Category: Global
German Police Evict Encampment Outside the Historic KØPI Squat
Berlin, Germany – A massive police operation evicted the autonomous mobile encampment “Köpi Wagenplatz” which took up residence in front of the historic and decades-old Köpi squat. Police detained 20 during the siege-like eviction which took several hours on October 15. In response, large protests…
Climate Activists Disrupt German Coal Mine Expansion
Lützerath, Germany – A mass demonstration led by a diverse coalition of climate activist groups on October 31 was the largest yet in Lützerath, a small village in the German Rhineland occupied by activists since last year. The march of about 5,000 people was the…
One Year After George Floyd in Europe: The Deep Roots of Racism in Germany [Video]
In June 2021, Unicorn Riot went to Frankfurt and Berlin, Germany to show what impact the murder of George Floyd had in European countries. Germany is significant because it had the second biggest Black Lives Matter mobilizations in the world following the death of George…
Brazil: 600K Deaths, Emergency Aid Ends, Protests Continue, & People Call for Lula 2022
Just over a week after President of Brazil Jair Messias Bolsonaro’s speech at the 76th United Nations Assembly on September 21, 2021, hundreds of thousands of Brazilians returned to the streets to request the immediate removal of Bolsonaro and his administration. As Brazil passes 600,000…
Brazil: Mutual Aid During COVID-19 and Bolsonaro’s Mismanagement
Mutual aid projects are providing much needed support and hope to those in Brazil as the country continues to deal with the humanitarian crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Brazil has one of the worst death rates in the world from COVID-19, with over 589,000…
🦄 Global
Origins of the PKK and the ‘Rojava’ Revolution: Part Two
An autonomous region in northern Syria where governance is based on cooperative economics, radical ecology and women’s rights has been crafted over the last decade. This region was initially called “Rojava” (Western Kurdistan) and is now officially known as the Autonomous Administration of North and…
Police in Brazil Killed Record Amount of People in 2020
An average of 17 people a day, totaling at least 6,416 people, were killed by police in Brazil during the year of 2020. These staggering totals set the highest amount ever recorded since tracking police killings in the country of over 211 million people. The…
Protests Highlight U.S. Non-Profits Driving Ethnic Cleansing in Palestine
On July 27th, Palestinians and allies held protests in East Meadow, Long Island and Brooklyn as part of the Defund Racism campaign targeting US settler organizations that support the theft of Palestinian land. The Long Island protest was outside the home of Yaakov Fauci, an…
Are the “Fora Bolsonaro” Protests Enough?
Time and time again millions of Brazilians go back to the streets to protest against misgovernance. Rocked by the shouts of “Fora Bolsonaro” (Bolsonaro out) and opposing shouts of “Olê, olá, Lula, Lula,” around 500 Brazilian cities, including all the capitals and another 17 countries…
Romania: Bucharest Pride Under Siege
Bucharest, Romania – For the first time in 15 years, the yearly pride march organized by the LBGTQI+ NGO Accept has faced cancellation. Romania, the former east bloc European country whose claim to fame is a highly restrictive communist dictatorship followed by a televised revolution…
Origins of the PKK and the ‘Rojava’ Revolution: Part One
The Arab Spring movement of 2011 – 2012 initiated one of the largest and most impactful international waves of protest in recent world history. This movement began in the small North African country of Tunisia, which soon toppled its longtime dictator, Zine El Abidine Ben…
Over 212 Dead and 3,400 Arrested as Protests Rock South Africa
Durban, South Africa – At least 212 people have been reported killed and some 3,400 arrested in what observers describe as the worst political violence South Africa has experienced since the early 1990s. The unrest began on Thursday, July 8 in response to former South…
In Gentrified Amsterdam, A New Wave Of Squatters Vows To Reclaim The City
The Netherlands – In Amsterdam, where the occupation of empty buildings was made illegal in 2010, a new generation of squatters has been staging bolder and more daring actions, continuing the local tradition of defiantly ignoring the ban.
