For over 600 years, Africa and its people have endured slavery, systemic racism, and brutal treatment across the world. From the transatlantic slave trade, which forcibly took 12.5 million Africans to the Americas, to the ongoing police violence and racial inequality in places like the United States, Brazil, Argentina, and Colombia, the suffering continues.
In the U.S., slavery’s legacy lives on through mass incarceration and police brutality, where Black Americans make up 40% of the incarcerated despite being only 13% of the population. In Brazil, 75% of police killings target Afro-Brazilians, while Afro-Colombians face displacement and violence. Afro-Argentines were nearly erased from history through systemic neglect and discrimination.
While Africa has welcomed the world, it has been plundered and exploited for centuries. Now is the time for the world to acknowledge the pain, injustice, and suffering endured by Africa’s people and work towards reparations and justice.