Commentary: The last stand of Tory D. Johnson: What Huntington Beach tells us about the demise of BLM

Written by on March 20, 2025

In the summer of 2020, Black Lives Matter felt unstoppable. Protests swept the country, corporations pledged solidarity and police faced calls for reform. But nearly five years later, as the anniversary of George Floyd’s murder approaches, that moment has collapsed — banners gone, donations dried up and racial justice has become taboo. Nowhere is this clearer than in Huntington Beach, where one man, Tory D. Johnson, refuses to let the movement die.

“I came here with a backpack and a dream,” Johnson says. He arrived in 2012, leaving Indiana behind with hopes of music and success. “I . . .



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