Ideas for a movement in the age of Trump
As various movements have sprung up like flash mobs to protest against President Donald Trump’s election to the White House, a question gradually occurred to me: Where’s Black Lives Matter?
Ever since the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter was born after a jury acquitted neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida in 2012, the loosely formed movement has turned up repeatedly to protest fatal shootings of unarmed black men and other racial disparities in the U.S. criminal justice system.
But since Trump’s election, we have seen new eruptions of racially suspicious police incidents, but not of major protests.
Last week, we saw a suburban Dallas police officer charged with murder for allegedly firing his rifle into a car full of black teens, killing a 15-year-old boy.
Last month we saw the stunning video of a group of black boys, ranging in age from 12 to 14, being detained by police officers, with at least one officer aiming his gun at the boys. Yet, as much as these disturbing stories made national news, they did not spark the major protests we have seen elsewhere. Why?
A Washington Post reporting team came up with one answer after interviewing what they described as “more than half a dozen leaders” in the Black Lives Matter movement.
The movement has entered a new phase, the team was told. It is focused more on policy than on protest, all in response to President Trump.
“There are less demonstrations,” said Alicia Garza, one of three women credited with coining the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag. “People are channeling their energy into organizing locally, recognizing that in Trump’s America, our communities are under direct attack.”
Indeed, that makes a lot of sense at a time when Trump’s election seems to have changed everything about how we Americans view the world.
But I think the energy and enthusiasm for Black Lives Matter street protests peaked sooner than that. I think it happened last July when five police officers in Dallas were killed by an African-American sniper at a Black Lives Matter protest. Ten days later, three more police were killed by an AfricanAmerican man in Baton Rouge, La., following street protests over the shooting of another black man.
No, I don’t believe it is fair to blame peaceful protesters for the shootings of the officers any more than I think it would be fair to blame Republicans for every deranged right-wing shooter who also happened to vote for the GOP. Still, it’s a little harder to criticize President Trump for his various inflammatory remarks, if you dodge accountability for any anti-police tone in your own protests.
Loosely organized flash mob movements with weak leaders and vague agendas have become a trend in the Twitter age. But these leaders tend to lack control over their members, their message and their momentum. I think it’s time for the movement to move up from protests to planning, policies and programs. Protests have a lot of romantic appeal but they’re no substitute for an agenda, firm goals and a plan to get there.
Conservative media have pinned all manner of racist beliefs on Black Lives Matter, yet the movement has not put much of a priority on appointing official spokespeople to push back.
On the contrary, members of today’s young, self-styled “woke” (politically conscious) generation, I have found to my chagrin, too often think it is beneath them to arm themselves with knowledge and employ the simple art of persuasion to win people to their side.
Indeed, a lot of people find it easier to call for dialogue than to actually engage in one. That’s changing. Some Black Lives Matter activists have organized a formal agenda and leadership development programs, just for starters. Leaders matter. Whether things go right or wrong, somebody has to be where the buck stops.