#BlackLivesMatter: Syrian artists pay tribute to George Floyd

“I can’t breathe”… The words that can be seen in the fresco painted by two Syrian artists from the province of Idlib are the last words of George Floyd, a black American citizen, who died as a result of excessive use of force during a police checkpoint in Minneapolis, USA.

International reactions

Throughout the world, this episode moved and aroused strong reactions. Riots in the United States…

 

Couple shots from the protest yesterday✊ defo encourage everyone to go this weekend n make your voice heard #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/c3xDxo63cv

— Tee (@Teetwitta98) June 4, 2020

Demonstrations in Paris…

 

Justice pour Adama ✊🏾✊🏽✊🏼✊🏻
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📷 @damienpaillard #justicepouradama #justiceforgeorgefloyd #justicepourtous #icantbreathe #georgesfloyd #blacklivesmatter #damienpaillardphotography pic.twitter.com/i1FmqLFfgD

— DamienPaillard (@DamienPaillard) June 3, 2020

… London…

 

John Boyega at BLM protests in London. The pain in his voice. pic.twitter.com/915r2t8YNd

— Hasan Patel 🌹 (@CorbynistaTeen) June 3, 2020

And Rio de Janeiro…

 

Brazil suffers its own scourge of police brutality, In Rio, police killed close to 6 people a day in April. Impunity for abuses is the norm. More than 75% of the almost 9,000 people killed by Rio police since 2010 were black. My piece for @AmerQuarterlyhttps://t.co/C0TzGishWt pic.twitter.com/jxjOSIMMi5

— César Muñoz (@_Cesar_Munoz) June 3, 2020

As well as Syria, where artists Aziz Asmar and Anis Hamdoun have depicted the deceased on a ruined wall in Binnish, their town in Idlib province, with an unequivocal message: No to racism.

A committed artist

Aziz Asmar, a Syrian street-artist working to cover the bombed walls of his city with messages denouncing injustice, war, and oppression, had recently undertaken to raise awareness among his fellow citizens about the COVID-19 pandemic. Asked by La Croix about his motivations, he thinks of the children in his neighborhood: “I just want to draw a smile on their faces and teach them to love and do good. After all these years of war, all these sacrifices, I pray that our children will finally know happiness”.

Like him, many of those who speak out want to put an end to racist outbursts and police violence.