In June 2020, the US and much of Europe were convulsed by the anti-racist protests
What are the movement's origins?
It emerged in the aftermath of the killing of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17-year-old African American who, in 2012, was shot dead in Florida by George Zimmerman, a white self-appointed neighbourhood watch volunteer. The following year, Zimmerman was found not guilty of murder and manslaughter – a verdict met with anguish by African Americans. Alicia Garza, a community organiser, wrote on Facebook that "I continue to be surprised at how little Black lives matter", and a friend, Patrisse Cullors, shared it online with the hashtag #blacklivesmatter. With another activist, Opal Tometi, they created an online movement, which gained traction following the killing of two Black men by police in the summer of 2014: Eric Garner in New York and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri – which sparked weeks of protest and riots. Activists involved in the Ferguson protests set up a decentralised network across the US.
What made it grow so big?
A mixture of social and technological factors. US police shoot a lot of people: about 1,000 in 2018 (around 66 times the UK's per capita rate). And of these 23% were Black, though African Americans make up only 14% of the population. At the time, police who killed tended not to face justice; neither Garner's nor Brown's killers were indicted. BLM activists were keenly aware of this and other "structural inequalities", as they called them, such as an incarceration rate five times higher for Black people than whites. BLM was a creature of social media and the smartphone: activists mobilised online, while phone videos of police brutality provided evidence that galvanised outrage. In addition, the Covid lockdowns stoked a febrile political atmosphere. These factors came together in the case of George Floyd, who was arrested on 25 May 2020 in Minneapolis following reports that he had bought cigarettes using a counterfeit $20 bill. Police officers pinned him to the ground; Derek Chauvin, filmed by onlookers, pressed his knee on Floyd's neck. After eight minutes 46 seconds (revised by prosecutors to nine minutes 29 seconds), Floyd died.
What happened next?
His death sparked mass protests in the US and around the world. By early July 2020, up to 26 million Americans are thought to have protested at more than 4,700 demonstrations; several hundred riots erupted. Tens of thousands marched in Europe, Australia, Africa, Asia and Latin America; protests took place in more than 60 countries. Floyd's words, "I can't breathe", became a global slogan. From Eminem to Keir Starmer, people "took the knee" – a gesture popularised by the American football player Colin Kaepernick. According to Facebook, 28 million people took part in "blackout Tuesday" on 2 June, in which users logged off or posted black squares in solidarity.
What were the movement's aims?
Compared to those of the earlier civil rights movement, they were vague and utopian. BLM aimed not just to combat police brutality against Black people, but also to challenge "systemic racism" – to "heal the past, reimagine the present, and invest in the future of Black lives through policy change", as its website states. One of its best known goals was to "defund the police". This meant calling for government funds to be redistributed away from law enforcement and criminal justice to welfare projects, thus addressing the root causes of crime. In some cases, though, BLM activists wanted to go beyond defunding. Chicago activist Jessica Disu declared: "We need to abolish the police, period."
Were the police defunded?
Not as a rule, but in some cases: more than 20 US cities cut some $840 million from police departments, with $160 million being invested in community services, according to an analysis by Interrupting Criminalisation. In Austin, Texas, money was redirected to social programmes, notably homeless shelters. The city claimed success: violent crime decreased by 14.5% between 2021 and 2024. In Portland, Oregon, though, the experiment was a disaster. Some $15 million was slashed from police budgets. Violent crime – shootings, homicides, car theft – and disorder surged and funding was mostly restored by 2021.
Did BLM achieve its wider aims?
It certainly raised awareness of police brutality and racism, and drove policing reforms: more than 140 state and local laws were passed in the US, banning chokeholds, mandating the use of body cameras, and increasing civilian oversight of police. But its effect on policing has been ambiguous. Criminologists identified a "Minneapolis effect", whereby protests led to both a reduction in police brutality, as police trod more softly, and a clear spike in crime and homicides (often badly affecting Black communities). And, in 2024, the national number of fatal police killings reached a record high of 1,365. Meanwhile, there was a major political backlash against BLM – not helped by the fact that some of it leaders were accused of corruption. Patrisse Cullors faced criticism for purchasing homes worth $3 million; one board member of BLM's Global Network Foundation was accused of embezzling $10 million.
Why was there a backlash?
BLM – utopian, Marxist-leaning, an LGBTQ+ ally – became a symbol of "woke" excess. Donald Trump declared BLM "a symbol of hate", proclaiming it "inherently racist… because all lives matter". During the 2020 protests, he reportedly asked his officials why police couldn't "just shoot them in the legs". Politically, he has made hay from the rioting and disorder. The Democrat strategist James Carville blamed his party's 2024 defeat on the "stench" of identity politics, saying that "defund the police" were "the three stupidest words in the English language". Since his re-election, Trump has rescinded dozens of "diversity, equity and inclusion" directives. In March, Elon Musk urged him in a tweet to "think about" pardoning Derek Chauvin.
BLM in the UK
The British wing of BLM dates to 2016, and in its early days campaigned over deaths in police custody, and on issues such as the Windrush scandal and the Grenfell Tower fire. The movement surged after George Floyd's death, with mass protests in London, Manchester, Leeds and beyond. The toppling of the slave trader Edward Colston's statue in Bristol during a BLM march on 7 June 2020 became a defining image, prompting fierce national debates about Britain's colonial legacy – and launching what became known as the "statue wars". At the Euros in 2021, England's football team took the knee, to boos and applause.
In response, the then PM Boris Johnson set up the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities to analyse the impact of racism in the UK. Chairman Tony Sewell concluded: "We no longer see a Britain where the system is deliberately rigged against ethnic minorities." He found that wealth, culture and geography were more important – conclusions met with scorn by Black and minority ethnic organisations. As in the US, BLM UK was accused of financial irregularities: in Bristol, Xahra Saleem was jailed for embezzling £32,000 of BLM donations. Also as in the US, it survives to this day, but in a much lower-profile form.
