History

History of Black Lives Matter

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History of Black Lives Matter

Introduction

There is a strong similarity between the #BlackLivesMatter movement and the Black Power Movement of the late-1960s whereby they main fight is against the oppression that the African-American communities continue to face regardless of the inhumane acts going on. The recent protests that have caused so much uproar are the deaths of Breonna and George Floyd. The protests were mainly fueled by the lack of the government’s practice of democracy in this modernized environment. This is similar to the issue faced by the Black Power Movement of the late-1960s whereby democracy was the main desire of the African-American communities (mobileaarmy, 2011). This paper shall discuss the similarities that are clear when the Africa-American communities fought for democracy that is given for other races yet it is often prejudiced against their race.

Occurrence of Hate Crime

The first similarity of the two movements is whereby the recent protests occurred after police brutality. The recent death of George Floyd at the hands of a white man who claimed to be performing self-defense. The second death is that of Breonna Taylor where she was shot death by white police officers yet she was in her home. When studying the Black Power Movement of the late-1960s, the events occurred as the African-American communities sought to change the oppression they were facing. The protests became stronger due to the influence of the Black Panther Party (Hernandez, 2014). The party’s members were angry about the authority’s prejudice against African-Americans.

Studying these two hate crime occurrences, it is clear that the actions by the white men are inhumane and uncalled for since the persons did not deserve the kind of treatment given to them. The recent movement become more widespread since the media was used to spread news of the attack, similar to the method that TV ads were used during George Bush’s presidential campaign. The Black Lives Matter Movement began due to the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. George Floyd’s murder was inhumane in all ways since he was unarmed and complained of the state of his health as he got arrested. The fact that he did not pose a threat to the police yet he was still pinned down depicts the inhumane methods the police used. Breonna Taylor’s death was uncalled for since the search warrant on her house did not give the police any probable cause to shoot her or her boyfriend.

The Black Power Movement of the late-1960s progressed due to the failure of the government to take into consideration the civil rights movements that were progressing at the time. The death of Meredith, who had begun to walk as a way of protesting oppression in his home area, resulted in the adoption by Martin Luther King, Stokely Carmichael, and Floyd McKissick (Pruitt, 2020). Martin Luther King Jr. got assassinated primarily due to his strong effect on the African-American community as a civil rights activist. The action is another example of hate crime since the activist had amassed a very large gathering where many individuals were positively impacted by his speeches (Ott, 2020). After King’s death, the African-American community became agitated by government’s lack of democracy yet they were citizens of the nation. The movement was adopted more by writers such as Zora Neale and Maya Angelou who championed for change in the civil rights movements at the time.

Techniques of the Protest

There is a similarity in the method that the protestors of Black Lives Matter movement and Black Power Movement used to relay their message. The protests were both held publicly so that every affected person would be aware. The video “Eyes on the Prize” depicts how the movements got conducted during the late 1960s where there was a lot of violence between the police and demonstrators. The Black Panther Party was involved more in the protests which caused the government to instruct all law personnel to perform any action to limit the party’s influence (Hernandez, 2014). The recent Black Lives Matter movement involved many persons matching in the streets as they chanted words calling out the police for their inhumane acts and the government’s lack of consideration for the African-American race. Social media is the main tool used to progress the protests since videos of the protests were taken as the people marched, and sang to create attention to the message they intended to relay.

The main demands were for change to occur to the African-American race through the peaceful chants that the people made towards the authorities (Pruitt, 2020). The protests were peaceful and focused on including the African American race in the socio-economic environments since their contribution was imperative (Pruitt, 2020). The video “All Power to the People (1996) Part II” depicts King giving his famous speeches and how the police used excessive force to deal with the protestors (mobileaarmy, 2011).

Racial Progress in America

The fact that there have been recent protests against racial discrimination reveals that there has not been any positive change in the improvement of democracy. The current prison system contains millions of inmates where the majority are African-American individuals. When studying the similarity of hate crime, it is clear that there are individuals in privileged positions whose actions often go unpunished regardless of the level of crime. The privilege that is evident in the white community occurs at the expense of the African-American community since they suffer more (Clayton, 2018). Racial progress in America is very slow compared to the technological advancements and social and economic scenes. The country has grown more due to the contribution of the African-American race yet they suffer more due to the racially fueled arrests.

The next similarity of peaceful protests depicts that racial progress in America has been slow regardless of the conformity of the protestors to the government’s rules governing protestors. King’s speech concerning his pride in being black and the oppression that his people were subjected to is a strong basis for comparison (Qqara, 2008).  His peaceful protests and the match that the recent Black Lives Matter protestors engaged in reveals that the struggle for peace and equality requires more than the simple matches.

The next basis of comparison of race in America is the fact that the authorities have been prejudiced against African- American individuals regardless of the advancement in technology that records their actions. The killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor depicted the stunted racial progress that the American nation has been facing. The American nation is advanced in other areas yet the authorities’ actions are unfair to the African-American race.

Conclusion

To surmise, it is evident that the African-American race has been facing prejudiced treatment regardless of the changes in the world and the level of democracy. It is imperative for the African-American race to continue the peaceful protests and to include more individuals in the protests so that there would more widespread change. The police should be focused on by the protestors and the government since they are responsible for the extrajudicial killings.

Reference

“Breonna Taylor: What happened on the night of her death?” (2020). Breonna Taylor: What happened on the night of her death? Retrieved 3 January 2021 from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54210448

Carter, J. (2020). 9 Things You Should Know About the ‘Mississippi Burning’ Murders. Retrieved 3 January 2021 from https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/9-things-know-mississippi-burning-murders/

Clayton, D. (2018). Black Lives Matter and the Civil Rights Movement: A Comparative Analysis of Two Social Movements in the United States. Journal Of Black Studies, 49(5), 448-480. doi: 10.1177/0021934718764099

Hernandez, C. (2014). Fred Hampton BPP Eyes on the Prize 12 A Nation of Law?, 1967 1968 2 [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeQUrUSFszo

mobileaarmy (2011). All Power to the People (1996) Part II [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XEKef1w0W0

Ott, M. (2020). The Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Retrieved 3 January 2021 from https://www.biography.com/news/martin-luther-king-jr-assassination

Pruitt, S. (2020). How the Black Power Movement Influenced the Civil Rights Movement. Retrieved 3 January from https://www.history.com/news/black-power-movement-civil-rights

Qqara (2008). Dr. King Said It: I'm Black and I'm Proud! [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Suw_CQ3zfTY