Read more: US: what next as the whip of reaction fails to...

Over the last two years, more black Americans were killed by police than Americans were killed in combat in Afghanistan over the last 18 years. More black Americans were killed by police in the last three years than people were killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks. Combine this with a devastating economic crisis and pandemic, and it is easy to understand why a tipping point has been reached, as the accumulated rage and humiliation of centuries spills over onto the streets.