In the Wake of George Floyd

Supervised by: Professor Patsy Lewis and Tarika Sankar

Project Background

This project documents protests across Rhode Island in the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd,  generating what has been described as one of the largest protests in Providence. Central to our project is to locate Rhode Island within the national protests that occurred in the months following Floyd’s death (concentrated in May and June) by documenting public demonstrations across the state. The project seeks to understand why this event resonated with Rhode Islanders. Specifically, it explores how communities of color in the state experience racism and police violence.

So far, the project has established a timeline of protest events across the state, and has conducted interviews with community leaders. Research exploring Brown University’s response, racial profiling, and policing in the state has also been completed. A website that hosts this research has also been created.

Research Questions

What are some of the key issues that arose out of the demands made by protesters, such as calls to defund the policy, increased police accountability, and the removal of resource officers in schools? What was the role of key social media sites in assessing public responses to these issues? 

Objectives

To contribute a new element to the project, and to strengthen my experience using social media as a research tool as well as hone my writing skills. 

Methodology

I will be collecting, processing and analyzing social media data (tweets, Facebook posts, etc.) targeted at specific issues and reforms arising from the protests and Black Lives Matter movement. I will also lead in writing up the findings of this research as an article for the project website.