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Ray, Rashawn, et al. “Black Lives Matter at 10 Years: 8 Ways the Movement Has Been Highly Effective.” Brookings, 12 Oct. 2022

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Ray, Rashawn, et al. “Black Lives Matter at 10 Years: 8 Ways the Movement Has Been Highly Effective.” Brookings, 12 Oct. 2022

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Black Lives Matter at 10 years: 8 ways the movement has been highly effective | Brookings

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Since receiving $100 million plus in funding in 2016, the Movement for Black Lives, a coalition of organizations and groups aimed to set a collective strategic policy agenda to create racial equity for Black people across the United States, has come under increased scrutiny regarding property purcha…

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“How Black Lives Matter Changed the Way Americans Fight for Freedom: ACLU.” American Civil Liberties Union, 27 Feb. 2023

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“How Black Lives Matter Changed the Way Americans Fight for Freedom: ACLU.” American Civil Liberties Union, 27 Feb. 2023

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Freedom fighters around the globe commemorate July 13 as the day that three Black women helped give birth to a movement. In the five short years since #Black LivesMatter arrived on the scene - thanks to the creative genius of Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometti - the push for Black liberation from state-inflicted violence has evolved into one of the most influential social movements of the post-civil rights era.

Black Lives Matter has always been more of a human rights movement rather than a civil rights movement. BLM's focus has been less about changing specific laws and more about fighting for a fundamental reordering of society wherein Black lives are free from systematic dehumanization. Still, the movement's measurable impact on the political and legal landscape is undeniable.

What gets referred to as "the Black Lives Matter movement" is, in actuality, the collective labor of a wide range of Black liberation organizations, each which their own distinct histories. These organizations include groups like the Black Youth Project 100, the Dream Defenders, Assata's Daughters, the St. Louis Action council, Millennial Activists United, and the Organization for Black Struggle, to name just a few.

Collectively, since 2013, these organizers have effected significant change locally and nationally, including the ousting of high-profile corrupt prosecutors. In Chicago, the labor of groups such as BYP100 and Assata's Daughters, among others, led Anita Alvarez - who had inexplicably failed to charge police officers who shot at least 68 people to death - to lose her re-election bid for Cook County prosecutor. And in Florida, groups like The Dream Defenders and others helped end Angela Corey 's reign as a state attorney. Corey remains infamous for failing to convict Trayvon Martin's killer George Zimmerman while prosecuting Marissa Alexander, a Black woman who didn't hurt anyone when firing a warning shot at her abusive ex-husband.
Podcast: Hear Patrisse Cullors on the Evolution of Black Lives Matter
The BLM movement's work certainly doesn't stop there. Students on the ground in Missouri, as part of the #ConcernedStudent1950 movement, helped lead to the resignation of the University of Missouri president over his failure to deal with racism on campus. BLM compelled Democrats to restructure their national platform to include issues such as criminal justice reform, and the movement contributed to the election of Black leftist organizers to public office, such as activist Chokwe Lumumba to mayor of Jackson, Mississippi.

The BLM movement's unrelenting work on the issue of police corruption, helped incite the release of four unprecedented U.S. Department of Justice reports that confirm the widespread presence of police corruption in Baltimore, Chicago, Ferguson, and Cleveland. Moreover, the Movement for Black Lives' publication of a watershed multi-agenda policy platform - authored by over 50 black-centered organizations - laid bare the expansive policy goals of the movement. The fact that these accomplishments have happened so quickly is an extraordinary achievement in and of itself.

Moreover, the broader cultural impact of BLM as a movement has been immeasurably expansive. BLM will forever be remembered as the movement responsible for popularizing what has now become an indispensable tool in 21st-century organizing efforts: the phenomenon that scholars refer to as "mediated mobilization." By using the tools of social media, BLM was the first U.S. social movement in history to successfully use the internet as a mass mobilization device. The recent successes of movements, such as #MeToo, #NeverAgain, and #TimesUp, would be inconceivable had it not been for the groundwork that #BlackLivesMatter laid.

Many have suggested, erroneously, that the BLM movement has "quieted" down in the age of Trump. Nothing could be further from the truth. If anything the opposite is true: BLM is stronger, larger, and more global now than ever before. The success of initiatives such as Alicia Garza's Black Census Project - the largest national survey focusing on U.S. black lives in over 150 years - and Patrisse Cullor's launch of the grassroots effort Dignity and Power Now in support of incarcerated people, both exemplify the BLM movement's continued impact, particularly in local communities.

