What is Black Lives Matter

Black Lives Matter is an extremely historical and deep rooted social movement in the United States. Although the movement only began on July 13, 2013, it shares many grievances and in many ways, is a continuation of other social movements that hold deep historical value in the United States, such as the Civil Rights Movement, which both protest the mistreatment and marginalization of African Americans simply because of their race. The Black Lives Matter movement deals with issues such as racial profiling, police brutality and racial inequality in the criminal justice system of the United States (Friedersorf, C., 2017). 

The online movement was co-founded by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi who had all met through Black Organizing for Leadership & Dignity (BOLD) and the Black Lives Matter hashtag was coined by them first, and eventually formed the online campaign (Ruffin II, H.G., 2016). The movement began in 2013 and was able to generate popularity on social media through the use of the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter, after the shooting of African-American teen Trayvon Martin, and the acquittal of George Zimmerman (Guynn, J., 2015).

Since 2013 the movement has spread from local United States protests and demonstrations over racial grievances and mistreatment, and has now become an international organization, and rallies have been held in other countries apart from the United States such as the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia.