 Over the past two weeks, and as a result of the heinous crime of George Floyd in the United States, we have witnessed the extraordinary transformation of the Black Lives Matter movement into a global mobilization against racism. This momentous events are happening against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic, which has revealed the stark inequalities that wreak havoc with many societies around the globe. Both events are connected. In country after country, it is minorities and vulnerable groups often discriminated against on account of the color of their skin that have borne the brunt of the consequences of the pandemic. The Black Lives Matter movement is a visceral reaction against racial inequality. But it stands for something broader, just as the struggle against apartheid in South Africa did. It stands for human dignity writ large, and for the proposition that all human beings are equal in worth. This proposition is of the heart of democracy. Those of us that care about democracy have the moral obligation to speak up today and say that Black Lives Matter. They matter for justice. They matter for equality. And most certainly, they matter for democracy. Black Lives Matter.