Even talking about rights of the black people is idiotic. They are HUMAN!!! The skin colour isn't important.

Alice,

What I’m hearing on social media is that this suggested action is not the request of any protest organizer/movement leader. In fact, leaders whose posts I’m reading say doing this prevents communication of the protest message and coordination with protesters.

I’m also thinking about how one of the most important actions US citizens can take right now, donating money to bail funds, legal aid, and other community-driven efforts to deal with the effects of the protests, is <em>not </em>an advisable action for non-US citizens to take right now.

Instead, I’d suggest that people around the world buy and read — in either English or translation to their native languages — the writings of black American activists, journalists, and scholars (Ta-Nehisi Coates, Mikki Kendall, Brittney Cooper, Adam Serwer, Jamelle Bouie, Angela Davis, James Baldwin, and others). I suggest that folks buy the art of black American creative workers.

How does posting a black screen help?

Posting black squares is a form of peaceful protest. Consider the fact that you’re posting about it on a discussion thread on a website with millions of users around the world, many of whom might have not heard about what’s going on till they saw this thread.

Online activism is difficult to quantify, but it’s not as ineffective as you seem to think it is. It gets people talking, which raises awareness.

Peaceful protests are the best way to raise awareness. Not posting black squares and definitely not violent riots.