The idea that BLM is in a "decline" stage is false. Instead, what is true is that American mainstream media has been much less willing to actually cover the concerns of the BLM in part because it has been consumed by the daily catastrophes of the Trump presidency. Nonetheless, it would be a mistake to assume that BLM is "dwindling" away simply because the cameras are no longer present. The revolution is still happening - it is just not being televised. All throughout the country, BLM organizers are at work in their local communities feverishly fighting for change and relentlessly speaking truth to power. For instance, The Dream Defenders in Florida just released their visionary project "The Freedom Papers," and BYP100 just celebrated its five-year anniversary.

Ironically, many of the debates that have come to define the age of Trump, such as the immigration debate, are arguably indirectly influenced by BLM. A notable example: Recently, some congressional Democrats have called for the abolition of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which has been violating the rights of undocumented immigrants. What has been missing in much of the mainstream coverage of the ICE debate is an acknowledgment of how the democratic left's radicalization would not have been possible without the efforts of Black radical grassroots social movements, such as BLM.

Indeed, long before congressional Democrats dared to call for the abolition of ICE, #blacklivesmatter activists pioneered the call for an end of modern policing in America. The language of "abolition" comes directly from the work of grassroots activists, such as those in the Black Lives Matter Global Network. Their work helped to revive a long black radical tradition of engaging the rhetoric of abolitionism.

We literally would not even be using the word "abolition" - let alone embracing it as a framework - had it not been for the labor of BLM activists. The fact that Democrats are gradually calling for the abolition of ICE is a testimony to the continued impact of BLM as a social movement.

As we reflect on five years of BLM, we would do well to consider the myriad ways that #blacklivesmatter has influenced our contemporary moment and given us a framework for imagining what democracy in action really looks like. Whether it be transforming how we talk about police violence or transforming how we talk about "abolitionism," the BLM movement has succeeded in transforming how Americans talk about, think about, and organize for freedom.
Frank Leon Roberts is the founder of the Black Lives Matter Syllabus and teaches at New York University.
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: An earlier version of this essay inadvertently conflated two important distinctions: Black Lives Matter, the organization, vs. Black Lives Matter, the movement. Black Lives Matter, the organization, is a global decentralized network with over 30 chapters across the world. Black Lives Matter, the movement, is a broad conceptual umbrella that refers to the important work of a wide range of Black liberation organizations. Sometimes referred to as "the Movement for Black Lives," the achievements of the Black Lives Matter movement would not be possible had it not been for the collective efforts of groups such as Black Youth Project 100, the Dream Defenders, Assata's Daughters, the St. Louis Action council, Millennial Activists United, and the Organization for Black Struggle, to name just a few. This essay is an attempt to celebrate the movement without attributing the movement's "achievements" solely to Black Lives Matter, the organization.

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How Black Lives Matter Changed the Way Americans Fight for Freedom | News & Commentary | American Civil Liberties Union

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Freedom fighters around the globe commemorate July 13 as the day that three Black women helped give birth to a movement. In the five short years since #Black LivesMatter arrived on the scene - thanks to the creative genius of Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometti - the push for Black liberation from state-inflicted violence has evolved into one of the most influential social movements of the post-civil rights era.

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“A Movement, a Slogan, a Rallying Cry: How Black Lives Matter Changed America’s View on Race.” NBCNews.Com, NBCUniversal News Group, Accessed 29 Nov. 2023. 

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“A Movement, a Slogan, a Rallying Cry: How Black Lives Matter Changed America’s View on Race.” NBCNews.Com, NBCUniversal News Group, Accessed 29 Nov. 2023. 

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In 2013, Alicia Garza offered words of comfort in a Facebook post to Black people after George Zimmerman was acquitted of murder in the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin: "Our lives matter." From the phrase, Garza and her friends Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi created #BlackLivesMatter.

What started as a poignant hashtag has come to define a generation. In seven years, Black Lives Matter has become a multichapter organization that has changed the very framework with which the nation talks about race.

"The conversation around race didn't exist in a vast capacity until we saw the BLM movement, this surge," says T. Sheri Amour Dickerson, executive director and core organizer of BLM Oklahoma City. "Now difficult conversations, honest conversations, and even some discourse, have become part of the daily discussion here in Oklahoma, and I think that goes nationwide in many different factions. It's also become more intergenerational."

Its cultural impact cannot be denied

A movement, a slogan, a rallying cry. Black Lives Matter has had many identities since it was founded on a mission to "eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities ... " Now, it's important to ask whether the organization, officially called the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, has made good on its promise to spur positive changes in Black people's material lives.

Some 30 BLM chapters have popped up across the country since the movement's inception, many with a set of demands unique to their city's Black population. BLM members in Los Angeles successfully fought for the firing of Police Chief Charlie Beck. In Chicago, members demand that leaders close the Homan Square detention facility. And in New York, members want a national day of remembrance for victims of police violence.

