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Black Lives Matter: A primer on what it is and what it stands for
Speaking from Madrid, President Obama said the Black Lives Matter movement shouldn't be judged by the actions of a few non-peaceful protestors. USA TODAY NETWORK
After a week of conflict in the United States that included the police-involved shooting deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, and the subsequent sniper attack that left five Dallas police officers dead, the Black Lives Matter movement once again has been at the center of controversy.
But lost in the discussion is a sense of what Black Lives Matter is and what it stands for.
What is Black Lives Matter?
Black Lives Matter was founded by Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi as both a hashtag and a political project after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin. Distraught at the verdict, Oakland, Calif., community activist Garza wrote an impassioned Facebook plea ending with the words "black lives matter." Cullors, a community organizer from Los Angeles, shared the Facebook post and put a hashtag in front of those three words. The ideals expressed — the economic, political and social empowerment of African-Americans — resonated nationwide.
Since 2013, Black Lives Matter has moved from social media platforms to the streets, morphing into an organization and a movement that gained national recognition during demonstrations after the 2014 police-involved killings of Michael Brown and Eric Garner.
How does Black Lives Matter work?
What sets Black Lives Matter apart from other social justice groups, however, is its decentralized approach and reliance almost solely on local, rather than national, leadership. Cullors said organizing is often spontaneous and not directed by one person or group of people.
“We don’t get (people) onto the streets, they get themselves onto the street,” she said.
Black Lives Matter is made up of a network of local chapters who operate mostly independently. Chelsea Fuller of the Advancement Project, a nonprofit that works with grassroots justice and race movements, said that local organizing is a powerful way to address poverty, access to housing and jobs, community policing and other issues that intersect with systemic racism.
“We can’t affect national narrative, we can’t affect national legislation that comes down and affects local people if local people don’t push back and take a stand about what's happening in local communities,” Fuller said.
Black Lives Matter founder Patrisse Cullors shares her thoughts about race in America. USA TODAY
What does Black Lives Matter stand for?
The most important directive of Black Lives Matter, Cullors said, is to deal with anti-black racism, to “push for black people’s right to live with dignity and respect” and be included in the American democracy that they helped create.
“This is about the quality of life for black people, for poor people in this country,” said Umi Selah, co-director of Dream Defenders in Miami. Though not officially affiliated, Dream Defenders and similar social justice groups often align themselves with Black Lives Matter.
“The conception that all we’re mad about is police and policing is a strong misconception,” Selah said. In fact, Black Lives Matter released a statement last week condemning the shooting in Dallas as counter to what the movement is trying to accomplish.
Ralikh Hayes of Baltimore BLOC echoed Selah, saying that Black Lives Matter is not inherently anti-police or anti-white, nor does the phrase Black Lives Matter means other lives aren't important.
“We are against a system that views people as tools,” Hayes said.
Cullors also hears claims that Black Lives Matter lacks direction or strategy. But Cullors said the strategy is clear -- working to ensure that black people live with the full dignity of their human rights.
“We are not leaderless, we’re leader-full,” she said. "We're trying to change the world... developing a new vision for what this generation of black leaders can look like."