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But the closure of Black Image Center’s physical space echoes that of other small businesses in Greater Los Angeles that have served as Black community hubs beyond their primary offerings, with many owners saying the initial support garnered during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement has since waned.

“The exponential surveillance since 9/11 has also intensified the criminalization of marginalized and racialized groups… and has increasingly targeted protest movements such as Black Lives Matter.”

Yes, Trump did indeed go after Black Lives Matter protesters with a vengeance during his first term, even unleashing armed federal agents without insignia to tear gas, beat and detain such protesters in Portland, Oregon.

Our whole political landscape is a repercussion of #MeToo, of Black Lives Matter, of us standing up and voicing what becomes intolerable.

It was in 2020 when the George Floyd protests and the Black Lives Matter movement galvanized the whole planet and precipitated efforts to ramp up DEI programs across society that the backlash began in earnest.