5 years in the past, the world watched George Floyd die with a police officer’s knee on his neck. A 17-year-old lady, Darnella Frazier, held her cellphone regular and compelled the world to see what Black communities have recognized for hundreds of years: the police don’t preserve us protected. Within the weeks that adopted, uprisings swept the globe. “Defund the police” turned each a slogan and a requirement. Budgets had been challenged, techniques questioned, and for a second, the not possible appeared inside attain.
Now, 5 years on, lots of the wins have been clawed again. Police departments are larger, bolder, and extra militarized. Abolitionist calls for are ridiculed or ignored. Liberals who as soon as raised fists or promised donations in solidarity have fallen silent—or joined the backlash.
However what can’t be undone is the shift in public consciousness. As a result of what we did in 2020 was not simply political. It was narrative. We advised the reality in a method the world couldn’t unsee.
I’ve spent the final decade constructing narrative technique alongside the Motion for Black Lives, rooted in a centuries-long Black radical custom. Now we have all the time recognized that energy lives in story. To make abolition make sense, we’ve to struggle not only for insurance policies, however for which means. 5 years after George Floyd’s homicide, that struggle continues. And from it, we supply three classes.
1. The state will all the time attempt to management the story, so we should inform our personal
The story of policing has all the time been a narrative of management. From slave patrols to “damaged home windows” policing, dominant narratives have forged Black folks as inherently legal, immoral, or undeserving of safety. These tales have by no means been unintended—they’re designed to justify violence, legitimize inequality, and make injustice seem like “public security.”
In 2020, our motion flipped that narrative. We recast Black struggling as state-sanctioned violence—hurt produced, promoted, and institutionalized by the state. We stated the issue wasn’t “unhealthy apples,” it was the tree. The system. The soil. We supplied a distinct framework for security—one rooted in care, not cages.
And we had been punished for it. The defund motion confronted a coordinated state response: federal costs, surveillance, and media smear campaigns. Our opponents understood what we already knew—if you change the narrative, you alter what folks consider is feasible. That’s why the state clings so tightly to its tales, and that’s why we should preserve telling ours.
2. Narrative energy alone received’t save us, however we are able to’t win with out it
Narrative doesn’t change materials situations by itself. But it surely shapes what individuals are prepared to struggle for. And in 2020, hundreds of thousands had been prepared to struggle. Not only for convictions or physique cameras, however for a radical shift in how we take into consideration justice, security, and belonging.
In cities throughout the U.S., police budgets had been slashed, faculties eliminated cops, and new departments of public security had been proposed. Although a lot of these positive aspects have been reversed, the concept of defunding police is now not fringe. It’s a part of the controversy. That’s narrative energy.
However the backlash has taught us one thing, too: we should deal with communications like we deal with organizing. Not as ornament, however as self-discipline. Not as messaging, however as technique. As a result of our opponents are constructing disinformation ecosystems whereas we’re nonetheless asking if comms is “core.”
If the battleground is which means, day by day folks, activists and organizers have to be strategists. And our actions have to be able to struggle—and fund—the lengthy sport.
3. We’re in an ideological contest for the long run, and it’s removed from over
We reside in a time of rupture. The post-racial delusion has collapsed. Neoliberalism is dropping its grip. The U.S. empire is in seen decline. And reactionary politics—from e book bans to anti-trans legal guidelines to outright fascism—is speeding in to fill the void.
The precise has a narrative prepared: regulation and order, nostalgia, scapegoats. A previous that by no means was, and a future constructed on concern.
So we should meet that with a narrative of our personal.
Our actions will not be simply resisting techniques—we’re rehearsing new worlds. Worlds the place mutual help replaces punishment. The place security means meals, housing, and healthcare, not drive. The place Black folks, Indigenous folks, queer and trans folks, immigrants, and all of us who’ve been deemed expendable, will not be simply protected—however prioritized. The place Palestine is free.
This story isn’t utopian. It’s already being lived in encampments, kitchens, school rooms, and neighborhood bailouts. It’s being advised in artwork, music, organizing, and coverage fights. It’s rooted in reminiscence and propelled by creativeness.
And it have to be nurtured, sharpened, and amplified.
The query now isn’t whether or not George Floyd’s demise modified something—it did. The query is: Who has the ability to form what comes subsequent? The Motion for Black Lives has all the time recognized the reply to that query: We do.
5 years in the past, a teenage lady dared to inform the reality. At this time, it’s our flip to maintain telling it—boldly, strategically, and collectively.
Let’s ensure they don’t get the final phrase.
Shanelle Matthews is the previous Motion for Black Lives communications director and a Distinguished Lecturer at Metropolis Faculty of New York. She is the co-editor of Liberation Tales: Constructing Narrative Energy for twenty first Century Social Actions.
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