The death of George Floyd, a Black man, during a police stop in Minneapolis in May, pushed the Black Lives Matter movement to an unprecedented height since it began in 2013. More people than ever joined the call to end systemic anti-Black racism.
The Western Journalism Studio (WJS) launched the week after Floyd was killed. Our goal as a virtual newsroom is to amplify the voices and stories of women, students and people from marginalized and underrepresented communities. Our remote WJS reporters have been following the Black Lives Matter movement and its impact on the cities we live in.
As new journalists, we have dedicated discussions and stories to issues of racism that affect Black, Indigenous and People of Colour in our communities. We know there is not a single story that summarizes the movement, nor a single solution to people’s concerns. But what we can do, as student journalists, is cover the movement from local angles and amplify voices that have been silenced for too long.
Black Lives Matter in Our Cities includes six profiles of Black women advocating for change in their cities. For our readers, we outlined calls to change and responses by local city halls, police services and school boards and asked the advocates to reflect on those changes.
Read more by clicking on each city.