The death of George Floyd impacted the world in a way never encountered by any other event. It brought to light the already known fact of police brutality, specifically targeted towards black people. When the rest of the world first heard the news, they began to make connections between what happened in America to how their countries are operating. It made them realize that America is not the only country suffering horrific consequences of racism and racial inequality, but that they need to recognize and acknowledge the faults of their own country’s racism.

I was surprised to hear on the podcast that New Zealand police officers do not carry any form of weapons on them. It is puzzling to hear that as an American because all of the police officers in this country have a couple different weapons on them, including guns, with the intent of using them if they feel they are in danger. One of the points the speaker from Auckland, New Zealand points out is that their government was trying to create the pilot program. This program consists of armed police teams that move around with weapons. Especially after George Floyd’s death, many Australians did not approve of the pilot program. They feared that what happened to George Floyd would happen to them, so they fought against the program in hopes of preventing further police brutality.

Different groups of people in other societies felt connected to the BLM movement because they witnessed and experienced the same inequality in their own countries. A speaker from Brazil talked about how slavery in his country only ended recently and has not been addressed by people in his country. He mentions how he knew someone’s grandmother who owned a slave, emphasizing the significance and impact of slavery in his country. The speaker also talks about how his country experienced police brutality similar to George Floyd less than a week before George Floyd’s death. He talks about how a young man, João Pedro was falsely shot in the back by police and died because of it. No one seemed to care about João Pedro, but cared about George Floyd in America. This shows the level of racism in Brazil and how no one cared to recognize or talk about it. Ironically, the people of Brazil cared about American racism, but turned a blind eye to the racism within their own country.

An example of a movement would be the Global Climate Change Strikes. Greta Thunberg, a high school student from Sweden, inspired these series of strikes with her continuous advocacy for climate change and the need for climate change leadership. She inspired people around the world with her message, leading to the creation of the Global Climate Change Strikes in 2019. Over 150 countries participated in the strikes in September including the USA, Europe, and Africa. I remember her coming to NYC last year to lead some of the protests where students were skipping school to attend them. This movement is very powerful because it was represented by a large percentage of young people, including high schoolers. It showed how when there is a subject that the younger generation cares about, they will fight for change all around the world.