The George Floyd Era Is Over in Congress Slate
—
On June 6, 2020, some 500,000 Americans turned out across over 500 cities and towns for the single largest day of protest over the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man. Over the course of that month, somewhere between 15 million and 26 million people participated in public demonstrations, making Black Lives Matter possibly the largest protest movement in U.S. history.
Laterthatmonth,BronxmiddleschoolprincipalJamaalBowmanwonaDemocraticcongressionalprimaryelectionagainstincumbentEliotEngelinNewYork’s16thDistrict,becomingthefirstBLM-affiliatedmemberofCongress.(Bowmanhadbecomeafixtureatprotests,sharinghisstoryofhavingbeenbeatenwithanightstickasapreteenand,later,ofhavingbeendetainedforfailingtouseaturnsignalwhiledriving.)SixweeksafterBowman’sprimarywin,asecondactivist,St.Louis’CoriBush,wonaDemocraticprimaryinMissouri’s1stDistrict.(Shehadbecomeanorganizerandprotestleaderafterthe2014policeshootingofMichaelBrowninFerguson.)BushbecametheBLMmovement’ssecondcongressiona
