Black Lives Matter: Impact Of The # BLM Movement

Aside from being born out of contempt for the Zimmerman acquittal, the movement has become so much more than an outcry for justice. The hashtag #BlackLivesMatter was created using the words of community activist Alicia Garza who wrote a heartfelt Facebook post that ended with those words. Since then, the movement has moved from social media into the streets, with BLM followers holding peaceful protests around the country to decry racial discrimination.

There are many problems that exist in the world, whether that be political, economic, or even social issues. These issues can affect individuals, both directly and indirectly, in doing so can lead to detrimental effects on society. One way to get involved in an issue and help spread awareness is through a movement. There are many movements in the world where people stand up and fight for a cause they believe in, in doing so can bring about change that leads to a better world. In specifically the Black Lives Matter movement is a global platform that helps black communities when they are faced with injustice. Black communities are faced with inequality, injustice, racialization and many more struggles that other communities don’t have an issue

The BLM movement initially emerged in 2013 via social media in the form of a #BlackLivesMatter hashtag. This hashtag was created in direct response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the case concerning the killing of Trayvon Martin, a black 17-year old teen. Martin was killed by Zimmerman, a member of the local neighborhood watch, who claimed he shot the teen in self-defense. After three weeks of testimony, the jury agreed that Zimmerman could have been justified in shooting Martin because he feared great bodily harm or death. The following year, the movement grew after the death of two unarmed black men– Michael Brown of Ferguson and Eric Garner of New York City.

Following the acquittal of George Zimmerman for the death of Trayvon Martin, Patrisse Cullers retweeted a friend’s Facebook status with the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter. In collaboration with other friends they shared their experiences and stories on other social media platforms and subsequently created a socio-political campaign. Soon it became a powerful force of hashtag activism that is now an international movement that has more than 26 chapters globally. According to it founders the activist movement follows guiding principles that support “an ideological and political intervention in a world where black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise.” It was the emergence of a movement like this that destroyed the newly formed notion of a post-racial America. This notion was heavily influenced by the election of the United States’ first African American president, Barack Obama. Embracing intersectionality, #BlackLivesMatter was started by three black women, two of whom are queer and one who is Nigerian American.

Social movements are created when something intense happens in society and the response from society is immediate. In this case, it was the death of Trayvon Martin in 2012 that solidified the idea that black lives matter and said lives need to be treated as such. The three women who founded Black Lives Matter took to their respective social media to share their new idea as a hashtag. The hashtag began to carry for weight and depth once it reached the “hope” stage of the social movement progression. It once again gained favor with the death of Michael Brown the movement gained, even more, attention and moved into the action stage.

The Black Lives Matter (BLM) Movement is a movement against police brutality. This movement began after 17-year-old boy, Trayvon Martin was fatally shot, and his killer, former police officer, George Zimmerman was acquitted for the crime. (BLACKLIVESMATTER.COM) As Black Lives Matter has continued to make a difference through peaceful protests on a mass scale , such as kneeling during the national anthem at sporting events or peaceful protests after a shooting. Many have claimed that the movement is extremely offensive, against police officers, or that African Americans are claiming superiority over other races, while others continue to support the movement. The fight between Blue Lives Matter, All Lives Matter, and Black Lives Matter continuously strikes violent riots, but the question still stands- what is the Black Lives Matter movement really trying to accomplish?

In the United States, there has been many cases of Racial injustice. From the beginning of the start of the United States of America it was the injustice to the Native Americans being captured and used for slave labor while their bison be slaughtered for sportsmanship. But this paper is on the specific race of the African Americans. There are many races that have been racially profiled and ostracized by the English people. But the treatment that African Americans have endured even till this day is disheartening. African Americans have gone through enslavement during the early 1600’s to the mid 1800’s. Then the African Americans were obstructed by the Jim Crow laws creating the ‘Separate but Equal” propaganda during the late 1800’s into the 1960’s. After the abolishment of the Jim Crow Laws, people were considered equal until the recent actions of many police officers using deadly force on African American youths in the early 2000’s.

In summation, we looked at social conflict as it related to class, race and ethnicity, gender, and how it explains the Black Lives Matter Movement. As we examined the literature, we asked how and why did the Black Lives Matter Movement begin? What are the problems with the Black Lives Matter Movement? What does social media have to say about the Black Lives Matter Movement? What is the youth’s culture’s input on the Black Lives Matter Movement? How does the Black Lives Matter movement tie back to the police? And where are we going with the Black Lives Matter Movement post-2016? We focused on whether or not the Black Lives Matter movement had the potential to affect change and have a long-lasting impact on society as a social movement. Therefore,

Technology has shaped the large social movement. #BlackLivesMatter has been a useful and positive tool in 2015 and in 2016. In the Social Media Helps Black Lives Matter Fight the Power it talks about how

For example, one in six black men had been incarcerated as of 2001 and today African Americans comprise of nearly “1 million of the total 2.3 million incarcerated population” and are imprisoned at “six times the rate of whites” (“About the BLM Network”). If current trends continue and the population of the African Americans increase, “one in three black males born today can expect to spend time in prison during his lifetime” (“About the BLM Network”). This happens to be the very example of what led to the start of the BLM movement and the uproar of the black population. After 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by murder George Zimmerman and was “posthumously placed on trial for his own murder,” only for Zimmerman to be acquitted, #Blacklivesmatter was created in 2012 (King). Social media allowed participants to generate “new habits that create a fresh sense of identity and a feeling of ownership,” especially when users could easily share the hashtag along with his or her own views and ideas in a tweet or an Instagram caption (Duhigg 87). This hashtag subsequently was formed into a protest and then ultimately a full-fledged movement: a movement uniting all black people to resist their dehumanization in America and creating a voice for its members through social media.

the focus of Black Lives Matter is being articulated less as a demand for specific civil or political rights, and more as a broader claim for “black humanity.” Martin Luther King also used the language of human rights to internationalize the issue of racial inequality in the United States. BLM movement is following in king’s footsteps, taking a stance and demanding action. Both movements fight for freedom but in ways that seem to be opposite of the other, one in love, and one in hate.

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.

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

On social media there was a trending hashtag, #BlackLivesMatter, when the riots in Ferguson began in August 2014 over the killing of a young African American male by a white police officer. The African American community made it clear that black lives did matter. They were outraged and upset by the constant police brutality against them that they believed was caused by the underlying of racism. The fact that black

This movement is intended to raise awareness for oppressed black people and the injustice in the killings of innocent black lives. The peaceful protests have made a statement in the news, but recently the movement is getting out of control in some places and is leading to chaotic riots. Now, instead of some cops killing innocent black people, black people are killing cops as well as killing each other! The true message behind the black lives matter movement was lost in the midst of hatred and anger towards one