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The Black Lives Matter Movement: The Civil Rights Movement

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Currently ,The “Black Lives Matter” movement is failing, and they could learn a lot from the Civil Rights Movement that took place in the 1950s. The Civil Rights Movement proved that in order to make change through protest a group must have a brand, and a clear and respected leader. The current “Black Lives Matter” movement lacks these aspects but they can be obtained through reorganization. All civil rights movement have a brand. A brand dictates the social habits of a group, and when someone joins a group they are socially pressured into following the habits created by the brand. A brand causes peer pressure, and peer pressure causes a widespread adoption of a social habit that is dictated by brand ,which facilitates peer pressure. This …show more content…

When you create a brand you create a social habit that naturally urges people to do what you want them to do. However, the Black Lives Matter Movement has no such brand. A brand must be clear and concise to serve the function of easily understanding a movement. The Black Lives Matter movement merely has a philosophy that is not well known and cannot be easily explained. While the peaceful protest was widely accepted as habit and norm during the boycott of 1955, the Black Lives Matter Movement has no widely accepted belief. In a matter of fact, Brittany Packnett , a well known Black Lives Matter protester was interviewed by Time Magazine and was quoted saying “ we are diverse in belief”(http://time.com/4178280/black-lives-matter-2016/). Despite their common goal, the members of the Black Lives Matter movement have different beliefs! Unification is a side effect of adopting a common social habit throughout history success has been achieved through unification: the revolutionary war, the civil war, and the civil rights movement. …show more content…

Throughout the civil rights movements Martin Luther King Junior is often looked upon as the leader and representative of the ideology behind the civil rights movement. He was well known by both his members and his enemies. During the Montgomery Bus Boycott, he was identified as the leader by bothe his peers and his enemies, he was attacked by the whites, and looked to for guidance by the blacks. When his house was bombed, he reminded his followers of the importance of peaceful protest, essentially he reinforced his brand by saying. In a time when “the commitment of Montgomery's black community began to wane.”(Duhigg 239) Martin Luther King showed how an excellent leader can revitalize a movement through powerful speaking and a brand. The theme of the Civil Rights Movement was defined by the leader for all to hear that day “‘We must love our white brothers, no matter what they do to us.”( Duhigg 240). The brand changed, and Martin Luther King showed how powerful a leader can be when given the responsibility to guide a movement to success. The greatest thing a Leader can offer is guidance, and Martin Luther King understood the overarching goal of the civil rights movement and guided his followers to that goal. The Black Lives Matter does not have this guidance. Sometimes a narrow corridor is the only thing leading to the light, but The Black Lives Matter movement seem to think that this

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