STOCKHOLM — More than six thousand people have attended a Sweden-organised online protest to express support with the Black Lives Matter movement.
The digital “Sweden in solidarity with Black Lives Matter” rally Tuesday urged participants to “check in” at the Facebook accounts of the U.S. Embassy in Sweden and Nordic neighbors Denmark, Finland and Norway and post photos inspired by the ongoing U.S. events with George Floyd’s death.
The one hour-long online event with several speakers including poets, activists and politicians was organised by Swedish non-governmental organisations and Aysha Jones, a Gambia-born and Sweden-based activist and fashion blogger.
Jones said the protest was important to show support to people in America, but also to remind Swedes that racism “does exist here, it’s very real and people are being harmed from it."
In his speech, Rashid Musa, head of the Young Muslims of Sweden, called the current situation with African Americans in the United States as “colonialism 2.0.”
“Malcom X said it best: ‘Racism is like a Cadillac, they bring out a new model every year,’” Musa said.
