The organization, Black Lives Matter, was founded on July 13, 2013, the day George Zimmerman was acquitted of the murder of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida, in 2013. There had been protests after other Black killings; it seemed as though the pattern would repeat itself — murder, possibly an investigation, and never any justice. But the founders of Black Lives Matter; Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi did not intend for their organization to die out until the next needless death. They began planning their goal to affect change and not just be seen and heard.
Black Lives Matter gained national prominence in 2014 after the choking death of Eric Garner in New York at the hands of the police on July 17 and the shooting of Michael Brown by police in Ferguson, Missouri, just three weeks later. There was outrage in the Black community, and Black Lives Matter led protests across the nation chanting the battle cry, “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot!” Following the pattern, calm was eventually restored, although justice was nowhere to be found. It ultimately took five years for the officer that killed Eric Garner with an illegal chokehold to be fired; he never faced any charges. The policeman that shot Michael Brown was found to have acted in self-defense. No accountability and no justice.
Though those events had passed, new mysterious deaths always took their place. In 2015, Sandra Bland died in police custody in Waller County, Texas. Freddie Gray died a week after being injured in the back of a Baltimore, Maryland police van. Massive protests were organized, some by Black Lives Matter, but it is hard to argue any change occurred. Sandra Bland’s death was ruled a suicide, and all the officers involved in Freddie Gray’s death were cleared. Black Lives Matter was now a presence, but had they made a difference?
Things changed after the murder in Minneapolis, Minnesota, of George Floyd. A disturbing, nine-minute video of the death of George Floyd was released on May 26, 2020, and all the usual reasons for ignoring it did not apply. The excuse that we didn’t know what happened before the video did not apply, we eventually say everything that happened earlier and know that George Floyd did nothing to deserve death, yet they killed him all the same.
There was a video of Eric Garner being choked and audio of him saying, “I can’t breathe!” It is hard to imagine any police officer in the country would be unfamiliar with that video and those words. Yet the officer that knelt with his knee on George Floyd’s throat for nine-minutes was oblivious. Another officer tried to find Floyd’s pulse, and when he couldn’t, the first officer continued to kneel on George Floyd’s neck for almost another three minutes. During those nine minutes, George Floyd begged for his life; he said, “I can’t breathe,” multiple times. He cried out to his mother and said he was dying, before becoming non-responsive and ultimately being pronounced dead.
It was after the release of the George Floyd video that Black Lives Matter became more than a well-meaning organization; it became a movement. Nationwide protests were chanting, “Black Lives Matter,” though the organization itself has just thirteen chapters. Black Lives Matter is highly decentralized and not dependent on the presence and visibility of the founders. What happened in the streets of cities across the nation was a revolution of the people who had finally had enough. Many of the protests, including those in Minneapolis, had more white protesters than Black. Outside groups ranging from ANTIFA on the left to the Boogaloo Boys on the right blended in the crowds with their own agendas, sometimes including violence. In previous times that might have usurped the movement, but the demand to recognize the value of Black lives was too strong. Something began to happen that had not after the deaths of those who had gone before, change.
Typically, after an officer-involved shooting or suspicious death. The officers are put on administrative leave, which amounts to paid vacation. The officers in Floyd’s death were initially placed on leave, but hours after the videos were released, the four officers were fired. Three days later, the primary officer was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Four days after that, his charge was upgraded to second-degree murder; the other three were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder.
Change was not limited to Minneapolis, several police departments across the nation began reviewing their practices like the use of chokeholds like the one that killed Eric Garner or the issuing of no-knock warrants like that involved in the police shooting of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky.
Attempts have been made since their inception to tear down Black Lives Matter. Their founders have been labeled as Marxists, which is an economic system advocating power to the people. They have been tied to chants by non-affiliated groups, yet they have persevered. Attacks have been made against the organization’s founders, and their goals have been misrepresented. Yet their popularity is continuing to rise with 67% of Americans saying they strongly approve or approve of Black Lives Matter, including 60% of white people.
Black Lives Matter is already international in scope with chapters in Canada. They are receiving significant corporate support from those that suddenly want to be on the right side of history and murals saying, “Black Lives Matter” now appears on streets in front of the White House, in Brooklyn and Los Angeles, and Manhattan in front of Trump Tower. It is highly unlikely that we’ve seen the end of murders of Black people at the hands of police and others who don’t respect their lives. What is more likely, because of Black Lives Matter and the momentum they have started, which is continually gathering supporters, is that there will be justice.
Writer, poet, wannabe philosopher. I write about politics, history, race and social justice. Support me at https://ko-fi.com/williamfspivey0680
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Previously Published on Medium
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