Students in COM425 were asked to contribute opinion articles on the subject of the #BlackLivesMatter campaign and the various responses it has inspired. This forum features student opinions and perspectives on the hashtag campaign, its meanings, and its efficacy in promoting or restricting understanding and justice. ![]() #BlackLivesDoMatter Contributed by Willie Franke The year 2013 was a year that changed a lot of people’s lives, but perhaps none more than those of Trayvon Martin and his family. In this year, Trayvon Martin was killed by a community watch member, George Zimmerman. Trayvon had been returning home from a convenience store with a can of soda and a bag of candy. These items had been misjudged by George Zimmerman as harmful weapons or perhaps stolen goods. The town Trayvon had been walking through had recently seen a number of burglaries, which is why Zimmerman had been volunteering on the neighborhood watch. There was then an altercation involving the two. Martin was shot and killed, and Zimmerman was injured but remained in good health and was not charged for any wrongdoings. As a result of this incident, in 2013, the activist movement #BlackLivesMatter started to raise awareness of unfair treatment of Black Americans by the police. This movement was founded by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi. This movement has reached global popularity raising questions of racism, profiling, brutality, and unfair legal treatment to minority races. This activism has been a huge success in raising awareness of unfair treatment, especially at the hands of our own police officers in our country. But we still have work to do as a society to end racism. This campaign for #BlackLivesMatter (BLM) is now rivaled by other hashtags branching off of it. For example, #BlueLivesMatter is a campaign trying to raise awareness that police officers’ lives matter because they are getting a lot of the blame and are also being wrongfully killed themselves. Also, the biggest hashtag to combat BLM is #AllLivesMatter. This movement is taking a jab at BLM because they are trying to say that all lives are important, not just Black lives. In my opinion, all lives do matter, but the original #BlackLivesMatter movement was not to claim that Black lives only matter. It is also not saying that Black lives matter more than other lives. The argument I hear from this activism is that Black lives DO matter, as opposed to they don’t matter. This activism is trying to raise awareness that these Black individuals being killed have families, friends, pets, etc., and they matter to all of those people just as much as a White person or a person of any other race would to their families and friends. I think by adding the word “do” to #BlackLivesMatter and making it #BlackLivesDoMatter would change the way people view the activism and will help people understand the real message: all lives matter. Each life matters the same as the next no matter what size, shape, age, race, or religion. We need to prove to everyone that all lives matter by supporting the movement #BlackLivesMatter because they need the most help right now. ![]() #BlackLivesMatter vs. #AllLivesMatter Contributed by J'Clef After the tragic death of Trayvon Martin, the Black Lives Matter organization was created. The movement was started in the year of 2013 as a hashtag that represented how African Americans were being treated and killed by police. The movement's main purpose is to bring awareness to police brutality and racial discrimination. This organization has become the face of the African American culture. They stand up for freedom of speech and equality. #BlackLivesMatter has become such an influence on the world that many media organizations have compared it to the Civil Rights Movement. Some see this organization as a way of saying that other lives don’t matter. It became such an argument that there was a hashtag that countered #BlackLivesMatter, called #AllLivesMatter. The All Lives Matter movement believes that everyone should be cared for and that black lives are not the only one, but the rapper Macklemore spoke back and gave a prime example of why Black Lives Matters should be used and supported. Within one of his songs, he stated, “If there's a subdivision and a house is on fire...the fire department wouldn't show up and put water on all the houses because all houses matter, they would show up and turn on their water on the house that was burning because that's the house that needs help the most.” What Macklemore is trying to say is that as a nation we understand that all lives matter, but right now, within the African American culture, there is a problem that needs recognition and needs to be solved. When it comes to #AllLivesMatter, there was an African American male by the name of Tim Scott who defended this movement and got a lot of heat for it. After receiving many messages supporting #AllLivesMatter, Scott responded by saying "If it causes offense that I say that 'all lives matter'—black lives, white lives, police officers, jurists, all of us, even politicians, all of our lives matter—if that is somehow offensive to someone, that's their issue, not mine." Scott believes he has the right to say that other lives matter and there’s no need for people to get offended because his statement is true. I definitely agree, but I can definitely counter that. If I were able to give him a scenario, I would say, “What if your mom had died and you were at her funeral and you cried out, 'My mom’s life mattered,' but another person got up and said 'Everyone's mom’s life mattered?'” I believe he would be upset and tell that person to sit down or leave because at that moment and time he is hurting and needs to be comforted as an individual. When I look at both organizations, I side with Black Lives Matter. I understand that all lives matter but, being an African American myself, I understand that my race is being beaten and killed every day by police and others, no matter if they are innocent or guilty of a crime. When I stand up for Black Lives Matter, I am not just standing up for black people, but for my future children, for life in general, and for equality as human beings. Now that I have chosen my path, I dare you to support #BlackLivesMatter, not because I’m black, but because are live matter just like yours. All Lives Matter…or Not? Contributed by Romain Johnson II I’ve been on a #BlackLivesMatter rant for a few months now, but it's something that hits home with me. The campaign itself has been a huge effort to get support across the country to rally together for this one cause, this one message that we are trying to send to the entire world, but things keep happening to complicate the message. Things like people saying “All Lives Matter” and “Blue Lives Matter,” like everyone doesn’t have an understanding of that