Why black lives matter
July has been a difficult month for the United States. The deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile at the hands of the police have raised racial tensions once again. The protests, largely affiliated with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, have sprung up in large numbers across the country. While most of the protests have held, things took a violent turn in peaceful Dallas when a sniper opened fire on police officers, killing five and wounding seven. Many opponents of the BLM have pointed to the group as the cause of the officers’ deaths. But from the beginning, BLM has been a nonviolent movement. In fact, it is an intellectually driven movement focused on justice and equality.
The movement officially began in 2013 after George Zimmerman was acquitted in the death of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin. The group was founded by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi. The movement has drawn pieces of inspiration and strategy from a number of other protest movements, including Occupy Wall Street, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Black Feminist Movement of the 1980s.
BLM was largely an online campaign until August 2014. After the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, more than 500 people rallied in a nonviolent protest. Since that initial in-person protest, the BLM has organized more than 1,000 peaceful demonstrations across the country. There are currently 23 BLM chapters spread across the US, Canada, and Ghana.
Unlike previous protest movements, BLM distinguishes itself by relying solely on its own organizing and recruiting efforts. The group does not depend on the support of local churches, politicians or the Democratic Party. Music, memes, hashtag activism, and protests are the main tactics used by BLM.
Officially, the BLM website describes the movement as “an ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for disappearance. It is an affirmation of Black contributions to this society, our humanity and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression. Among the many principles listed on the site, restorative justice, globalism, and empathy are promoted.
While many have criticized BLM for being disruptive and negative, the group seeks to help those on the margins. Before BLM, the deaths of black men like Castile and Sterling may have gone unnoticed. BLM has given visibility to these cases of extreme police brutality. But even more than visibility, BLM has given the nation’s disenfranchised a viable way to act.
The hardest thing for oppressed and disenfranchised people is getting attention. Crimes against them often occur in secret with little or no news coverage. BLM has raised awareness and highlighted a national problem that has not been rectified.
Furthermore, BLM is a movement with peace as its ultimate goal. And in the pursuit of this peace, they include all disenfranchised groups. Some of its other guiding principles are queer affirmation and transgender affirmation. BLM is a group that truly understands that all people must love one another and be accepted in order for the larger group to move forward.
Black Lives Matter is not just a disruptive movement. It is a path to ultimate freedom and equality that is more visible than any movement we have had before.