'I couldn't stay home': Moah Pollas, an African American recent college graduate, explained why he was compelled to spend days demonstrating in the streets of the US capital against systemic racism, despite the fear of being arrested, or worse.
Protesters hold placards reading"I can´t breath" in Barcelona, on June 7, 2020, during a demonstration against racism and in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died after a police officer knelt on his neck in Minneapolis.
Born in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, Pollas was two years old when his family immigrated to the United States. His parents, who were fleeing political persecution, settled in the predominantly white California city of Burbank. "I grew up knowing that based on my skin color, people were going to perceive me in a more threatening way, perceive me in a more dangerous way and perceive me to be more violent.
"It causes you as a black person to police your actions on a daily basis, 24/7," he told AFP, sitting in the backyard of a home he shares with other students in northeastern Washington.It means that if he is walking down the street"and if there are white people walking in the same direction as me, I should probably step out of the way... I should probably do my best to look at the ground. I probably do my best to stay quiet.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Black Lives Matter protests continue to march on peacefully in the USBlack Lives Matter protests continue to march on peacefully in the US Tens of thousands of people marched Saturday against police brutality with few reports of problems in scenes that were more often festive than tense.
Read more »
MTN faces new allegations in US complaintMTN said it was considering filing another motion to counter the fresh allegations.
Read more »
First 20 US-donated ventilators installed at Soweto’s Baragwanath hospitalAt a ceremony at the hospital on Saturday, US Ambassador to South Africa Lana Marks said South Africa was the first country to receive ventilator donations from the United States Agency for International Development.
Read more »
US protesters take to social networks to co-ordinate plansSocial media platforms are used by activists to pass on protest information, offer help and boost funding
Read more »
Trump, a far remove from Kennedy, fans the flames of US unrestThe civil uprising after the killing of George Floyd has been centuries in the making, but perhaps Trump’s divisive militance will be US racism’s coda, writes Adam Schwarz
Read more »
WATCH LIVE | Zweli Mkhize receives ventilator machines donated to SA by the USHealth minister Zweli Mkhize will on Saturday receive ventilator machines donated to SA by the US to help in the fight against Covid-19.
Read more »