General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums#BlackLivesMatter: the birth of a new civil rights movement
Despite the election of Americas first black president in 2008, those profound structural fissures remain. But although the challenges might be similar, the new civil rights movement is tackling them in new ways compared to the 20th-century movement. The most notable difference is that, in 2015, there are no leaders in the conventional sense: no Martin Luther King or Malcolm X, no single charismatic voice that claims to speak for the many. Several people I interview insist this is a strength: they make the bleak point that, historically, single leaders of civil rights movements have almost always been assassinated. They have also been male.
We have a lot of leaders, insists Garza, just not where you might be looking for them. If youre only looking for the straight black man who is a preacher, youre not going to find it.
Instead, the new civil rights movement combines localised power structures with an inclusive ethos that consciously incorporates women, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer activists. DeRay Mckesson, one of the most high-profile activists with a Twitter following of 176,000, is a gay man. Garza identifies as queer (her husband is transgender).
The new movement is powerful yet diffuse, linked not by physical closeness or even necessarily by political consensus, but by the mobilising force of social media. A hashtag on Twitter can link the disparate fates of unarmed black men shot down by white police in a way that transcends geographical boundaries and time zones. A shared post on Facebook can organise a protest in a matter of minutes. Documentary photos and videos can be distributed on Tumblr pages and Periscope feeds, through Instagrams and Vines. Power lies in a single image. Previously unseen events become unignorable.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/19/blacklivesmatter-birth-civil-rights-movement
riversedge
(70,220 posts)Cha
(297,240 posts)I have to be honest, she says. I feel like I live in a constant state of rage and I think a lot of black people do Its more than depressing to me. It makes me angry, particularly when people try to deny its happening.
Mahalo su for this vital history of how #BlackLivesMatter was born into a "new civil rights movement".
sufrommich
(22,871 posts)from anyone else in the movement,but the women marching at the forefront are awesome and powerful.I feel like I'm watching a movement for the history books. Mahalo Cha!
Cha
(297,240 posts)daybranch
(1,309 posts)I consistently point out that African Americans bear disproportionate harm and violence under our so called justice system and I have protested numerous times at the same events and on same side as Black Lives Matter. So yes, I am aware why the statement white lives matter I also have worked to ensure we pass out voter registrations rather than just making speeches.
To date, three of the proposals heard are body cameras, rejection of military equipment, and community policing. While all of these have merit at limiting the police violence none address the rot causes of that violence. I believe violence against people of color is a method of stirring up anger against black people and getting white republicans to the polls. I believe this is a tactic designed to mobilize poor whites to vote republican and thus in the interest of the very rich who exert so much control of our Government and our daily lives.
Class and race division is part of a winning strategy often employed by republicans. Nationalism, and false history and shaming victims are other effective methods of manipulation of the society. It is ever more clear that our society is the way, the rich want it. It is ever more clear that racial strife is oe of their weapons in their fight to take more and more of our security for their greed. It is ever more clear that they work to create a system of victim blamers, witness attacks on homeless. It is ever more clear, that they care nothing about our children, witness the climate deniers who have created a theory just as ignorant as trickle down but rather that only God can destroy the earth.
All of this makes me angry but I know the answer. People are good by nature and freed from manipulation will do good for themselves and their neighbors no matter their visible differences, but first the people must understand and admit they as a group have always been manipulated. As a sergeant in the American Revolution wrote the privates die and the Generals get richer. It is no wonder that after the revolution George Washington was the richest man in America. It is no wonder that almost none of our rich founding fathers and their children actually fought. The revolution for all its talk of liberty basically was a war at the behest of the American rich class to transfer the power of the English rulers over us to them.
More immediate today is the impact of false history. People did not fight and die for the Confederacy out of love for states right. They fought because like Vietnam draftees, they were conscripted while the rich slave owners stayed home. If the poor whites today can know how their ancestors were murdered to protect the luxurious lifestyles and wealth of slaveowners they can set themselves free to understand that the romanticized myth of the Confederacy and a noble cause supported by their forefathers is false and any respect for the symbols of the Confederacy is unjustified. Today many know this and many more will learn, as evidenced by removal of the Confederate flags. Until that time we must learn of our history, and teach others so that we can stop this endless cycle of manipulation by our politicians for benefit of the most greedy among us. We must not let them drive us to fight over a crust of bread in order to reduce us to their level of inhumanity. Go Bernie!
MohRokTah
(15,429 posts)You wall of text is too painful to attempt to read.
Your subject line is clueless. In fact, it may be the stupidest thing I've read this year.
7962
(11,841 posts)People who normally would give the cops the benefit of the doubt look at instances like these and say "theres no excuse for that".
Certainly SOME people will always blame the victim, but more and more people are blaming the cops.
Your assertion is the opposite of whats actually happening.
saidsimplesimon
(7,888 posts)Some commenting have said they stopped at the title, then commented without comprehension. imo
All wars are fought for economic reasons. "To the victors go the spoils" Despite centuries of historical records that prove your claim of class and race division as part of a winning strategy for the greedy elite, many are allowing "issue" politics to divide progressives as well.
cantbeserious
(13,039 posts)What does this movement really want?
gollygee
(22,336 posts)Every other generation since has been about as racist as their parents. Their protests and changes in laws made a huge difference, and nothing since has made a difference. Why wouldn't we want to repeat their success?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/04/07/white-millennials-are-just-about-as-racist-as-their-parents/
uponit7771
(90,339 posts)... racist infrastructure and it's effects, that can be done through law
Also,
There are some low hanging fruit changes that SHOULD happen in our criminal justice system NOW...I don't know why a movement wouldn't be perfect for the higher hanging fruit
Starry Messenger
(32,342 posts)I'm surprised this even needs to be explained.
cantbeserious
(13,039 posts)eom
Starry Messenger
(32,342 posts)Fair Housing Act? Those ring a bell?
cantbeserious
(13,039 posts)eom
Starry Messenger
(32,342 posts)Hence the call for more legislation. The above laws have mitigated but not eliminated structural bias.