Over the years, some of these city-specific demands have evolved, some have been successful, and many have gone unmet. Despite any policy failures, though, the movement has helped shift the national conversation about policing and change the way leaders respond to highly publicized acts of police violence. Recently, the BLM network partnered with the Movement for Black Lives to fight for the Breathe Act, a four-part federal proposal demanding that leaders redirect funds from law enforcement entities to community services. And on the heels of BLM's rise, Garza founded Black Futures Lab, which aims to build Black political power through policy and elections.

It's worth noting that BLM has come to function as a catch-all for pro-Black, anti-racist efforts that exist independently of the organization. Still, the cultural impact of the term can be felt throughout the nation, and nowhere is this more evident than on social media.

From 2014 to this May, #BlackLivesMatter was tweeted or retweeted 39.2 million times, but the hashtag was shared more than 100 million times in the month after George Floyd was killed, according to a report from Kivvit. The Floyd protests of the summer pushed the movement forward in new ways, the report shows.

At least 62 Fortune 500 companies posted about Black Lives Matter on Facebook in the wake of the summer's protests. And BLM Facebook posts by popular brands like Nordstrom, Ben & Jerry's and others saw more engagement than usual posts, according to the report. Before the summer's protests, just two Fortune 500 companies had posted about the movement, the report said.

"Having the technology to where we're able to actually create international conversation around how race affects each of us is something I'm very proud of," Dickerson says. "This movement has really moved the needle."

The movement has also received support from leaders like the late Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., who told BLM protesters in June, "You must be able and prepared to give until you cannot give any more." The renowned activist Angela Davis praised the movement: "'Structural racism,' 'white supremacy,' all of these terms that have been used for decades in the ranks of our movements have now become a part of popular discourse."

And the world has been quick to recognize BLM as a force for change - the global network was awarded the Sydney Peace Prize in 2017, and Cullors appeared onstage at the 2018 Academy Awards. While BLM may not have reached all of its policy-based goals, its social and cultural impact cannot be denied.

Years after its inception, BLM still stands as a critique of the status quo, and has grown so powerful that many often conflate the organization with anti-racism efforts in general. The George Floyd protests of the summer have been called the broadest in the nation's history, generating more media coverage than any protest in 50 years.

The organization has its challenges

But what appeared to be a changing tide in public opinion has since faded along with the protests. Support for the BLM movement reached a high in June with 67 percent of U.S. adults expressing at least some support for the movement, according to Pew Research. The figure had shrunk to 55 percent by September, Pew reported. Now, 48 percent of American voters support the movement, according to recent tracking data from Civiqs. (The recent number still shows an increase from pre-protest levels.)

The change is most notable among white adults. Their support for the movement reached 60 percent in June before falling to 45 percent, Pew reported (even though white Americans have adopted more liberal racial attitudes overall since the start of the BLM movement).

This has been a common trend throughout history, said Dwight Watson, associate professor of history at Texas State University.

"I expected white folks to disappear," Watson said. "White support tends to peter away. The way you were taught to understand the world is ultimately how you respond to it in times of crisis. With that said, most young white people did not have an oppositional upbringing to police or the government. So many of them didn't sign up to die for the cause. And after a while, many of them wondered if the cause is really that important."

Even for all of its cultural progress, BLM as a movement and an organization hasn't been immune to criticism. It had been praised for its initially decentralized, leaderless structure, and lauded for moving away from the leadership models of its predecessors, which usually focused on charismatic male leaders.

But some have said BLM has lost its way over the years. Passionate chapters held rallies in response to violence, but what was once viewed as a unique, fresh way of fighting for justice may have, over the years, become ineffective, critics argue. Even Cullors, now the executive director of the global network, has acknowledged the organization's shortcomings.

"The urgency of Black Lives Matter's work has dictated our form and function. Often, we have operated in 'rapid response' - deploying people and resources to stem, both literally and metaphorically, the bleeding in our communities. We have paid dearly for it," Cullors wrote in a September letter. "We have leapt into the fray with inadequate funds. We have worked off half-drawn blueprints and roadmaps that led to untenable ends. We have exhausted the most self-sacrificing among us without providing adequate time to recover or a fully-realized vision for the long haul."

Nonetheless, the movement's popularity and mission have led to much monetary support. This allowed the global network to offer some $6.5 million in grants over the summer to support grassroots organizing under its BLM Grassroots initiative. The offering was the global network's commitment to local organizing in 2020 and 2021. But the move to a more centralized structure, and the doling out of millions, has prompted criticism from BLM's local, on-the-ground chapters.

