A pandemic has upended the “status quo”. While many people have fought around the world for equality, inclusion and basic rights, this year has amplified fighting injustice on a level we haven’t seen in awhile. Americans may think we are the center of the world, we’re not. But living in the most powerful country in the world, does have its advantages. Freedoms that other countries just don’t have like the right to protest and freedom of speech.

The horrific killing of Black Americans at the hands of police is nothing new. And every couple of years one killing shakes our community to its core and we march. This year was different. The killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd shook the world’s core. What makes these two more prevalent than others? The fact we all had time on our hands to actively do something about it.

In other countries around the world, there are people fighting daily against oppressive regimes. They don’t get worldwide attention and in some cases don’t even get national attention in their own countries. When a global pandemic makes the world stop suddenly, things become more clear. Our perspectives are sharper. Our tolerance level is low.

We collectively want state corruption and the pandemic to end, so we’re more engaged with the needs of others.

The citizens of Hong Kong have been fighting the Chinese government for a long time. In fact, some of the techniques such as using a leaf blower to pushback the smoke from tear gas and wearing gas masks have been used at Black Lives Matter protests in cities across the U.S. These were shared from citizens in one protesting country to another.

As the world stood with us in our fight against the brutal killings of innocent lives at the hands of the police and an inept, evil government that is caging children while separating them from their parents, they too are standing up against oppression in their own countries. They are fighting back against governments that support and serve a select group of citizens while leaving others to fend for themselves. They are fighting against police who are supposed to serve and protect them instead of killing, stealing, looting and raping citizens.

This pandemic has created an emotional whirlwind that many people just haven’t been able to stop. The stirring of these emotions are spilling over into passion to fight.

In the midst of a pandemic, people are fighting injustice.
At the risk of catching a virus with no vaccine, people are fighting injustice.
The threat of being jailed has not stopped people from fighting injustice.

The world is hurting. It’s bleeding. The wounds are deep. The collective resistance across the world against oppression is the healing we need today.

Here’s what’s happening around the world from what I’ve been able to find from Black Lives Matter protest, #EndSARS in Nigeria, protests against the governments in Belarus & Thailand, resisting police brutality in Latin America and so much more. If you’re a praying person, pray that the resistance wins and oppression ends. Once you finish praying, find a way to help.

And back in America we now have a detrimental U.S. Supreme Court that is poised to take away all the rights minorities in this country fought so hard to get access to. The shrinking pool of Republicans steeped in white patriarchal supremacy upholding racism has filled this country’s federal judicial positions with ultra-conservative, restrictive mostly white males. Now we have to continue to fight injustice but do so smarter. The other side has the law on their side, literally.

There are many ways to help. Find a way that works best for you. Each country has specific ways to help. Do a little research to find legit organizations you can connect with to continue this fight against injustice. James 2:14-26 says faith without works is dead. That means without action along with your faith nothing will happen. We can’t wish things will change. We have to figure out how to help the change occur.

14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. 20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone. 25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

James 2:14-26 Amplified version

And the world needs something momentous to happen right now.