International

Black Lives Matter movement nominated for Nobel peace prize

Published

2 years ago

February 1, 2021

The Black Lives Matter movement has been nominated for the 2021 Nobel peace prize by Norwegian member of parliament Petter Eide.

We hold the largest social movement in global history. Today, we have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. People are waking up to our global call: for racial justice and an end to economic injustice, environmental racism, and white supremacy. We're only getting started ✊🏾 pic.twitter.com/xjestPNFzC
— Black Lives Matter (@Blklivesmatter) January 30, 2021

Eide said he nominated the organization because it is “bringing forward a new consciousness and awareness about racial justice,” according to the official nomination papers.

“BLM’s call for systemic change have spread around the world, forcing other countries to grapple with racism within their own societies,” he said.

Eide told ABC News that he has received threats and hateful messages since the nomination announcement but has no plans to rescind the nomination.

“This weekend I have received so many negative responses from individual Americans telling me that Black Lives Matter is a violent and aggressive organization, that they are deliberately using violence as a political communication tool and that nominating them for the Nobel Peace Prize is quite insane,” Eide said in an interview with ABC News.

Eide, who has represented the Socialist Left Party in the Norwegian parliament since 2017, said he researched the protest movement thoroughly before nominating it for the award that also includes a $1 million prize.

“We found studies showing more than 90% of the demonstrations in the U.S. were peaceful. Most of those incidents of violence was based on either aggressive police behavior or counter-demonstrations,” he said. “I’m quite convinced that Black Lives Matter is a peaceful organization.”

The Black Lives Matter movement was co-founded in 2013 by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi in response to the acquittal of the man who shot Trayvon Martin. In 2014 the movement gained a strong following after the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. In 2020, BLM became a widespread movement following the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

Eide’s nomination papers concluded, “Awarding the peace prize to Black Lives Matter, as the strongest global force against racial injustice, will send a powerful message that peace is founded on equality, solidarity and human rights, and that all countries must respect those basic principles.”

The winner of the Peace Prize is selected in October and the award ceremony is scheduled for Dec 10.

Follow Annaliese Levy on Twitter @AnnalieseLevy

China

North Korea tests missiles in simulated Nuclear counterattack

Published

1 week ago

March 20, 2023

Alexander Carter

Kim Jong Un has accused the U.S. and South Korea of carrying out nuclear military drills. In response to the claim, Un conducted a test Sunday simulating a nuclear counter attack on the U.S. and South Korea.

These aren’t the first accusations made by Un. On Sunday, tensions escalated after Un launched short range ballistic missiles from North Korea as part of ongoing tests, he said. Those missiles traveled approximately 500 miles, according to reports from South Korea and Japan. Un then went one KCNA, the North Korean State media, telling reporters that the threat of a Nuclear attack on the U.S. and South Korea was likely.

Furthermore, Un claims that testing his short range ballistic missile, helped to improve North Korea’s military capability if there was a need for a counter-offensive in a time of war. He stated that he needed to guarantee the country’s readiness for any “immediate and overwhelming nuclear counterattack.”

Un also claimed that countries such as the U.S. and South Korea “are getting ever more pronounced in their moves for aggression against” his country, according to reports from Fox News. Un said that it is of urgent matter that North Korea needs strengthen its nuclear arsenal in the wake of aggression towards his country.

“The nuclear force of the DPRK will strongly deter, control and manage the enemy’s reckless moves and provocations with its high war readiness, and carry out its important mission without hesitation in case of any unwanted situation,” Kim was quoted as saying.

The Associated Press reported that Jeon Ha Gyu, spokesperson of South Korea’s Defense Ministry, said it’s clear North Korea with its ramped-up testing activity is making “considerable progress” in nuclear weapons technology. According to reports Gyu did not detail any findings on North Korea’s claim about the successful warhead detonation.

Annual exercises have been carried out for week by the U.S. and South Korea which involve, U.S. B-1B strategic bombers. The B-1B bomber is capable of carrying up to 24 nuclear bombs and can travel at a speed of mach 0.9 while dropping bombs from 200ft above the ground. North Korea claims that these exercises are a very real threat to the country and that is is merely a rehearsal for what they believe to be a full on attack of their country.