2020 has been a crazy year for me, ofc, I started being really active on Twitter, realized I was bi, and even chut pooled with someone I met on here, but the one thing that I'll remember 2020 for is a year of uprising. 1/
Every year is a year of uprising, ofc, and if you think otherwise you're just not paying attention, but it makes a huge difference when an uprising takes place where you live. And bc I've been on Twitter so much this year I've been able to follow uprising all over the globe 2/
So here's a shout-out thread to the uprisings of 2020, but it's also a thank you thread, bc I've learned so much from following uprisings all over the world and in my own backyard. Apologies if I left out your country, I'm a little tipsy from new year's drinking lol 3/
First and foremost, thank you so much to the BLM protestors all over the US, but esp in Seattle for teaching me that riots and looting are in fact good things, but most importantly, what community, solidarity, and indeed a better future can look like. 4/
There's so much more I could go into about BLM, but I will not bc this is not the place. But like for so many others the night I heard the news of the burning of the Minneapolis 3rd precinct was earth-shattering. And we must not settle for anything less than total abolition. 5/
And who could forget Hong Kong, who taught me so much about protests in 2019, and who in 2020 I shed so many tears for on July 1 when the protestor's worst nightmare became reality as the full force of state repression came down on HK with the passage of the NSL 6/
Then there's Belarus, whose dismantling of a water cannon was one of the most entertaining things I've seen this year, proof that even the state's weapons are not invincible. Not to mention the taxi driver who helped the protestors escape!! 7/
And Thailand, whose footage of riot cops attacking was so reminiscent of HK that it was like the universe was playing tricks on my brain. And whose sense of humor in using rubber ducks was clever and honestly just funny! 8/
Indonesians carried the energy of 2019's protests when they rioted against the Omnibus law. I still have Jokowi blocked on here in solidarity with them 9/
Nigeria came out for very similar reasons as we did in the US for BLM, but suffered so much more when dozens were murdered by their military at Lekki toll gate.
10/

Colombia burned 30 or so police stations to the ground and had some amazing scenes of mutual aid with tons of books just offered to anyone, free to take. 11/
Kyrgyzstan took over their presidential palace and parliament building, proved that a revolution can be a dinner party, and overwhelmed an entire line of riot cops to the point that the entire line fled in terror in one of the most inspiring videos from 2020 12/
We all wept for Lebanon when the explosion happened in Beirut, but they have kept up the fight against their govt. Hope their govt falls, just like the Lebanese people I follow said it would. 13/
But we cheered as Chile voted to rewrite their constitution and remove the last remnants of the authoritarian dictatorship the US installed starting with Pinochet 14/
And in Inner Mongolia, Mongolians fought to preserve their mother tongue as it was removed as the language of instruction in their schools and replaced with Mandarin. Showing the world what it means to stand up for linguistic rights and liberation 15/
Guatemala set fire to the parliament building, sth I'm still incredibly jealous of lol. But I suppose making a president hide in a bunker is pretty cool too. 16/
France rioted against Loi Sercurite Globale with fearless protestors throwing chairs at cops, and firefighters that set themselves on fire while fighting the police lol 17/
Oh and Mexico! Mexican feminists and anarchists fighting for women's rights just south of the US! And the iconic photo of one such anarchist kicking the shields of a line of riot cops 18/
And in Poland there was the huge convoy of tractors as farmers showed up for abortion rights. As well as another iconic photo of the woman waving the pride flag among the tear gas 19/
And Peru, turning out against the coup that happened that installed a right-wing president 20/
Speaking of coups, can't forget Bolivia who ousted their president who was installed in the coup last year, after months of sustained protests led by Indigenous Bolivians. 21/
And the Philippines, whose Junk Terror bill eerily paralleled the Hong Kong NSL and went into effect virtually simultaneously. We wept for them too 22/
In Ethiopia, the people of Tigray are still fighting back against their own govt as it has declared war on them and genocided their people
perhaps the one story of 2020 I wish got far more attention 23/

And also the Oromo people of Ethiopia were also taking a stand against their govt for murdering and oppressing them 24/
And then in India, the people of Kashmir still fight to be free, as well as Sikh farmers still fight and strike for their rights 25/
I'm really tired so I'll end the thread here. But basically, while 2020 has been a year of hopelessness, the fact that people all over the world still rise up to fight for a better future has been a huge source of inspiration for me, and I just wanted to say thanks. 26/26