Summary: The Civil Right Movement Vs. Civil Rights Movement

Jelani Cobb mentioned in the article, “The Matter of Black Lives” that the public, knowledgeable about the Civil Rights Movement, describe the ongoing Black Lives Matter movement as “not your grandfather’s civil rights movement.” I wondered why the phrase referenced the grandfather rather than the grandmother. Perhaps the grandfather was mentioned because my generation remembers men as the driving forces of the Civil Rights Movement. This essay examines some differences between the 1950s Civil Rights Movement and the ongoing Black Lives Matter Movement.
Contrary to the Black Lives Matter movement, the Civil Rights Movement was deeply tied to religion—particularly Christianity— patriarchal notions, heteronormative, and had elements of respectability

When I Googled images of BLM, pictures of passionate young individuals frustrated about injustice racial practices comes to mind. Unlike the Civil Rights Movement in which activists carried optimistic signs saying “We Shall Overcome” and “Black and White Together,” BLM signs are more assertive and appeal to emotions. Google Images displayed signs saying “Stop Killing Black People” and the question “Am I Next?” BLM activists do not hide their passionate emotions either. The demonstrators dress up in casual clothing and sometimes wear what the murdered victims wore. For example, Trayvon Martin was wearing a hoodie and carrying a bag with skittles from the store, when he was murdered by George Zimmerman. When marching, some BLM advocates wore hoodies, and one image showed a person with Skittles wrapper taped over zir mouth. The media focuses on the activists’ passion and anger, when they have every to be, rather than their discussing the reasons they are frustrated with the injustice and restrictive systems towards black people. Some activists from the 1950s movement openly disagree with BLM strategies including, the absence of respectability politics, the display of emotions, and the distance from

BLM does not want to replicate the mistakes of the past black rights movement, and acknowledges that all black lives matter equally—from the idealized Ayesha Curry to the sexually liberated woman, disabled and trans-individuals, to the person living in the “hood.” In addition, social media discussions such as #Icanbeboth are pushing against respectability politics, by challenging notions that black women can only exist on separate sides of the respectability continuum, as a housewife or a “thot.” I believe these conversations, highlighting the versatility of black bodies, are finally happening in the black community as a result of BLM inclusiveness and push for acceptance of diversity. Although I favor the BLM, I am slightly concerned about the movement’s goals and vision for some reasons highlighted by Jelani Cobb. Is BLM a movement mostly occurring on the internet? How can the current movement make tangible progress with public policy? These are questions that will be answered with time. For now, I am grateful that this movement is opening the eyes of the American public—no we do not live in a post-racial society and a lot of work needs to be