CBH Talk | Five Years After George Floyd: The Fight Today

On May 25, 2020, the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin stunned the nation and ignited a global uprising.

As we mark the fifth anniversary of that tragic day, the Center for Brooklyn History brings together three leading voices to examine the protests, their impact, the fierce backlash, and how the fight continues today.

Join Yale professor Elizabeth Hinton, New York City Councilmember Chi Ossé, and civil rights historian Jeanne Theoharis as they explore the history and ongoing crisis of racist policing. Hinton brings her deep scholarship on the systemic roots of anti-Black law enforcement, the long history of protest, and the 2020 reckoning sparked by Floyd’s murder. Ossé offers a unique perspective as a leading Black Lives Matter organizer who, at 23, turned protest into political power by winning elected office as the youngest New York City council member. Theoharis situates today’s movement within the long struggle for Black freedom, exposing the persistent tensions between law enforcement and racial justice.

At a time when the White House scrubs phrases like “systemic racism” and “white supremacy,” as DEI programs are dismantled, and as a new executive order claims to “restore truth and sanity to American history” — CBH reflects on the legacy of the 2020 racial reckoning and the urgent, concrete steps toward justice that remain before us.