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The Black Lives Matter Activist Hashtag

Introduction

Black Lives Matter is a slogan chanted by hundreds of thousands of people in various places worldwide. Over the years, the Black Lives Matter movement has sparked hashtags, led to networks of grassroots organizations, and the emergence of collective activists. Within a few years, the hashtag has grown from a mere social media post into a global phenomenon. The Black Lives Matter movement is not renowned because of its leaders but rather because of massive racism issues currently affecting society. So many people continue to lose their lives under unacceptable circumstances at the hands of the police, among them Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Michael Brown, and Eric Turner just to name a few. The Black Lives Matter Movement dates back to 2013 when 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot dead by George Zimmerman at a shop. Mr. Zimmerman said the black teenager looked suspicious despite being unarmed. He was later acquitted of the murder after being found not guilty by an American court. The occurrence sparked outrage and action on social media. The Black Lives Matter Movement is a non-violent global social movement dedicated to fighting racism and anti-black violence, particularly police brutality. It condemns the unjust murder of black people by the police and demands that society values humanity and the lives of black people as much as that of its white counterparts. This essay analyzes the effect of the Black Lives Matter hashtag on the success of the Black Lives Matter Movement.

Internet and Social Media as a Tactic

The Black Lives Matter movement employs the #blacklivesmatter hashtag across various social media platforms, particularly Twitter, to rapidly reach multitudes. It is the perfect example of an activist movement that has been amplified through social media. A recently released Pew study found that the #blacklivesmatter hashtag has been used over 30 million times on Twitter alone which is an average of 17 0003 times each day (Ransby, 102). The reason why Black Lives Matter is successful is that it has embraced new and diverse tactics. From organizing overwhelmingly peaceful protests, the movement started capitalizing on social media to push its agenda. The movement has been portrayed as being falsely violent and since its emergence, it has never used violence in its demonstrations. In 2014, the black lives movement was among the ten hashtags that changed the world. Khadijah White, a Rutgers University professor, noted that the Black Lives Matter movement was critical as it ushered in an era of movements of people of color in universities and other learning institutions. Without a doubt, social media has revolutionized the face of activism across the globe, as evidenced by the bystander effect. Bystanders are no longer sitting back and doing nothing if they witness violence. People have become more empowered to use their smartphones to document violence and mistreatment of black people by the police as was in the case of George Floyd who died at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer in June 2020. By posting these videos on social media, people are unmasking the rot in law enforcement and justice systems. Using the #blacklivesmattermovement has brought attention to the high-ranking politicians and assisted in rallying support for the movement.

Use of Direct Action

Direct action is another reason that is attributed to the success of the Black Lives Matter movement over the years. This involves carrying out actions that make people uncomfortable such that they can no longer ignore social issues. Direct actions leave political parties with no other option rather than to act on necessary action to resolve the problem. While the movement is largely renowned for building power through protests and rallies, in the Twin Cities Marathon of 2015, the movement carried out a lie-in protest where the protesters mimicked being dead (Mundt, Karen, and Charla, 46) Protesters have also resulted to using famous political slogans such as “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” which is linked with Michael Brown. Other common slogans include “I can’t breathe,” used by George Floyd before his death. Other famous slogans include “White Silence is Violence,” “No justice, no peace,” and “Is my son next?”. These slogans are effective as they call out people on their wrongdoings and are the reason that the Black Lives Matter movement has become successful in its mandate.

Formation of Broader Movements

The Black Lives Matter hashtag has also led to other broad movements which align with their goals. The hashtag has led to the emergence of movements including the #Bluelivesmatter and #Alllivesmatter, and Campaign Zero. Campaign Zero is a movement formed under the Black Lives Matter movement with the goal of pushing for policy reforms geared towards putting an end to police brutality. The movement has since come up with a ten-point agenda and recommendation that seeks to end the broken window policy and improve community oversight by the police department. The Blue Lives Matter emerged after the #blacklivesmatter and is geared to advocating for the lives of police officers. The #Alllivesmatter movement is used across the board by nearly all social activists groups that advocate for human rights. Noteworthy, the Black Lives Matter movement also advocates for other causes that do not have links with police brutality, including immigration reform, feminism, economic justice, and Lesbian Gay, Bisexual Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQI) issues.

Addressing Excessive Use of Police Force

The Black Lives Matter hashtag has also played a critical role in pushing for change within the police force. According to a study conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, out of all the people that had altercations with the police between 2002 and 2012, 2.8% of black people were more likely than white people (1.0%) and (1.4%) to be arrested or perceived as a threat by the police officers (Ince, Fabio, and Clayton, 1814). Additionally, a study by the Washington Post revealed that police officers murdered 1,001 people by just shooting at them in 2019. Essentially, black people are more likely to die fatally compared to their white counterparts. There is a substantial racial bias, particularly in shootings involving unarmed black men by white police officers. The bias is non-existent when the suspect is white or identifies with other race. People of color and Hispanics are 50% more exposed to lethal police interactions. Worth noting, The bias is non-existent when the suspect is white or identifies with other race. The movement has shed light on how the police system is prejudiced against black people. White supremacy still exists and with majority of police officers being white, it places the lives of black people at risk. Police training is also failing society because police are taught that they should shoot at suspects who refuse to cooperate during arrests.

Conclusion

In closing, the Black Lives Matter hashtag is among the most renowned social activist hashtags globally. The Black Lives Matter Movement attributes its success to the growing popularity of the hashtag on social media. Social media is becoming an increasingly effective tool in pushing social issues, as evidenced by the #blacklivesmatter hashtags, which are mentioned over 17003 times daily on Twitter. The hashtag has proved critical in unmasking the extent of rot in social situations such as the police who use excessive force during arrests and have a racial bias against minority groups like black people and Hispanics. Direct action tactics and broader movements have also proved successful in pushing the movement’s agenda. In the future, social activist movements should follow in the footsteps of Black Lives Matter and capitalize on social media as a tactic to push their agenda.

Works Cited

Ince, Jelani, Fabio Rojas, and Clayton A. Davis. “The social media response to Black Lives Matter: How Twitter users interact with Black Lives Matter through hashtag use.” Ethnic and racial studies 40.11 (2017): 1814-1830.

Mundt, Marcia, Karen Ross, and Charla M. Burnett. “Scaling social movements through social media: The case of Black Lives Matter.” Social Media+ Society 4.4 (2018): 2056305118807911.

Ransby, Barbara. Making All Black Lives Matter. University of California Press, 2018.