LibGuides: Anti-Racism: a Learning Guide: Black Lives Matter

What is Black Lives Matter?

Black Lives Matter is a global, chapter-based, member-led movement that began as a hashtag, a response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin's murderer, George Zimmerman. #BlackLivesMatter was the social media rallying cry of three black radical organizers, Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi. According to blacklivesmatter.com, “Black Lives Matter is an ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise. It is an affirmation of Black folks’ humanity, our contributions to society, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression.” In 2014, following the death of Mike Brown in Ferguson, MO, Black Lives Matter galvanized and organized a collective response, called the Black Life Matters Ride. More than 600 people from all over the country gathered to make two commitments: to provide support to the teams in and around St. Louis, and to return to their respective homes to spearhead local activism. Since then, Black Lives Matter has used its protest strategies to disrupt local politics as well as the campaign events of presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump; activists learned to create opportunities to swap strategies, to avoid government surveillance, and to encrypt their smartphone communications. Time Magazine salutes Black Lives Matter's transformation from “an organic uprising” to “organized blocs with specific demands” that attend to issues of police brutality and injustice. Black Lives Matter has about 30 official chapters and by upholding their principles, new chapters can acquire a charter; the network is growing. In 2015, Black Lives Matter was on the short list for Time ‘s Person of the Year. The movement and its local chapters have garnered a wide range of responses to their collective call, from #alllivesmatter to the tragic events at Charlottesville, VA. Despite the counter-protests, Black Lives Matter continues to effect change and to introduce a vocabulary for confronting American society's various social ills.

Source: Encyclopedia of African-American Writing

Black Lives Matter Website

E-books from Pierce Databases

Black Lives Matter by Sue Bradford Edwards
Black Lives Matter covers the shootings that touched off passionate protests, the work of activists to bring about a more just legal system, and the tensions in US society that these events have brought to light. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Essential Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.
From Black Power to Black Studies: How a Radical Social Movement Became an Academic Discipline by Fabio Rojas
In From Black Power to Black Studies, Fabio Rojas explores how this radical social movement evolved into a recognized academic discipline. Rojas traces the evolution of Black Studies over more than three decades, beginning with its origins in black nationalist politics. Shedding light on the black power movement, Black Studies programs, and American higher education, this historical analysis reveals how radical politics are assimilated into the university system.
Making All Black Lives Matter: Reimagining Freedom in the Twenty-First Century by Barbara Ransby
In Making All Black Lives Matter, award-winning historian and longtime activist Barbara Ransby outlines the scope and genealogy of this movement, documenting its roots in Black feminist politics and situating it squarely in a Black radical tradition, one that is anti-capitalist, internationalist, and focused on some of the most marginalized members of the Black community. From the perspective of a participant-observer, Ransby maps the movement, profiles many of its lesser-known leaders, measures its impact, outlines its challenges, and looks toward its future.
From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
In this stirring and insightful analysis, activist and scholar Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor surveys the historical and contemporary ravages of racism and persistence of structural inequality such as mass incarceration and Black unemployment. In this context, she argues that this new struggle against police violence holds the potential to reignite a broader push for Black liberation.
The Making of Black Lives Matter: A Brief History of an Idea by Christopher J. Lebron
The Making of Black Lives Matter presents a condensed and accessible intellectual history that traces the genesis of the ideas that have built into the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Drawing on the work of revolutionary black public intellectuals, including Frederick Douglass, Ida B. Wells, Langston Hughes, Zora Neal Hurston, Anna Julia Cooper, Audre Lorde, James Baldwin, and Martin Luther King Jr., Lebron clarifies what it means to assert that "Black Lives Matter" when faced with contemporary instances of anti-black law enforcement. He also illuminates the crucial difference between the problem signaled by the social media hashtag and how we think that we ought to address the problem.
Black Feminist Politics from Kennedy to Trump by Duchess Harris
From "black girl magic" to Black Lives Matter, the second decade of the 21st century is defined by black feminist politics. Black Feminist Politics from Kennedy to Trump is a definitive investigation of the mainstreaming of black feminist politics in the 21st century. Following on the success of Black Feminist Politics from Kennedy to Clinton and Black Feminist Politics from Kennedy to Obama, this volume incorporates the black women leaders of Black Lives Matter; contemporary black feminist political stars like Rep. Maxine Waters and Senator Kamala Harris; and the transformative influence of black feminist political strategy and principles in mainstream U.S. politics, especially in the 2016 U.S. election.
The End of Policing by Alex S. Vitale
This book attempts to spark public discussion by revealing the tainted origins of modern policing as a tool of social control. It shows how the expansion of police authority is inconsistent with community empowerment, social justice--even public safety. Drawing on groundbreaking research from across the world, and covering virtually every area in the increasingly broad range of police work, Alex Vitale demonstrates how law enforcement has come to exacerbate the very problems it is supposed to solve. In contrast, there are places where the robust implementation of policing alternatives--such as legalization, restorative justice, and harm reduction--has led to reductions in crime, spending, and injustice. The best solution to bad policing may be an end to policing.

An interview with the founders of Black Lives Matter | Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, Opal Tometi

Born out of a social media post, the Black Lives Matter movement has sparked discussion about race and inequality across the world. In this spirited conversation with Mia Birdsong, the movement's three founders share what they've learned about leadership and what provides them with hope and inspiration in the face of painful realities. Their advice on how to participate in ensuring freedom for everybody: join something, start something and "sharpen each other, so that we all can rise."

Reference Sources

Black Lives Matter 2013-
From Encyclopedia of African-American Writing
A Herstory of the #BlackLivesMatter Movement
Written by founder Alicia Garza for Encyclopedia of African-American Writing

BLM Articles

The Black Lives Matter movement, crime and police brutality: Comparative study of New York Post and New York Daily News
Article written by Brian Chama for European Journal of American Culture, September 2019. FROM ABSTRACT - It is a comparative study that analyses the reportage by the tabloids New York Post and the New York Daily News. It focuses on the shooting of Laquan McDonald, a 17-year-old African American killed by a police officer Jason Van Dyke. It engages literature mainly from scholars on African American studies. It also interviews African Americans on their perception.
Cop Fragility and Blue Lives Matter
By Frank Rudy Cooper for the University of Illinois Law Review, 2020. This Article illuminates a heretofore unrecognized source of police resistance to criticism by utilizing diversity trainer and New York Times best-selling author Robin DiAngelo's recent theory of white fragility. "White fragility" captures many whites' reluctance to discuss ongoing racism, or even that whiteness creates a distinct set of experiences and perspectives. White fragility is based on two myths: the ideas that one could be an unraced and purely neutral individual--false objectivity--and that only evil people perpetuate racial subordination--bad intent theory. Cop fragility is an analogous oversensitivity to criticism that blocks necessary conversations about race and policing.

Anti-Racism: a Learning Guide

Guiding Principles of #BLM

When They Call You A Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir.

What is Black Lives Matter?

E-books from Pierce Databases

An interview with the founders of Black Lives Matter | Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, Opal Tometi

Reference Sources

BLM Articles