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Introduction
Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people and to promote anti-racism. Its primary concerns are police brutality and racially motivated violence against black people. The movement began in response to the killings of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Rekia Boyd, among others. BLM and its related organizations typically advocate for various policy changes related to black liberation and criminal justice reform. While there are specific organizations that label themselves "Black Lives Matter", such as the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, the overall movement is a decentralized network with no formal hierarchy. , there are about 40 chapters in the United States and Canada. The slogan "Black Lives Matter" itself has not been trademarked by any group.
In 2013, activists and friends Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi originated the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter on social media following the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of African-American teen Trayvon Martin. Black Lives Matter became nationally recognized for street demonstrations following the 2014 deaths of two more African Americans, Michael Brown—resulting in protests and unrest in Ferguson, Missouri—and Eric Garner in New York City. Since the Ferguson protests, participants in the movement have demonstrated against the deaths of numerous other African Americans by police actions or while in police custody. In the summer of 2015, Black Lives Matter activists became involved in the 2016 United States presidential election.
The movement gained international attention during global protests in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. An estimated 15 to 26 million people participated in Black Lives Matter protests in the United States, making it one of the largest protest movements in the country's history. Despite being characterized by opponents as violent, the overwhelming majority of BLM demonstrations have been peaceful.
The popularity of Black Lives Matter has shifted over time, largely due to changing perceptions among white Americans. In 2020, 67% of adults in the United States expressed support for the movement, declining to 51% of U.S. adults in 2023. Support among people of color has, however, held strong, with 81% of African Americans, 61% of Hispanics and 63% of Asian Americans expressing support for Black Lives Matter as of 2023. (Full article...)
Selected general articles
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Image 1"Chains" is a song by American R&B recording artist Usher featuring American rapper Nas and German singer-songwriter Bibi Bourelly. It was released on October 15, 2015, as a Tidal exclusive. The song is titled “Chains”, the interactive video experience is called “Don’t Look Away”, using facial recognition technology forcing viewers to watch, to keep their eyes fixed on those of the victims. (Full article...)
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Image 2Elijah Jovan McClain (February 25, 1996 – August 30, 2019) was a 23-year-old American Black man from Aurora, Colorado, who was killed as a result of being illegally injected with 500 mg of ketamine by paramedics after being forcibly detained by police officers. He went into cardiac arrest and died six days later in the hospital. He had been walking home from a convenience store. Three police officers and two paramedics were charged with his death. Both paramedics and one of the officers were convicted of negligent homicide. The other two officers were acquitted of all charges.
On August 24, 2019, three Aurora Police officers confronted McClain after responding to a call by an Aurora civilian about an unarmed person wearing a ski mask that looked "sketchy". The three police officers who were involved in the incident (Nathan Woodyard, Jason Rosenblatt, and Randy Roedema) all said that their body cameras were knocked off during a struggle with McClain. McClain was forcibly held to the ground with his hands cuffed behind his back, after which Woodyard twice applied a choke hold. Upon arrival paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec administered ketamine, later determined to be in excess of a therapeutic dosage, to McClain to sedate him. While on scene McClain went into cardiac arrest. Three days after arriving at the hospital, he was declared brain dead, and was removed from life support on August 30. (Full article...) -
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On June 13, 2020, two community activists local to the Tallahassee area, 19-year old Oluwatoyin Salau and 75-year old Victoria Sims, were found murdered in Tallahassee, Florida.
The suspect, Aaron Glee Jr., who was 49 at the time of the murders, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder and felony murder among other charges. He pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and kidnapping to avoid the death penalty, which the prosecution sought. However, Glee was sentenced to life in prison on September 22, 2023. (Full article...) -
Image 4The Native Lives Matter campaign was established in 2014 by Akicita Sunka-Wakan Ska (Troy Amlee) from the Cheyenne River and Standing Rock Sioux Tribes and JR Bobick from St. Paul, Minnesota. The goal of the campaign is to bring social issues affecting Native Americans, such as police brutality, poverty, and mental health, into a national dialogue and rally for social justice reform. The campaign uses social media platforms Facebook and Twitter to spread news about social justice issues Native Americans are facing as well as to build a community.
