When Will Black Lives ACTUALLY Matter?

The death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020 at the hands of the Minneapolis Police came at a time when the country was in lockdown, and the confluence of many factors made his death a catalyst for the start of widespread and eventually global civil unrest in support of the Black Lives Matter Movement: an unprecedented amount of available & undivided attention from the public; multiple bystander video of the incident; the insane brutality of the length of time that the officer (Derek Chauvin) put his knee on Floyd’s neck while he was handcuffed on the ground (9.5 minutes) as Floyd cried out that he couldn’t breathe and eventually died on camera; and the ridiculously petty nature of the alleged crime — he MIGHT have used a counterfeit $20 bill to buy cigarettes.

Widespread, large-scale protests in support of the Black Lives Matter Movement began immediately and soon spread across the country, and then to more than 60 countries across the globe. Riot gear-glad police used incidents of looting and vandalism to repress peaceful demonstrators around the country, employing rubber bullets, tear gas, smoke bombs, flash bangs, and good old fashioned physical force.

By June 3, more than 200 U.S. cities had imposed curfews and more than 30 states had activated the National Guard to assist the police with civil unrest. Protests nevertheless continued to spread to more than 2,000 cities in the U.S. by June 13.

The scope and magnitude of protests inspired many and seems to have led to some movement toward legitimate change. Policing and police funding has become a major issue for leftists thanks to the BLM movement, as we finally begin to understand that police murder isn't a flaw but part of the design of an unjust criminal justice system.

Francesca, Tej, and Matt go on to discuss the ways that these events relate to the history of the U.S. and what they hope to see in the future.

Francesca is joined this week by Cornell history prof Tej Nagaraja () and Matt Lieb () of Pod Yourself a Gun.

Independent creators rely on your support to create the content you want!

Support The Bitchuation Room on:

Venmo: @TBR-LIVE

Cash-App: @TBRLIVE

Check Out The Bitchuation Room Podcast

Google Music

Find Francesca On:

YouTubeThe Bitchuation Room’s channel