Standing in solidarity: How Chicagoans can support organizers on the ground in Minneapolis and Louisville

Within the past 24 hours, Black folks around the world witnessed a televised revolution taking place in Minneapolis. Local organizers wanted justice after Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee on the neck of 46-year-old George Floyd, who was arrested on May 25 after a grocery store accused Floyd of trying to use a $20 counterfeit bill and called police. 

After eight minutes of whispering “I can’t breathe,” Floyd died. Another Black death at the hands of police was captured on video and shared on social media — and, for the upteenth time, the police officers weren’t arrested and the Black community felt they’d receive no justice. (Editor’s note: At press time Friday afternoon, ex-police officer Chavin had been arrested).

That’s why on Thursday night, organizers in Minneapolis took over the Third Police District, which later went up in flames. That’s why on Thursday night organizers in Louisville made makeshift barricades to protect themselves from the tear gas, rubber bullets and batons flung at them by law enforcement dressed in tactical gear. There, Black folks were still feeling the open wound of Officers Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankinson and Myles Cosgrove after killing 26-year-old Breonna Taylor, an EMT, while she was sleeping in her home in March. Even though organizers did their best to protect themselves, seven people still were shot Thursday night — one in critical condition, according to Louisville Courier Journal. 

With the COVID-19 pandemic still spreading and disproportionately impacting African Americans, local activists are asking Chicagoans not to travel to Minneapolis or Louisville to protest. Instead, they’re asking Chicagoans to safely support organizers in Minneapolis and Louisville by protesting at home and donating to organizers on the ground.  

“We are in the middle of a pandemic,” said Charlene Carruthers, founding National Director of Chicago-based Black Youth Project 100 (BYP 100), a youth organization focused on police accountability. She spoke with activists in Minnesota, who told her to encourage people not to travel to the state unless they’re offering a specific skill. 

“Large groups of people not only put individuals in the situation at risk, it places our loved ones at risk when we go back home,” she said. “In Minneapolis, just as it is in Chicago, Black communities are being hit pretty hard by COVID-19.”

In Minneapolis, African Americans currently make up 35% of the city’s 2,919 COVID-19 cases and in Louisville, Black folks make up 31% of the city’s 2,485 COVID-19 cases. In Chicago, Black people currently represent 31% of the city’s 44,160 total COVID-19 cases and 45% of the city’s 2,052 total COVID-19 deaths. 

Trina Trill, 27, is a Chicago resident and squad member with BYP 100. Although time has passed since COVID-19 cases first ramped up across the U.S. in March, she said, Black folks still need to remember the dangers of COVID-19 while protesting in various movements for Black lives. 

“If you’re going out tomorrow, make sure you’re wearing a mask at all times,” said Trill, who doesn’t use her real name out of concern for her safety. “Don’t take off your masks to speak into a megaphone or yell. If you can, wear some glasses, too, so that you won’t be tempted to touch your eyes. Make sure you’re social distancing as much as possible.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), coronavirus is airborne and spreads from person to person when respiratory droplets make close contact from sneezing or coughing. Trill believes that protests are necessary now because in her line of work, she’s witnessed injustice of Black people by the hands of white police officers. 

“If we continue along this route around policing, then Chicago can very easily become the next Minneapolis because of the many injustices that have been done year by year,” said Trill.

Here is a list of ways that Chicagoans can safely stand in solidarity this weekend: