African Americans in Taiwan yesterday held a rally in Taipei to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, and were joined by Aboriginal rights advocates who spoke out about all racist violence.
The movement has gained renewed momentum after George Floyd, an unarmed black man, died on May 25 when white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes, sparking worldwide protests against police brutality and racism.
The rally, which started at 2pm in front of the National Taiwan Museum, attracted nearly 300 people, according to police estimates.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Stefanie Davis, of the Black Lives Solidarity Global Initiative, said that it was important to show solidarity with people in the US, where there have been numerous protests and rallies.
Asked how the group expects Taiwanese to respond to the event, Davis said they hope to change stereotypes about black people and promote mutual understanding.
“There are more [black] people than just besides the NBA players that you watch on TV. They are real people,” she said.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
She said she hopes that when Taiwanese meet a black person, they would say “hello” instead of making comments, such as: “Oh, curly hair. What is going on?”
At the rally, KG Aniah said he got involved with the event for three reasons: “One, because I’m black. Two, because I’m black. Three, because I’m black.”
He said that it is time to give their parents and grandparents a rest, an apparent reference to previous rights movements, and stop being silent and start taking action to make a change.
Savungaz Valincinan, representing members of the Indigenous Youth Front, spoke at the rally in her native Bunun, saying: “Keep breathing.”
She said this is the first rally they joined that was organized by black people, with whom they empathized, as Aborigines have also experienced racism and exploitation.
Apart from speeches and performances, there were solemn recollections, including when people knelt on one knee in remembrance of Floyd and observed nine minutes of silence for black people killed by police.
John Liu (劉仲恩), a National Taiwan University associate professor of sociology, attended the rally with his family.
He said they have lived in several places across the US where they had become friends with many black people and empathize with the movement.
Racial prejudice is deep-rooted and manifests through different forms in the US, but has become more apparent during US President Donald Trump’s administration, he said.
University of Puget Sound associate professor of philosophy Sam Liao (廖顯禕) also attended the rally with his children.
The rally is a good opportunity for Taiwanese to observe different forms of oppression, while reflecting on their own prejudice against black people, Aborigines, Southeast Asian migrants and other minorities, he said.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is pushing for residents of Kinmen and Lienchiang counties to acquire Chinese ID cards in a bid to “blur national identities,” a source said. The efforts are part of China’s promotion of a “Kinmen-Xiamen twin-city living sphere, including a cross-strait integration pilot zone in China’s Fujian Province,” the source said. “The CCP is already treating residents of these outlying islands as Chinese citizens. It has also intensified its ‘united front’ efforts and infiltration of those islands,” the source said. “There is increasing evidence of espionage in Kinmen, particularly of Taiwanese military personnel being recruited by the
ENTERTAINERS IN CHINA: Taiwanese generally back the government being firm on infiltration and ‘united front’ work,’ the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association said Most people support the government probing Taiwanese entertainers for allegedly “amplifying” the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda, a survey conducted by the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association showed on Friday. Public support stood at 56.4 percent for action by the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Culture to enhance scrutiny on Taiwanese performers and artists who have developed careers in China while allegedly adhering to the narrative of Beijing’s propaganda that denigrates or harms Taiwanese sovereignty, the poll showed. Thirty-three percent did not support the action, it showed. The poll showed that 51.5 percent of respondents supported the government’s investigation into Taiwanese who have
Left-Handed Girl (左撇子女孩), a film by Taiwanese director Tsou Shih-ching (鄒時擎) and cowritten by Oscar-winning director Sean Baker, won the Gan Foundation Award for Distribution at the Cannes Critics’ Week on Wednesday. The award, which includes a 20,000 euro (US$22,656) prize, is intended to support the French release of a first or second feature film by a new director. According to Critics’ Week, the prize would go to the film’s French distributor, Le Pacte. "A melodrama full of twists and turns, Left-Handed Girl retraces the daily life of a single mother and her two daughters in Taipei, combining the irresistible charm of
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a