The Black Lives Matter Movement, founded by three ordinary black women; Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi, demands a rightful use of justice for the black community.
During the Summer of 2013, the case around unarmed teen, Trayvon Martin’s death was being trialed. One of the most suspenseful cases in black history turned into another disappointment for the black community on July 13. 2013, when George Zimmerman, Martin’s killer, was found not guilty for his crime and walked away with a grin on his face. Sorrow swept over the city of Sanford, Florida. After watching the trial in an Oakland bar, Alicia Garza was too outraged and shocked about the court’s decision, and chose to write a post about it on her Facebook page.
Garza included the three powerful words, black lives matter, in her post, but little did she know, those same words would turn into a well-known hashtag, and eventually, a grand movement. Soon the hashtag spread like wildfire, and had the same burning effect. People were commenting there opinions on the police violence, yet there was still factors in questions. Some thought, what is the real effect behind this hashtag? Is it actually a movement or just a big group chat? Could this be considered a hate group?
"We understand organizing not to happen online but to be built through face-to-face connections and relationships where we build the trust necessary to move as a collective and exercise our collective power in order to win changes in our lives," Garza said.
Alicia Garza understood that the online connection could be hurtful to the credibility and effectiveness of the group, therefore Garza, Cullors, and Tometi organized offline groups to come together in person and express their protest face to face, rather than through text. Sadly, soon after, a Ferguson police officers killed another unarmed black teenager in the middle of the street on August 10. 2015.
Also, the verdict, once again, was not guilty and the officer was let free, with a grin on his face. Soon freedom rides and communities stood together in the middle of Ferguson streets in loud, but peaceful protest. Lebron James, Chris Rock, Cher, Nelly, Kobe Bryant, Pharrell Williams, Russell Simmons, Katy Perry, Gabrielle Union, and many more celebrities either showed their respect and concern for the injustice in public protest or online posts.
Unfortunately, the police brutality didn't stop and more cases were brought to life, such as Freddie Gray, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, plus more. This suddenly caused a violent uprising, with the help of tear gas, and police bullets being shot at local protesters, and made the Black Lives Matter Movement turn into a negative hate group, that should be stopped.
Though, it is emphasized that the movement is pro-black, not anti-white, or Mexican, or Indian, or any other race that is not considered Black.
Therefore, the Black Lives Matter Movement is a powerful force to be reckoned with, and still lives on today.
