Forthcoming in: Schankweiler, K., Straub, V. & Wendl, T. (eds) (2019). Image Testimonies: Witnessing in Times of Social Media. London: Routledge. 4 “Moroccan lives matter” Practices and politics of affecting Kerstin Schankweiler The violent death of fishmonger Mouhcine Fikri, crushed in a garbage truck after a dispute with the police in the city of Al Hoceïma in Morocco on 28 October 2016, instigated the largest uprising in the northern Rif region and across the country since the so-called Arab Spring. The viral video of this incident not only drew widespread attention to what had taken place, but served a critical role in mobilizing and uniting people. Slogans of collectivization, such as “We are all Mouhcine Fikri”, soon appeared on protest signs, indicating the sense of cohesiveness that the tragic occurrence, conveyed by the video, had triggered. “We are all” 1 has become one of the most prominent tropes of solidarity in civic protest, effectively connected to social media, images and affects. In Morocco, there were also cross-references to other social movements: “Moroccan Lives Matter” was a slogan on a protest sign a young man was holding up in a demonstration shortly after Fikris death (Figure 4.1). It refers to the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States, which fights against racism, structural discrimination, police brutality and violence that Black Americans experience, and is especially associated with protests against police killings of black people and a series of shocking amateur videos. < figure 4.1 here > What had happened on that evening of 28 October? The story goes that the police confiscated the fish Mouhcine Fikri was selling and threw it into a garbage truck. Fikri followed, jumping into the truck in order to protest or save his goods. As the garbage compactor suddenly began operating—it was not clear why—two other men, who also