A recent joint statement from several chapters raised concerns about "financial transparency, decision making, and accountability" in the larger organization. The chapters said Cullors' appointment as boss and the founding of BLM Grassroots came without the knowledge of many chapters. They also said most chapters have received little to no financial support from the global network since 2013.

"This is not a new conversation we're having. It's one that keeps coming up," said Ariel Lipscomb, an organizer with BLM Denver. "We've consistently asked for accountability. We've consistently asked for transparency. We've consistently asked for shared power and for the actions of BLMGN to reflect the work that we do."

Jessica Louise, an organizer with BLM Indianapolis, added: "They've built their platform off of the idea that Black lives matter. But when you try to privatize and commodify something that belongs to everybody, that's when you run into problems. The social capital that's been used to build has been done on the backs of people who are now being told, 'You're not part of the club.' We're not asking for anything that anyone else would not be asking for."

Celebrities have reportedly donated millions to the global network, and records show that Thousand Currents, a nonprofit that fiscally sponsors the global network, gave $1.8 million to BLM in 2019. Activists have consistently raised doubts about where the money goes and how local chapters are funded. The statement is a blatant request for answers from chapter organizers who say they rely on direct donations from community members and rarely (if ever) receive financial support from the global network.

"The trickle down ain't working," says Vanessa Green, of BLM Hudson Valley, New York.

The Black Lives Matter Global Foundation did not respond to a request for comment.

Despite a lack of resources, local BLM chapters have managed to make influential advances in their communities.

Green says BLM organizers in Hudson Valley managed to convince leaders at Nyack Public School district to implement a policy banning school staff from calling police without first notifying parents when a child is experiencing distress. In Denver, a Covid-19 relief program has managed to provide housing and food for 25 families, Lipscomb says. Louise said the City Council in Indianapolis has agreed to make a pair of review boards civilian-majority entities thanks to BLM organizers. In Washington, D.C., organizers have distributed money and resources to people in need in a massive mutual aid project, says April Goggans, with BLM D.C.

It is this community-focused work that organizers hope will define the BLM organization in the years to come, the chapter members say. Seven years in, the organization is beginning to shift its focus from condemning the powers that be to fighting for new legislation and policy changes. If the current social media stats are any indication of the movement's future, the cultural phenomenon will maintain its hold on the public - even if that support fluctuates. As for the global network, organizers fear the divide between the international entity and its local chapters will only grow.

"I think more about sustainability than popularity. And I know our work sustains itself because we adapt to the needs of our people," Lipscomb said.

YahNé Ndgo, of BLM Philadelphia, argues that the BLM Global Network may be more committed to serving the status quo than Black people.

"The actual movement is going to sustain itself because we serve the liberation of our people," Ndgo said. "Maybe these things will come in alignment, and if it doesn't then we need to make sure our communities are educated about who are their friends and who are their folks."

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A movement, a slogan, a rallying cry: How Black Lives Matter changed America's view on race

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The Black Lives Matter movement, founded in 2013, has changed the way the nation talks about race. But the organization itself may be disconnected from local chapters.

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Scholarly Articles on Black Lives Matter: History & More - Gale, Accessed 30 Nov. 2023.

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Scholarly Articles on Black Lives Matter: History & More - Gale, Accessed 30 Nov. 2023.

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Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a civil rights movement and activist network that originated from a hashtag campaign on social media in 2013. The #BlackLivesMatter campaign gained momentum online in the wake of a Florida jury finding George Zimmerman not guilty of the second-degree murder of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed Black high school student whom Zimmerman shot and killed. Zimmerman claimed self-defense, but many people saw his acquittal by a jury as racially biased. As a social movement, BLM has focused largely on the lack of accountability for state violence committed against Black Americans, particularly police violence.

The movement has launched an activist network connected through social media that comprises individuals, local and regional groups, and international coalitions. While BLM has focused on police violence and disparities in the criminal justice system, many chapters champion specific issues that are local or personal to their members, including environmental justice and education. Within the movement's first few years, it spread to several countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ghana, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. BLM has attracted the support of many celebrities and professional athletes, while also drawing criticism from conservative politicians, law enforcement organizations, and others. Though much of the movement's strength stems from its grassroots origins and decentralized structure, its growth in size and influence has raised questions within the movement about how to move forward.

Main Ideas

Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a social movement that calls attention to how Black people are treated by law enforcement in the United States . Much of the movement's has focused on the excessive use of force by police and the perceived lack of accountability for their actions.

