Black Lives Matter And Its Cultural Influence Essay

Black Lives Matter is an international activist movement that started within the African-American communities. This movement is organized by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi. Ever since the black people have stepped on American soil, they have continued to be victims of racism and violence. From slavery to lynching to segregation, the black people have suffered alot in this country. In the past few years, there are so many of them that have been targeted by the law enforcement authorities across the country. This movement’s goal is to raise awareness of racism and violence against African-Americans. They wants African-American to live with dignity and respect like other Americans do.

One of the the most controversial topics of discussion in our nation is the Black Lives Matter movement. This movement has sparked up immensely because of the President in office right now, Donald Trump, and many events transpiring around the nation. The country is at separation between the people who think that Black Lives Matter is a real issue and the people who think it is not. Without a doubt, people need to be considered equally, no matter what is said at the end of the day. America was founded on the idea that every man that walks on the soil will have just as equal opportunities as the next, no matter the race. Three essential reasons people are determined to fight for this cause is to end job discrimination, stop police brutality, and gain equal rights within society.

Although there was significant progress made in the 60’s Civil Rights Movements, African American lives still find themselves the subjects of racial profiling and police brutality cases. Specific incidents have brought the controversies to the public eye through social media and backlash from social movements. The cases of Trayvon Martin and Sandra Bland led to the controversies and feelings of judicial injustice; these events and public outrage sparked and fueled the movement “Black Lives Matter”, which was established to challenge and combat racial discrimination and police brutality. Since then, the movement has gained momentum and continues to gain followers and validity. Social media has also been a main contributor to the cause, as the

In August 2014, a young Michael Brown was shot and killed by Darren Wilson. What is

Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a loosely‐coordinated, nationwide movement dedicated to ending police brutality that rose to prominence in late 2014. It takes its name from a hashtag started by three Black feminist activists Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi but the movement and the hashtag are not identical (Freelon, McIlwain, & Clark, 2016). BLM has achieved national reputation through their online and offline organizing, obtaining extensive news media coverage and glowing references in music and entertainment television. Based on a horrendous incident that sparked a concern for a lot of Black people across the world, the sudden need for a social movement was born called BLM. Black Lives Matter is a national organization working for the validity of Black life and also working to rebuild the Black liberation movement. Black Lives Matter broadens the conversation and highlight the incidents around state violence to include the ways in which Black people are intentionally left powerless at the hands of the state. This referring to the ways in which Black lives are deprived of basic human rights and dignity. According to the article The Murder of Walter Scott, which talks about race and class, “African Americans are less than 13% of the U.S. population yet they are nearly 50% of those killed by the police. North Charleston has a population of 104,000, 47% Black and the police force is 80% white (Miah, 2015)”.

people to take over this country and how it was before. The assigned reading and class

For the past few years, racial tensions have been on the rise. Although many actions have been taken to prevent these conflicts from occurring, African Americans are still being undervalued by the state. As more African Americans are being turned away with little to no assistance from the American government, anger and the desire for change increased among them. When Trayvon Martin’s murderer George Zimmerman was acquitted for his crime, a great number of Americans were furious at the outcome. Three African American women named Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi expressed their view on a Facebook post titled “A Love Note to Black People” and it ends with “Our Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter” (“Black Lives Matter”). Thus, a new liberation movement for black people was born. The hashtag #BlackLivesMatter rapidly spread throughout social media, bringing awareness of the struggles of African Americans. The Black Lives Matter movement is a call to action to eradicate the dehumanization of African Americans that exists in American society. With the constant targeting of African Americans by the police and the unfair treatment in the criminal justice system, the Black Lives Matter movement is a necessity to combat racism.

The above narrative is just a mere glimpse of the hurt, anger, and pain in the black community after George Zimmerman was acquitted of charges of second degree murder against seventeen year old Trayvon Martin. These emotions were the stepping stones of a highly significant movement, the Black Lives Matter movement. The Black Lives Matter movement is a response as well as a stance against police brutality against African Americans, which uses the tragic deaths of teenagers Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown as a head for its cause. Many people on social media know the black lives matter movement or refer to it #blacklivesmatter, especially on twitter. The Black Lives Matter movement was founded by Patrisse Cullers, Opal Tometi, and Alicia Garza. Which is defined as an “ideological and political intervention in a world where black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise. It is an affirmation of Black folks contributions to this society, our humanity, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression.”

“Black Lives Matter” —an intended progression in society without a hierarchy, merely marching forward by spur of the people. Started by three sisters who continue to keep the organization a chapter-based, left wing social justice operation, it can best be described as “Not a moment, but a movement” by those that follow it. The case that began this outcry involved a man —George Zimmerman— whom, according to Lizette Alvarez and Cara Buckley (2013), “was found not guilty [of] second-degree murder [and] was also acquitted of manslaughter, a lesser charge.” (para. 1). Since its initial start in 2013, the movement follows and protests against police brutality and civil injustice towards individuals of the Black minority; however, this is a prime example of hate breeding hate as the movement, has opened a new floodgate full of antipathy aimed towards the White-community and Law Enforcement Officials. In short, the initial idea of “Black Lives Matter” —which is to bring civil justice to the Black-community— is a good concept, but the execution by its adherents are, ironically, bigoted; the movement needs to either evolve its state of thought or disperse before it further segregates America.

