The Black Lives Matter chapters in Minneapolis, Los Angeles, New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, and the San Francisco Bay Area declared the day, “Black Xmas” and took to the streets in protest.
The group converged on the Mall of America in Tennessee; the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, which resulted in the 45-minute closure of several terminal checkpoints; a freeway leading to the San Francisco International Airport, and other strategic points in each city.
The Black Lives Matter movement held similar protests at the Mall of America, last December, which drew hundreds of protesters and forced some stores to temporarily close their doors.
Today’s protests have received mixed reactions on social media via the hashtags #BlackXMas and #BlackXMas2. However, the group has been emphatic that today wouldn’t be “business as usual” for Americans.
“Black Xmas is here and there will be no business as usual until we get accountability for our dead, and justice for the living,” read a statement on the Black Lives Matter website.
The movement also noted that in 2015, more than 300 black people were murdered by the police.
“They are traumatic reminders of this country’s long pattern of devalued Black humanity and state sanctioned violence. Policing in the United States remains governed by a racist system of racial codes […] that deny Black humanity and disregard Black life,” read the statement.