According to the movement, ways to lessen and eventually cease police brutality against Native Americans include hiring a police force that better represents its service population in counties with a dense Native American population. This would allow for more cultural understanding and address racial issues that lead to police brutality. Cultural healing programs would also lessen police brutality by addressing issues such as mental health, addiction, and poverty, as these things contribute to the high crime rates of reservations and police presence. These programs would require a reallocation of government resources. (Full article...) -
Image 5The Mothers of Gynecology Movement sprang out of criticism of 19th century American gynecologist J. Marion Sims' experimental surgeries on enslaved Black women who were unable to consent to their surgeries. Their surgeries were often performed without anesthesia. His work has been described in the late 20th century as an example of racism in the medical profession. Though Sims had many patients, there are only three known patients of his: Anarcha Westcott, and two lesser known women, Lucy and Betsey, which have been described as the "mothers of gynecology" in the United States, to demonstrate the contributions of their experiences to modern medicine.
In 2017, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio launched a commission to evaluate a statue of J. Marion Sims in Central Park. During the 90-day evaluation period, author J.C. Hallman's essay about the Sims monument, "Monumental Error", appeared on the cover of Harper's Magazine. Hallman’s essay was published during the time of the New York City Public Design Commission held public forums to evaluate monuments city-wide. The piece contributed to the greater, nationwide debate about the role of Confederate monuments. The article was distributed to the entire commission. The Sims statue was voted out by unanimous decision and removed in April 2018. (Full article...) -
Image 6On August 23, 2020, Jacob S. Blake, a 29-year-old black man, was shot and seriously injured by police officer Rusten Sheskey in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Sheskey shot Blake in the back four times and the side three times after Blake opened the driver's door of an SUV belonging to the mother of his children, and attempted to reach inside for his documents that were requested by the responding officer. Sheskey said that he believed he was about to be stabbed, since Blake was holding a knife. Earlier during the encounter, Blake had been tasered by two officers, but the tasers failed to disable him and he continued toward the vehicle.
Blake had a warrant for his arrest from July, based on charges of third-degree felony sexual assault and trespassing and disorderly conduct for domestic abuse in May. Both Kenosha Police Chief Daniel Miskinis and the Kenosha Professional Police Association stated that the officers dispatched on August 23 were aware of the pending warrant for Blake before they arrived on scene; dispatch records confirm this. (Full article...) -
Image 7Ricky Cobb II was killed on July 31, 2023 after being pulled over on Interstate 94 in Minneapolis for a traffic violation. During the traffic stop, a trooper found that Cobb was wanted in Ramsey County for violating a protection order. Ramsey County officials requested the troopers arrest Cobb. Two troopers approached the doors of Cobb's vehicle. While the trooper on the driver's side informed Cobb he was being arrested, the other trooper unlocked and opened the passenger side door. Cobb put the car into drive and released the brake and the car moved forward. The passenger-side trooper reached for his gun and Cobb stopped the car. While ordering Cobb to get out of the car the officer on the passenger side, shot twice, killing Cobb. The car kept moving and traveled a short distance before crashing into a median barrier. Cobb was later pronounced dead at the scene.
A trooper was later charged with unintentional murder as well as manslaughter as a result of the shooting. (Full article...) -
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Alicia Garza (née Schwartz; born January 4, 1981) is an American civil rights activist and writer known for co-founding the Black Lives Matter movement. She is a recognized advocate for social and racial justice, with a particular focus on issues affecting marginalized communities, including Black women, LGBTQ+ people, and immigrants. Garza is also a writer and public speaker. She has written extensively on issues related to race, gender, and social justice, and her work has appeared in numerous publications. Her editorial writing has been published by Time, Mic, Marie Claire, Elle, Essence, The Guardian, The Nation, The Feminist Wire, Rolling Stone, HuffPost, and Truthout.
Garza has worked with organizations such as the National Domestic Workers Alliance and the Black Futures Lab, which focuses on building political power for Black communities. She has also engaged in community organizing efforts and initiatives aimed at creating systemic change and challenging inequality. (Full article...) -
Image 9"Loyal Like Sid & Nancy" is a song by American indie pop band Foster the People from their third studio album, Sacred Hearts Club (2017). It was released on June 30, 2017, as the album's second single. (Full article...)
