Black Lives Matter Bay Area held a local demonstration in solidarity with Black Xmas actions across the country on December 23. Nine activists blocked the San Francisco International Airport exit at Highway 101 until they were arrested by the California Highway Patrol. All of those arrested were released from jail later that evening.

Black Lives Matter writes: Black Xmas is here and there will be no business as usual until we get accountability for our dead, and justice for the living. Instead of buying gifts to fuel this system, Black Xmas is a day of action to reject the degradation of Black families and communities by police, politicians, and predatory companies, and declare our inherent worth. We will disrupt business as usual until city, state, and federal budgets stop funding Black death and start funding Black futures.

Whether cisgendered, trans, or queer; women or men, elders or children – our Black families refuse to live trapped between poverty and police state violence. From slavery to segregation to the rampant state violence of the 21st century, Black communities have lived under the boot of state repression and corporate power for too long. Today, on Black Xmas, in solidarity with migrant, Palestinian and all oppressed people, we proclaim our humanity, reclaim our streets, and exclaim for the world to hear: Black Lives Matter.

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