The main motivator of protesting is to bring about positive change -- so how successful has this nationwide movement been?

Protests have erupted across Long Island in the wake of George Floyd's death. Thursday night, thousands took over the streets of Merrick and surrounding areas for hours -- there has been no violence, looting or rioting.

The protests have been loud and disruptive, forcing miles of road closures for hours at a time.

"If they are disrupting our way of life - it's because they've tried other routes and they haven't worked," says Hofstra University professor Mary Anne Trasciatti."They're doing exactly what protests are supposed to do. They're supposed to capture attention, force you to pay attention, make it almost impossible for you to look away and say there's a problem, it's not being addressed."

Many say the death of Floyd was the straw that broke the camel's back.

"They want justice. We've looked at for like 473 years, people who were murdered by police officers," says Tomeka Robinson, Hofstra University professor of rhetoric and public advocacy.

All four officers involved in Floyd's death have been charged, leaving others to say the protests need to end. One onlooker to a Massapequa Park protest told News 12, "Everybody knows what happened. The police officers are going to jail for a very long time and that's it. This is ridiculous."

But for many, the charges are just a piece of the larger problem - systemic racism.

When it comes to peaceful protest, Trasciatti says, "What is means is that they're engaged and they care. So I think we need to see protests as a positive thing and a very historic and very American thing."