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The Red, the Black, and the Green by Christopher Johnson

The Red, the Black, and the Green

from 99% Invisible

by Christopher Johnson

Published: Tue Jun 17 2025

Show Notes

After Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd last year, tens of thousands of people all over the world took to the streets to protest police violence against Black people. And if you look at images from these marches, you will probably start to notice a common color scheme -- one involving a lot of red, black, and green. The flag was invented to unite Black people all over the world living under racial repression. When it first came into existence, the flag posed some bold questions about where Black people owed their loyalty: was it to the nations where their lives were demeaned and threatened? Or to a new nation - one they would build entirely for themselves? For hundreds of thousands of Black people, the red-black-and-green symbolized the answer.

The Red, the Black, and the Green

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The Red, the Black, and the Green | Podcst