The phrase "Black Lives Matter" first appeared on social media when activist Alicia Garza shared it on Facebook in 2013 in response to a jury declaring a white man not guilty of murdering an unarmed Black teenager.

Activists mobilized in large protests in Ferguson, Missouri , following the death of Michael Brown in 2014. These demonstrations attracted national media attention and established BLM as a political movement.

During the summer of 2020, fifteen million to twenty-six million people participated in BLM demonstrations around the country after several high-profile killings of Black Americans. Further, BLM chapters appeared, and protests took place in countries around the world.

BLM is credited with spurring conversations about police reform nationally. The movement has inspired legislation from lawmakers in both parties related not only to police reform but also protest rights.

Critics have accused the BLM movement of encouraging violence against law enforcement. Some police officers and their supporters have established Blue Lives Matter groups to counter claims made by BLM.

Though President Joe Biden has expressed support for BLM, the movement's leaders have expressed disappointment with his administration's unwillingness to embrace the more aggressive reforms.

Origins of the Movement

The phrase "Black Lives Matter" first appeared on social media when activist Alicia Garza posted her response to the Zimmerman verdict on Facebook. Garza's friend and fellow activist Patrisse Cullors saw the post and repurposed the phrase as a hashtag, sharing it on Twitter and launching the online campaign. Garza, Cullors, and Opal Tometi, another activist friend, began promoting the hashtag to mobilize protests against the Zimmerman decision. However, the phrase resonated with Black Americans who felt that the criminal justice system valued the lives of Black people less than the lives of others.

In July 2014 mobile phone footage was released of white New York City police officer Daniel Pantaleo using excessive force on Eric Garner, an unarmed African American man. Garner died during the encounter. He could be heard repeatedly saying "I can't breathe" in the footage, and the phrase became a rallying cry for BLM supporters.

Less than one month after Garner's death, a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, shot Michael Brown, an unarmed Black eighteen-year-old. Marches, protests, and rallies in response to the incident were promoted through the BLM social media campaign. Protests took place around the country shortly after Brown's death and in November following a grand jury's refusal to indict the officer for Brown's murder. Protesters in Ferguson were met by a police force armed with military assault rifles, shotguns, pistols, body armor, armored fighting vehicles, and chemical agents banned in warfare, such as tear gas.

The demonstrations in Ferguson brought national attention to BLM, establishing the movement as something more substantial than a social media campaign. Amid national awareness of the protests, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) opened investigations into the Garner case and on racial bias and the use of force within the Ferguson Police Department. In 2015 the DOJ published its findings about policing in Ferguson, concluding that the city prioritized revenue over public safety needs, and the city's police force and courts held racial biases that adversely affect Black people.

Despite the efforts of BLM, many police officers accused of using excessive force have avoided punishment, even those for whom damaging evidence has been captured on video. Some officers have had charges against them dropped or reduced, while others were not charged at all. For example, the 2017 acquittal of Minnesota police officer Jeronimo Yanez for the 2016 shooting of Philando Castile received significant attention because Castile's girlfriend streamed the aftermath of the incident live on Facebook.

A few convictions of officers have occurred, including the 2019 sentencing of Chicago officer Jason Van Dyke for second-degree murder in the 2014 death of seventeen-year-old Laquan McDonald. The DOJ opened an investigation into the city's police department following McDonald's death. Another three officers, including Van Dyke's partner, were charged with conspiracy and obstruction of justice, however they were ultimately acquitted. In July 2019 the Chicago Police Board ruled to dismiss four other officers from duty for their roles in misrepresenting Van Dyke's actions through false statements.

Increased Prominence After Ferguson

The protests in Ferguson established BLM as a political movement with the potential to disrupt the status quo. Activists Johnetta Elzie, Brittany Packnett, and DeRay Mckesson, all prominent voices in the Ferguson protests, became more committed to the movement, launching several secondary projects including Mapping Police Violence, which catalogs police violence and provides analyses of that data; We The Protesters, which provides activists with resources for organizing demonstrations; StayWoke, a nonprofit organization that brings together activists to help with one another's projects; and Campaign Zero, a platform presenting data-driven solutions for policing reform.

By 2016 the movement had gained such prominence that both BLM activists and the police violence they condemn became talking points in the US presidential election. The Democratic, Green, and Libertarian candidates expressed support for the movement, while Republican nominee Donald Trump, who would go on to win the presidency, accused BLM of promoting racism, instigating violence, and disrespecting law enforcement. During the 2020 Democratic primary season, several of the party's candidates consulted with BLM activists. In the months leading to the 2020 presidential election, President Trump characterized BLM as a treasonous hate group. Some political commentators have inferred that Trump speaks out against BLM and protests for racial justice in general to galvanize his base supporters around a culture war issue. In contrast, Democratic nominee Joe Biden expressed support for BLM and incorporated into his campaign some of BLM's core principles related to criminal justice reform. After Biden became president, members of his administration met with BLM leaders in June 2021 to discuss police reform. According to the reports, the movement's leaders appreciated the opportunity to meet with White House officials but characterized the meeting as unproductive because the Biden administration had different perspectives on how the federal government could best serve Black communities.

