We at Student for a Free Tibet UK wish to express unconditional solidarity with Black Lives Matter (UK) and the ongoing anti-racist struggle globally against institutional racism. While the current wave of protests have been sparked off by the murder of George Floyd, we also recognize UK’s history of systematic racism that has resulted in the death of Shukri Abdi, Sean Rigg, Leon Patterson, Mark Duggan amongst others. Further, we are also aware that black people in the UK are more than nine times as likely to be stopped and searched by the Police (1), and black people are twice as likely to die in police custody (2).
We, as Tibetans and our allies note how our struggles are interrelated, rooted in historical and ongoing oppression. Martin Luther King Jr famously said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” and we understand that though we may never have your experience, we stand with you in this fight against injustice. We also call upon Tibetans and allies to have these conversations within their own communities, while strongly addressing anti-black sentiment. We promise to educate ourselves better and be united in this struggle.
For the past two weeks, our members have joined in many of the BLM marches in the UK and we shall continue doing so, while following all covid precautions. We encourage people to show up, physically or virtually and amplify black voices. We are also signatories to the petitions demanding decolonising British History to highlight the contribution of Black and Asian communities in building UK.
Once again, we offer our complete support and solidarity to BLM UK. We are together in this fight against oppression and racism with compassion and humanity for all.
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