Black Lives Matter: Race, Policing, and Protests
Black Lives Matter: History and Context
Black Lives Matter is an activist organization and social movement that was founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of 17-year old Trayvon Martin. The organization was formalized by three activists: Alicia Garza, Patrisse Khan-Cullors, and Opal Tometi. In an impassioned response to Zimmerman’s acquittal, Garza posted a message to her Facebook page that concluded with the line “black people. I love you. I love us. Our lives matter” (Cullors). Patrisse Cullors noticed Garza's post and reached out to her to frame this idea as a social media movement. Cullors adapted Garza’s words into the hashtag #blacklivesmatter and posted a response to Garza, using the hashtag for the first time. Garza and Cullors reached out to Tometi, another activist friend, who shaped Black Lives Matter's first social media campaign. The three organized and soon began posting messages to a variety of social media platforms. They tagged their posts with #blacklivesmatter to spread awareness and mobilize protests of the Zimmerman verdict (“Black Lives Matter”). Even today, the Black Lives Matter name is often stylized in hashtag form to reflect its origin and continued role as a social media movement.
Original Facebook posts by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Khan-Cullars, and Opal Tometi. Image courtesy of https://patrissecullors.com/black-lives-matter/
The Black Lives Matter movement rapidly spread across the United States following the 2014 killings of Eric Garner and Michael Brown by white police officers. Protests in Ferguson, Missouri about the killing of Garner attracted national media attention to Black Lives Matter and recognized it as a social activist movement, in addition to a social media movement (“Black Lives Matter”). Following the May 25, 2020 killing of George Floyd by police officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Black Lives Matter exploded as an international activist movement with mass protests in cities across the United States and the world. The Black Lives Matter organization currently consists of over 16 chapters across the United States, including one in Atlanta, Georgia founded in December 2015 (Black Lives Matter Atlanta). Visit https://blacklivesmatter.com/ to see how you, too, can take action.
"Black Lives Matter." Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, Gale, 2020. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/RMBGVS336742654/OVIC?u=gasouthernuniv&sid=OVIC&xid=2c75450c. Accessed 10 June 2020.
Black Lives Matter Atlanta, About. https://www.blacklivesmatteratl.org/about.html. Accessed 10 June 2020.
Cullors, Patrisse. Black Lives Matter. patrissecullors.com/black-lives-matter/. Accessed 11 June 2020.
Dennis, Ashley. The black women who launched the original anti-racist reading list. https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/06/18/black-women-who-launched-original-anti-racist-reading-list/. Accessed 19 June 2020.
Denworth, Lydia. A Civil Rights Expert Explains the Social Science of Police Racism. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-civil-rights-expert-explains-the-social-science-of-police-racism/? Accessed 18 June, 2020.
I am Not your Negro--Oscar-nominated portrait of James Baldwin
"This Oscar-nominated portrait of James Baldwin uses the author's words to bridge the civil-rights past with our racially incendiary present. It's unmissable and unforgettable." - Peter Travers, The Rolling Stone
Juneteenth & Other Notable Resources
- Are the Police Systemically Racist?Survey: How the Media Has Covered the Issue of Systemic Racism and the Police.
- A Counter to Confederate MonumentsBlack Cemeteries Tell a Fuller Story of the South.
- Juneteenth: Fact SheetJuneteenth celebrates the end of slavery in the United States. It is also known as Emancipation Day and Juneteenth Independence Day.
- An original 'Juneteenth’ order found in the National ArchivesThe handwritten document informed the enslaved in Texas they were free on June 19, 1865.
- Reconsidering Celebrations at Sites of EnslavementA conversation that chronicles the history of sites of enslavement in the National Trust portfolio and the resulting actions taken by the National Trust to ethically steward those sites, while also providing initial guidance for other historic properties addressing similar considerations across the country.
- Study, fast, train, fight: The roots of Black AugustCommemorating the fallen freedom fighters of the Black Liberation Movement and call for release of political prisoners in the United States.
- Teaching JuneteenthThe history of Juneteenth acknowledges hard history while also empowering students to be advocates for change.
- What is Juneteenth?Black Independence Day celebrating the end of slavery.
Say their Names
- Say Their Names - No More NamesIn solidarity with the BIPOC community, this exhibit, hosted online and at Stanford University's Green Library, presents the names, images, and stories of 330 individuals impacted by systematic racism.
From Stanford: "Say Their Names – No More Names is an exhibit that highlights victims who were chosen because they represent a variety of Black Americans whose freedoms were denied or whose lives were callously taken by vile attacks that have terrorized the Black community for centuries. The victims are young, old, transgender and straight. Some struggled with mental health issues or other challenges while others were just charting their path forward in life. All were Black people, and all were violated or murdered."