Opposition to and Criticism of Black Lives Matter

Some people have responded to the slogan "Black Lives Matter" with concern that the phrase neglects the value of non-Black lives, choosing instead to align themselves with the phrase "All Lives Matter." For BLM supporters, the phrase "All Lives Matter" is seen as a denial that racial disparities exist in the criminal justice system and a dismissal of legitimate grievances. In response BLM activists have clarified that "Black Lives Matter" does not mean that other lives do not matter as well. They explain the phrase is intended to draw attention to the ways in which society does not ascribe the same value to Black lives as it does to the lives of others.

Reports of violence from the Ferguson protests led some Americans to adopt a view of BLM as a violent group hostile to law enforcement and white people. In 2020 during the first week of protests in Minneapolis following the police killing of George Floyd, mostly peaceful daytime protests were followed by nights sporadically dotted with arson, rioting, and looting. However, media critics note that many reports exaggerate the amount of violence and property damage caused by protesters.

As BLM has been forthright in its criticisms of law enforcement and the criminal justice system, many members of law enforcement have spoken out against the movement. In 2014 police officers in New York City established Blue Lives Matter, a movement to highlight violence committed against law enforcement, support police families, and build public awareness about the needs of police officers. Members of Blue Lives Matter have called for legislation that identifies violence against a police officer or firefighter as a hate crime, and such laws have been considered or passed in several states, including Georgia, Louisiana, and New York. Critics of these laws contend that membership in a professional community cannot be equated with membership in the social and racial groups traditionally protected by hate crime legislation.

BLM protests have also inspired legislation that would restrict public demonstration, identify certain activities as unlawful, such as blocking traffic, and impose additional penalties to crimes as part of a protest, such as defacing public monuments. Critics of these laws allege they would curtail freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment and serve to heighten tensions between protesters and law enforcement. As of September 2021, lawmakers in at least forty-five states have introduced more than 230 bills aimed at limiting the right to protest. Further, at least thirty-six of these laws have passed.

Critical Thinking Questions

How would you characterize the role of social media in the growth, organization, and operation of the Black Lives Matter movement?

What factors do you think have contributed to the BLM movement gaining broader acceptance and public support since it began in 2013?

In what ways do you think that BLM movement has brought awareness to issues of racial injustices? Explain your answer.

Shift in Public Perception

By 2020 BLM had gained broader acceptance with the American public. In the spring of 2020, the police killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, as well as the fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery while he jogged in his Brunswick, Georgia, neighborhood, sparked a new wave of BLM protests. The New York Times reported that fifteen million to twenty-six million Americans participated in demonstrations in support of racial justice in early summer 2020, leading some scholars to call BLM the largest movement in US history.

A new slogan from BLM activists emerged during this time: "Defund the police." Activists demanded a shift from funding police agencies to using those resources for public services and non-policing community programs. Calls to defund police agencies have brought up concerns that communities with defunded police departments would become lawless and lack adequate resources to help crime victims. BLM's "Defund the police" slogan has become part of the national political debate about police reform. Many Republicans and some Democrats have dismissed the movement as dangerous and impractical. When BLM leaders met with the Biden administration in 2021, a central disagreement involved the administration's unwillingness to divert funding from law enforcement to invest in other programs. Activists at the meeting expressed further frustration as the Biden administration has offered stimulus funds to increase state and local police budgets.

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scholarly articles on black lives matter

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Scholarly Articles on Black Lives Matter: History & More

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Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a civil rights movement and activist network that originated from a hashtag campaign on social media in 2013. The #BlackLivesMatter campaign gained momentum online in the wake of a Florida jury finding George Zimmerman not guilty of the second-degree murder of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed Black high school student whom Zimmerman shot and killed.

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 Eligon, John. “Black Lives Matter Has Grown More Powerful, and More Divided.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 4 June 2021

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 Eligon, John. “Black Lives Matter Has Grown More Powerful, and More Divided.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 4 June 2021

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Black Lives Matter Has Grown More Powerful, and More Divided (Published 2021)

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Since the murder of George Floyd, the racial justice movement has received millions of dollars in donations. But some chapters have questioned how those funds are spent.

