Why We Need Activism — Always

Civil Rights leaders lead the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963 in Washington, D.C. Photo: Express Newspapers/Getty Images

It’s been almost three months since George Floyd was murdered and the mass protests. Three months since the nationwide protests, looting, and riots across America.

Since then, millions of American have raised their voices, expressing their outrage toward our unjust systems and sympathy for the Black community and the many other marginalized groups in this country.

While some took to the streets in protest and others donated — causing a surge in donation levels for racial equality groups — the reality is that the vast majority relied some form of media as a platform to stand in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Hundreds of hashtags surrounding George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, and even more condemning the police, surfaced on Twitter. Black squares were posted on Facebook and Instagram. This level of non-Black engagement surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement and commitment to racial equality is unprecedented, leading us to the simple fact that:

Now more than ever, people care about Black lives

This rise in popularity for civil rights social movements must be analyzed. Has engagement always been high?

Since its birth and rise in 2012 after the murder of yet another Black man, Trayvon Martin, media and societal attention…