The Black Lives Matter Movement

#BlackLivesMatter was founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer. Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, Inc. is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes. By combating and countering acts of violence, creating space for Black imagination and innovation, and centering Black joy, we are winning immediate improvements in our lives.

We are expansive. We are a collective of liberators who believe in an inclusive and spacious movement. We also believe that in order to win and bring as many people with us along the way, we must move beyond the narrow nationalism that is all too prevalent in Black communities. We must ensure we are building a movement that brings all of us to the front.

We affirm the lives of Black queer and trans folks, disabled folks, undocumented folks, folks with records, women, and all Black lives along the gender spectrum. Our network centers those who have been marginalized within Black liberation movements.

We are working for a world where Black lives are no longer systematically targeted for demise.

We affirm our humanity, our contributions to this society, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression.

The call for Black lives to matter is a rallying cry for ALL Black lives striving for liberation.

As a WHITE MAN, this is what I see.

• Blacks have been marginalized
• Blacks have been targeted for demise
• Blacks continue to face oppression
• Black are striving for liberation

Marginalized means being treated as being insignificant...

Demise means a person's death...

Oppression means prolonged cruel or unjust treatment or control...

Liberation means the act of setting someone free from prison or slavery...

I would have to say even though I risk being wrong that ALL POOR  PEOPLE and most laborers whether white, black, Asian, or Hispanic have been and will continue to be marginalized by the upper middle class and wealthy class here in AMERICA.  Now perhaps it is true that some are marginalized more than others, but I am white and have been marginalized all my life in the workplace.

No body wants anyone to die unless one is in a war zone and facing the enemy.  People get killed indirectly and directly but it is not always intentional and usually grows from an escalation of anger or anxiety or fear.  I would have to save that blacks are more likely to kill whites and whites are more likely to kill blacks simply because we have an unhealthy fear of each other.

If Blacks feel oppressed then why don't they ask about the white workers in the textile mills in the south or in the coal mines or in the furniture industry or in the small manufacturing industries where the white female workers are at the mercy of the white male technicians who can either help them or prevent them from reaching daily production.  I would think those whites are oppressed as well and feel that they are stuck in jobs from which they can only extract themselves with DEATH.

As far as liberation is concerned...  what do BLACKS want to be liberated from?  Blacks are not in prison even though some are and there is no longer slavery in this country.  The US has more freedoms and individual liberties than any other country in the world and there are many Blacks who have managed to become quite successful, like:

Michael Jackson

Michael Jordan

Ice T

Oprah Winfrey

Willie Mays

Denzel Washington

Barrack Obama

MLK Jr

Henry Louis Gates

I would ask these questions:  

Why have they been successful and you have not?

Weren't they just as marginalized and oppressed as you?