ENG100
Tom Amano-Tompkins
11/27/16
Because Black Lives Didn’t Matter
Social media connects the world. It has been used for
years to stay connected with family and friends, but those days are now
evolving. Nowadays, people are using the power of social media to get their
voices heard. One of the most powerful modern day movement that started from
social media is Black Lives Matter. BLM is for the injustice black lives face from
the laws that were meant to protect them. The overwhelming amount of violence
and underwhelming amount of attention for the black community created a modern-day
movement for black people, but misinformation of the true meaning is leaving a
bitter taste for others.
“No justice! No peace!” (Boedecker) chanted the
protesters who had been waiting outside the Sanford Courthouse after finding
out the verdict of the Trayvon Martin murder case. Seventeen-year-old unarmed
black male, Trayvon Martin, was shot on the night of February 26, 2012. The
person who fired and killed Martin was neighborhood watch coordinator, George
Zimmerman. Zimmerman was put on trial and claimed that he acted out of
self-defense because Martin was beating him up. Since Florida has the stand-your-ground
law, which states that one can threaten and use deadly force if in presumption
of fear of death or great bodily harm (Florida Statues), Zimmerman was found
not guilty of second degree murder and was acquitted from manslaughter on July
13, 2013.
On the night of July 13, 2013, Alicia Garza posted, “Black
people. I love you. I love us. Our lives matter.” (Day) on her Facebook page
following the verdict of the Zimmerman trial case. Her friend, Patrisse Cullors,
reposted her post with the hashtag, #blacklivesmatter. Garza and Cullors
decided to create a campaign on the sentiments on the verdict and how black
people in America are dehumanized. The two then teamed with Opal Tometi, an
activist of immigration rights. Garza’s reason for creating a campaign was, “To
make sure we are creating a world where black lives actually do matter” (Day). The
three women created Black Lives Matter.
The roots of Black Lives Matter started as a hashtag on
social media, mainly Twitter. With the hashtag, people, predominantly black
people, voiced their opinion. Many were dumbfounded and enraged over the ruling
and demanded justice. According to Pew Research Center, the Black Lives Matter
hashtag was only used 5,016 times on Twitter in the second half of 2013 (Anderson).
The hashtag didn’t become fully charged until the shooting of Michael Brown. After
that, it became a movement for the voice of the unheard blacks in America.
On August 9, 2014, an eighteen-year-old unarmed black
male, Michael Brown, was shot and killed by an officer named Darren Wilson.
Wilson is a white police officer from Ferguson, Missouri. After the shooting,
protests and riots raided the streets. Stores were broken into and looted. Following
the shooting, the hashtag was used 58,747 times per day in three weeks after
Brown’s death (Anderson) and Black Lives Matter members organized their first
in-person protest. On November 24, 2014, Wilson was not indicted for the
shooting of Michael Brown. The next day, the Black Lives Matter hashtag was
used 172,772 times and 1.7 million times the following 3 weeks (Anderson).
As Black Lives Matter grew, so did many misconceptions
about the movement. People who are against it uses the argument of, all lives
matter. “All Lives Matter” also became a hashtag where people voiced their
distaste over how one race was being valued over another and how, like the
hashtag says, all lives should matter. What those people fail to remember or
decide to block out is Black Lives Matter’s actual intention of their movement,
“#BlackLivesMatter doesn’t mean your life isn’t important–it means that Black
lives, which are seen as without value within White supremacy, are important to
your liberation.” (Black Lives Matter). Other variations of the “group name”
Lives Matter hashtag is #bluelivesmatter. Blue Lives Matter stands for the
lives of police officers and the violence towards them. Blue Lives Matter was
created because an increasingly number of citizens fail to accept
responsibilities for their actions and places their blame on law enforcement
due to them being easy targets (Blue Lives Matter).
People come up with many arguments against Black Lives
Matter. One major argument that comes up is the lack of discussion on
black-on-black crime. Writer and activist Franchesca Ramsey says, “Black Lives
Matter isn’t solely focused on the loss of black lives but also on a lack of
justice” (Hafner). The lack of justice lies when it’s a police officer that
takes the life of a black person whereas a black-on-black crime would get
carried out regularly. It is much harder to get a police officer indicted
because of the status they hold.
As people in society, we cannot ignore the mistreatment
of black lives. No sides are needed to be picked when fighting against the
injustices. People must stay informed for the voices who are wanting to be
heard. People need stand beside the oppressed in order for the country to
progress into one that provides fair treatment for all its people.
Works Cited
Alvarez, Lizette, and
Cara Buckley. “Zimmerman Is Acquitted in Trayvon Martin Killing.” The New York
Times, The New York Times, 13 July 2013, www.nytimes.com/2013/07/14/us/george-zimmerman-verdict-trayvon-martin.html.
Anderson, Monica, and
Paul Hitlin. “3. The Hashtag #BlackLivesMatter Emerges: Social Activism on
Twitter.” Pew Research Center: Internet, Science &Amp; Tech,
Pew Research Center, 15 Aug. 2016, www.pewinternet.org/2016/08/15/the-hashtag-blacklivesmatter-emerges-social-activism-on-twitter/.
Boedeker, Hal et al.
“George Zimmerman Trial Juror Tells ABC: He 'Got Away with Murder'.” Orlando
Sentinel, Orlando Sentinel, 26 July 2013,
www.orlandosentinel.com/news/trayvon-martin-george-zimmerman/os-george-zimmerman-juror-b29-speaks-20130725-story.html.
Bosman, Julie, and Emma
G. Fitzsimmons. “Grief and Protests Follow Shooting of a Teenager.” The New
York Times, The New York Times, 10 Aug. 2014, www.nytimes.com/2014/08/11/us/police-say-mike-brown-was-killed-after-struggle-for-gun.html.
Cobb, Jelani. “The Matter
of Black Lives.” The New Yorker, 28 Oct. 2016, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/03/14/where-is-black-lives-matter-headed.
Cullors, Patrisse et al.
“About the Black Lives Matter Network.” Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter,
blacklivesmatter.com/about/.
Day, Elizabeth.
“#BlackLivesMatter: the Birth of a New Civil Rights Movement.” The Observer,
Guardian News and Media, 19 July 2015,
www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/19/blacklivesmatter-birth-civil-rights-movement.
Demby, Gene. “Combing
Through 41 Million Tweets To Show How #BlackLivesMatter Exploded.” NPR, NPR, 2 Mar.
2016,
www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/03/02/468704888/combing-through-41-million-tweets-to-show-how-blacklivesmatter-exploded.
“George Zimmerman Juror
B-29 Says 'My First Vote Was Second-Degree Murder' in 'GMA Interview.” YouTube,
ABC News, 26 July 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQb-_BebVHA.
Hafner, Josh. “Why Black
Lives Matter Doesn't Focus on 'Black-on-Black' Crime.” USA Today,
Gannett Satellite Information Network, 27 July 2016, www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/07/27/why-doesnt-black-lives-matter-doesnt-focus-talk-about-black-black-crime/87609692/.
“The 2016 Florida
Statutes: Justifiable Use of Force.” Online Sunshine, The Florida Legislature,
22 Nov. 2016, www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799%2F0776%2FSections%2F0776.013.html.
“Organization.” Blue
Lives Matter, Blue Lives Matter, 2016, bluelivesmatter.blue/organization/.
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