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Black Lives Matter Timeline

·       On February 26, 2012, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin is walking home from a local gas station in Sanford, Florida. Neighborhood watch, George Zimmerman shoots and murders him because he “looks suspicious.” After a lot of protests, George Zimmerman is charged with murder. A few months later, he is acquitted. His acquittal is the catalyst for the black lives matter movement

·       On November 23rd, 2012, Jordan Davis and his friends were at a local gas station. Michael Dunn approaches them, confronting them on the volume of their music. Dunn shoots and murders Davis. Dunn is sentenced to life in prison.

·       On November 2nd, 2013 19-year-old Renishida McBride was in a car accident. She knocks on Theodore Wafer’s door for help, and he shoots her. She dies. Wafer is charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter.

·       On July 17th, 2014 Eric Garner is killed by Daniel Pantaleo. Daniel Pantaleo was an NYPD officer who put Garner into a chokehold. Pantaleo was not indicted. There is footage of Garner saying, “I can’t breathe,” which circulated the internet and became rhetorically effective for the Black Lives Matter.

·       On August 5, 2014, 22-year-old John Crawford picked up a toy gun. A police officer saw him with the toy gun and shot him to death.

·       On August 9, 2014, Michael Brown is shot by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. Two days later, Ezell Ford is shot in the back of the head by Los Angeles police officers. These instances of police brutality start protests in Ferguson, Missouri.

·       On October 20, 2014, Jason Van Dyke shoots Laquan McDonald 16 times in the span of 13 seconds. Van Dyke is charged with murder.

·       On November 23, 2014, 12-year-old Tamir Rice was playing with a toy gun. Police officer Timothy Loehmann shoots Tamir in the torso, killing him. Timothy Loehmann was not charged but is fired.

·       On April 12, 2015, 25-year-old Freddie Gray is caught with a switchblade. He runs from the police, but they eventually catch him. He asks for his inhaler, but the police do not give it to him. He falls into a coma in the police van and dies 7 days later.

·       On November 20, 2015, Akai Gurley was shot in the stairwell of his apartment by police officer Peter Liang. Liang is charged with murder.

·       On November 26, 2015, Jamar Clark is handcuffed by police officers Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze and then fatally shot in the head. Ringgenberg and Schwarze are not charged.

·       On July 5, 2016, 37-year-old Alton Sterling is outside of a convenience store in Louisiana. He is pinned to the ground and shot five times in the chest. This incident is caught on film by two different witnesses, causing major protests in Louisiana.

·       On July 6, 2016, Philando Castile is pulled over in Minnesota. He informs the police that he has a gun and is going to put it on his dashboard but does not intend to use it. As he is reaching for his gun, the police shoot him anyway. He dies in the hospital. His girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds films the video and puts it on Facebook. The video has been viewed over 5.6 million times.

·       On July 22, 2016, Charles Kinsey, a mental health therapist, is helping an autistic man find his way back to the group home where he lives, and Kinsey works. Kinsey is unarmed and shot.

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Objectives of Black Lives Matter

The election of Barack Obama as president caused many people to incorrectly believe that The United States of America was a post-racial society. Initially, the Black Lives Matter movement wanted to convince the masses that racism still exists in the United States, and manifests itself in the forms of police brutality and legal biases.

The Black Lives Matter hoped to convince the masses that African Americans are human and deserve the same rights as white people in the United States. This point may seem obvious, of course, African Americans are people. Who would believe otherwise? However, the fact that there must be a movement to convince people that a certain racial group is, in fact, human speaks largely about where the United States currently stands socially.

           Currently, Black Lives Matter is focusing on a call to action. Action can take place in many forms, such as voting, participating in a protest, educating others, or sharing an article on social media. The Black Lives Matter website has a “Take Action” page where users can donate, find chapters, or sign up for the email list.

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Black Lives Matter Hashtag

The Black Lives Matter movement began as a hashtag on Twitter, making its’ first appearance on July 13, 2013. However, the hashtag did not gain popularity until 12-year-old Tamir Rice’s death on November 23rd, 2014.

While the Black Lives Matter movement began on social media, that does not diminish the movement’s presence outside of the internet. Arguably, social media helped facilitate activity outside of the internet. Tweets and Facebook posts regarding Michael Brown’s death lead to the Ferguson protests. In fact, the hashtag is used the most in November 2014 because of the Ferguson protests.

           Social media is a double-edged sword when it comes to social justice movements. Most people in the United States have access to social media, so a lot of people have a voice on the internet. This is a good thing because many perspectives can be shared. This is educating and creates space for dialogue. However, since many people can post, there is too much to pay attention to and most voices are not heard.

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Videos of Police Brutality

A popular type of Black Lives Matter post on social media is videos of police brutality against African Americans. In 2014, a video of Eric Garner being choked to death circulated the internet. Garner repeated, “I can’t breathe.” “I can’t breathe” became a popular slogan for the Black Lives Matter movement because it epitomizes the fatal effects of police brutality against African Americans. There is also a video of Charles Kinsey getting shot while his autistic patient is sitting next to him. This video displays the heartlessness of police officers against African Americans. These videos, along with the many others, are rhetorically effective for the Black Lives Matter Movement.

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Suggested Readings for Further Research

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in an Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander

A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn

3 ½ Minutes Documentary

Black Lives Matter webpage