Part of a new generation of squatters…
Brazil: Hoping for a Vaccine, Food on the Plate and #ForaBolsonaro
Brazilians tired of waiting for President Jair Bolsonaro have taken the streets as part of a mass movement organized by labor unions, various sports clubs, anti-authoritarians, and the political party Raízes 88, among other organizations. As deaths from the coronavirus pandemic top 530,000, massive bi-weekly…
Brazil: The People, at Last, Took to the Streets
Hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets in all regions of Brazil last weekend to protest against the administration of President Jair Messias Bolsonaro and call for his impeachment. The day of massive protest came as the Brazilian people live the uncertainties of…
Greece: New Education Bill Brings a New Students Movement
Thessaloniki, Greece – A new generation of students is rising to fight a proposed education bill and raise their voice against the Greek government for what they call criminal mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Universities in Greece have been closed since March 2020. In this…
Thousands March in Celebration of Mayday 2021
International Workers Day or ‘Mayday’ is a annual holiday held on the first of May to celebrate the achievements and sacrifices of the international labor movement. The holiday started in the United States over a century ago to commemorate the workers who campaigned to achieve…
The Invisible “THEY”
Brazil leads the world in the number of deaths of transgender people. This reality is reflected in the quality of life, lack of representation, and the unmasked transphobia present in the lives of the great majority of trans people in Brazil. The country has been…
“Brazil is Asking for Help” – Artists and Activists Speak Out
COVID-19 continues to ravage Brazil, leading to record numbers of daily deaths. For a deeper understanding of some of the impacts the coronavirus pandemic is having on several areas and aspects of life, Unicorn Riot recently heard from four Brazilians across different states.
Brazilian Pandemonium:…
Brazilian Pandemonium: COVID-19 Kills Over 300K
A little after a year since the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Brazil and its population is suffering under a steady increase in the daily number of cases. Over 300,000 deaths have occurred since the first reported contamination on February 26, 2020, when a…
Brazil Nears 200K Deaths as Politicians Continue to Downplay COVID-19
Espirito Santo, Brazil – Devastation spreads across Brazil as the number of coronavirus cases continue to climb among the highest in the world, second only to the United States. Insecurity, hunger and viral infection threaten more and more Brazilians as far-right president Jair Bolsonaro continues to…
Greek Police Occupy and Desecrate Memorial Site of Teen They Killed
Athens, Greece – On the anniversary of his death, riot police occupied the memorial site and desecrated flowers left for 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos, who was killed by Greek police twelve years earlier. Police made at least 62 arrests in Athens and over 150 across Greece…
Echoes of George Floyd in Brazil: Man Kneeled On, Killed by Security Guard
João Alberto Silveira Freitas, a 40-year-old Black man, was beat to death by security guards outside a Carrefour supermarket in Porto Alegre, Brazil, on November 19, 2020. Moments of the beating and killing, which happened a day before Brazil’s Black Awareness Day (Black Consciousness Day),…
South African Unions Form Alliance Against Government
Durban, South Africa – On October 7, 2020, South Africa’s four largest trade union confederations COSATU, SAFTU, FEDUSA, and NACTU organized a national one-day strike in response to ongoing, failed negotiations with the government. These rival union confederations have combined forces in an effort to…
Grand Rally Oromo Protest Demands U.S. Stop Funding Ethiopia
Minneapolis, MN – Hundreds marched through downtown Minneapolis Friday afternoon in the Little Oromia North American Grand Rally. The demonstrators, some of whom came from cities like Seattle and Denver, demanded justice after a summer of repression against Oromo protests in Ethiopia. They also called…
Youth Lead Summer of Oromo Protests in Minnesota
Saint Paul, MN – On June 29, famed Oromo singer and activist Hachalu Hundessa was assassinated in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, sparking renewed rounds of protests by Oromo people across the world.
Hundreds have been killed protesting in Ethiopia since Hachalu’s murder, with upwards of 10,000…
Historic Squats, Rosa Nera and Terra Incognita, Raided by Greek Police
Chania, Crete – Early Saturday morning, Greek riot police invaded and evacuated the historical Rosa Nera, a squatted social center on the island of Crete. Police made 16 arrests and injured a journalist with a flashbang during the raid.
Those living in the center, including…
South African Youth Rally as Gender-Based Violence Rises
Durban, South Africa – On Saturday, August 29, thousands of South Africans marched in opposition to rising rates of sexual and gender based violence (GBV). Protesters marched in at least four different cities including Durban, Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Pretoria.
Unicorn Riot was in Durban…
Worker-Occupied Factory Sends Soap to Refugee Camp – Coronavirus in Greece, Part 2
Thessaloniki, Greece – Refugees in the overcrowded Moria Camp are expected to receive 1,500 soaps donated from the workers of the self-managed factory Vio.Me. Occupied for over seven years now after their bosses stopped paying the workers, the Vio.Me. factory produces eco-friendly soaps and cleaners.…