In May, the United States was on fire. Devastated by the deaths of Breonna Taylor, an emergency medical technician shot by police who burst into her home, and George Floyd who was suffocated by a Minneapolis police officer, millions of Americans protested in the streets of all 50 states. These examples of excessive police force prompted a national discussion on race and racism in America. In the last two months, the Black Lives Matter movement has gained more support than in the previous two years.
What is different now is the people who make up the movement. For centuries, black people have fought against police violence, but now it’s not just black people v the police. The movement for black lives has gained a powerful ally – young people whose loud, unyielding support has boosted this movement to the frontline of American politics. Young people have transformed this fight from black people against the police to young people against structural racism as a whole.
