The Black Lives Matter Movement: Article Analysis

According to lecture notes, Omi and Winant defines racial projects as " A process through which racial meanings become embedded socially; the building blocks of racial formation." The #BlackLivesMatter movement as a racial project centers on the unfair and unjust treatment of African Americans by Caucasian law enforcement officers and Caucasian individuals; and the lack of justice and due process for the individuals who are and have been victims of this treatment. The movement began following the deaths of unarmed African-Americans at the hands of law enforcement and civilians, gaining mainstream media coverage and becoming a socially known symbol as solidarity among the Black community. However according to Margolin, "an awful trend of

It’s left some activists to question whether the Black Lives Matter movement inspired by the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown or Eric Garner include all black lives." While the movement has been successful in creating a sense of solidarity amongst the Black population and has served to represent black lives, so far it has failed to be inclusive off all black lives especially those a part of the LGBT community. As stated in the article, in 2015 there were 12 transgender women of colored murdered, but there has been little to no media attention in regards, which is quite unsettling when compared to the mainstream media attention that cases involving "black, heterosexual, and cisgender" (Margolin) males receive. This racial project has gained momentum by using the media and it's mishandling of black victims to its advantage, so the fact that this key element of the movement only applies to some black lives is

Symbolic interaction "emphasizes how people interpret, act toward, and thereby give meaning to objects, events, and situations." (Lecture 15) When we take into account race and gender, specifically the Black community and transgender individuals we can apply Herbert Blumer's idea as society as symbolic interaction, to serve as a better analysis. According to the notes under Blumer's concept as society as symbolic interaction, "society and culture shape and constrain conduct, but they are also products on conduct." Focusing on the Black community and its culture when it comes to the handling and treatment of transgender individuals, while applying Blumer's three premises of symbolic interaction. The first being that human beings act toward things on the basis of the meanings that things have for them. The next premise is that the meaning of things arises out of the social interaction one has with one’s fellows. And the last premise states that the meanings of things are handled in and modified through an interpretive process used by the person in dealing with things he encounters. (Blumer, 1986) In relation to the first premise Blumer is stating that the way an individual responds to a situation, object, or person depends on the meaning attached to it. In the case of the #BlackLivesMatter movement and the black transgender community as stated above there is still shame and