The Black Lives Matter movement

Black Lives Matter is an international movement to protect black people worldwide, especially in the United States. Black Lives Matter organizes protests against violence and killings by police officers in the line of duty, and discrimination based on skin color.

Early history

Black Lives Matter is an international movement for African Americans in the United States and worldwide. It was founded in 2013 after the acquittal of George Zimmerman, who in February 2012 shot and killed African-American 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. 

The BLM movement began with a Facebook post by African-American Alicia Garza that ended with the words: “Black people. I love you. I love us. Our lives matter. Black lives matter.” Her friends Patrice Cullors and Opal Tometi circulated the post with the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter, viral on social media. 

Many people, including white ones, worldwide supported this online protest. Also, Black lives matter essays became the most popular In the faculties of journalism and philology. You can see many essay examples expressing pain and support for African Americans affected by racism. Express police abuse and brutality during detention. Every essay on this topic has become one of the tools for disseminating information about this.  

Subsequent protests

A more massive BLM protest began in 2014 after incidents when police officers killed African Americans during their arrest. 18-year-old teenager Michael Brown, who has no criminal record or police detention, was shot dead in a confrontation with police officer Darren Wilson. And 43-year-old father-of-six Eric Garner was strangled to death while being detained by police officer Daniel Pantaleo. After many discrepancies between the evidence and the testimony of witnesses supporting the official police story, these police officers were acquitted. It sparked public protests in New York, Ferguson, and other cities, with accusations of excessive brutality and racism against the police broadcast by many national media. 

The BLM movement played a pivotal role in further protests against police violence. But the case of the death of black American George Floyd at the hands of white police officer Derek Chauvin at the end of May 2020 acquired the most significant resonance. During the arrest, police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee to the asphalt on Floyd’s neck and did not let go for almost 8 minutes, which led to the death of Floyd. 

The protests caused by this murder became the most massive in the history of the United States. According to various sources, about 25 million people took part in them. Among them were caring African American and white students who supported the philosophy of the BLM movement. Every college student tried to tell the truth to people, at least through social networks. 

BLM mission

Black Lives Matter is organizing protests, rallies, peaceful demonstrations against racial discrimination and the increasing incidence of police violence and killings in the line of duty. Those tragic events led to international protests by the BLM movement, demands for reduced police funding, and changes in legislation to address perceived racial disparities. 

The American movement has gone worldwide. The movement activists pay attention to social inequality among blacks and public institutions and laws that support the resulting injustice. BLM movement fights racism through political participation and letter-writing campaigns to the Ministry of Education. So changes were made to the entire education system, and children understood that skin color does not matter from preschool age. The BLM protest also aims to combat the abuse of power by prison officials.

Why is this movement different?

A feature of the American BLM movement is an initiative from below or, as they say in modern American political science, grassroots. Grassroots refers to popular movements organized by citizens to fight for their rights and behind which there is no political force. The difference between other movements opposed to racism and the protection of the rights of African Americans was the expansion of the field of influence of the organization. Starting with the fight against police brutality, Black Lives Matter activists began to help black voters register for elections and help increase turnout among them. Projects organized by the BLM movement have supported many black artists and writers.

Conclusion

It seems that in recent decades, American society has rid itself of racial prejudice, which was so expressed in the middle of the last century. Cases where blacks do not move up the career ladder because of the color of their skin when white police officers beat them upon arrest for no good reason, when someone insults African Americans with an offensive word with the letter “n”, have long become unacceptable in the United States. 

Society and the state react sharply to any manifestations of injustice, punishing the guilty both morally and legally. But BLM supporters take a different view and watch for any indications of racism and unnecessary treatment of African Americans. Most politicians, journalists, and even university professors are sure that the consequences of racism are everywhere. And such organizations should exist, controlling violations and protecting the rights of citizens of the country.