ST. PAUL, Minn. —
Minnesota’s Black Lives Matter chapter took to the state Capitol on Friday to mark Juneteenth with a demand for reparations and …
ST. PAUL, Minn. —
Minnesota’s Black Lives Matter chapter took to the state Capitol on Friday to mark Juneteenth with a demand for reparations and real police reform in a continued push for racial justice following the death of George Floyd.
Juneteenth, the traditional commemoration date of the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, has taken on new resonance this year. There have been protests around the U. S. and beyond stemming from Floyd’s death after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers.
Amid chants of “Reparations now” and “Cut the check,” Black Lives Matter organizers and several other activist groups called Floyd’s death a remnant of slavery’s legacy. Floyd, a Black man in handcuffs, died after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into his neck for nearly 8 minutes, ignoring Floyd’s cries of “I can’t breathe”.
