Black Lives Matter

The Black Lives Matter movement is meant to encompass, address, and make light of the many facets of oppression black lives experience. Even though police brutality is on the main stage of the Black Lives Matter movement the more pervasive problems that affect our people are in need of being addressed. Black Lives matter does not just look to win basic human rights but also the right to privileges like safety, advancement, education, and health.
“We seek fundamental transformation – a holistic view of public safety – that invests in the resources that communities need to be safe, healthy and peaceful. We seek full employment, livable wages, health and mental health resources, permanent housing, youth programs and arts programs” (Fairchild,
One of the reasons why it is important to look at multiple deprivations across a community is that there are synergies that weave different aspects of living standards together. Looking at income poverty and racial wage gaps are futile if we do not also look at deprivations and gaps in health care, education, and housing. These forms of human and physical capital are directly correlated. Health care is particularly strongly correlated to socio economic status and race
“residential segregation by race has led racial groups in the U.S. to live in distinct neighborhood environments, social conditions at the neighborhood and community level make an important contribution to racial differences in health” (Williams,
With a decrease in the awareness of racial inequality came a decrease in the urgency to fight for and pass laws to address the inequalities (Kaiser, 556-559). Its social media presence has created awareness around mass incarceration and racial bias in policing. Isolated instances of success involving police officers being charged and disciplined suggest that the protest and visibility are evoking some justice from the law enforcement system. Social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter have also created a rhetoric for self-black love with hashtags like “Black Girl Magic”. Notable politicians like President Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Bill Clinton have publicly endorsed the BLM movement. The movement has also proved to be more inclusive. Unlike the Civil Rights movement, the Black Lives Matter movement addresses the struggles faced by the members of the LGBTQIA community. The movement was actually started by queer black women with the goal of breaking the patriarchal heteronormative structure of Black American movements (Rickford, 34-42). The Black Lives Matter movement was like a resurgence of the civil rights movement. The movement has involved and introduced young people to the fight for social, political, and racial