CULTURE
WRITTEN BY
ILLUSTRATIONS BY
Claudia Ugbana
Asha McClendon
In the span of seven years, BLM has gained a wider audience due to the influence of social media.
T
his year has been one for the books, as a worldwide population of individuals can attest. While the world was rocked by a global pandemic and a wave of other catastrophic events, the reemergence of
the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement has undoubtedly become one of the biggest initiatives to impact U.S. history. On May 25, the video of a police officer kneeling on George Floyd’s neck, which led to his death, circulated the internet and caused a massive nationwide outrage. Millions of Americans (and allies from other countries) gathered in mass protests to end the violence and systematic racism against Black people in the U.S. The core of the Black Lives Matter conversation originated and surged through social media, an undeniable tool that has aided and expanded the reach of the movement. Platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, YouTube and a variety of other smaller social media platforms have become the primary resources for anti-racism activism and general information on the movement and its origination. The famous slogan first popped up in a 2013 Facebook post following the acquittal of George Zimmerman, a police officer who shot and killed 17-year-old unarmed Trayvon Martin. The severity of that event was no different from the unjust killing of George Floyd, however, its reception was entirely different. The phrase which then turned into a prominent hashtag was largely used after the death of Martin, but mostly faced criticism and died off social media platforms as the world seemingly moved on. Now, seven years later, Black Lives Matter has become a force that shows no signs of dying down. The creation and evolution of the movement In 2013, three radical Black organizers founded a movement and organization that has influenced how Black Americans are perceived in the U.S. today. Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi created a Black-centered movement in response to the acquittal of Martin’s murderer, and now the project is a member-led organ-
13 | VINDICATOR
