Social Media's Influence On Black Lives Matter

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.

Still today, 1,026 people have been killed in 2017 alone, and though blacks are only thirteen percent of the populations, 26% of the police deaths were black. According to mappingpoliceviolence.org, blacks are three times more likely than a white person to be killed by a police officer and thirty three percent of those are unarmed. To make matter worse, ninety nine percent of police officers get off

Black Lives Matter movement spread awareness through protesting, petitioning, writing formal letters to local police departments and the District Attorney of the United States. However social media is what helped draw attention to the ongoing violence against the black people. Hashtags, Instagram photos, and videos drew a broad and nonverbal attention to police wrongdoings. Social media helped as it makes up effective communities by uniting those that support the social action. “Social media keeps advocates and allies informed, as well as create a quick and easy vehicle through which to keep activists informed and how social media creates verbal opportunities for a solid change”. (Langford, Montené, 2015).

Ironically, “Cops killed nearly twice as many whites as blacks in 2015, 50 percent of the victims of fatal police shootings were white, while 26 percent were black. The majority of these victims had a gun or, were armed or threatening the officer with potentially lethal force.” “Alternatively, some believe that these statistics are

“In 2015, nearly a thousand people were shot and killed by police. Almost all of those people shot, over 95%, were men” (Police Shootings, Travis). The racial breakdown of these killings consist of “51.3% white, 27.3% blacks, 17.8% hispanic, 38 people were other race” (Police Shootings, Travis). While it is true that African- Americans represent only 12% of the population, and yet are 2 times that rate in police shootings. According to F.B.I data in 2014, 4,224 black men were arrested and charged with murder in this country. Statistics also state that in 2013, 90% of African- American murders were committed by other African- Americans. While similar statistics can be stated about whites, since 84% of whites were murdered by other whites. Racial killings

Black Lives Matter is a rather recent movement that has developed in the United States as a result of the African American community claiming that police officers target and shoot African Americans due to their race. Their aim is to raise awareness of claimed police brutality against African Americans and hopefully increase restrictions on the police forces by taking away the right to defend themselves if they, the policemen, feel endangered.

According to a Washington Post database of lethal police shootings 24 unarmed black men have been shot and killed by police so far this year. This means one a black man dies every nine days. Three unarmed black men were shot and killed in the month of April alone. All three shootings were either caught on tape or reported on local TV. The 24 unarmed black men that were killed compose a startling small amount of the 585 people shot and killed by police. According to The Post database. Most of those killed were white or Hispanic, and a good number of all races were armed. However, according to Wesley, black men accounted for 40 percent of the 60 unarmed deaths, even though they make up just 6 percent of the U.S. population.

The dignity of Black Americans is being taken away by the same people who are getting paid by American tax dollars, to protect and serve. Because of this rash of recent deaths, Black Americas have started an initiative to ban together to fight the racial injustice in this country. Black Lives Matter is an organization of American activist who created a grassroots movement to abolish the degradation and demonization of Blacks Americans. This movement formed after the shooting death, of Florida Black American teen Trayvon Martin, whose killer George Zimmerman, was released on an acquittal. Since then, more attention has been drawn to the disproportionate number of Black American deaths in this country. These deaths have

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 is a group formed by black people when the police started shooting them without giving them a chance.

As of October 2016, a staggering 194 black citizens were killed by police in the U.S. alone (Craven). Three out of five black males state that “they have personally been treated unfairly by police because of their race” (Holland). Many African American citizens are often penalized, not for crimes they have committed, but for their racial background and ethnicity. There are many advocates around the world trying to stop racial profiling and racial discrimination. Black Lives Matter is an internationally based movement that originated in 2012 in the African American community. The movement was created in response to the fatal shooting of a 17 year old African American, Trayvon Martin, who was murdered by a neighborhood watch volunteer, George

The Black Lives Matter Movement is a chapter-based national organization working for the validity of Black life. Their main goal is to working to rebuild the Black liberation movement. The movement was founded by Patrisse Cullors, Opal Tometi, and Alicia Garza. It was created in 2012 after seventeen year old Trayvon Martin’s murderer, George Zimmerman, was acquitted for his crime, and dead Trayvon was placed on trial for his own murder. The Black Lives Matter Movement is a call to action and a response to the concurrent anti-Black racism that floods the black community.

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 movement was began by three African-American women by the names of Patrisse Cullors, Opal Tometi, and Alicia Garza began in response to seventeen year old Trayvon Martin’s murder, resulting in the accused, George Zimmerman being acquitted in July 2013, and to add insult to injury, by many, Trayvon Martin appeared to have been put on trial for his own murder by being portrayed as the aggressor leading the jury to believe this resulted in his death.

Following this event, many were getting back to the idea that equality does exist in America. However twenty years later they were proved wrong by the new movement that had struck. According to the Facebook post by Mic, “Americans are as skeptical of Black Lives Matter today as they were of the civil rights movement in the ‘60s." In Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon’s essay, “My Selfie, My Self: Ma(s)king Identity in the New Millennium,” the authors claim “...race is no longer a significant factor in American life....insisting that America has reached a “post-racial condition in which race no longer matters…” (494). Black Lives Matter was created by Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Mark-Anthony Johnson, in 2012 after the murderer of a seventeen-year old African American boy named Trayvon Martin, who was shot by a volunteer neighborhood watch person named George Zimmerman. According to Zimmerman, Trayvon Martin seemed “suspicious”. According to the article, What Does Black Lives Matter Want? Now Its Demands Are Clearer Than Ever, the Black Lives Matter group made several demands which, “lays out six demands and 40 corresponding policy recommendations to paint a picture of what today’s black activists are fighting for,” but their main focus is on police reform and receiving justice for the deaths of the African Americans (The Nation). They believed that the police officers displayed an unnecessary use of force which was based upon the individual’s race, as opposed to the crime that was being committed.