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On the evening of February 26, 2012, in Sanford, Florida, United States, George Zimmerman fatally shot Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old African-American.
Zimmerman, a 28-year-old Hispanic man, was a neighborhood watch coordinator for the gated community where Martin was visiting relatives at the time of the shooting. Zimmerman became suspicious of Martin and called police; Zimmerman was injured during a physical altercation between the two and shot Martin with a pistol he was licensed to carry. (Full article...) -
Image 11On May 30, 2020, James Scurlock, a 22-year-old black male protester, was fatally shot by a 38-year-old bar owner, Jacob "Jake" Gardner. The shooting took place during George Floyd protests in Omaha, Nebraska, in the Old Market area of the city. Scurlock had been among the thousands of protesters who flooded the city's downtown area.
Surveillance video of the strip of bars shows a group of people, including Scurlock, being approached by Jacob Gardner, his father, and one other male in the street. Shortly after Jacob Gardner's elderly father was shoved by a man to the ground after a verbal confrontation with a woman. Gardner, who was nearby decided to investigate the altercation, then revealed a concealed handgun at his waistband, and while moving away, simultaneously verbally threatened the group, including Scurlock, to stay back. Gardner was then attacked by two members of the crowd after he turned his back on them. As Gardner and one attacker struggled on the ground, Gardner fired shots while being grappled, resulting in the attacker fleeing. Seconds later, Scurlock jumped on Gardner, with one hand holding the arm in which the handgun was being held and one arm draped around Gardner's neck. Gardner asked Scurlock to get off him, and then using his left hand fired the gun over his shoulder, striking Scurlock in the clavicle, killing him. (Full article...) -
Image 12Keenan Anderson was an African American man who died on January 3, 2023, about four and a half hours after he was restrained and tasered six times by a member of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). He was a cousin of Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Anderson was restrained due to suspicion of a hit-and-run and driving under the influence following a traffic collision and due to a witness testimony of an individual attempting to get in their car without their permission. Police ordered Anderson to sit down, which he initially did. Later, Anderson ran away into traffic, leading to police subduing and tasing him for around 30 seconds and then another five seconds. (Full article...) -
Image 13On June 1, 2020, David McAtee, a 53-year-old African-American man, was fatally shot by the Kentucky Army National Guard in Louisville during nationwide protests following the murder of George Floyd and the killing of Breonna Taylor. The Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) and National Guard were in the area to enforce a curfew. According to officials, the police and soldiers were fired upon by McAtee, and two Louisville officers and two National Guardsmen returned fire. McAtee was killed by a shot fired from a guardsman. The body cams of the police involved were deactivated during the shooting, in violation of department policy. Hours later, police chief Steve Conrad was fired by Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer. (Full article...)
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In 2015, a series of protests at the University of Missouri related to race, workplace benefits, and leadership resulted in the resignations of the president of the University of Missouri System and the chancellor of the flagship Columbia campus. The moves came after a series of events that included a hunger strike by a student and a boycott by the football team. The movement was primarily led by a student group named Concerned Student 1950, referencing the first year black students were allowed to enroll in the university. The movement and protests were documented in two films, one made by MU student journalists and the other, 2 Fists Up, by Spike Lee. While it is alleged that bad publicity from the protests has led to dropping enrollment and cutbacks, others have cited budget cuts issued from the state legislature. (Full article...) -
Image 15Deborah Danner, 66, was fatally shot by New York City Police Department Sgt. Hugh Barry on October 18, 2016, in her home in the Bronx, New York. According to police sources, she was armed with first a pair of scissors and then a baseball bat. According to an emergency medical technician, she had put the scissors down, and later on picked up a baseball bat. Barry was charged with murder and manslaughter in May 2017. He was acquitted in February 2018.
