Black Lives Matter (BLM) is an international activist movement, originating in the African-American community, that campaigns against violence and systemic racism toward black people.
BLM regularly organizes protests around the deaths of black people in killings by law enforcement officers, and broader issues of racial profiling, police brutality, and racial inequality in the United States criminal justice system.
In 2013, the movement began with the use of the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter on social media, after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of African-American teen Trayvon Martin.
Black Lives Matter became nationally recognized for its street demonstrations following the 2014 deaths of two African Americans: Michael Brown, resulting in protests and unrest in Ferguson, and Eric Garner in New York City.
The originators of the hashtag and call to action, Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi, expanded their project into a national network of over 30 local chapters during 2014–16.
The overall Black Lives Matter movement, however, is a decentralized network and has no formal hierarchy.
Mi Puerto Rico está de luto por las muertes injustificadas, por la desigualdad y la injusticia y por el atropello del gobierno, permanecemos con el puño en alto (como símbolo de la solidaridad y unidad) conectando nuestros corazones con la comunidad negra en Estados Unidos y nuestros hermanos y hermanas de Black Lives Matter”.
Con esto en mente cierro el lente de mi cámara que capturó para siempre la bandera de Puerto Rico pintada de blanco y negro.
My Puerto Rico is in mourning because of unjustified deaths, inequality, injustices, overstepping and abuse by the government. We stand with our fist held high, as symbol of unity and solidarity.
We connect our hearts to the Black community in the United States. We also connected our hearts with our brothers and sisters from “Black Lives Matter“.
With this though in my mind, I close my camera lens which caught, forever, this image of the Puerto Rican flag painted in black and white.
She had to call the officer who just murdered her boyfriend “Sir“.
She had to comply with every order made by every officer who showed up to the scene of her loved ones death with “Yes Sir“.
Every officer who barked orders, who put her in cuffs rather than console her. Who put her and her beautiful black child in the rear of a squad car, to mourn Philando Castile as he spent his last moments alone, in agony, dying in his car.
She had to do that because she understood innately. As all people of color who have grown up in America, that your chances of survival increase if you show deference to those who oppress you.
She called that murderer “Sir“. Because her very existence relied on compliance with her oppression above all else.
The same compliance killed Philando Castile. He gave every reason he could for his continued existence. But officers in America do not need a single one to be your judge, jury and executioner.
That’s the difference between state sanctioned violence and violence between civilians for those of you that still seek to deflect from the issue.
For those that seek to justify state sanctioned violence on black bodies. I pity the parts of your brokenness that keep you from loving your brothers and sisters as you should. That enable the systematic oppression that kills men, women and children.
Last night I was readying myself for sleep when I saw the Philando Castile video. Live. As it was occurring. And I wept. I was haunted by that video all night for so many reasons. But that “Sir” cut in so many ways that I struggle to give voice to them all.
My heart is unbelievably heavy as I go through today. For so many people who feel the same way know that I love you. That I’d rather reflect on that love of you then the anger at those who oppress us.
I love your resolve in the face of oppression.
I love your strength as you push through your weariness.
I love your blackness and brownness.
Please take care of yourselves. Sometimes that act of self love is the most revolutionary thing you can do.
Beyoncé Made a Major Political Statement in her Super Bowl Halftime Performance
Jonathan Zhou, Epoch Times
~February 8, 2016~
Beyonce’s Super Bowl halftime performance of her new single, “Formation,” has received a large amount of post-game attention, stemming not from a reaction to its artistry, but the political message it apparently contained.
Her back-ups dancers were dressed in black leather and berets that bore resemblance to the uniforms of the Black Panthers, a black nationalist paramilitary group, some noted. In one point in the performance, Beyoncé and her dancers shook their fists in the air in unison, a possible reference to the 1968 Olympics black power salute.
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The Formation hit-maker, who surprised everyone by dropping her new single and video at the weekend, had backing dancers dressed as members of armed rights group the Black Panthers.
While whipping their hair and stomping in incredible heels, they formed an ‘X’ on the field – a nod to black rights campaigner Malcolm X.
At one point in the video, a graffiti with the message “stop shooting us” appears on a side of a building, and Beyoncé sits atop a police car that’s submerged under the flood.
“Beyoncé’s dancers paying homage to the Black Panthers at the Superbowl wins Black History Month. #SB50.”
Her new song is thought to be a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement and Bey’s mum Tina Knowles also shared pics of her with the dancers giving the black power salute.
~Beyonce’s Halftime Performance Was a Major Political Statement~
~Published on Feb 9, 2016~
Beyonce’s halftime performance was so much more than just a good show. It was a powerful homage to black history, activism, and the current climate of racial instability – in front of an audience of over 100 million people.
Black Lives Matter is a primarily American movement and hashtag (#BlackLivesMatter) that started after the July 2013 acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. It received fresh impetus from the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown.
The movement has received worldwide media attention due to its massive scope and ongoing existence.
Protesters and protest organizers have met with President Barack Obama and other prominent leaders to demand an end to what they view as police brutality, mass incarceration of African-Americans, and militarization of many U.S. police departments.
It was co-founded by three black activists: Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi.
The shooting of Walter Scott by a white policeman was recorded by bystander Feidin Santana, who contacted a local activist involved with Black Lives Matter; they contacted Scott’s family to receive the video. This led to the police officer’s arrest.
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — The father of a man fatally shot by police as he held an air rifle inside an Ohio Wal-Mart said Thursday that he believes his son was murdered, despite a special grand jury declining to criminally charge the officers.
John Crawford Jr., whose son was shot on Aug. 5, 2014, at a Wal-Mart in the Dayton suburb of Beavercreek, said at a news conference that he was appalled the officers weren’t indicted. He said he welcomed an announced U.S. Justice Department probe to determine if his 22-year-old son’s civil rights were violated.
“The officer went in and virtually shot him on sight,” Crawford Jr. said. “He did not have a chance.”
John Crawford III was black, and the officers are white.
Attorneys for Crawford’s family said they hope a federal grand jury will consider if or how race was a factor in the shooting.
It Is What It Is 