The street protests that flooded American cities have largely ended, and a new administration is settling in in Washington, but the Black Lives Matter movement that regained national attention last summer in response to a series of police killings last summer has not gone away.
What started as a poignant hashtag has come to define a generation. In seven years, Black Lives Matter has become a multichapter organization that has changed the very framework with which the nation talks about race.
Black Lives Matter has always been more of a human rights movement rather than a civil rights movement. BLM’s focus has been less about changing specific laws and more about fighting for a fundamental reordering of society wherein Black lives are free from systematic dehumanization. Still, the movement’s measurable impact on the political and legal landscape is undeniable.
