The Black Lives Matter Movement Analysis

The international activist movement known as the Black Lives Matter movement targets the use of systemic racism internationally in response to the more recent use of violence against black communities, especially in the United States. There are members of the movement from all over the United States representing the thirteen distinct principles and values of the movement: diversity, globalism, black women, black villages, loving engagement, restorative justice, collective value, empathy, queer affirming, unapologetically black, transgender affirming, black families, and intergenerationally. While these values reflect the actions of the group today, there have been many continuities and discontinuities with black activism groups in the past,
In From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor argues that “racism, capitalism, and class rule have always been tangled together in such a way that is it impossible to imagine one without the other” (page 216), while in David Hirschmann’s The Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa, he very similarly states “the struggle - to be led by the black working class - was now against racialism and capitalism... inextricably intertwined” (page 13). The platform of the Movement for Black Lives states that, “We stand in solidarity with our international family against the ravages of global capitalism and anti-Black racism, human-made climate change, war, and exploitation.” Throughout the each movement, capitalism has been identified as a crucial issue to stand up against because of its perpetuation of the systemic racism integrated in everyday life. The movement’s recognize that in order to end racism, capitalism must be completely dissolved. Some movements argue that as an alternative to capitalism, socialism would have had to be put in place. For example, Biko argued that “post-apartheid South Africa would probably have to be socialist in order to bring about a better distribution of benefits.” Taylor agrees in From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation by arguing that “capitalism is contingent on the absence
For example, on page 28, Biko says, “The logic behind white domination is to prepare the black man for the subservient role in this country.” The absence of women from the rhetoric of the movement proves that the Black Lives Matter movement is different in that it is more inclusive and aware of the struggles of people of color across all spectrums. On the Movement for Black Lives website, activists discuss that although the movement is “a collective that centers and is rooted in Black communities, [the movement] recognizes we have a shared struggle with all oppressed people; collective liberation will be a product of all of our work.” The inclusivity of the movement has increased the total relative involvement, especially considering that in the Black Consciousness Movement, groups of Africans, Coloureds, and Indians felt contempt towards each other and as a result, were unable to achieve black solidarity. The Black Lives Matter movement is successfully able to achieve black solidarity through its