Arabs For Black Lives: The Middle East’s Response to the Death of George Floyd and How You Can Help

May 25th will definitely be a day that will go down in history as a date that changed the course of history. It was the day that George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer. The officer was caught on camera with his knee pressed against Floyd’s neck for eight long minutes, while Floyd’s last words were, “I can’t breathe”.

The death of George Floyd was another tragic murder of a black man at the hand of police in the United States, once again sparking the “Black Lives Matter” movement. This time the protests are fierce and are taking place not just in the United States but in different parts of the world.

The Arab world is taking part in the campaign in different ways, and it’s critical to realize that this is not just another hashtag, but a serious matter that everyone needs to take part in and fight to put an end to. One needs to raise awareness, educate themselves, donate money, push for black representation, and more!

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@mafazalsuwaidan and I worked on another post rooted in real accountable love for the Arab community and an acknowledgment of the anti-Black violence that manifests in so many of our spaces. we encourage you to read through these slides and really spend some time with yourself, your family and your community reflecting on how we can unlearn the biases we’ve internalized and check all the ways we uphold anti-Blackness in our spaces. Black Lives Matter. Black Lives Matter. Black Lives Matter. #blacklivesmatter #georgefloyd #arabsforblacklives

A post shared by rana | 𓂋𓄿𓈖𓄿 | رنا (@ranaabdelhamid) on May 31, 2020 at 5:10pm PDT

Rana Abdelhamid and Mafaz Al Suwaidan created a brilliant guide that helps Arabs understand how they can resist and fight racism in the region. We’ve compiled the points in the guide for you, and you can check out the post for more details on each point.

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@ranaabdelhamid and I worked on another post rooted in love for the Arab community and an acknowledgment of the anti-Black violence that manifests in so many of our spaces. we encourage you to read through these slides and really spend some time with yourself, your family and your community reflecting on how we can unlearn the biases we’ve internalized and check all the ways we uphold anti-Blackness in our spaces.

A post shared by ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Mafaz⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ مفاز (@mafazalsuwaidan) on May 31, 2020 at 5:19pm PDT

1- Learn the ways in which non-black Arabs historically contributed to, profit from, and promoted racism.
2- Understand that you can be Arab and have racial privilege.
3- Have conversations with your families and communities about their racism, even if it’s uncomfortable.
4- Elect Black Arab voices in your communities and leadership.
5- Stand in solidarity with, organize and fund initiatives to dismantle white supremacy and anti-black violence.
6- Stop using anti-black language.

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**I AM NOT MAKING ANY MONEY OFF OF THESE T-SHIRTS.** PALESTINIANS AND ARABS FOR BLACK POWER TEES ARE BACK TEMPORARILY. PRE ORDER LINK IN BIO, PLS READ WHOLE POST. I first created these shirts in 2016 to encourage people to display visible support for Black lives, in order to try and challenge anti-Black sentiment in Arab communities. I retired them in 2018, (except for use by Black4Palestine's organizing and coalition building work in the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon) because I was feeling conflicted about some aspects of the politics of printing and selling them. I've gotten a lot of requests recently, so I've decided to bring them back. We will be printing this week, first batch is set to go out June 8. T-shirts are pay what you can with a $5 minimum, plus shipping (USPS, $4 flat rate for a single shirt, $6 flat rate for multiple). The $5 minimum covers the cost of the shirt itself. Everything extra will be donated–after I recover costs of the shirts, 100% of all proceeds will go to a local grassroots, Detroit, Black-led org doing community organizing work on the ground (TBD.) Past groups that I've donated proceeds from t-shirt sales to have included Assata's Daughters (Chicago) and the Siwatu Freedom Team (Detroit). T-shirts will be hand screen printed at @habibihousedetroit , on Bella + Canvas Unisex Made in USA short sleeve black jersey tees. There's a link to the size chart on the order page. We also have limited number of (Gildan) black long sleeve shirts on hand, available by request. If you make an order and want a long sleeve, please reach out directly. **sorry but for now I'm only shipping within the USA; global shipping may come back eventually**

A post shared by leila abdelrazaq (@lalalaleilala) on May 31, 2020 at 12:59pm PDT

In another way that you can help and show support to the cause, you can order “Palestinians and Arabs for Black Power” t-shirts by Leila Abdelrazaq. The t-shirts are purely non-profit, and all the extra money and contributions from the sales will go to a local grassroots, Detroit, Black-led organization doing community work on the ground (TBD). This way you can show your support for the cause, raise awareness, and donate at the same time.

WE SAID THIS: Praying that the current events will put an end to racism once and for all.