Category: Newsletter June 2020

Thinking racism structurally. What does the “Black Lives Matter Movement” have to do with the “Plough back the fruits” campaign?

by Boniface Mabanza

Since the assassination of the African-American George Floyd in Minneapolis, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement is experiencing a renaissance and is spreading worldwide. This article attempts to outline the links between this movement and the “Plough Back the Fruits” (PBF) campaign.

Racism in our country too?

There is much talk of (structural) racism these days, in response to the worldwide protests against racism and police brutality that flared up after the brutal murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. In the meantime, the conflict has also reached Germany. In several German cities, including Hamburg, Munich, Berlin, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, numerous people united under the motto “The lives of black people count” are demonstrating. Full article

Talking is silver, taking action is golden

Experiences with business dialogues

By Maren Leifker, Business and Human Rights Officer at Bread for the World

One thing is certain: dialogues between civil society organisations and companies on human rights issues are very much in vogue. It takes place both in an institutionalised form in so-called multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSI), in which political representatives generally also take part. The number of MSIs in Germany has risen sharply in recent years. Examples of this are the Textile Alliance, the Cocoa Forum and, since February 2020, the “car dialogue” initiated by the Ministry of Labour. There are also numerous dialogue processes between individual or several non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and companies, some of which are supported by critical shareholders or investors. Full article

Easing of lockdown must be done carefully to save lives

by Bishop Jo Seoka

The Covid-19 lockdown has taught some of us that people would rather choose money over life.

The easing of the lockdown, particularly in industries such as mining, has confirmed what Paul Getty, an American financier once said: “The meek shall inherit the earth, but not its mineral resources.”

It is true that miners or any other blue-collar workers toil so hard but die poor, while those who own the means of production accumulate money by any means opportunity avails.

There is sufficient evidence that since the mines were given the privilege to reopen their plants and call miners back to work, there has been an increase in deaths resulting from Covid-19.

Full article