Racial Justice in America: What is the Black Lives Matter Movement?
chapter 1 An Intro to Black Lives Matter Almost everyone is treated unfairly at some time in their life People can be treated poorly because they belong to a certain cultural group or because of what they stand for They can be discriminated against because of mental or physical disabilities People can be treated unfairly because they are too rich or too poor too tall or too short too loud or too quiet too religious or not religious enough But unfairness and anti-Black racism are different America’s legal and educational systems make it harder for people in the Black community to get a good education be successful and build wealth When these systems put one cultural group at a disadvantage it’s called systemic racism 4
Black people are also subject to racial profiling In 2012 Trayvon Martin was killed by a Neighborhood Watch volunteer The Black teenager was unarmed and looked suspicious The shooter was charged with murder but found not guilty This made people angry and sad Alicia Garza Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi called for justice for Trayvon using the hashtag BlackLivesMatter The Black Lives Matter BLM movement was born the next year Protesters rally toward the Sanford Police department in support of Trayvon Martin 5
In 2014 another unarmed teenager Michael Brown was murdered by police in Ferguson Missouri Again BLM responded launching the organization into the mainstream as a movement Since then those advocating for justice in the deaths of other Black people have used the hashtag BlackLivesMatter The words Black lives matter are another way of saying Hey the lives of Black people are important too Signs in front of the White House show support for the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020 6
BLM supports communities in their fight against anti-Black racism It also supports efforts by other marginalized groups women’s rights LGBTQ lesbian gay bisexual transgender and queer rights and immigrants legal and human rights Understanding the Black Lives Matter movement can help you support people who experience racism and the loss of human rights Bill De Blasio Al Sharpton and volunteers paint a Black Lives Matter mural on Fifth Avenue in New York City in 2020 7
