Black Lives Matter

Thousands of protesters crossed the Brooklyn Bridge on July 25, 2020. They marched from Cadman Plaza in Brooklyn to City Hall in Manhattan.

Protester Mykel James stood with a raised fist at Cadman Plaza on Juneteenth. Celebrated every July 19, it marked the official abolishment of slavery in 1865 and has now been recognized as a holiday in New York State.

In Union Square, a man rode with an upside down flag, a distress signal adopted by protestors. U.S. Code Law states the flag be displayed upside down only as a distress signal in instances of extreme danger to life or property.

Drummers played during a march across the Brooklyn Bridge on July 25, 2020. They marched from Cadman Plaza into lower Manhattan’s City Hall Park.

On June 6, protesters marched down Bedford Avenue, seen from the Williamsburg Bridge. Shortly after, the crowd of 3,000 poured onto the bridge to march to Manhattan’s Washington Square Park.

A protest organizer rallied the crowd at Washington Square Park on July 4, 2020.

Protesters burned pages of an American History textbook on Independence Day. Earlier, an organizer read from the textbook and discussed the Trail of Tears. Organizers were on standby with fire extinguishers and water.

A man carried a flag down Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn on June 7. Shortly after the group marched onto the Williamsburg Bridge to join other protests in Manhattan.

A protester leads a march over the Brooklyn Bridge, with the Manhattan Bridge seen in the background.

Cyclists played a crucial role at all marches. At the start every march, they gathered to discuss routes and logistics, then rode ahead to block off traffic to ensure a safe path for protesters. Here, they ride onto the Brooklyn Bridge to block the intersection at the exit.

Seen on July 4, protestors at Washington Square Park shared a mic to lead a chant “If we don’t get no justice, then they don’t get no peace!”

A woman waves a banner reading ‘Say Their Names’.

On June 7, 2020, a protester sat on the Williamsburg Bridge overlooking Bedford Avenue, as a march passed below.

During a Skaters For Black Lives ride, a skateboarder holds up a deck reading ‘Stop Police Brutality’.

Exiting Cadman Plaza on June 19, protesters carried a ‘No Justice, No Peace’ sign past NYPD officers. Under pressure from the protests, reforms in law enforcement took place and in New York, 50-A was repealed and chokeholds became criminalized.

Protester Rodrick Covington was seen rallying the crowd at a demonstration in Washington Square Park on June 16, 2020.
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