BLACK LIVES MATTER

BLACK LIVES MATTER

Black Lives Matter (BLM) is an African-American activist movement that mobilizes against violence and systemic racism against blacks. BLM members regularly demonstrate and mobilize against police killings of black people. They place particular emphasis on racial profiling, police brutality, and racial inequality in the U.S. criminal justice system.

The movement was born on July 13, 2013 on Twitter with the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter, following the acquittal of George Zimmerman, a Latin American coordinating Neighborhood Watch, who killed the black teenager Trayvon Martin in Florida. Black Lives Matter's protests also resonated on the international stage following the deaths in 2014 of two African-American men: Michael Brown in the town of Ferguson and Eric Garner in New York City.1,2 The Black Lives Matter protests also had an international resonance following the deaths in 2014 of two African-American men: Michael Brown in the town of Ferguson and Eric Garner in New York City.1,2 The Black Lives Matter protests also had an international resonance following the deaths in 2014 of two African-American men: Michael Brown in the town of Ferguson and Eric Garner in New York City. The initiators of this movement are Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors (en) and Opal Tometi3. However, it is a decentralized network that does not have a distinct hierarchy4.

Since the protests that took place in the town of Ferguson, Black Lives Matter participants have highlighted the existence of several cases of blacks killed by police officers while in police custody, such as Jonathan Ferrel, John Crawford, Ezell Ford, Laquan McDonald (en), Akai Gurley (en), Tamir Rice (en), Eric Harris (en), Walter Scott, Freddie Gray, Sandra Bland (en), Samuel DuBose (en), Jeremy McDole (en), Alton Sterling (en) and Philando Castile (en). Beginning in the summer of 2015, Black Lives Matter activists became involved in the 20165 presidential campaign.

The American population's perception of the Black Lives Matter movement varies considerably depending on the race6 with which the individual identifies. The phrase All Lives Matter was created in response to the Black Lives Matter movement. However, All Lives Matter has been criticized because it challenges the message of the Black Lives Matter group7,8. 7,8 Following the shooting that killed two members of the Ferguson Police Force, the hashtag #Blue Lives Matter (en) was created in solidarity with the police.