What happened to #BlackLivesMatter?

Since the police killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, movements like Black Lives Matter have been gaining momentum and mainstream acclaim. The effects of police violence are felt across the world. Demonstrations have been held across cities in North America, Europe and now Africa calling for an end to police brutality and a defunding of these institutions that some see as oppressive, but this movement has slowed down. Google Trends are showing that searches for the movement have been on the decline for the last few months. 

Hate Here at Home

Black Lives Matter has a Toronto chapter that is frequently referred to as BLMTO. The group formed in 2012, long before the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. BLMTO identified as a coalition of people from different backgrounds who all share one thing in common: calling for an end to anti-Black racism and a commitment to anti-racist policy advocacy. 

The outstanding stories of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Regis Korchinski-Paquet are what inspired a young Black and queer activist from Brampton. Tavier Blackstock is deeply disturbed by the violence they have seen and feels pushed to action by these stories.  

The young activist says that Canada is not immune to hate and race-based violence. Research done by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives says that Black people, particularly trans women, face disproportionate levels of violence at the hands of police and on the streets. This past October, a 30-year-old Black trans woman named Regis Korchinski-Paquet died in Toronto Police custody. 

It is because of these tragic encounters that Tavier took it upon themselves to demonstrate peace by walking from Brampton all the way to the CN Tower, downtown Toronto. It was largely unnoticed by the media, despite their campaign gaining thousands of views on social media. “You’re dealing with people who were born into pain and hurt and have been let down their whole lives,” said Tavier. 

What’s Next?

Google searches for the BLM movement have been on the decline over the past months. Momentum is seemingly cooling down. Tavier says this is disheartening to them and calls for an end of performative virtue signalling. 

 Tavier says that it is critical that anti-racists across the city continue to keep their attention on these injustices. Tavier’s fear is that these stories will fade away and be just another trending topic or hashtag on Twitter. 

Data from Google Trends, suggests between the months of May 2020 and December 2020, George Floyd and the shooting of Breonna Taylor were highly searched. On May 25 the search entries for all three topics; BLM, George Floyd, and the shooting of Breonna Taylor, spike drastically. As soon as George Floyd’s death flooded the internet (May 25, 2020), search entries for Black Lives Matter and the shooting of Breonna Taylor escalated. Search entries for the shooting of Breonna Taylor begin to slow down but rise back up in the month of October. The rise for searches in Breonna Taylor’s case is not as significant as George Floyd’s.  Articles surfaced on the internet and news stations as the Grand Jury reveals new information on Breonna Taylor’s case.  The search entries for Black Lives Matter is similar to the data for George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. There is an increase in searches throughout the months of May to August but entries slowly decrease as shown in the graphics. 

The question still ponders: Are the #Black Lives Matter and the rise of interest for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Regis Korchinski-Paquet, and activist Tavier Blackstock, what brings momentum to these social injustices? Data showcases that for now, but it is still unsaid whether or not the #BLM is a dying trend.