It has been five years since police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, in the streets of Minneapolis on May 25, 2020. The murder sparked millions across the U.S. and the world to protest against police brutality and the war on Black America, indicting the entire system of white supremacy and capitalism that enables the violent oppression of working class people. Despite the historic mass mobilization that ensued across the U.S. and the world, we are now witnessing increased funding for police departments, a further militarization of police, and repression against activists across the country. What lessons can we pull from the movement of 2020–its victories and its shortcomings–in the continued fight for Black liberation?
The murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police ignited a nationwide uprising against police brutality and racist policing, the newest chapter in the generations-long fight for Black liberation that preceded it. This was similar to the 2014 movement in Ferguson following the execution of Michael Brown by police just 6 years earlier, which brought the Black Lives Matter movement to mainstream consciousness.
The 2020 Minneapolis uprising happened at the height of the pandemic when unemployment, poverty, and a global health crisis were constant threats that exacerbated the situation for tens of millions of Americans struggling to meet their basic needs. With so much uncertainty and little to no support from any level of government, masses of people were primed to hit the streets in response to the heinous murder of George Floyd. It became a tipping point that mobilized millions, unifying various social movements against the racist, capitalist system, putting pressure on politicians that could not be ignored. Demands to defund and abolish the police, which just weeks before would have been unthinkable, gained momentum.
The victories that were won during 2020 were due to the determination and consciousness of people protesting in the streets. History has shown that change is possible only when the masses enter the political arena as a united and organized force. In Minneapolis, despite being met with a highly militarized response by MPD and the National Guard, community members occupied the 38th St. and Chicago Ave. intersection where George Floyd was murdered, which has remained a standing protest site and a symbol of resistance. The firing and conviction of Chauvin became a historic win, given that prior to that only seven police officers had been convicted since 2005.
Despite the fact that millions took to the streets throughout the summer of 2020, we are still facing many of the same injustices and escalating daily tensions. Similar to the Ferguson uprising, in 2020 the media focused their attention on vilifying protestors, and the demands for radical change were stifled by calls for “peace” by liberal politicians and nonprofits. In the same year, the Democratic party elevated Joe Biden as their presidential candidate, a candidate who co-authored the 1994 Crime Bill and selected a prosecutor as his vice presidential candidate. Despite empty promises to create radical change, police have continued killing people with the same impunity, as witnessed by the 2021 murders of Daunte Wright and Winston Smith, and the 2022 murder of Amir Locke–to name only a few. Funding for police departments has expanded, including in Minneapolis, and Cop Cities continue to be on the rise.
Under the Trump administration conditions of repression have worsened. Trump is thought to be considering a federal pardon of Derek Chauvin, and just yesterday, /On May 21, 2025, the Justice Department announced it would be dropping police reform agreements–Consent Decrees–with the Minneapolis and Louisville police departments. These departments are responsible for the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless other Black and Brown civilians. Any progress made under a capitalist system is under constant threat. As right-wing politicians take control of various levels of government, reforms and civilian protections from police are stripped away through a continuous assault, we continue to see the further militarization of the police, and political repression as demonstrated in response to the recent Palestine movement.
The last five years have shown us that we must do more than mobilize. As Malcolm X said–we are not outnumbered, we are out-organized.
The power of the people created unprecedented threats to the racist, capitalist system in 2014 and in 2020 that forced unimaginable concessions from the ruling class. But with local and national progress in perpetual danger of being reversed, we need to build strong political organizations that are capable of defending hard-won mass victories through coordination and escalation. We know that the state has learned from the mobilization of the masses in 2020–we too must learn. The movement of 2020 taught us that we can only defeat repression and racist policing if we are organized enough to strike at the root of this rotten, capitalist system.
We must fight for a system where victories cannot be reversed with every election. We must fight for a system that prioritizes and invests in the health and well-being of people and the environment rather than militarization and mass incarceration. We must fight for a system that works for the people, rather than the ruling class. A better world is possible, if we are willing to make it!