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“How Black Lives Matter Protests Sparked Interest, Can Lead to Change.” UW News

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“How Black Lives Matter Protests Sparked Interest, Can Lead to Change.” UW News

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News releases | Research | Social science

After Black Lives Matter formed in 2013, in response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, new ways of talking about race gained traction.

And with protests sparked by subsequent police killings, such as those of Eric Garner, Philando Castile and George Floyd, the use of and online search for anti-racist terms skyrocketed, indicating a growing common anti-racist lexicon and generating renewed attention to racial justice that continues today.

The growing use of these terms, according to new research, shows how Black Lives Matter has shifted the conversation around racism, raising awareness of issues and laying the foundation for social change. The research, led by Indiana University and the University of Washington, published March 3 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"When protest happens, it changes the way people talk," said lead author Zackary Dunivin, a doctoral student in sociology and complex systems at Indiana University. "Black Lives Matter got people to pay attention when people weren't paying attention. The protests got people to care, and that has changed the way people are talking and thinking about race."

In the paper, Dunivin and co-author Jelani Ince, an assistant professor of sociology at the UW, show that how people talk about an issue and how often they talk about it can create momentum and bring attention to a cause. They point to civil rights marches, which led to changes in voting and housing rights, and to anti-Vietnam War protests, which helped shift public opinion and led to Congressional hearings.

To evaluate the impact of Black Lives Matter protest, the researchers turned to social media, news coverage and online search engines. They set out to determine how these protests shifted public interest and conversation by examining attention to and use of related terms and topics.

The researchers chose four different publicly available data sources: Google search, Twitter mentions, national news mentions and Wikipedia page visits. They created a list of more than three dozen terms to search for, such as "systemic racism," "prison abolition" and others that are associated with Black Lives Matter's themes and the concept of anti-racism.

The study found that during Black Lives Matter protests, people search for these terms up to 100 times more than they did in the weeks prior to the protests. Over time, these "spikes" in searches for terms related to Black Lives Matter have expanded to include other ideas: In the early years of the study period, searches for "police shootings" and the names of victims of police homicide were common; in 2020, searches included topics like "prison abolition" and "redlining."

In addition, the study noted the staying power of ideas: Six months after the George Floyd protests in 2020, social media attention to anti-racist ideas was significantly higher than it was before the protests. Daily visits to Wikipedia pages for "Black Lives Matter," for example, were around 10 times greater; for "systemic racism," 5.5 times greater; and for "prison abolition," 1.6 times greater, from August through December 2020, compared to the same period the year before.

"As social scientists, we know that change is not an inevitability, but requires persistence from actors over time. This shift in discourse is a reflection of change in the political terrain," Ince said. "It shows that the movement is evolving. It's not just a moment, it's an accumulation."

Of course, not every search or use of the designated terms indicates support, the researchers said. Data measuring page visits, for example, doesn't capture why someone visited a page - it just tracks the visit. Along the same lines, use of a hashtag doesn't necessarily prove a user's intent to support a movement. Further data-driven research could pursue those questions, the study points out, and specifically the role of countermovements and rhetoric in association with the use of anti-racist terms.

But what online searches, media coverage and tweets do show, Ince and Dunivin said, is how the issues and terms raised by Black Lives Matter have grown in public awareness over time. And the terms themselves have expanded beyond their connection to specific incidents of police homicide to broader issues of inequality.

While the study didn't link these terms to social change such as votes or policies, it does show how a current movement is building toward that change, the authors said.

"Black Lives Matter is providing an alternative route to the social problems society has created," Ince said. "These protests aren't just trying to make noise, but to reimagine what community can do. This is an attempt to do what should have been done decades ago."

Other co-authors on the study were Harry Yaojun Yan and Fabio Rojas at Indiana University. The study was funded by the Racial Justice Research Fund at Indiana University and the National Science Foundation.

For more information, contact Ince at jince@uw.edu or Dunivin at zdunivin@iu.edu.

Tag(s): College of Arts & Sciences * Department of Sociology * Jelani Ince

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How Black Lives Matter protests sparked interest, can lead to change

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A new study by the University of Washington and Indiana University finds that the growing use of anti-racist terms shows how Black Lives Matter has shifted the conversation around racism, raising...

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The central argument of this discussion revolves around the transformative impact of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement where it played a pivotal role in reshaping the discourse on racial fairness in America, Its multifaceted influence extends across legal, political, cultural, and institutional domains.

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1. Structural Dehumanisation:

The concept of structural dehumanisation entails the systemic and institutionalised practices that strip marginalised communities, especially Black lives, of their fundamental humanity. The BLM movement seeks to confront and rectify these deeply ingrained injustices through awareness, advocacy, and legal reforms.

