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…

large street protest in sao paulo showing flares lit, lazers shining and large signs against brazilian president bolsonaro

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…

Info-Event and Bazaar for the upcoming trip of the Zapatistas in Europe at Thessaloniki University in Greece

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…

São Paulo

“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…

Hundreds march in Minneapolis for Oromos in Ethiopia

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…

Oromo woman kneels next to mural of Hanchalu Hundessa on the back of the Minnesota Oromo Community Center

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…

Tree House Villages Defend Ancient German Forest Against Expanding Coal Mine

Hambach Forest, Germany – Days after witnessing a massive direct action known as Ende Gelaende, where thousands of climate justice activists stormed coal infrastructure near Mönchengladbach, Germany, Unicorn Riot traveled 200km southeast to the 12,000-year-old Hambach Forest.

The Hambach, like many forests around the world,…

Journalist Dies During German Police Sweep of Hambach Forest

Hambach Forest, Germany – One person has been confirmed to have died during police operations to clear the Hambach Forest to make way for a coal mine. The injury leading to the man’s death took place Wednesday afternoon as officers were attempting to remove protesters…

Police Move to Clear Activists from Ancient Forest on Behalf of Coal Mining Company

Hambach Forest, Germany – One of the largest police mobilizations in recent North Rhine-Westphalian history is currently underway in Germany to evict activists protecting Hambach Forest. Thousands of government forces from all over Germany have descended onto the forest in recent days, bringing with them…

Greece’s First Housing Squat for Refugees & Migrants, Notara 26

Athens, Greece – Notara 26, a refugee and migrant housing squat in Athens, has housed over 7,000 refugees and migrants since its inception in September 2015. Unicorn Riot visited and toured Notara 26, the self-organized squat in the Exarcheia neighborhood of Athens, Greece. During our…

Greece: Political Prisoners Pt. 2 – Targeting of Anarchists & Autonomous Groups

Athens, Greece – While state repression in Greece is thousands of years old, modern Greek state repression has its roots in anti-communist and anti-anarchist policies from the 1920s, the World War II U.S.-imposed Marshall Plan, and a seven-year military dictatorship that ended in 1974. With…

Greece: Alternatives to Neoliberal Capitalism – Introduction

Athens, Greece – Aggressive neoliberal policies have created a vicious cycle of austerity in Greece for the last seven years. Greeks today experience a lack of dignity, with pension and salary cuts, while they are often unable to gain access to employment, housing, education, health…