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February 26th marks the day 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot by George Zimmerman after leaving the gas station with a bag of skittles and iced tea going to visit his stepdad. -
The Drean Defenders was founded April 2012 after Trayvon's death, they stayed in the Florida state capital 30 nights and 31 days trying to repeal the stand your ground law. The stand your ground law allows citizens to protect themselves if they feel they are in danger. In the end, their efforts did not work. -
On July 13th, 2013, the BLM movement started. This movement aims for rights for black Americans -
On July 17th, 2014, 43-year-old Eric Garner was suspected for illegally selling cigarettes and was wrestled to the ground by the cop Daniel Pantaleo. While Daniel Pantaleo was holding Eric in a chokehold Eric repeated the words "I can't breathe" 11 times. The death of Eric Garner was filmed by a witness and Daniel Pantaleo was later fired from the police force. -
12-year-old Tamir Rice was playing with his toy gun aiming it at people when officers shot him thinking it was real. The police who shot him received no charges for his murder. -
On April 4th, 2015, 50-year-old Walter Scott was shot in the back five times by Michael Slager who was later fired and sentenced to 20 years in prison. It is said that Walter Scott was originally pulled over for a defective light on his car and ran away from police after a small fight. This took place in North Charleston, South Carolina. -
32-year-old Philando Castile died in July of 2016 after being shot while driving with his girlfriend. He was shot 7 times by officer Jeronimo Yanez after getting pulled over and telling the cops he had a licensed weapon. This was not made as a threat but just to tell the officer like you're supposed to. When Philando reached for his license, he ended up getting shot. His girlfriend Diamond Reynolds filmed the aftermath of the shooting but sadly the cop was released with no murder charges. -
After the cop who killed Philando Castile was not charged hundreds of people began to protest at St. Paul Minn Friday evening holding signs which said, "Black Lives Matter" and "No justice, no peace" as they marched near the Cathedral of Saint Paul. Many of the protesters block traffic on Interstate 94 for more than an hour. At 1 AM the State Patrol tweeted that they were arresting any protesters who failed to leave the highways. -
As black Americans continue to fight for their rights it began influencing in the topic of politics. This influence has become the conversation of politics and one of the roles in it. The viral hashtag #BlackLivesMatter has been tweeted nearly 30 million times at a rate of 17,002 per day. Most protest were revolved around police violence and their unfair treatment towards the black American population. Many races came together for this movement. -
In February of 2019 the rapper 21 Savage was detained by the US immigration agency. Once people found out that 21 Savage was in holding the Black Lives Matter Global Network Patrisse Cullors and nearly 60 celebrities who joined led a #Free21Savage association with other organizations. When the Patrisse Cullors made a petition to stop this holding it received over 450,000 signatures and 21 Savage was released on bond which he thanked everyone who helped for. -
26-year-old Breonna Taylor died March 13th, 2020, when police raided her apartment in Louisville, Kentucky. Breonna Taylor was shot eight times, and her family fired a lawsuit of 12 million dollars. While the officers said they only fired bullets when shots were fired Breonna Taylor's partner said he only shot the officer as an act of self-defense when the police failed to identify themselves and he believed it was a burglary. No officers were charged with her death. -
46-year-old George Floyd died May 25th, 2020, after he was arrested, and an officer kneeled on his neck for more than nine minutes. He kept pleading to the officer that he couldn't breathe and later on died. Many protests broke out and the officer Derek Chauvin ended up being charged with 3 major charges which were second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter and he was sentenced for 252 months and was kicked off of police forces. -
On February 1st, 2021, the famous Black Lives Matter movement got nominated for the noble peace prize. -
20-year-old Dante Wright was shot April 11th, 2021. Dante was pulled over for a traffic violation and the police told him he was arrested for an outstanding warrant. Dante ended up breaking free and tried to enter his car and as the officer yelled taser many times before she ended up shooting Dante. While police said this was an accident on the officer Kim Potter, she was still charged with second degree manslaughter, and she resigned from the police force. -
The Black Lives Matter movement reaches 10 years of trying to protect black Americans.