(AP) — The Black Lives Matter movement emerged in 2013, its creators angered over the acquittal of George Zimmerman, the Florida man who shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Several years since its founding, BLM has evolved well beyond the initial aspirations of its early supporters. It went from social media hashtag to an immensely influential movement and an organization with millions of dollars at its disposal to push messaging around defunding police departments as a way of addressing systemic racism. Now, its influence faces a test, as voters in Tuesday’s general election choose or reject candidates who endorsed or denounced the BLM movement amid a national reckoning on race.
