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Analysis Of Bell Hooks 's We Real Cool : Black Men And Masculinity

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As echoed in Bell Hooks’s We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity, the culprit to the Black Lives Matter (“BLM”) movement is masculine patriarchy which, in turn, reinforces racism and oppression. The general public fails to recognize that BLM stemmed from oppression to black males, not the black community as a whole. Furthermore, even though this movement is intended to fight anti-Black racism, it is focusing on the empowerment of black women. A. BLM History The BLM movement initially emerged in 2013 via social media in the form of a #BlackLivesMatter hashtag. This hashtag was created in direct response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the case concerning the killing of Trayvon Martin, a black 17-year old teen. Martin was killed by Zimmerman, a member of the local neighborhood watch, who claimed he shot the teen in self-defense. After three weeks of testimony, the jury agreed that Zimmerman could have been justified in shooting Martin because he feared great bodily harm or death. The following year, the movement grew after the death of two unarmed black men– Michael Brown of Ferguson and Eric Garner of New York City. B. Women and the BLM movement BLM was co-founded as both a hashtag and activist network by three black women: Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi. It is no surprise that black women have played a key role in the BLM movement by organizing marches, die-ins, social media campaigns, and protests. Similar to Hooks, these women care about the

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