Introduction
Black Lives Matter (BLP) is a decentralized social and political movement that’s mainly focus on racism, discrimination, and inequality experienced by Black people.
The movement began in July 2013, with the use of #BlackLivesMatter on social media after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of African-American teen Trayvon Martin 17 months earlier in February 2012. The movement became nationally recognized for street demonstration following the 2014 deaths of two African Americans, that of Michael Brown — resulting in protests and unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, a city near St. Louis – and Eric garner in New York. The movement returned to national headlines and gained further international attention during the global George Floyd protests in 2020 following his murder by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. And it’s estimated that 15 million to 26 million people participated in the 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in the United States, making it one of the largest moments comprises many views and a board array of demands but they centre on Criminal justice reform.
Largest movement in the U.S history:
The Black Live Matter movement has several goals. BLM activities seek to draw attention to many ways in which Black people are treated unfairly in society. It took the peaked-on 6th June 2020, when almost million people turned out in nearly 550 places across the United States.
They have Four recent Polls— including Data Science firm that works with businesses and Democratic Campaigns which was released by Civis Analytics which suggested that about 15 million to 26 million people have participated in demonstrations over the death of George Floyd in the United States.
Support and criticism of Black Lives Matter:
African Americans and other minorities tended to show the most support, while most of the people were against and shows the least interest. Critics of BLM made various claims that the systemic racism does not exist in United States and also claimed that BLM encourage violence against police.
In response they also formed several groups, including White Lives Matter, formed by White nationalist Blue Lives Matter, which supports law enforcement. The main goals are stopping police brutality and fighting for court to treat black people equally. It demands for equality also include mental health, and also focus on the LGBT community voting rights. According to “THE NEWYORKS TIME” they also explained it in their article that why this movement is different from the other general movements: “Across the United States, there have been more than 4,700 demonstrations, or an average of 104 per day, since the first protests began in Minneapolis on May 26, according to a Times analysis. Turnout has ranged from dozens to tens of thousands in about 2,500 small towns and large cities. They clearly mentioned in their article that how Black Lives Matters become the largest movement in the U.S. history.
