Black Lives Matter Research Paper

Black Lives Matter is an international activists movement by the African American Black community started in the year 2013. This movement sheds the light upon the core issues of racism, discrimination, domestic violence to police brutal killings and the pain and agony faced by the black people and trying to act as a light of hope for the downtrodden colored community in a world of violence, tragedy and death.
#BlackLivesMatter is a call to action and a response to the virulent anti-Black racism that permeates our society. The movement began with the use of the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter on social media after the killing of a black teenager Trayvon Martin, who was stalked and killed in Sanford, Florida, in February 2012 by a racist vigilante

George Zimmerman. But, George was acquitted by the court in 2013. This event fueled the burning emotions of the black community and in reaction this movement began. The movement was co-founded by three black community organizers: Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi. The activists used the social media especially the Facebook to reach millions of people instantly. They organized many rallies, marches and the protests against these issues of black discrimination, racial profiling, police brutality and the racial injustice by the US law enforcement agencies.
Founder Alicia Garza summed up the philosophy behind Black Lives Matter as follows: "When we say Black Lives Matter, we are talking about the ways in which Black people are deprived of our basic human rights and dignity.

It is an acknowledgement Black poverty and genocide is state violence” (Web). This movement is about how the Black people are intentionally left powerless at the hands of the state and is talking about the ways in which Black lives are deprived of our basic human rights and dignity. It was a perfect example of new civil rights activism looks like following the footprints of civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King Jr in sixties. Although the government and the police tried to stop this movement, but they failed against the Black unity. Black community paid a huge amount by losing their lives for this movement by participating in the concerned protests at different places. But these sacrifices made their determination more stronger. For instance, the police killings of black protestants namely Michael Brown and Eric Garner, as well as the brutal repression against the Ferguson protests that came in response, were sparks to ignite a fire of black protest that at the time of writing still continues. The front lines of structural racism against black people are mass incarceration and police killings that take place on average every twenty-eight hours in the United States. This context explains the popularity of Michael Brown’s last words, “My hands are up, don’t shoot,” as a rallying cry in marches across the country

(Web).
According to the one of the its founder Alicia Garzia, Black people are deprived of their basic human rights and dignity. This movement is an acknowledgement is an acknowledgment that 1 million Black people are locked in cages in this country–one half of all people in prisons or jails–is an act of state violence. The founders are using various tactics to make this movement successful. For instance, extensive use of the social media and the political slogans "I can't breathe", "I can't breathe" etc has fueled this movement in full swings. But the main argument is that whether the black unity is still in minority or not? There are other several minority communities who are facing the same racial problems.