Memorable World History/Authors

What Does #BlackLivesMatter Mean (Part I)

Black Lives Matter (BLM) is adecentralized movement in the United States advocating fornon-violent civil disobedience in protest against incidents of policebrutality and all racially motivated violence againstAfrican-American people. An organization known simply as Black LivesMatter exists as a decentralized network with about 16 chapters inthe United States and Canada, while a larger Black Lives Mattermovement exists consisting of various separate like-mindedorganizations such as Dream Defenders and Assata's Daughters. Thebroader movement and its related organizations typically advocateagainst police violence towards black people, as well as for variousother policy changes considered to be related to black liberation.

In July 2013, the movement began withthe use of the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter on social media after theacquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death ofAfrican-American teen Trayvon Martin 17 months earlier, in February2012. The movement became nationally recognized for streetdemonstrations following the 2014 deaths of two African Americans:Michael Brown—resulting in protests and unrest in FergusonMissouri, a city near St. Louis—and Eric Garner in New York City. Since the Ferguson protests, participants in the movement havedemonstrated against the deaths of numerous other African Americansby police actions or while in police custody. In the summer of 2015,Black Lives Matter activists became involved in the 2016 UnitedStates presidential election. The originators of the hashtag andcall to action, Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi,expanded their project into a national network of over 30 localchapters between 2014 and 2016. The overall Black Lives Mattermovement is a decentralized network of activists with no formalhierarchy.

The movement returned to nationalheadlines and gained further international attention during theglobal George Floyd protests in 2020 following Floyd's murder byMinneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. An estimated 15 million to26 million people participated (though not all are "members"of the organization) in the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests inthe United States, making Black Lives Matter one of the largestmovements in U.S. History. The movement has advocated to defund thepolice and invest directly into black communities and alternativeemergency response models.

The popularity of Black Lives Matterhas rapidly shifted over time. Whereas public opinion on Black LivesMatter was net negative in 2018, it grew increasingly popular through2019 and 2020. A June 2020 Pew Research Center poll found that themajority of Americans, across all racial and ethnic groups, haveexpressed support for the Black Lives Matter movement.

Structure and organization

Loose structure

The phrase "Black Lives Matter"can refer to a Twitter hashtag, a slogan, a social movement, or aloose confederation of groups advocating for racial justice. As amovement, Black Lives Matter is grassroots, decentralized, andleaders have emphasized the importance of local organizing overnational leadership. Activist DeRay McKesson has commented that themovement "encompasses all who publicly declare that blacklives matter and devote their time and energy accordingly."

In 2013, Patrisse Cullors, AliciaGarza, and Opal Tometi formed the Black Lives Matter Network. AliciaGarza described the network as an online platform that existed toprovide activists with a shared set of principles and goals. LocalBlack Lives Matter chapters are asked to commit to the organization'slist of guiding principles but operate without a central structure orhierarchy. Alicia Garza has commented that the Network was notinterested in "policing who is and who is not part of themovement."