. Looted stores. Spray painted ACAB (All Cops Are Bastards) and

Fuck 12 on the walls. Burnt down a local police precinct. Meanwhile, the police used military grade weapons like rubber bullets, smoke bombs and tear gas. They beat up protestors, threatened people, mass arrested crowds and set curfews. The US National Guard was also called in by the Trump administration. It is fair to say that protesting against policing has led to more acts of fascist and violent policing, but it’s worth noting that this kind of civil unrest is not unprecedented. In 2014, Michael Brown, an 18-year-old black man, was murdered by the police. The grand jury did not indict the officers, and no arrests were made. So the people of Ferguson took to the streets. Obama responded to the protests by ultimately respecting the decision of the jury and went on to refer to Ferguson protestors as ‘thugs’.

Obama’s administration called in the US National Guard. The police reacted violently to the unrest in Ferguson and employed rubber bullets, smoke bombs, tear gas against the protestors. A protestor was shot in the midst of

this battle.

Due to media suppression, the protests in

Ferguson failed to create a mass movement across America but laid the groundwork for the Black Lives

Matter movement today.

Moreover, what makes the protests in Minneapolis unprecedented in nature was that these protests took place in the midst of a global pandemic. At a time where black people are disproportionately affected by COVID-19. Where unemployment is at an alltime high. Where people are being evicted from their homes and where material conditions are worsening each day for poor and

working-class people.

It appears that the militarisation of police in America has posed a bigger threat to the people than a virus affecting millions around the world.

The protests are calling for an end to state violence against black and brown lives and for police forces to be defunded. As a result of political organising, Minneapolis City Council voted to disband their police force. Despite this, some people are still demanding for the complete abolition of police.

The call for defunding the police works within an abolitionist framework. Abolition seeks to end police and prisons. Instead of militarising communities, protesters are demanding a direct reinvestment of funds to the communities. This means investing in education, health-care and safe housing for all.

The abolitionist movement allows us to question the role of police in our society.

We are given the space to question why the police as protectors of the state are more interested in preventing the destruction of property than caring about black lives. Why the state chooses to criminalise homeless people instead of providing safe housing. Why police officers come into schools to ‘educate’ people about domestic and sexual violence rather than challenge or discuss patriarchy. Why an extension of the state is more invested in ‘stopping crime’ then recognising the direct link between crime and poor socio-economic conditions.

The act of abolition rejects the carceral system where punishment is interchangeable with the idea of accountability and justice. Abolition asks us to solve societal problems of patriarchal, sexual, racial, homophobic, transphobic and ableist violence. Abolition calls for transformative justice where we as a community focus on healing for survivors as well as perpetrators of crime.

In the end, the act of abolition demands for a more compassionate world for all of us.

Picture: Lucia Mai

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