For example, one in six black men had been incarcerated as of 2001 and today African Americans comprise of nearly “1 million of the total 2.3 million incarcerated population” and are imprisoned at “six times the rate of whites” (“About the BLM Network”). If current trends continue and the population of the African Americans increase, “one in three black males born today can expect to spend time in prison during his lifetime” (“About the BLM Network”). This happens to be the very example of what led to the start of the BLM movement and the uproar of the black population. After 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by murder George Zimmerman and was “posthumously placed on trial for his own murder,” only for Zimmerman to be acquitted, #Blacklivesmatter was created in 2012 (King). Social media allowed participants to generate “new habits that create a fresh sense of identity and a feeling of ownership,” especially when users could easily share the hashtag along with his or her own views and ideas in a tweet or an Instagram caption (Duhigg 87). This hashtag subsequently was formed into a protest and then ultimately a full-fledged movement: a movement uniting all black people to resist their dehumanization in America and creating a voice for its members through social media.

The black lives matter movement can be deliberated to be a new social movement as it looks at some of the actions which are grounded by policy making and the ideology as the root of collective action. A procedures that fits into this movement is the Collective Behaviour Theory. The theory refers to the events that emerge suddenly and don’t often conform to the laws or rules but as in alternative which is often base on the issues at hand. For instance the Black Lives Matter movement came together as a community as their collective identity matches one another. (Being African American or loosing someone to police violence) This also fits under ‘Grass-roots’ as it is driven by the ‘locals’ who are often

The Black Lives Matter movement has swept across America. It 's branched out with chapters in over 31 cities and held rallies and boycotts across the United States(Sidner). The Black Lives Matter movement started with the outrage of the death of a young man. It continues to take over headlines and raise awareness on police brutality and inequality. However, the movement has met resistance from the All Lives Matter group. This group thinks that Black Lives Matter is a movement to express hatred towards other races. However, statistics, the views of fellow citizens, and the overall purpose of the Black Lives Matter movement, can prove that the movement wasn 't meant to express hate on other races and that we need to support the movement instead of going against it.

In summation, we looked at social conflict as it related to class, race and ethnicity, gender, and how it explains the Black Lives Matter Movement. As we examined the literature, we asked how and why did the Black Lives Matter Movement begin? What are the problems with the Black Lives Matter Movement? What does social media have to say about the Black Lives Matter Movement? What is the youth’s culture’s input on the Black Lives Matter Movement? How does the Black Lives Matter movement tie back to the police? And where are we going with the Black Lives Matter Movement post-2016? We focused on whether or not the Black Lives Matter movement had the potential to affect change and have a long-lasting impact on society as a social movement. Therefore,

The media has changed the mindset of many individuals in society. If a peaceful protest is happening, then the citizens are portrayed to be angry and rioters in the media. In today’s society, people gain their knowledge from either reading off social media networking sites and newspaper outlets online. The miscommunication and biased perspectives are formed because of sources that may have an enticing headline such as saying, “Black Lives Matter is the newest hate group.” For someone who might not understand this organization would believe the negative stigma behind it. This organization stands against violence and systemic racism toward African-Americans involving the issues of police brutality, profiling, and injustices. Black Lives Matter holds peaceful protests and meetings to find solutions to help end racial inequality for African-Americans. The headline should state that “Black Lives Matter stands up for unity,” which is respectable toward the organization. However, the media tries not to promote positivity because they want to appeal more individuals with newsworthy articles. The Nationalist Association of Black Journalists Award Winning Artist, Akiba Solomon is a freelance writer who focuses on writing about race and gender. One of her most indulgence writings is titled Thugs. Students. Rioters. Fans: Media’s Subtle Racism in Unrest Coverage. Solomon is a lecturer that instructs and teaches about women and social justice issues. She discusses the intolerant

Black Lives Matter began as a social media hashtag that later transformed into a social movement after George Zimmerman’s acquittal in the killing of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17-year old black boy. The social media hashtag did not pick up until November 25, 2014 (Demby); the day police officer Darren Wilson was not indicted after shooting and killing of Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year old black boy. Quickly after the decision was heard, “#blacklivesmatter” came to life via thousands of protestors. Unfortunately, this was not the last injustice to cause a Black Lives Matter protest. Shortly after, about a week and a half later, another grand jury decides to not indict another officer for the murder of Eric Garner. Eric Garner was put in a chokehold that eventually led to his death in NYC, even though the NYPD prohibits use of chokeholds. When the decision was made to not indict the officer, thousands of protestors took to the streets of NYC, Dallas, and several other major cities. The murders of Freddie Gray, Sandra Bland, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and several others sparked similar, if not larger, protest across the country.