ALL LIVES CAN’T MATTER UNTIL BLACK LIVES MATTER In a difficult time like this, I think it is important to open up your eyes and listen to what the world has to say. We are longing for a better existence and in order for that to happen we need to solve the issues that we are currently dealing with. As someone who has faced racism before, the occurrence of the Black Lives Matter movement made a big impact on me. To understand the movement, we need to listen to each other and educate the people around us. I am moved by the thousand if not millions of courageous people who have made the decision to take it to the streets and fight for justice whilst also fighting a pandemic. We are currently living under the circumstance where we are ought to distance ourselves from each other but I have never felt so unified. These protests are a chance to mourn and honour the Black lives lost, just as they are a chance to proclaim that all Black lives matter. But it is also an opportunity to change. This change starts on an individual level where the need to speak up is longed for, because those not speaking up or taking action... your silence speaks volumes. This is not the moment to play ignorance, justified by feeling uncomfortable, when Black people have been made to feel uncomfortable their entire lives in a white privileged, systematically racist and unfair society that is more than happy to benefit from Black culture, but isn’t so happy in adhering to the ideals of equality and basic human rights. Enough is enough!
K C FU NIC ETHFILIN PRO
C NG
HISTORY OF THE BLACK LIVES MATTER MOVEMENT Black Lives Matter was born as an online campaign, the message comes from an urgent need to tackle the devaluation of black lives. It all began in the summer of 2013 after George Zimmerman’s acquittal for the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. The movement was co-founded by three black community organizers: Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi. They began to question how they were going to respond to what they saw as the devaluation of black lives after Zimmerman’s acquittal. Garza wrote a Facebook post titled “A Love Note to Black People” in which she said: “Our Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter”. Cullors replied: “#BlackLivesMatter”. And so, the hashtag became a movement. Ongoing local and national protests and other actions—often sparked by the deaths of unarmed African Americans—have brought the Black Lives Matter movement to the public consciousness and conversation The movement claims its inspiration from the Civil Rights movement, the Black Power movement ,the 1980s Black feminist movement, pan-Africanism, the Anti-Apartheid Movement, hip hop, LGBTQ social movements, and Occupy Wall Street. The mission of the Black Lives Matter movement is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes. By combating and countering acts of violence, creating space for Black imagination and innovation, and centering Black joy. Ever since the beginning the movement grown as a decentralized horizontal movement and has become a nationwide activist network, a political organization, and a global rallying cry.
After the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police on May 25, mass protests have erupted across the US and the rest of the world [Rotterdam, Netherlands, 03 June 2020]
The protests have been marked by a period that has been deeply personal to millions. Due to the pandemic people now have time to attend a protest and have time to think about current issues and want to make their concerns heard. People understand that this system is filled with all sorts of inequality and injustice, and that implicit bias and just outright racism is embedded in the system. Our demands are reflective of the fact that Black Lives Matter isn’t solely about police brutality and extrajudicial killing. That was a spark point, but the intention is to talk about the way black lives are cut short all across the board. What we are witnessing now is the opening up of imaginations, where people are beginning to think more expansively about what the solutions could be.
After the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police on May 25, mass protests have erupted across the US and the rest of the world [Rotterdam, Netherlands, 03 June 2020]
The George Floyd protest eradicated into one of the most engaged, passionate and determined anti-racism call-to-action in recent memory. Thousands of protesters have taken it to the streets and social media to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and demand governments to actively put an end to police brutality and institutional racism. People have taken the chance to reflect on their stance within this movement. Now is the right time to speak up, we cannot stay silent in the face of injustice.
ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE BLACK LIVES MATTER MOVEMENT Black Lives Matter has, at the very least, managed to bring an issue that has plagued the American society for generations to mainstream attention. It has brought more people into the conversation and made them aware of the reality of police brutality and corruption. The increased support for the movement is lending itself to actual meaningful reform—something activists have been seeking for decades, long before the hashtag was even born. These changes didn’t happen overnight; they are the product of tireless, nonstop work by Black organizers for many years. Activists hope to capitalize on the momentum and continue to demand real change to a system that has lacked accountability since inception. The Black Lives Matter movement can point to many significant achievements already, such as the Minneapolis City Council vowed to dismantle the city’s police department. Public schools there ended their contracts with the police department. Los Angeles and New York City announced millions of dollars in cuts to police budgets. Local and state officials have heeded the call of protesters and taken down Confederate statues and monuments. Governors and attorneys general all across the country are in the process of enacting reforms like requiring new certification for their state’s cops, disbanding notoriously aggressive police units, and reviewing use of force rules. There is still a long way to go and much work remains to be done but this is the start of a revolution.
1. We are not a hate group.
When you take part of an organization who loses people at the hands of violence, and injustice it means something. We do not carry signs that are meant to take down the White Individual. Instead we use solidarity, peace, and education as a way to make our voices heard. And demand justice by those in power. We have been told we are looking for trouble and want to cause trouble. When the reality is like any group, extremists have carried our name tag – and tainted our calling. They are loved by us but not supported by us. They do not represent us. Categorizing any group by the action, dispositions, or statements by a few only tears the good of the cause.
2. The movement hates white people
The statement is not anti-white propaganda. There is an unspoken statement implied meaning that other lives matter. White people who continue to devalue the life of Black people and suggest we are only anti-white are suggesting that in order for white live to matter, black ones cannot matter. This motivates supremacy thinking – and harms what we stand for. The movement is about acknowledging that there is a system in place that favors in some regard white lives as more. None of what we are doing is about the hatred of white life.
3. The movement hates police officers
This is not true. Police officers are people and their lives also have admirable value. And we know that there are police officers that come to work and are making a living for their families, and promote safety in all they do. This does not mean though that police are not or have not been involved in the system that has criminalized some black people. In some cases we have seen more aggressive and less protection given to the same community some officers have promised to protect. We demand to be shown the same service and respect as others.
4. The movement does not care about other lives
The movements includes solidarity for others such as queer, trans and other colored lives. Together, do we stand on table tops and move together within the public eye. We do not exclude, we motivate, and unite others to join the table with us. Together we’re stronger.
5. The movement has nog agenda, plan or purpose
Many believe the Black Lives Matter movement has no agenda — other than yelling and protesting and disrupting the lives of white people. This is also false. Since the earliest days of the movement in Ferguson, groups like the Organization for Black Struggle, the Black Lives Matter network, and others have made both clear and public a list of demands.
6. There are more misconceptions about the movement
. The goals is to never belittle or segregate. Instead this is an open platform of change. It is our voice of reason to say enough is enough. And cruelty, and violence to a community that long since has endured years of pain and hurt. We do not think fighting violence with violence is okay. We are not proud nor boastful in the pain of others.