• Green Party Steering Committee member Trahern Crews holding sign in front of the Minnesota state Capitol to mark Juneteenth by demanding reparations and police reform legislation from state lawmakers.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota's Black Lives Matter chapter took to the state Capitol on Friday to mark Juneteenth with a demand for reparations and real police reform in a continued push for racial justice following the death of George Floyd.

Juneteenth, the traditional commemoration date of the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, has taken on new resonance this year. There have been protests around the U.S. and beyond stemming from Floyd's death after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers.

On Memorial Day 2020 Officer Chauvin, now a former police officer of the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD), murdered George Floyd in the state of Minnesota where I live. The former officer kept his knee on George Floyd’s neck for eight terrorizing minutes, which ultimately led to the death of Mr Floyd. This event was live streamed by a Minneapolis resident on Facebook where you can hear community members telling the officer to stop because they knew he was killing Mr Floyd. Officer Chauvin and the other officers involved have been fired from the MPD and Officer Chauvin was formally charged with third degree murder.

Black Lives Matter spokesperson and Green Party Steering Committee co-chair Trahern Crews tells us about Minneapolis, the US city that has become a symbol of racism, police brutality and inequality.

George Floyd, the African-American man who was killed in brutal fashion by police performing an arrest, quickly became a symbol of the oppression and violence suffered by people of colour in the United States. The pain and anger of thousands burst forth in Minneapolis. Day after day, fires burned in protest and anger over a murder that will leave a mark on the city's memory. Demonstrations were soon taking place all over the country, in dozens of major cities – including Los Angeles, New York and Detroit – as well as hundreds of smaller cities and towns. In Detroit, a 19-year-old man who was taking part in the protests was killed as a car pulled up and fired shots into the crowd. Three more people lost their lives in similar circumstances elsewhere, and a curfew was imposed on 25 major urban centres. These kinds of numbers hadn't been seen since the aftermath of the assassination of Martin Luther King, in 1968.

• Both in Israel and the US, conversations about reparations and the Palestinian right of return are stifled by arguments explaining why injustice must go on and a yearning for the status quo.

The calls “Black Lives Matter” and “Free, Free Palestine,” serve to remind us that Palestine is not free and that if the lives of Black people mattered, there would be no need for the call. In both cases, people are in the grips of a cruel, racist system that refuses to let go. In both cases, people are being hunted down, caged, strangled, and shot to death, and the root cause of their suffering is rarely addressed.

ST. PAUL, Mn. — Minnesota's Black Lives Matter chapter took to the state Capitol on Friday to mark Juneteenth with a demand for reparations and real police reform in a continued push for racial justice following the death of George Floyd.

Juneteenth, the traditional commemoration date of the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, has taken on new resonance this year. There have been protests around the U.S. and beyond stemming from Floyd's death after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers.

February has been designated as Black History Month. However, the legacy of African people goes beyond the calendar. It must be understood that our story does not begin with slavery. Chattel Slavery impeded it. The Transatlantic Slave trade ruined Africa’s economy and total infrastructure. Not to mention, erasure of accomplishments and existence.

Africa and African People are the progenitors of scientific development, engineering, mathematics, architecture, medicine and early political developments such as state formation and monarchy. Before Colonization, our territories were more advanced than elsewhere.

Trahern Crews will present a talk on reparations for slavery and lead the discussion. Crews is co-chair of the Green Party of the US's working group on Reparations. He is also a member of the 4th CD Green Party and their representative to the Green Party of Minnesota Coordinating Committee. Crews is also a member of Black St. Paul. He has given numerous presentations about the topic of reparations. His presentation will cover mass incarceration, precedents for reparations, and HR40 and why it is important

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a group of over 60 prominent American citizens called for a full investigation into Reverend King’s assassination.

"The Green Party of the United States Working Group on Reparations stands in solidarity with members of the King Family and advisors’ call for action to reopen the probe into the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.," said Trahern Crews, a member of the Working Group.

The Green Party of the United States Black Caucus is proud to announce it has nominated and elected two co-chairs to its Green Party of the United States Reparations working group to secure full and complete reparations for the descendants of slaves in the United States of America.

Anika Ofori is a cultural artist, social entrepreneur and activist. She currently lives in New Orleans, Louisiana. She is a US Navy veteran. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Urban Ministry Leadership from Geneva College and a Master of Divinity from The Virginia Union University. She is a member of GPLA and GPUS-BC.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Green Party of the United States, following the lead of the party's Black Caucus, has endorsed U.S. House Resolution 40 -- Commission to Study and Develop Reparations Proposals.

The text of the Green Party resolution follows below. The resolution was passed by the party's National Committee, in which all accredited state Green Parties and Green Caucuses are represented.