For decades black Americans have been treated as animals, looked at as if they are monsters, and killed like bugs. Actions like Police brutality and racism is what caused Black Lives Matter. The creation of the Black Lives Matter was a response by the black community to give a voice to black Americans affected by the increase of wrongful deaths due to the law enforcements and vigilantes across the country. This has been going on for so long that it seems like we are stuck in the past. For years, even decades black Americans have had to live the struggle of being equal. Even when things are going good and we think we finally have the same rights, something happened to change that. It is time to shed a light on the real purpose of Black Lives Matter and why they are important to today's society.
Social movements are vital to the establishment of our societies, and they way we are governed. Social movements help the less privileged band together to create a stronger voice among a sea of political correctness and unlawfully rule that the public supposedly have to abide by without question. Movements create this new form of platform that, if done successfully, are able to create a worldwide frenzy where people from across all walks of life, including politicians, academics, the less fortunate, the homeless, doctors, etc, are able to come together to create change, or to start to create change on a matter that is close to their hearts. One of these matters that has come up in recent years that has been an ongoing battle for centuries upon centuries is Black Lives Matter (Although named various things throughout time such as black civil rights). Black Lives Matter is a movement that started back in 2012 after George Zimmerman was acquitted for his crime against a 17 year old boy named Trayvon Martin, and Trayvon was then put on trial for his own murder (Garza, A. 2014, p. 1.). This crime was just the tipping point for three women who wanted to see a change in the way black lives were/are treated. Black Lives Matter is one of the most important socio-political movements of our time, and this is why it is an important movement to connect with and understand. Throughout, I will be going through the strategies and the tactics Black Lives Matter advocates and cofounders have
Darryl Lorenzo Wellington, a renowned poet and social critic, originally published the article “The Power of Black Lives Matter” in his book The Crisis in 2015. In “The Power of Black Lives Matter,” Darryl Lorenzo Wellington argues that the Black Lives Matter movement has helped bring to the forefront the uncomfortable truth about race and class in the United States of America. He makes it clear that racism is still present in today’s society and that the movement Black Lives Matter will help make this problem more noticeable. In the essay “The Power of Black Lives Matter”, Wellington is trying to persuade the reader that Black Lives Matter is a necessary movement because it reiterates the truth that the society we live in today is systematically racist, he does so through rhetorical questions and repetition which is why I believe this article is persuasive.
A necessary and common fight for equality has been one that has survived throughout all of man’s existence. Due to recent racial divide and the product of racial profiling, a movement has risen up to combat these common issues. The most recent and most well-covered is the Black Lives Matter Movement. Even though it has been lauded by some media sources and individuals as the next great movement to champion for civil rights, the Black Lives Matter movement is not the same as the African-American Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s nor is it likely to be as successful. If the Black Lives Matter Movement continues with discrepancies in ideology, lack of clear leadership, and trends of hate, the movement is doomed to fail.
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)”.
After his death, a group of protesters chanting “black lives matter” shut down a local shopping mall which lead to further deaths of unarmed black men. The phrase started appearing on t-shirts and posters banners everywhere. Black Lives Matter surfaced and the movement created itself. There are now more than 37 movement chapters in the U.S and one in Canada. “The movement doesn’t win if there’s only a small set of people who understand the solutions. It wins when there’s a broad understanding that we need a system that doesn’t kill people, when a critical mass of citizens can envision what that looks like, and what concrete steps are taken to make it happen.” Says Deray Mckesson, a 29-year-old man who drove 600 miles to witness the Ferguson scene himself. McKesson met a woman here who he began sharing information about events and tweeting updates, who then quickly became the most recognizable figures associated with the movement in
Martin Luther King Jr.’s effective policy of non-violence. Furthermore, the “Black Lives Matter” movement’s disruptive protest and impassionate public mission statement speeches about the persistent purpose of racial inequality have been disconcerting to many Americans who wonder what the real message for this new generation of civil rights protests are, and if their arguments, tactics, and cause is effective and productive to inciting change. To many times their stances have appeared contradictory and hate filled because of their lack of specific purpose and a central governing body. Responding to this criticism, Black Lives Matter leaders assert this is, “not your grandfather’s civil-rights movement,” to distinguish its tactics and its philosophy from those of nineteen-sixties-style activism. However, despite insinuating they are not typical of older civil rights movements they frequently allude to past civil rights
Subsequent police shootings of unarmed black locals in New York, Baltimore, Cincinnati, and Los Angeles propelled the “Black Lives Matter” movement.
It’s a warm summer day in the congested streets of Staten Island, New York. Eric Garner, a black man, is at his usual spot in front of his local gas station illegally selling cigarettes, when Officer Pantaleo, a white man, questions Garner for Garner’s illegal activity. “Every time you see me you want to arrest me, I’m tired of this, this stops today…I didn’t do nothing”, shouts Garner at the officer. Garner is then tackled and placed into a chokehold by the police, and exclaims that he cannot breathe. Garner dies soon after. Similarly, after that incident, Michael Brown, a black man, was killed by a white police officer. From these two incidents, the Black Lives Matter movement began. From its beginning, Black Lives Matter has placed emphasis
In 2012, a movement started so called Black Lives Matter. It started after Trayvon Martin’s murderer, George Zimmerman, was acquitted for his crime, and 17-year-old Trayvon was put on trial after his death for his own murder. This movement is a unique contribution that goes beyond extrajudicial killings of black people by police and vigilantes. African-Americans horrible died after being turned away from hospitals reserved for whites. “Black Lives Matter” focuses mainly on the fact that black citizens have long been far more likely than whites to die at the hands of police, as a matter of fact polices have gotten to the point of shooting them to death. It has been going on for years, Negros have been treated like trash, and they have been slaves for years in the early
The Black Lives Matter movement began in 2013 after George Zimmerman was found not guilty of the murder of 17 year-old Trayvon Martin. About a year after Martin’s death, an 18 year-old unarmed male, Michael Brown, was shot and killed by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. That sparked weeks of protests. Years later, Asians, Latinos, and some whites joined in and realized how big of a problem this was becoming. As the years go by, the BLM Movement will keep growing and will not go
“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.
(Hashtag) #BlackLivesMatter. Black Lives Matter (BLM). This is a phrase, a hashtag, a saying, a declaration, an affirmation of resistance, and most importantly, a calling for change to the American civilization which is unjust in its treatment of black human beings. This is not a moment, this is a movement, and it is truly an unfortunate witness numerous Americans disregard this outcry for justice. Whether it may largely be the purpose of bigoted racism, in which, one is instilled of the opinion that black people are less than or not equal to, seemingly inferior to other cultures. But besides all of these racist principles, a certain ignorance prevails in the misinterpretation of the black lives matter advocated premise. Many tend to interpret
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.
Firstly, yes I agree with the definition of justice in this quotation, because if you are neutral to the cause, you are on the opposing side, being neutral (not having a voice in the issue) is ignoring the oppressed side. Recognizing the right and wrong in an issue and sticking to what is right no matter what. Being able to recognize the power struggle. I related this quote to the new uproar in the #BlackLivesMatter issue. Over the past year, innocent black lives have been taken by the police and so this movement started. Baltimore and Ferguson, the spotlight, Black Lives Matter is a movement in direct response to the disproportionate murders of black people in America and it is an issue that needs to be taken seriously. Unarmed victims of