Protests

Black Lives Matter Golden Gate Bridge Protest, Medals & Tiaras

Clips From the Grand Rapids Protest, Brookeelenamae

No Justice No Peace, Nick Bunch

My block, My Alley Surrounded by Police Again 2, Colleen Egan

I'm Exhausted, Nickthenomad

I’m Exhausted but I Don’t Give Up, Nickthenomad

Passive Resistance

The goal of the Black Lives Matter movement is to bring the issue of racial inequality to the forefront of public consciousness. Its “uniquely twenty-first century” nature, supported by social media, has allowed for a decentralized structure with individual chapters that address geographically-specific needs in their communities (Nummi et. Al., 2019). In order to raise awareness about these issues, many of the BLM protests encourage Black community members to share their stories in peaceful demonstrations. In the Black Lives Matter movement, peaceful protest has taken several different forms. Since the movement’s early protests, civil disobedience has been used to disrupt others’ daily lives, in an effort to “dramatize routine attacks on Black life” (Rickford, 2016, p. 36). Often this involves impeding street traffic with marches and sit-ins, but can also take the form of the celebration of Black life through music, dance, poetry, and the visual arts.

Police & Protestors

Despite typically demonstrating passive resistance, the Black Lives Matter movement is often remembered for the brutality with which law enforcement responds to the protests. Research on protests in general indicates that Black-led demonstrations are more likely to have police presence in case of violence than demonstrations led by white organizers (Rafail et. al., 2012, pp. 751-2). Unfortunately, research also suggests that police are “more likely to use force/violence, either alone or in conjunction with arrests, than they are to do nothing” while monitoring protests (Davenport et. al., 2011, p. 166). These statistics have been evident in the media coverage of the Black Lives Matter movement since its inception. In the summer of 2020, protesters and residents alike turned their smartphone cameras to the streets, documenting the brutality of law enforcement during peaceful protests. The overwhelming mass of video evidence against police violence has resulted in greater demands for police reform, especially in the context of protest rights, in the United States (Loor, 2020).