Black Lives Matter

“Black lives matter” is the battle cry of a new movement against racist violence by the police, it is remarkable in its simplicity. However, the fact that the message of this slogan needs to be defended strikes more than its ability to express so much in several words. The movement succeeded in things that are extremely rare in our time; it does not get under the control of the ruling establishment. Neither the police repression nor the party of Democrats could stop it. The movement shamed the politicians and the media, accustomed to using the same scenarios when discussing race and protest for no reason.

Movement Spread

In a few weeks, the movement broke the idea of a “post-racial” America and completely reoriented the nationwide discussion of racism against dark-skinned people. It continues the tradition of the struggle of blacks for equality in the United States, which affected not only those who were directly involved in it.

The wide scope of the movement is another indicator of its strength and the evidence that it touched the living. Protests under the slogan “Black Lives Matters” were held in all major cities of the country. Nevertheless, they also protested in cities with a small percentage of black population, for example, in Westford, Massachusetts, where on January 7 a white girl of 11 years organized a rally in solidarity. In fact, although black people have been the driving force of the movement since their insurrection in Ferguson, protests in large cities have been multiracial. Students from universities, secondary and even primary schools participated in them. Learners of colleges joined them on campuses of all types, and there was even one action organized exclusively by medical students. Protests under the slogan “White robes for black lives” involved students of more than 70 American medical schools.

The Essence of the Movement

Black Lives Matter is fighting for a slightly broader concept than just stopping the violence. Yes, everything began with Ferguson and the murder of Martin, but eventually, it grew into a movement for the equality of white and black people. Though there is no former racism and segregation, prejudices have remained in America today. The organization is fighting for the equality of all races before the law. Another thing is that this movement, with all its good intentions, is unlikely to change stereotypes. Some people consider this organization as a racist movement, however, its main goals are peaceful and raise important social issues.