After reading The Global Legacy of George Floyd, I believe what made George Floyd’s death so influential was how it was recorded. The full video is online for anyone to see, and the video itself is brutal. It’s several minutes of a man getting choked to death with a knee on his windpipe, one could easily imagine a BIPOC family member/friend in that horrible situation. Because of its brutality, it inspires rage against the system that perpetrates such violence against its own citizens.

I believe people from other cultures latched on to the BLM movement because the militarization of the police against BIPOC communities is not exclusively an American problem. As seen in the interview, New Zealand was attempting to use the Christchurch shooting as an excuse to give previously unarmed police officers military weapons, and police Maori/Pacific communities. The spark of outrage from George Floyd’s death spread to New Zealand because if their government was allowed to continue militarizing their police, what happened to George Floyd could easily happen in their own communities.

I believe my most inspiring example of protest was the song Yesterday’s tears, made by a local musician in Kenya after cops killed 3 men who were pursuing a case against police brutality. I think that songs are a beautiful form of protest, it’s amazing hearing a crowd sing together and expressing their grief, rage, anger ETC. One protest song I really like is “Here’s to you” by Ennio Morricone, made after 2 anarchists were falsely sentenced to death in a United States court for robbery and murder. There was no proof of their guilt, they were only executed because of their revolutionary beliefs. I highly recommend this song.

An example of a movement that started in one country and spread across the globe is Kony 2012. Back in 2012, a video named Kony 2012 made by filmmaker Jason Russel went viral that detailed the atrocities committed by Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance army in Uganda. As of this blog post, it has over 100 million views on Youtube. Although the actions of Invisible Children and its founder are questionable, its influence on society in 2012 is undeniable. Everyone knew who Joseph Kony was, and was determined to take action against him.

The resurgence of Joseph Kony’s infamy lead the US to support the Ugandan government in its search for the LRA. Despite Kony 2012’s numerous flaws and its short life span as a cultural powerhouse, A single youtube video lead to a movement that influenced international military policy.