On October 18, 2016, a neighbor called 911 at 6:05 p.m. and reported that Danner was erratic. Police had been called to her apartment before. According to the police, Danner had scissors, and Barry talked her into putting them down. Then she picked up a baseball bat and swung at him. Barry shot Danner twice, fatally wounding her. He was the only officer in the bedroom, although others were on the scene. (Full article...) -
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On the evening of February 2, 2020, Alvin Cole, a 17-year-old black male, was fatally shot by a Wauwatosa, Wisconsin black male police officer Joseph Mensah, outside Mayfair Mall in Wauwatosa. The shooting occurred after Cole refused a command from the police to drop the stolen gun he was holding and Cole fired a bullet as he tried to flee. Two shots were fired when Cole was on his hands and knees, and the remaining three shots were fired by Mensah while Cole was face down on the ground. Mensah was the only officer among the five other officers at the scene who fired his weapon.
The demonstrations played out against a backdrop of protests worldwide over the murder of George Floyd. (Full article...) -
Image 17During the nationwide protests that followed the murder of George Floyd, protesters, politicians, religious leaders, and other groups called for police reform in the United States. This has led to laws, proposals, and public directives at all levels of government to address police misconduct and systemic racial bias, as well as police brutality in the United States. Some of the common reforms involve bans on chokeholds and no-knock warrants, and improvements to police data collection procedures. (Full article...)
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The Ferguson unrest (sometimes called the Ferguson uprising, Ferguson protests, or the Ferguson riots) was a series of protests and riots which began in Ferguson, Missouri on August 10, 2014, the day after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by FPD officer Darren Wilson. The unrest sparked a vigorous debate in the United States about the relationship between law enforcement officers and Black Americans, the militarization of police, and the use-of-force law in Missouri and nationwide. Continuing activism expanded the issues by including modern-day debtors prisons, for-profit policing, and school segregation.
As the details of the shooting emerged, police established curfews and deployed riot squads in anticipation of unrest. Along with peaceful protests, there was a significant amount of looting and violence in the vicinity of the site of the shooting, as well as across the city. Media criticism of the militarization of the police in Ferguson after the shooting was frequent. The unrest continued on November 24, 2014, after a grand jury did not indict Officer Wilson. It briefly flared again on the first anniversary of Brown's shooting. The Department of Justice (DOJ) concluded that Wilson shot Brown in self-defense. (Full article...) -
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On May 27, 2020, after 11 a.m., a 38-year-old African-American transgender man, Tony McDade, was fatally shot in the Leon Arms apartment complex by an officer of the Tallahassee Police Department, following the fatal stabbing of Malik Jackson on nearby Saxon Street. Early reports of the incident misgendered McDade as a "woman", and on May 28, the police department described McDade as a woman who "identified as a man". On September 3, a Leon County grand jury found that the police use of force against McDade was justified. Police body camera showing McDade pointing a firearm at one of the police officers before being shot was also released.
McDade was a suspect in Jackson's fatal stabbing and police stated that McDade pointed a gun at police and that a bloody knife was found at the scene. Some witnesses have contradicted statements by the Police Department that McDade was armed with a gun. The officer also allegedly called McDade the N-word before shooting and killing him. This was later proven false through body camera footage. (Full article...) -
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The 2015 Texas pool party incident, also known as the "McKinney pool party", was a civil disturbance that occurred on June 5, 2015, at a pool party in McKinney, Texas, United States.
While responding to 911 calls that reported the trespassing of dozens of individuals on private property, a McKinney police officer, corporal Eric Casebolt, was video-recorded violently restraining Dajerria Becton, a 15-year-old black girl wearing a swimsuit. He later drew his handgun on unarmed teen witnesses during the same incident. (Full article...) -
Image 21"Can't Put It in the Hands of Fate" is a song by American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder, featuring American rappers Rapsody, Chika, Cordae and Busta Rhymes. Released on October 13, 2020, it is a funk track with lyrics addressing institutional racism, and associated issues such as police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Released in a live-streamed press conference alongside "Where Is Our Love Song", this is Stevie Wonder's first single since "Faith" in 2016, and since he announced a temporary hiatus from performing in 2019 in order to undergo a kidney transplant. In addition, this is the first music he has not released through Motown, marking the end to his career-long association with the record label in favour of his new label, So What the Fuss Music, distributed through Republic Records. Both labels are currently part of the Universal Music Group. (Full article...) -
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"Cop vs. Phone Girl" is a song by American rock band Third Eye Blind from their second extended play, We Are Drugs (2016). It was released as the lead single from the extended play on July 25, 2016, by MegaForce Records. The song addresses the issues of racism and police brutality, specifically focusing on a 2015 incident at South Carolina's Spring Valley High School.
