In this final blog in the media blog series I wanted to talk about one of the most prominent social movements today, the #BlackLivesMatter movement. We are all aware of the protests around these three words but do we know where it originated or what is stands for? In these next few paragraphs I hope to answer a few of those questions and create insight for those that want to learn more.
In the summer of 2013, George Zimmerman was acquitted for the murder of 17-year old Trayvon Martin. As a young Black woman at the time, watching the case and seeing that acquittal hurt my heart… a lot. I remember the place I was where I heard the news. I remember the protests that ensued weeks after the case decision. This was the moment that three wonderful, brave, Black woman created the social movement #BlackLivesMatter. Seeing Trayvon Martin not get the justice he deserved prompted Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi to create a movement that showed America that Black people deserve justice. To show that the 17 year old kid walking down the street eating skittles should be alive today.
Throughout the last 7 years, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) campaign has come in and out of what I call “popular circulation.” Currently it is in the most popular phase I think it has ever been in. Thursday night, while I was watching the Yankees vs. Nationals game, I noticed the Nationals had “BLM” ON THEIR FIELD. My mom and I were shocked. A couple weeks ago Amazon had a message of solidarity on their home page. Almost every college across the country has sent a message of solidarity to their students. There are different opinions about the motivations and effectiveness of actions and messages like these. However, what exactly is BLM now? I think that the initial message of BLM is still very prevalent but it has expanded. Initially it was meant to bring attention to the increased violence Americans have toward Black people, and this message still stands but it now expands to almost every aspect of systematic racism that affects Black Lives. It is becoming more and more apparent that there are systems across many fields that disproportionately affect Black people, such as the healthcare gap that exists and the environmental racism that affects thousands across the nation.
I am thankful for the increase in popularity of the Black Lives Matter movement. Personally it has made me look at some of my friends differently and put into perspective the kind of power that big corporations and social influencers have on society. However, there are some downsides. A lot of people are just seeing this movement as a trend that they can hop on and hop off of, and this is just not okay. Just like everything I have previously talked about in this blog series, lives are being greatly affected by these events and this goes beyond just posting an educational post on your Twitter page. I don’t like the fact that it is very likely that this time next year or even a few months from now the BLM on the baseball fields and the posts by Kylie Jenner are going to be forgotten or completely discarded. I mean, it kind of already happened already in 2013 when the original BLM mantra became popular. Just like every other topic I have talked about, no matter if the topic stays popular in media or not, there are still problems that are going to persist and still be relevant. Black Lives Matter, the Flint Water Crisis, the effect of Hurricane Maria on Puerto Rico and the Australian Fires are still prevalent to this day! They show us that even when social and environmental issues are not in the media or are not in your face on Facebook or Instagram, the problems are still happening and still deserve attention.
Written by Dominique Agnew, Senior at Cornell University and Climate Justice Now Intern