It's been almost four years since Patrisse Khan-Cullors helped birth the hashtag #blacklivesmatter. Those three words gained national attention for demonstrations against police brutality and grew into a movement.
But progress has been slow, admits Khan-Cullors, a Los Angeles-based activist who co-founded the Black Lives Matter Network.
In 2016, the state of police-community relations fluctuated with each deadly encounter between law enforcement and civilians across the country. Texas had one of the most high-profile events of the year, when a gunman opened fire in July on Dallas officers as a Black Lives Matter protest wrapped. The year was also marked by efforts to reform the state's criminal justice system, particularly jail conditions.
In the Facebook Live video streamed earlier this month by Diamond Reynolds after her fiance, Philando Castile, was fatally shot by a police officer during a traffic stop in a Minnesota suburb, Reynolds identified the man who shot Castile as "Chinese" as she narrated the scene.
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick joined a handful of other Texas Republican officials Friday in blaming former Black Lives Matter protests for the shooting in Dallas Thursday night that left at least five police officers dead.