already. Yeah, I agree, all peoples' lives including cops' lives matter to people. But the message that the black community is trying to give off is that a lot of people aren’t seeing value in black lives and we need to come together to make sure they do. I feel that people are trying to take us away from what we are coming together for, which is each other. If all lives did truly matter to those who feel the need to say it, then why can’t they understand the reason behind why the hashtag was ever created? When I look at this situation I feel that globalization is having a negative impact. What I mean by that is that it seems like the world is trying to generalize everyone's situation, making us all equal, even when the black community is not being treated equally. Media globalization is a huge key for this situation. Anyone across the globe now can participate in these anti-campaigns to belittle the minority group that is trying to overcome these situations. America seems to be a frontrunner for all social media, and it is evident that something is wrong. Many people feel the same way, too, which is kind of scary to anyone that is a minority in the country and world. ![]() Make America Great Again? Contributed by Ashton Holzman Racial tensions have come to a head in the media in recent months. Donald Trump’s rise to political success certainly can be connected to some racial issues. The amount of support that Donald Trump has acquired concerns me. The things that Donald Trump is publicly saying are frightening. His clear disdain for the Muslim religion and disrespect of immigrants makes me sick to my stomach. What might concern me more is the amount of people that are publicly supporting his racist, ignorant statements. The most common response I’ve heard in support of Trump is, “he tells it like it is.” If he is saying things that are morally gray, at best, is that something you really want to align yourself with? The “Make America Great Again” slogan that Trump rallies behind baffles me. At what point is he referring to America being great? When we first became an independent nation that was started on the basis of the right to practice any religion? Or possibly shortly after when we fought a war amongst ourselves over whether slavery should be legal. How about that period of time known as, “The Great Depression?” Even better yet, how about when women weren’t allowed to vote? Although, based on some of his comments it doesn’t seem too far off to think that Mr. Trump wouldn’t mind America going back to that. But most of all what do all of those “great” times in American history have in common? The oppression of African Americans. Sierra Thomas is a student at Virginia State. She attended a Trump rally intending to protest his message. It was the same rally that resulted in the now famous viral video of a black man being sucker-punched while being escorted out. During Trump’s speech, Thomas started yelling “Black Lives Matter!” Trump pointed in her direction and said, “Get out.” As she was being escorted out by police, she claims she heard countless words of hatred littered with the “N” word (Thomas). An article written by her can be found here. I would by no means argue that all people that support Donald Trump think this way, or use this word regularly—doing so would be stooping to his level—but the lack of Trump stepping up and condemning this behavior speaks volumes to his character. I have tried to keep my political views to myself, but the possibility that Donald Trump could be the President of the United States of America is something that is far too important to stay silent about. An America that elects Donald Trump is not an America I want to be associated with. I would no longer be “proud to be an American.” To be frank, I would be embarrassed. This man publicly stated, “If Hilary Clinton can’t satisfy her husband, what makes her think she can satisfy America?” (Weaver). I would be ashamed of my fellow voters. Not because Donald Trump is leading our nation, but because it shows how insanely far we as a nation have fallen from what I thought was a time of acceptance and equality during the 2008 election of Barack Obama. It seemed to me—a severely misinformed high schooler—that America was finally embracing the differences of all people. I guess I couldn’t have been more wrong. Works Cited Thomas, Sierra K. "I Yelled ‘Black Lives Matter!’ at a Trump Rally. This Is What Happened Next." Washington Post. The Washington Post, n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2016. Weaver, Al. "Trump: How Can Hillary ‘Satisfy America’ If She ‘Can’t Satisfy Her Husband?’." The Daily Caller. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2016. ![]() Effective Activism Contributed by Yoji Hayashi The term activism itself is strongly related to social movements because activists are usually taking actions for social changes in order to spread their claims. In particular, they are taking the actions for social, political, economic, or environmental changes. Although there are several reasons behinds the activism, an expression of activism can be very different based on sex, race, age, and social classes. Interestingly, some activists introduce their claims through music and movies. For example, Bob Marley was well-known Jamaican reggae singer. He was also well-known activist who worked to promote racial equality in the late 1960s in Jamaica. As an activist, his songs encouraged people in the world to rethink about race and cultures. Today, activists promote their claims via digital mass media, such as Facebook and Twitter. On the Facebook and Twitter, activists promote their claims with hashtags which is known as hashtag activism. Albright (2015) states “58% of Americans think that tweeting or posting information online is an effective form of advocacy,” and “people are really excited by the idea that they could use Facebook and Twitter to make a change in the world, but there are a lot of factors that go into the success of a campaign; including, of course, the definition of success.” When I check my Facebook page, my friends share news articles. Recently, many people shared an article about the American presidential campaign. In particular, Donald Trump is the specific target of activists because his political notions have created a stir in the world. The Japan Times (2016) reported, “Trump dismissed the notion his extreme statement on immigrants and Muslims had exacerbated tensions.” Because his political notion is too biased for particular racial groups, many activists were taking actions against his political allies in Chicago. I believe posting information is an effective way to promote activism, but when activists promote their claims, they should consider how activism is promoted by social media.
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