2. Digital Mobilisation:

Digital mobilisation involves harnessing the power of online platforms, such as social media, to organise and mobilise individuals on a large scale for social or political causes. In the context of the BLM movement, digital mobilisation highlights the innovative use of technology to amplify voices, share information, and foster a sense of collective action.

# data[].attributes.body
This essay posits that the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, stemming from Alicia Garza's impactful Facebook post, has surpassed its online origins to profoundly influence conversations on racial fairness. Delving into BLM's intricate impact on culture, legislation, and grassroots initiatives, this essay navigates its dynamic role in shaping perceptions of racial justice.

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1. Cultural Paradigm Shift:

Describing the movement's capacity to shape societal attitudes and discussions, this term underscores BLM's far-reaching impact beyond mere activism, fostering essential dialogues on racial justice.

2. Financial Accountability:

Representing transparency and responsible handling of funds within the BLM Global Network Foundation, this term addresses challenges encountered by the movement. It highlights the critical role of financial integrity in sustaining impactful activism, emphasizing the need for accountable financial practices.

# data[].attributes.body
The central argument posited in the text asserts that the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement has significantly transformed the discourse on racial fairness in America. It underscores the movement's achievements in heightening awareness, shaping public sentiment, instigating policy reforms in policing, and driving cultural shifts. Two pivotal concepts integral to the discussion include Opportunity for Reform and National Intervention.

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1. Opportunity for Reform:

This phrase encapsulates a specific juncture when public awareness aligns with political dynamics, creating a conducive environment for policy changes. In the context of BLM, the shift in public attitudes acts as an opportunity for reform, ushering in tangible changes in policing and criminal justice.

2. National intervention:

This concept involves federal authorities stepping in to address systemic issues within local jurisdictions. BLM's advocacy has triggered national intervention in cities like Ferguson, Louisville, Baltimore, and Minneapolis, marking a substantive stride toward accountability and systemic reform.

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The main idea is that the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, fueled by both social media activism and community-driven efforts, has been a game-changer in how we talk about racial justice in the U.S. It's not just about protests; it's about sparking conversations on systemic racism and police violence. Two important things to understand are: People Power and Changing the Rules.

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1. People Power:

This means regular folks getting together in their communities to make a difference. BLM's strength comes from everyday people, not just big organizations.

2. Changing the Rules:

This phrase is about how BLM has influenced the discussions among lawmakers. They're talking about new laws and policies because BLM has made racial justice a big deal in politics.

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1. Shared Discourse:

This concept refers to the development of a collective language or set of terms widely accepted within society. In the BLM context, the study suggests the emergence of a shared discourse around anti-racist ideas, fostering a unified vocabulary for conversations on racial justice.

2. Impetus for Transformation:

This expression signifies the driving force created by the BLM movement in shaping societal perspectives and establishing a foundation for potential policy shifts. The study illuminates how BLM's lasting influence has provided impetus for transformation, signaling a change in how society responds to issues of racial injustice.

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1. Community-Driven Principles:

This expression encapsulates the fundamental beliefs and decentralized essence of the BLM movement, rooted in local activism. It becomes pertinent as internal tensions prompt reflections on sustaining community-driven values amid organizational complexities and heightened visibility.

2. Noteworthy Personalities in Activism:

This phrase signifies apprehensions that influential BLM leaders might prioritize public visibility and mainstream success, potentially deviating from the movement's original community-centric ethos. The ongoing discourse surrounding this notion highlights the challenges of maintaining authenticity while navigating increased prominence.

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The central thesis posits that the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, originating as a response to Trayvon Martin's death and gaining momentum through subsequent protests, has significantly altered the discourse on racial fairness in the United States. The discussed research study underscores the enduring impact of BLM on public awareness and dialogue, indicating a sustained interest in anti-racist concepts beyond specific protest events. Two pivotal terms in this context are: Shared Discourse and Impetus for Transformation.

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The central thesis posits that the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, ignited by the tragic death of George Floyd, has profoundly altered discussions on racial fairness in the U.S. Despite noteworthy accomplishments, internal conflicts and critiques regarding transparency and financial accountability have surfaced. Two essential concepts are: Community-Driven Principles and Noteworthy Personalities in Activism:

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Research Question - "How has the Black Lives Matter movement changed the way we talk about racial fairness in the US, and what visible changes or policies have stemmed from this conversation?"

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Research Question - "How has the Black Lives Matter movement changed the way we talk about racial fairness in the US, and what visible changes or policies have stemmed from this conversation?"