Human rights cities and the expanding global toolkit for decolonization and racial justice

Amid a growing white backlash against racial progress that is rolling back voting rights and restraining public discourse and education about the history and legacies of slavery and colonialism, a global "George Floyd effect" has amplified efforts outside the United States to address systemic racism and engage growing numbers of US activists in the UN human rights system. Global institutions provide opportunities for US activists to expose US human rights violations linked to systemic racism, expand support and legitimacy for their claims, and attract influential global allies. Today's activism builds on the earlier internationalism of US advocates, which helped build international legal and institutional foundations for combating systemic racism. Within this globalized context of antiracism activism, local human rights city advocates in the United States have leveraged treaty reviews and mobilized around the newly created Permanent Forum on People of African Descent to heighten attention to systemic racism and broaden their analyses and alliances. These new global modes of engagement can help neutralize and roll back some of the threats to human rights that proliferate today.