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The Violence Against African Americans

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Black voices around the country were being heard as they protested for their lives. It almost seemed like déjà vu for the black community. However, this time, unlike in the Civil Rights Movement of the 60’s, the Black Lives Matter movement had a powerful tool in their pocket: social media. The creation of the hashtag “Black Lives Matter” galvanized the movement throughout the nation, as posts from people on both sides of the spectrum spoke out on their thoughts over the current police violence against African Americans. Although the hashtag originally began on Facebook, the Black Lives Matter movement has been able to reach a wide range audience through Twitter. On February 26, 2012, George Zimmerman reported a “suspicious person” in the neighborhood. After dispatch instructed him not to approach the suspect, Zimmerman did the contrary and a few minutes later gun shots were fired. George Zimmerman shot and killed an unarmed, seventeen-year-old African American, Trayvon Martin. Let it be known that he had no authority to shoot Trayvon, he was simply a neighborhood watch. He was not a police officer; he was a civilian in charge of overseeing activities at night. Neighborhood watch have no authority to arrest or take actions typically reserved for police officers. Later that week, he was arrested for the murder of Trayvon Martin. However, a year later, Zimmerman was acquitted of the charge for second-degree murder. When the verdict was released, Alicia Garza was at a local

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