Black Lives Matter to Gaming 1 Favorite 

During the pandemic of Covid protestors have found many different ways in which they can express themselves. Some examples of which are the BLM rallies that took place in the video game The Sims to the China / Hong Kong protests in Animal Crossing. During the period of time where street protests against anti-black racism was rampant around the world, Animal Crossing players were taking their own stand against racism. Adelle who was a software engineer from New York created a in-game memorial on her island in Animal Crossing and decorated the island with flowers and pixel art portraits of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other African American victims of police brutality. She said her reason for making these portraits and tributes in game was due to the fact that she was living with immuno-compromised people so she was unable to attend the physical protests. The virtual location that she created in game quickly caught traction and turned into a protest site as other players who visit her island shouting, "No justice, no peace", "Justice for Breonna" and "Defund the police".
While the actual game only allows up to 8 people at once to be on an island, many people were engaging with the protests and they were able to raise thousands of dollars through the live-streaming platform Twitch. After Adelle's demonstration, many other took place in not just Animal Crossing, but other video games such as World of warcraft, Splatoon, Toontown, Grand Theft Auto, and NBA 2K20.