Even though it's christmas time right now and I probably should write about cookies and christmas traditions and hideous sweaters, I'm about to make a post about the #BlackLivesMatter movement. I already talked about some of the many protests going on this year, so this is practically a follow up post. Also, this is super relevant right now as they held a huge protest in the Mall Of America over the weekend. But I'll come back to that later.
Source: blacklivesmatter.com
What is #BlackLivesMatter?
#BlackLivesMatter is an American black civil rights movements. It was created in 2012 after the black teenager Trayvon Martin was shot by the neighbourhood watch coordinator of the gated community the high school student was temporary living in. George Zimmerman, Martin's murderer, was charged for second degree murder and manslaughter but walked free in the end. (more information about the case). The aquittal sparked off lots of rage and a huge controversy. Subsequently, #BlackLivesMatter was formed.
#BlackLivesMatter in 2014
This year the movement was especially active as there have been three highly controversial murders of black men in 2014. All of them led to mass protests all around the world. To clear things up a bit, I'll try to shortly introduce the cases to you. I'm sure you've heard all of their names before: Mike Brown, Tamir Rice and Eric Garner.
Mike Brown's case has to be the most famous and discussed this year. The 18-year-old was shot back in August by a police officer in Ferguson, MO. His indiction sparked off huge protests and riots not only in his hometown but also in the rest of the world (e.g. New York, Peking).
"Hands up! Don't shoot!"
Source: blacklivesmatter.com
Tamir Rice was the second reported victim of a white police officer this year. The 12-year-old got shot for playing with a BB gun in Cleveland, OH about a month ago in November. This case was especially disputed not only because of the victims young age but also because of a later publiziated emergency call. In said call it was stated that the gun was "probably fake".
Source: www.cleveland.com
Lastly, Eric Garner: The 43 year old father of six was strangeld by a policeman in New York back in July. The policemen wanted to arrest him for allegedly selling single cigarettes. One of the policemen used a chokehold on him, which is a violation of the New York City Police Department policy. He died after stating that he couldn't breath for eleven times.
"I can't breath!"
Source: www.nydailynews.com
None of the above perpetrators were indicted, which enraged the public even more. This does not mean that they were acquitted (set free), but that they were not even charged of a crime.
A few days ago, on December 20th, 2014 #BlackLivesMatter protestors filled the Mall Of America. About 10 minutes in the Mall Of America announced that the demonstration was not authorized and requested the protestors to leave. Most of them did so after about half an hour peacefully while others took to the shopping area, occupying several levels and staging a small die-in. The demonstrators shut down parts of the mall. While still being inside the mall, the protestors were chanting various slogans such as "While you're on shopping spree, black people cannot breath!" and "No justice, no peace".
Check out a video of it below:
If you want to find out more about the movement, there's a link to their website below:
http://blacklivesmatter.com
And to finish this off and maybe make you smile, here's Trevor Noah talking about the current situation in America:
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