Black Lives Matter movement at a crossroads as Biden prepares to take office
By Tim Craig and Robert Klemko
Activist John Sloan III saw the swell of White faces in Black Lives Matter protests after the killing of George Floyd in June and girded for the worst.
He acknowledged it was a sign of progress, proof that the Democratic establishment was coming around to his cause. But the 37-year-old lead organizer for the Black Lives Matter chapter in Detroit was worried that the increased support would turn a cause anchored in a grass-roots uprising into a commercialized, mainstream political movement. He voted for Joe Biden anyway.
“Joe Biden was not my first choice. Not my second choice. He was not my third choice,” Sloan said. “But I’m also a pragmatic individual, and I think Biden is going to be better than the Trump administration for me.”
