How Black Lives Matter Reached Every Corner of America

Population of cities with protests

>500,000

<50,000

50,000-100,000

100,000-500,000

Population of cities with protests

<50,000

50,000-100,000

>500,000

100,000-500,000

Protests where the population is over 95% white
Protests as of May 26

Kerem Yucel/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Minneapolis

Josh Galemore/Arizona Daily Star, via Associated

Tucson, Ariz.

Martha Asencio-Rhine/Tampa Bay Times, via Associated Press

St. Petersburg, Fla.

Demetrius Freeman for The New York Times

Manhattan, N.Y.

Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images

Ferguson, Mo.

Thom Bridge/Independent Record, via Associated Press

Helena, Mont.

Bryan Denton for The New York Times

Santa Monica, Calif.

Hilary Swift

South Royalton, Vt.

Matty Leong

Honolulu

Alyson Mcclaran/Reuters

Denver

Kirsten Luce for The New York Times

Manhattan, N.Y.

Jake May/The Flint Journal, via Associated Press

Flint, Mich.

Mark Lambie/The El Paso Times, via Associated Press

El Paso

Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard, via Associated Press

Eugene, Ore.

Nicole Neri/Reuters

Phoenix

Robert F. Bukaty/Associated Press

Portland, Maine

Eric Gay/Associated Press

San Antonio

Erik Branch for The New York Times

Louisville, Ky.

Robert Franklin/South Bend Tribune, via Associated Press

Mishawaka, Ind.

Locations of protests from May 26 to June 9.

On any given day, they spill out onto the streets, driven by fury.

They march. They kneel. They sing.

They cry. They pray. They light candles.

They chant and shout, urgent voices, muffled behind masks.

They block freeways and bridges and fill public squares. They press their bodies into hot asphalt, silently breathing for eight minutes and 46 seconds.

They do all this beneath the watchful gaze of uniformed police officers standing sentry.

Within 24 hours of Mr. Floyd’s death, demonstrations were organized in a half-dozen U.S. cities, with protesters chanting the names of black people subjected to police brutality.

The number of places doubled. Then tripled.

It continued that way, with every sunrise and sunset bringing more anguish and cries for reform, until hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets across more than 2,000 cities and towns, their chants echoing the rhythms of movements past.