Francis Wilkinson, Columnist

What Happened to Black Lives Matter’s Momentum?

The criminal justice system still needs reform. But the movement’s energy has dispersed.

January 24, 2025 at 12:00 PM UTC

Francis Wilkinson is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering US politics and policy. Previously, he was executive editor for the Week and a writer for Rolling Stone.

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Opposite the underground entrance to Albany’s Kitty Carlisle Hart Theater, beneath the cold and desolate Empire State Plaza, the protesters were squeezed between police barricades and the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles.

I had been told there would be a protest here last week, on the occasion of Governor Kathy Hochul’s 2025 State of the State address. But these were not the protesters I was looking for.