Joyce Markovics - 2020 Black Lives Matter Marches

Published in the United States of America by Cherry Lake Publishing Group
Ann Arbor, Michigan
www.cherrylakepublishing.com

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Book Designer: Ed Morgan

Photo Credits: Sue Nilsson/Shutterstock, cover and title page; Wikimedia Commons, 45; Tverdokhlib/Shutterstock, 5 bottom; Julian
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Markovics, Joyce L., author.
Title: 2020 Black Lives Matter marches / by Joyce Markovics.
Description: Ann Arbor, Michigan : Cherry Lake Publishing, [2021] | Series:
Protest! March for change | Includes bibliographical references and
index. | Audience: Grades 2-3
Identifiers: LCCN 2020040924 (print) | LCCN 2020040925 (ebook) | ISBN
9781534186354 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781534186439 (paperback) | ISBN
9781534186514 (pdf) | ISBN 9781534186590 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Black lives matter movement--Juvenile literature. | African
Americans--Violence against--Juvenile literature. | Racial profiling in
law enforcement--United States--Juvenile literature. | Police
brutality--United States--Juvenile literature. | Floyd, George,
1973-2020--Juvenile literature. | Civil rights movements--United
States--History--21st century--Juvenile literature. | African
Americans--Social conditions--21st century--Juvenile literature. |
United States--Race relations--History--21st century--Juvenile
literature. | Racism--United States--History--21st century--Juvenile
literature.
Classification: LCC E185.615 .M293 2021 (print) | LCC E185.615 (ebook) |
DDC 323.1196/073--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020040924
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020040925

Printed in the United States of America
Corporate Graphics

JUSTICE

NOW!

I cant breathe! I cant breathe!
protesters shouted over and over in
the spring and summer of 2020.
They marched as an army of
thousands in 2,000 cities and towns
across America. The Black, White,
and brown protesters pumped their
fists in unity. Their message was
clear. Police brutality and racism
must end. The marches were sparked
after police choked and killed an
unarmed Black man in March 2020.
His name was George Floyd.

George Floyd is one of many
Black Americans who have
been killed by police.

Many of the protesters held homemade signs. A Black
man carried a poster that said Stop Killing Us. Another
sign read Black Lives Matter in big, bold letters. Some
people held up portraits of Floyd. A lot of protesters
were marching for the first time ever.

I was really, really surprised by the amount of people who
turned out and how diverse the crowd was, said an Indian
woman. A White man said he planned to attend as many
marches as he could. I plan on staying the course as long as
it takes to achieve radical change.

A group called the Black Lives Matter Global
Network inspired many of the protests.

BLACK

LIVES MATTER

The shooting of George Floyd drew
attention to the countrys ongoing
problem of racism. During the 1960s,
Black Americans were not allowed to
go to the same schools or hospitals as
White people in certain areas. They
were denied access to vote and some
jobs. If they didnt follow the countless
harsh rules set up by White people,
they faced severe punishment.
Thousands of activists and ordinary
people fought for equal rights for
Black Americans.

We been waitin all our lives, and
still gettin killed, still gettin hung,
still gettin beat to death. Now
were tired waitin! said activist
Fannie Lou Hamer in the 1960s.

The efforts of civil rights leaders brought about
new laws that helped protect Black people. But this
did not stop structural racism throughout the country.

A 1940 photo showing a segregated bus station in North Carolina
where Black people were kept apart from White people

Structural racism offers
White people advantages
that Black Americans cannot
get. For example, its more
difficult for Black people to
get a quality education, live
in safe neighborhoods,
access healthcare, and find
good jobs. This occurs
despite laws that protect
them from discrimination .

In the recent past, the
U.S. government made it
harder for Black people
to afford housing. This
led to crowded slums.

Black people often struggle
to get good healthcare.

As a result of structural racism, Black people are six
times more likely than White people to be put in prison.
Even more troubling, Black men are more than twice as
likely to be shot and killed by police as White men.

Because of racism, Black men are viewed as more dangerous
than other people. This can lead to false arrests and killings.

In February 2012, a Black teenager named Trayvon
Martin was shot and killed on his way home from a
store in Florida. The man who shot Martin thought the
17-year-old looked suspicious and dangerous. In his
trial, the shooter was found not guilty.

Protesters march for Trayvon Martin.

This news saddened many Americans, including
three female activists. For them and others, this
decision meant that Martins life and other Black
lives didnt matter. To demand justice , they invented
the phrase Black Lives Matter.

Black Lives Matter was started by three women: Alicia Garza,
Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi.

Two years later, in 2014, police killed a young, unarmed
Black man named Michael Brown in Missouri. The
policeman who shot Brown multiple times was not
charged with a crime. Thousands marchedand kept
marchingto protest the killing. This uprising turned
Black Lives Matter into a movement.

Black Lives Matter means that
Black lives should be just as
important as other lives.

That same year, more Black lives were lost. Eric
Garner, a father and grandfather, was choked to death
by New York police. Tamir Rice, a Black 12-year-old, was
shot by a White cop in Ohio. Brown, Garner, and Rice
are three of the dozens of Black people who have died
at the hands of police in the past 20 years.

Breonna Taylors memorial in Louisville, Kentucky, where she was shot

The victims of police shootings also
include women. Police shot Breonna
Taylor eight times in her home in 2020.

THE MARCHES

On May 25, 2020, a policeman
in Minneapolis, Minnesota, forced
George Floyd to the ground. He
knelt on Floyds neck for almost 9
minutes until Floyd stopped
breathing. Before he died, Floyd
cried out that he couldnt breathe.
Onlookers, one of whom took a
video of the incident , tried to help