BLACK LIVES MATTER: A SUMMARY
After a week of conflict in the USA that included the policeinvolved shooting deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile and a subsequent sniper attack that left five Dallas police officers dead, the Black Lives Matter movement again is at the center of controversy.
Lost in the discussion is a sense of what Black Lives Matter is and what it stands for.
WHAT IS IT?
Black Lives Matter was founded by Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi as both a hashtag and a political project after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the killing of Trayvon Martin. Distraught at the verdict, Oakland community activist Alicia Garza wrote an impassioned Facebook plea ending with the words “black lives matter.” Patrisse Cullors, a community organizer from Los Angeles, shared the Facebook post and put a hashtag in front of those three words. The ideals expressed — the economic, political and social empowerment of African Americans — resonated nationwide.
Since 2013, Black Lives Matter has moved from social media platforms to the streets, morph- ing into an organization and a movement that initially gained national recognition during demonstrations after the policeinvolved killings of Michael Brown and Eric Garner in 2014.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
What sets Black Lives Matter apart from other social justice groups is its decentralized approach and reliance almost solely on local, rather than national, leadership. Cullors said organizing is often spontaneous and not directed by one person or group of people.
“We don’t get (people) onto the streets, they get themselves onto the street,” she said.
Black Lives Matter is made up of a network of chapters that operate mostly independently. Chelsea Fuller of the Advancement Project, a non-profit group that works with grass-roots justice and race movements, said local organizing is a powerful way to address poverty, access to housing and jobs, community policing and other issues that intersect with systemic racism.
“We can’t affect national narrative, we can’t affect national legislation that comes down and affects local people if local people don’t push back and take a stand about what’s happening in local communities,” Fuller said.
WHAT DOES IT STAND FOR?
The most important directive of Black Lives Matter, Cullors said, is to deal with anti-black racism, to “push for black people’s right to live with dignity and respect” and be included in the American democracy that they helped create.
“This is about the quality of life for black people, for poor people in this country,” said Umi Selah, co-director of Dream Defenders in Miami.
Though not officially affiliated, Dream Defenders and similar social justice groups often align themselves with Black Lives Matter.
“The conception that all we’re mad about is police and policing is a strong misconception,” Selah said. In fact, Black Lives Matter released a statement last week condemning the shooting in Dallas as counter to what the movement is trying to accomplish.
Cullors said she hears claims that Black Lives Matter lacks direction or strategy. Cullors said the strategy is clear — working to ensure that black people live with the full dignity of their human rights.
“We are not leaderless, we’re leaderful,” she said. “We’re trying to change the world ... developing a new vision for what this generation of black leaders can look like.”