(BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement protesting against incidents of
and all racially motivated violence against black people. The movement began in July 2013 with the use of the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter on social media after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of African-
teen Trayvon Martin 17 months earlier in February 2012. The movement became nationally recognized for street demonstrations following the 2014 deaths of two African
, that of Michael Brown?resulting in protests and unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, a city near St. Louis?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. The overall
Black Lives Matter movement is a decentralized network of activists with no formal
hierarchy. The movement returned to national headlines and gained further international attention during the global
George Floyd protests in 2020 following the murder of
George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. An estimated 15 million to 26 million people participated in the 2020
Black Lives Matter protests in the
United States, making it one of the largest movements in the country's history.
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