Following a viral performance near the Republican National Convention, the band was inspired to release a political song. Frontman Stephan Jenkins helmed the writing and production of the song, with recording and mixing taking place in Texas in the span of a week. "Cop vs. Phone Girl" received mixed reviews from music critics, who praised the message of song but criticized the blunt lyrics. (Full article...) -
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Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor is an American academic, writer, and activist. She is a professor of African American Studies at Northwestern University. She is the author of From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation (2016). For this book, Taylor received the 2016 Cultural Freedom Award for an Especially Notable Book from the Lannan Foundation. She is a co-publisher of Hammer & Hope, an online magazine that began in 2023. (Full article...) -
Image 24Ticket quotas are commonly defined as any establishment of a predetermined or specified number of traffic citations an officer must issue in a specified time. Some police departments may set "productivity goals" but deny specific quotas. In many places, such as California, Texas, and Florida, traffic ticket quotas are specifically prohibited by law or illegal. (Full article...)
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On October 16, 2023, Leonard Cure, a 53-year-old black American man, was fatally shot during a physical struggle by a sheriff's deputy in Camden County, Georgia, after being pulled over for speeding. Cure had been exonerated in 2020 after being wrongfully convicted of armed robbery in Florida in 2003. (Full article...)
Did you know...
- ... that Arkansas legislator Denise Jones Ennett took part in a Black Lives Matter protest in front of the Arkansas State Capitol?
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Selected images
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Image 1George Floyd protests at Lafayette Square, Washington D.C., May 30, 2020 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 2"What happened to 'All Lives Matter'?" sign at a protest against Donald Trump, January 29, 2017 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 3Ferguson, Missouri, August 17, 2014 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 4"Black Lives Matter" on the facade of the Washington National Cathedral, June 10, 2020 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 5Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C., as seen from space on June 8, 2020 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 6Black Lives Matter protester at Macy's Herald Square, November 2014 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 8Demonstration at Christiansborg Slotsplads, Copenhagen, June 7, 2020 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 10Protest march in response to the killing of Philando Castile, St. Paul, Minnesota, July 7, 2016 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 12An activist holds a "Black Lives Matter" sign outside the Minneapolis Police Fourth Precinct building following the officer-involved killing of Jamar Clark on November 15, 2015 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 13Black Lives Matter protest in Aotea Square, Auckland, June 14, 2020 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 15A Black Lives Matter protest of police brutality in the rotunda of the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, in December 2014 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 16Map depicting rates of police killings by state in the United States in 2018 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 17A demonstrator raising awareness of the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore, April 2015 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 18Black Lives Matter demonstration in Oakland, California, December 2014 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 21Black Lives Matter protest against St. Paul police brutality at Metro Green Line, September 2015 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 22Black Lives Matter protest on September 20, 2015, against police brutality in St. Paul, Minnesota (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 23Al Sharpton led the Commitment March: Get Your Knee Off Our Necks in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 2020 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 25Protests in May 2020 after George Floyd's death (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 26The empty pedestal of the statue of Edward Colston in Bristol. Subject to increasing controversy since the 1990s, when his prior reputation as a philanthropist came under scrutiny due to a growing awareness of his slave trading, in June 2020 the statue was toppled, defaced and pushed into Bristol Harbour. (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 27One-year commemoration of the killing of Michael Brown and the Ferguson unrest at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, August 2015 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 28Bernie Sanders and Black Lives Matter activists in Westlake Park, Seattle, August 8, 2015 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 29Black Lives Matter protest at Herald Square, Manhattan, November 2014 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 30Protest in response to the Alton Sterling killing, San Francisco, California, July 8, 2016 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 31Protest march in response to the Jamar Clark killing, Minneapolis, Minnesota, November 2015 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 32A Black Lives Matter die-in over rail tracks, protesting alleged police brutality in Saint Paul, Minnesota (September 20, 2015) (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 33Protest outside the U.S. Embassy in London, June 7, 2020 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 34Vehicle with a BLM sticker, September 18, 2015 (from Black Lives Matter)
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