If you think 2019 has been filled with protests,??? ?? ??? don't worry you're not imagining it.
Demonstrations took place in countries around the world, from Chile, to the UK, to Hong Kong. The issues that have captured peoples' hearts have varied greatly, from climate change to workers' rights, to income inequality. Celebrities like actress Jane Fonda and The Good Placestar Manny Jacinto have even participated.
Here's a list of a few of the protest moments that defined 2019. While the list isn't exhaustive, it does represent the wide range of issues that motivated people around the world to demonstrate for change.
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1. Puerto Rican musicians release protest song, July 2019
Puerto Rican rappers Residente and Bad Bunny join a march on the island one day after former governor Ricardo Rosselló announced he was stepping down. Credit: Pedro portal / Getty In July, hundreds of pages of offensive messages between Puerto Rican Gov. Ricardo Rosselló and other government officials were published. The messages, which were homophobic, misogynistic, and derisive towards people who died during Hurricane Maria, spurred protests to demand Rosselló's resignation that were attended by hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans.
Although Rosselló initially refused to step down, he finally announced his resignation on July 24 and officially left his post on Aug. 2.
Before that though, Puerto Rican musicians Residente, Bad Bunny, and iLe joined the protest effort, releasing a songcalled "Afilando los Cuchillos" (Sharpening the Knives) on July 17. They took barbs at Rosselló throughout the entire song, calling him corrupt and homophobic.
It was a hit — attracting 2.5 million views on YouTube within a day of its release, the New York Timesreported. The song encapsulated the anger people felt about the messages and Rosselló himself. "We were sharing the same anger as the Puerto Ricans," iLe explained to MTV. "We were all in the moment of what was going on here. I think it all came naturally expressing in our own way what we were feeling."
2. Elderly woman stands up to Hong Kong riot police, July, 2019
This woman isn't fazed by riot police. Credit: laurel chor / Getty Images Hong Kong has been wracked with protests since June, initially driven by an extradition bill introduced in April. The bill would have given the Hong Kong government the option to transfer criminal suspects to mainland China to face trial. Although it was withdrawn on Oct. 23, the unrest over the proposed legislation cascaded into larger pro-democracy protests.
“What happens in Hong Kong is not just a local issue, it is about human rights and democracy," one protester Suki Chan told Reuters in December. "Foreign governments should understand how this city is being suppressed."
During one protest, an elderly woman stood in front of a group of riot police in an attempt to stop them from shooting protesters, according to Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong. Although students have largely been at the center of Hong Kong's protests, the courage and fearlessness of this elderly woman stands out.
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3. Greta Thunberg inspires crowd at Global Climate Strike, Sept. 20, 2019
Greta Thunberg at the Global Climate Strike in New York City on Sept. 20, 2019. Credit: JOHN LAMPARSKI / WIREIMAGE / getty The name Greta Thunberg is practically synonymous with climate change action. In August 2018, the Swedish teenager began skipping school on Fridays to strike outside her country's parliament building and protest inaction around the climate crisis. The movement, called #FridaysforFuture, has since grown, with young people and adults around the world joining her efforts.
The scale and influence of her efforts were clear during Thunberg's appearance at the Global Climate Strike on Sept. 20, 2019, a little over one year after she started her lone climate change protests. Thunberg inspired 4 million people around the world in cities from New York City to Delhi to Kenya to join the largest global climate strike ever, in order to urge politicians worldwide to act to fix the crisis. Tech workers also participated in the strike, with employees from Google, Amazon, and Facebook walking out of their workplaces.
Thunberg ended New York City's march with a stirring speech that succinctly captured her frustrations around the climate crisis and relative indifference from world leaders.
"In fact, everywhere I've been the situation is more or less the same," Thunberg said. "The people in power, their beautiful words are the same. The number of politicians and celebrities who want to take selfies with us are the same. The empty promises are the same. The lies are the same and the inaction is the same."
