Black Lives Matter

Some people want things to be fair.

They want Black people to be treated well. This movement started on the internet. Friends used a special tag to talk.

Many people joined the talk. They held big walks in the streets. They wanted to change laws. This helped many people learn. People all over the world saw it. It is a way to ask for justice.

Black Lives Matter is a big social movement. It aims to stop racism and unfair treatment. It focuses on racial inequality for Black people in the United States.

The movement began in 2013. Three friends named Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Ayọ Tometi used a hashtag on social media. They did this after a teen named Trayvon Martin was killed. The movement grew in 2014. People held large protests in Ferguson, Missouri. This happened after Michael Brown died.

In 2020, the movement gained global attention. This followed the death of George Floyd. Many people joined protests in the United States. Some estimates say 15 to 26 million people took part. Most of these protests were peaceful.

Black Lives Matter is decentralized. This means it has no single leader or main office. Instead, many local groups work on their own. They follow shared goals to help their own towns. They ask for changes to laws and police rules. They want to make things fairer for everyone.

Black Lives Matter is a large social movement. It focuses on racial inequality in the United States. The movement aims to stop racism and discrimination against Black people. It also wants to promote anti-racism everywhere. Many people care about police brutality and violence. These are the main concerns of the movement.

This movement works in a special way. It is decentralized, which means it has no single leader. There is no main office or formal hierarchy to run it. Instead, it is a grassroots network of many local groups. There are about 40 chapters in the United States and Canada. These local groups are autonomous, so they make their own decisions. They still follow shared principles to help their communities.

The movement began in 2013. Three activists named Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Ayọ Tometi started it. They used the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter on social media. They did this after the death of a teen named Trayvon Martin. The movement became famous in 2014 after Michael Brown died in Ferguson, Missouri. It grew even more after the death of Eric Garner in New York City.

In 2020, the movement gained huge international attention. This happened after the murder of George Floyd by a police officer. An estimated 15 to 26 million people joined protests in the United States. This made it one of the largest protest movements in history. Most of these demonstrations were peaceful. However, some protests in major cities turned into riots and looting.

Many groups work together under the Movement for Black Lives. This coalition includes more than 50 different groups. They want to change laws to help Black communities. They ask for better funding for schools and community resources. Some groups also work on issues like feminism and immigration. They want to create a more fair world for everyone.

Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement. It aims to highlight racism and racial inequality experienced by Black people in the United States. The movement also works to promote anti-racism. Its primary concerns include police brutality and racially motivated violence.

Activists within the movement advocate for policy changes. These changes often focus on Black liberation and criminal justice reform. Because it is a social movement, it can take many forms. It can be a social media hashtag, a slogan, or a political action committee.

The movement uses a decentralized structure. This means it has no formal hierarchy or single central leader. Instead, it is a grassroots network of many local groups. There are about 40 chapters located in the United States and Canada. These chapters are autonomous, meaning they operate on their own. They are asked to commit to a shared list of guiding principles. However, they do not follow a central command. This structure differs from older movements, such as the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. This lack of a central hierarchy can sometimes cause confusion in the media. Actions by one individual or chapter are sometimes misattributed to the entire movement.

The origins of the movement date back to 2013. Activists Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Ayọ Tometi created the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter. They did this following the acquittal of George Zimmerman. Zimmerman was involved in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin, an African-American teenager. The movement gained national recognition through street demonstrations in 2014. This happened after the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in New York City. Following these events, participants demonstrated against many other deaths involving police actions.

In 2020, the movement gained massive international attention. This occurred following the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer named Derek Chauvin. An estimated 15 to 26 million people participated in BLM protests in the United States. This makes it one of the largest protest movements in the country's history. The vast majority of these demonstrations were peaceful. However, protests from late May to early June 2020 escalated into riots and looting in most major cities.

Several large coalitions work under the banner of Black Lives Matter. One major group is the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL). This is a coalition of more than 50 different groups. Members include the Black Lives Matter Network and the National Conference of Black Lawyers. In 2015, a group called Campaign Zero also emerged. Led by activists like DeRay Mckesson, it aimed to promote specific policy reforms. They released a ten-point plan to end police brutality. This plan included increasing community oversight of police departments.

The Movement for Black Lives has proposed significant legislative changes. Following George Floyd's death, they released the BREATHE Act. This policy calls for shifting funds from policing to community resources. They also advocate for decarceration and reparations for harms related to slavery. Other goals include addressing redlining in housing and education policy. They also call for an end to mass surveillance. The movement seeks community control over the police. This would allow residents to participate in hiring and firing officers.

Financial support for these causes has been very large. Between May 2020 and December 2020, donations to BLM-related causes reached $10.6 billion. The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation raised $90 million in 2020 alone. Many of these were individual donations made online. The average donation was $30.76. Other organizations, like the Ford Foundation, have provided significant funding to the Movement for Black Lives. In 2016, the Ford Foundation and others reported a $100 million investment plan.

Technology has played a huge role in the movement's growth. Activists originally used hashtag activism to reach people quickly on social media. The hashtag #BlackLivesMatter has been used millions of times on Twitter. By June 2020, it had been tweeted roughly 47.8 million times. The ability for bystanders to record videos of police violence has also driven activism. This has helped the movement reach a global audience. The movement also uses direct action tactics. These include rallies, marches, and "die-ins" to draw attention to their cause.