The Black Lives Matter movement has been nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, after backer claims that “peace is founded on equality, solidarity and human rights.”
The hashtag that started a global rallying cry after the death of George Floyd in June 2020 could be about to receive one of the most prestigious of humanitarian awards.
Norwegian lawmaker, Peter Eide, a socialist left of the Storting, Norway’s parliament, wrote that he had nominated BLM for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize because “it struggled against racism and racially motivated violence.”
“BLM’s call for systematic change has spread around the world, forcing other countries to grapple with racism within their own societies,” Eide added.
The movement that also prompted the hashtag #blm and black out of social media accounts in retaliation to the death of unarmed Floyd in June 2020 in Minneapolis may well stand a chance of winning.
It is not unprecedented for a nomination of this calibre to be entered. Martin Luther King Jnr won in 1964 and Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese dissident, was the 2010 winner. Both were for contributions to human rights on the grounds of racial injustice.
Eide anticipates that “BLM will be among the favourites” when the winner is announced in December.
Although it is applying to be nominated the shortlist is not finally drawn until March 2021.
