My college experience was transformed by the #BlackLivesMatter movement. I remember logging onto Facebook, like any other college student does to avoid studying, and instantly seeing the hashtag following every riot or protest. From Trayvon Martin to Sandra Bland, I (and many of my fellow millennials) simply cannot ignore the shift in our nation’s cultural conversation. Our lives are shaped by the inner workings of social media. A mere hashtag transformed a daily occurrence into a national conversation.
On the night of May 26, the popular television network BET aired "STAY WOKE: The Black Lives Matter Movement."
The one hour documentary tracked the genesis of how the movement organically came together. Through the use of social media, using tweets from Twitter and posts from Facebook, moments such as the verdict of George Zimmerman following the murder of Trayvon Martin, the bomb rushing of Eric Garner, and the shootings in cold blood of Freddie Gray and Michael Brown, were transformed into movements in one fell swoop.
Integrating raw news footage of protesters and commentaries from activists and residents of Missouri, New York, and Florida alike, the documentary begged the question of how we, as America, stay aware, stay accountable, but “stay woke” to the movement concerning civil rights in the 21st century.
Much of the documentary also dealt with the question of what we do with the activism in the wake of these injustices. What differentiates the #BlackLivesMatter movement from other preceding movements is through the use of smartphones, the act of sustaining movements was transformed.
However, this transformation presented a unique challenge: sustaining a “leaderless” movement. Is it really a leaderless movement or rather is it a movement made of various leaders in the streets creating a mosaic through posts and tweets? The answer to this question, outlined in the documentary, is the creation of the #BlackLivesMatter Foundation. A collection of chapters stretched across the United States are run to keep America aware of and accountable to issues concerning race relations and civil rights in America.
From the resignation of the President of University of Missouri, to the #BlackLivesMatter activists’ meeting with President Obama, the movement has proven that there is no need to worry about sustainability. The #BlackLivesMatter movement will live on through the use of social media, a defining mark of this generation of activists, making sure America will always stay “woke.”
