Presentation of the book "Voices of BLM" in Lviv canceled due to a wave of racist threats - publisher
Kyiv • UNN
The publishing house "Choven" canceled the presentation of Oksana Briukhovetska's book "Voices of BLM" after a wave of threats against the author, publishers, and journalist Terrell Starr. The reason for the aggression was a tragedy in the USA, where a Black man killed Ukrainian Iryna Zarutska.
The publishing house "Choven" announced the cancellation of the presentation of Oksana Briukhovetska's book "Voices of BLM" after numerous threats against the author, publishers, and American journalist Terrell Starr, who was supposed to participate in the event. "Choven" reported this on Facebook, writes UNN.
Details
The publisher's statement notes that a large number of offensive and openly racist comments appeared on social media ahead of the event. The main reason for the attacks was the tragedy when a Black man killed Ukrainian Iryna Zarutska in the United States.
The book "Voices of BLM" (Black Lives Matter) directly addresses the topic of the Black race and its oppression in America.
Over the past few days, we have received numerous vulgar, racist, hateful comments and threats on social media against the author and the publishing house regarding the planned event. Among the commentators were many bots, but also many real Ukrainians. None of them had read the book, nor did they understand the context the author was writing about.
The incident of the Ukrainian woman's murder in the US, according to the publishers, was deliberately used for manipulation, linking it to the book, which has no relation to the tragedy at all.
Only provocateurs or people who are easily manipulated could connect the book and the tragedy that occurred. Or these people are indeed like that – they hate others precisely for their otherness, including their skin color
Threats were received by both the author and the Black journalist Terrell Starr, who has been working in Ukraine for several years and regularly writes about resistance to Russian aggression for American media.
It was difficult for us to explain to Terrell, who has been working in Ukraine for the third year in a row, why so many Ukrainians wish him to "die...", why they consider him a "beast..." and not a human being
The book "Voices of BLM" is the result of many years of the author's work, who since 2020 has been collecting interviews in the US during the Black Lives Matter protests that unfolded after the murder of Black American George Floyd, after which a wave of protests in defense of African Americans swept not only America but also the world. In July 2025, the book was published in Ukraine.
"Choven" emphasizes that the refusal to hold the presentation is not a victory for the book's opponents:
"The people who achieved the cancellation of the event will probably think they won. In fact – no! We all lost. Because the stories of the heroes of "Voices" are stories about the struggle for dignity, for the right to be oneself. And in this, we are very similar to African Americans, no matter how much the difference in skin color may bother some people."
The publishing house also warns: similar incidents can undermine Ukraine's international reputation and notes that if soon in the world media one can again read that Ukrainians are a nation of xenophobes, racists, anti-Semites, then it is worth remembering: after every such situation, like the cancellation of a book presentation against racism, it will be more difficult to refute this to friends and supporters of Ukraine.