A Black Lives Matter Founder on Building Modern Movements

Joe Biden may have been calculated in his efforts to project calm and stability in the waning weeks of the campaign, but the soothing influence of the incoming Biden Administration has been decisively undercut by the post-election stunts of Donald Trump, which erupted, on January 6th, into an open insurrection. As the U.S. remains mired in the coronavirus pandemic, the debates over the provision of health care and housing have become even more intense, if not desperate. Just as fraught are the unresolved questions concerning the grip of racism. Despite all of the platitudes and pledges to end “systemic racism,” its stain on the country has never been more apparent. African-Americans continue to be hospitalized for covid-19 at nearly four times the rate of white people. Black unemployment, which is at nearly ten per cent, remains several points higher than the national rate. According to National Geographic, of the twenty-five U.S. counties with the highest projected food-insecurity rates, only four are majority white, and all of those are in Kentucky.

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