Chris Smalls was sacked by Amazon after leading a walkout in the Staten Island warehouse in New York over unsafe working conditions during COVID-19. It was just the latest in a series of outrages from a company infamous for exploitation and racism towards its workers.
Now Chris is asking you to boycott Amazon on Friday June 19 – Juneteenth – in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and with Amazon workers. June 19 is the day in the USA when emancipation from slavery is celebrated.
If you’re an Amazon worker, don’t go into work or call in sick. Everyone else: don’t buy from Amazon or any of their subsidiaries that day – particularly Whole Foods, where workers in the USA have also been forced to walk out over safety concerns. At least three Whole Foods workers have already died of COVID-19. Obviously the workers would greatly appreciate it if you could continue your boycott until Amazon and Whole Foods decide to keep their workers safe and treat them with dignity.
If you do have to buy something, buy from small black-owned businesses. And lastly, post a picture of yourself with someone from a different ethnicity, with the hashtag #GlobalUnity2020.
Capitalism depends on racism. Support Black Lives Matter on Juneteenth: #ShutDownAmazon.
