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Racial Injustice Movement Gaining Adherents Ahead of 2020 Vote

Chris Simkins

   WASHINGTON - Widespread and sustained protests demanding racial justice
   have brought down monuments, prompted some U.S. cities to bar police
   choke holds and spurred greater recognition of Juneteenth, which
   commemorates the emancipation of slaves in America.
   But has the Black Lives Matter movement attracted enough committed,
   vocal adherents to effect far-reaching change and fundamental reforms
   in a nation that typically returns to business as usual once protests
   fade?
   Washington D.C. protester Jay Brown believes the answer is yes.

   "My people will stand up and keep fighting," Brown, who is African
   American, told VOA at a demonstration near the White House on a city
   block renamed "Black Lives Matter Plaza." The area has been ground zero
   for protests in the nation's capital since May 25, when George Floyd,
   an African American, died in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota -
   an incident that shocked the conscience of many people of all
   ethnicities and sparked an outpouring of grief and anger on America's
   streets.

   "This is a national movement that will lead to new laws to protect
   people of color," Brown said. When asked if America has reached a
   tipping point in the quest for racial justice, he replied, "Most
   certainly."

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