Black Lives Matter Movement Essay (#BlackLivesMatter Example)

Why black lives matter

The murder of young African American teen Trayvon Martin by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in early 2012 sparked massive national outcry and a social revolution in the form of the Black Lives Matter equality movement, being embraced widely by not only the PoC (People of Color) community, though also many white individuals joining in solidarity with the still oppressed minority groups often profiled and looked down upon by society as a whole. The actions of this movement are not only often highly radical, though at times frowned upon and not socially acceptable, such as rogue formerly peaceful protesters vandalizing neighborhoods and assaulting on duty officers, driven by the notion that all police officers are evil in some way shape or form due to the acts of a minority few. Though the Black Lives Matter movement is seen as highly radical, it is still a beautiful and powerful example of the American people’s freedom of speech, as well as a social revolution that very bluntly states what has been spoken only in hushed voices for decades: black lives do matter, people of color matter, and we are all equal. While all of the individuals involving themselves in the movement are granted freedoms of speech, expression and protest, lashing out in violence and destruction is in no way a tolerable nor acceptable way to get a message across, despite any frustrations felt by those involved. The language used by those presenting themselves as involved in the Black Lives Matter movement, or by those whom are openly representatives of the movement, is powerful and determined, and with that it is also easily misconstrued and misunderstood by many, as the language used for such a touchy and sensitive topic is just as sensitive and easy to misinterpret.

Certain freedoms such as the freedom of speech and protest should never be violated nor limited, even in cases of aggressive, violent outlash, yet logically behavior of this manner and magnitude can not in any way be considered tolerable and allowable, especially so for a massive social movement such as Black Lives Matter. The acts of the minority few within the movement or presenting themselves as being representatives of the movement whom are promoting violence against officers (or violence against anyone for that matter) are disgraceful and a terrifying reminder of the power that comes with our right to freedom of speech in the United States.

With the freedom of speech comes certain responsibilities for each and every individual, among those being that we all must be aware of the power of our words and actions, and how they may play into effect later. While the Black Lives Matter movement is inspiring and I support it wholeheartedly, it is difficult to look at the actions of representatives and members of the group without some thoughts of criticism, and a growth of contemptment for the group and its choice of such radical, attention grabbing self naming. Smashing the windows of police vehicles and assaulting officers is obviously not the motive of the group, and it is by no means a “Hate Group” such as the KKK, despite how many individuals uninformed on the intended purpose for formation of the group. The term “Black Lives Matter” is easily misunderstood and misinterpreted, and with many individuals proclaiming themselves to be representatives of the group violently lashing out and speaking so loudly on certain uncouth topics, it is very easy now to misunderstand. The term is coined simply as a way finally to state that we are all equal, and police killings of people of color, majorly African Americans, can not be tolerated in the slightest. With such violent ties to the group, the name begins to be associated more and more with such negativity as hate groups as the KKK, and it becomes more evident that a different name may have provided a different outcome for the group’s image.

Being coined the “Black Lives Matter” movement, and promoting the use of the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag across many social media platforms makes the movement highly controversial and sensitive, as it is easy to misunderstand the message and the meaning of these words. Many fight back against this movement, promoting the use of hashtags on twitter and blog sites such as #AllLivesMatter, and #BlueLivesMatter, in reference to the police officers whom have been targeted and/or otherwise assaulted by rogue protesters or those whom claim to be part of the movement or representatives of it. It is evident that though the power of the movement is largely derived from its powerful, attention grabbing name and presence, it is easy to understand that the controversy surrounding the movement and its magnitude is almost directly derived from that attention grabbing name. If this essay is found plagiarized anywhere, please know it is because i used more than one essay grading/proofreading site that i neglected to do full research on due to time constraints and a super really bad panic attack im having while re-reading and trying to correct this so that it stays on topic.

Our freedoms of speech and expression are extremely powerful, and we are intensely privileged to have them. It is these freedoms that allow for huge social movements such as the Black Lives Matter movement to grow and change the face of our society, and change our views for better or for worse, and it is the name itself of this movement that gives it the power it needed to become something so insanely well known. Though the movement itself is controversial, and the naming of it does not assist in downplaying that, it is still a massive powerful movement and without such a powerful name brought about by the creativity grown from our freedom of speech that it would even be such a massive organization. The individuals associating themselves with the group are by all means granted full freedom of speech, though it must be understood that with such a powerful freedom comes heavy consequences, when your actions and words contradict one another and cause outsiders to feel threatened or confused with the motives of the movement.

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