Black Lives Matter Movement

By: Sarin Istanboulli, Features Editor, Pawprint

The biggest American movement is known as Black Lives Matter. The Black Lives Matter peaked on June 6, 2020, this was when half a million individuals reappeared across 550 places across the United States. The protests weren’t just one single day, it occurred for more than a month and still continues today. 

The cause of the recent movement was led by the death of a father named George Floyd who was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer named Derek Chauvin on June 1, 2020. As many have wondered what occurred that afternoon, was that Floyd’s heart had stopped while he was being restrained and the cause of death was a cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression. His death caught the attention of millions of people around the world. 

A poll that was taken by Civis Analytics, suggested that approximately 15 million to 26 million people in the United States, participated in the demonstrations over the death of George Floyd, as well as, others in recent weeks. This shows that the recent protests are the largest movement in the country’s history. 

As many people around the world are aware of the situation, they still question what Black Lives Matter actually means. The phrase is used to highlight racism, inequality, as well as, discrimination that is experienced by black people. However, certain people have criticized Black Lives Matter, and this is as there is another organization that was started in 2013 by three black women named Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi, which has the same name as this organization. Both organizations have the same main goal, which are, ending police brutality, and the fight for courts to treat black individuals equally. Nonetheless, Opal Tometi said, “people were trying to discredit BLM by putting out fake information ‘to distract, confuse and give people an excuse to not support this movement’ “. 

As the phrase “Black Lives Matter” is commonly known by the public, the movement itself is losing public support. According to a new Civiqs survey that involved 244,622 registered voters, support for BLM fell from two-thirds of voters in June 2020 to 50% in June 2021. Some of this change might be caused by the growing public awareness of the movement’s internal struggles, for example, as competing visions and competition over limited resources, as well as, some questions about whether some BLM leaders have used donations for personal benefit.