The #BlackLivesMatter movement was created after George Zimmerman was acquitted for the murder of Trayvon Martin in 2012. Embedded from the experiences of African-Americans, #BlackLivesMatter is a call to action. Put simply, it is a response to racism in our society. It is important to recognize that this a movement and not just a trending hashtag.

According to their website, “Black Lives Matter affirms the lives of Black queer and trans folks, disabled folks, black-undocumented folks, folks with records, women and all Black lives along the gender spectrum." This signifies that it is not only a movement fighting racism, but of sexism, ableism, and homophobia.

Some criticism about the #BlackLivesMatter movement is that it instead should be #AllLivesMatter. Those criticizing the semantics of the movement believe that saying Black Lives Matter signifies that Black lives matter more than those of other races. This type of criticism is similar to the backlash of the Feminism movement. Some misunderstood (and still do) the meaning of the cause. Where some thought the movement believed in female superiority. It can be concluded that the ignorance and misinterpretation from a few individuals can affect the image of a movement.

Now that we have gone over the origin and meaning of the #BlackLivesMatter it is important to take note of two key moments on how the #BlackLivesMatter movement affected the 2016 presidential race. In Seattle, Bernie Sanders speech was halted when a dozen protesters from the city's Black Lives Matter chapter jumped barricades around the stage and to grab the microphone. Two of the protesters, Marissa Janae Johnson and Mara Jacqueline Willaford, the co-founders of the chapter, wanted an opportunity to address the crowd. At first, his campaign offered for them to speak after Sanders. As the argument progressed, the two protesters eventually got time to speak. After taking over for quite some time, Sanders left the event.

"Black lives, of course, matter. I spent 50 years of my life fighting for civil rights and for dignity," said Sanders. "But if you don't want me to be here, that's OK. I don't want to out-scream people."

The second and more recent, political interaction with the #BlackLivesMatter movement was a conversation with Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

At one point, Clinton stated that without a concrete plan their movement will get nothing but "lip service from as many white people as you can pack into Yankee Stadium and a million more like it." Clinton later went on saying "Look, I don't believe you change hearts. I believe you change laws, you change allocation of resources, you change the way systems operate. You're not going to change every heart. You're not. But at the end of the day, we could do a whole lot to change some hearts and change some systems and create more opportunities for people who deserve to have them, to live up to their own God-given potential.”

It is important to keep informed about these political interactions with the #BlackLivesMatter members. Not only for its significance in the upcoming election but for its significance in our society.

To learn more about the #BlackLivesMatter movement, visit http://blacklivesmatter.com