4. Jane Fonda's Fire Drill Fridays arrests, Oct. 2019 - Present
Jane Fonda in her iconic red coat. Credit: Aurora Samperio / Getty Images 2019 was filled with powerful climate change moments, from the bizarre (see: Extinction Rebellion dropping a house in the River Thames), to the inspirational. Jane Fonda's weekly protests on Capitol Hill represent a third side: the iconic. Donning the same red coat, and bringing along a few famous friends, Fonda proves just how effective celebrities can be when they use their resources and star-power for good.
The protests, known as Fire Drill Fridays, were inspired by Thunberg's climate change strikes. At the time of writing, Fonda's been arrested four times because of her ongoing demonstrations. Other celebrities have even joined her, including Sam Waterston, Diane Lane, and Sally Field.
Despite the arrests, Fonda plans to keep protesting until January.
"We must start to live our lives as if this is an emergency, because it is," Fonda wrote in the New York Times. "Each of us one day will have to answer this question: What did I do to protect the planet for our children, grandchildren, and so many precious species while we still had time?"
5. Students jump turnstiles in Chile to protest subway fare hike, Oct. 18, 2019
Chilean students protesting the fare hike at Los Heroes metro station. Credit: JONATHAN OYARZUN / Getty Images In October, Chilean students participated in a mass fare evasion campaign in Santiago, jumping turnstiles to demonstrate against a proposed subway fare increase. Though the protests began as a result of the price hike, they soon evolved into demonstrations against income equality in general. The biggest day of demonstrations occurred on Oct. 25 in Santiago, with more than one million people coming together to express their displeasure with the government.
Although Chile's president abandoned the subway fare hike and has increased benefits to the poor, protests are still ongoing. Demonstrators still aren't satisfied, hoping for bigger changes, as the AP reported. In fact in April, voters will get to decide if they want to scrap the current constitution.
“If my grandmother retires, she shouldn’t die of hunger,” an 18-year-old protester Catalina Santana told the Associated Press recently. “If I go to a hospital, I shouldn’t die waiting for treatment. The professor teaching my classes shouldn’t be paid so little money. It can’t be this way.”
6. Amazon workers and activists protest Amazon in Europe on Black Friday, Nov. 29, 2019
Activists during Black Friday protests in front of Amazon's France headquarters. Credit: STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / Getty Images Across Europe, Amazon workers and activists used Black Friday to stand up to Jeff Bezos and his empire. Their particular gripes? Amazon's unsafe working environments and dismal pay. "Amazon workers in fulfilment centres are breaking bones, being knocked unconscious and taken away in ambulances, while pregnant women workers report being treated appallingly," GMB Union, a general trade union in the United Kingdom that organized the protests there, explained in a press release Amazon, for its part, told Newsweekthat these unions are "misleading" the media.
Amazon workers and activists protested across multiple countries in Europe, including Germany, France, the UK, and Spain on Black Friday. In Germany, employees at six Amazon distribution centers walked out. In France, dozens of activists placed old fridges and microwaves outside an Amazon depot, the BBC reported. These protests are in line with the general backlash against tech companies that has spread through 2019. As Mick Rix, GMB's national officer explained in a press release, "Amazon workers want Jeff Bezos to know they are people – not robots."
7. Lyft and Uber drivers strike to demand better pay, May 8, 2019
Lyft and Uber protests. Credit: Atilgan ozdil / Getty Images On May 8, drivers from Uber and Lyft united to protest their lackluster pay, among other grievances. Some drivers participating in the strikes asked passengers to abstain from calling rides on the companies' apps on the day of the protest. In New York City 300 protesters rallied against Uber and Lyft outside both companies' driver service offices in Long Island City, Voxreported. And in San Francisco around 200 people demonstrated outside of Uber's headquarters.
Bernie Sanders even tweeted his support.
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Months later, in September, California passed a bill that would make some companies like Uber and Lyft hire workers as employees rather than independent contractors. This change would give drivers better pay, healthcare, and other benefits they currently lack, and will go into effect Jan. 1, 2020. Unsurprisingly, both Uber and Lyft are fighting the law, with a pending 2020 ballot referendum asking voters to exempt ride-hailing companies from the law.
Topics Activism Social Good Politics Celebrities