Date of Award

May 2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Communication

First Advisor

Pamela J. Kalbfleisch

Abstract

On May 25, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on the neck of George Floyd for 9 minutes and 29 seconds, resulting in Floyd’s death; protests and riots broke out not only in Minnesota, but around the United States (Taylor, 2021). This was just the most recent event in the repeated police brutality against people of color. This dissertation is a case study examining protesting as a form of communication in regards to the Black Lives Matter movement. The deaths of 15 Black people which generated notable media attention are examined via a variety of news sources, starting with the inception of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2012 after the the killing of Trayvon Martin and ending with the murder of George Floyd in 2020. These deaths resulted in different types of protests, which affected both positive and negative outcomes.

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