Kandie Gang Human Rides

Six EU countries — Italy, Finland, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia and the Czech Republic — have hard-right parties in government with further momentum gaining in France, Sweden and the Netherlands.

Not to mention Germany.

Being a foreigner living in Germany, I’m acutely aware and sensitive to how Germany portrays people of color (POC); especially in established organisations such as business or sports.

I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been to a cycling event and have seen other people of color actively participating.

Needless to say, Germany and cycling has a diversity challenge.

The good thing is, just as the FLINTA* community has Allys, so do BIPOCS.

One of these is Rilana.

When that video of affluent, young-adults singing “foreigners out” was all over the German-speaking internet she used it as a catalyst to fuel her energy:

It’s time to engage the Kandie Gang community and set an example against the right! —Rilana

And that is how the Kandie Gang Human Rides was started…

With a hundred other folks on bikes, we rode as a statement against hate, right-wing agitation and exclusion.

Why bicycles?

Because in a country (and planet) that values automobiles more than human-powered transportation, the bicycle is a vehicle for change.

View the full set of photos here¹