The Largest Movement in U.S. History

America has witnessed some interesting movements in its history. Some of these were religious, racial, and political. These movements have led to some radical changes in the mindsets and culture of the United States. One of the largest to ever happen is the Black Lives Matter Movement. This was backed by racial injustices that led to hundreds of thousands of Americans coming out to fight through protest.

What was the original structure of the Black Lives Matter movement?

Three Black female activists, named Patrisse Cullors, Opal Tometi, and Alicia Garza, started the BLM in 2013. After George Zimmerman’s acquittal in the death and murder of Trayvon Martin in 2012, the Black Lives Matter movement began. This started with a social media hashtag, #BlackLivesMatter. You can read many black lives matter essays to learn more. Following the killings of Michael Brown in Missouri and Eric Garner in New York in 2014, the campaign gained traction across the country. This has garnered many essay examples.

Since then, it has grown into a global movement. Following the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. Most recently, #Black Lives Matter has led protests throughout the world against police brutality and systemic racism. This affects the Black population.

What’s changed about BLM’s structure since then?

BLM activists notice and understand substantial gaps in movement spaces. This is because they are organizers who deal with ordinary people. Black liberation movements in America have established space, leadership, and opportunities. This is for Black cisgender and heterosexual men, leaving women, queer and trans people, and others. This is also for people either out of the movement or working in the background with little or no acknowledgment. They realized as a group that women, queer and trans people needed to be at the heart of leadership. They began a group to bring individuals on the margins nearer. To optimize their movement muscle and avoid reproducing damaging behaviors that have alienated so many in previous liberation movements.

How is public opinion about the BLM movement changing, and why?

What began as a meaningful hashtag has become synonymous with a generation? In 7 years, BLM has grown into a multi-chapter group that has altered how the country views race. And this is all thanks to public opinion and the movement’s acceptance.

1. Sheri Amour Dickerson, the executive director of the BLM Oklahoma City, said that some conversations, especially those around race, didn’t exist in such magnanimity. Until the BLM movement. These conversations were difficult and honest. Some debates have become part of the daily conversations in many other groups across the country. It has also evolved into a more multigenerational environment.

Is this evolution of Black Lives Matter typical of social movements?

Like most social movements, for one to evolve, it goes through stages. These are;

• Emergence
• Coalescence
• Institutionalization or Bureaucratization,
• and decline.

These are the four primary phases in the life cycle of a social movement. Political and cultural implications of social movements are possible. Social movements come to an end. They have a life span in which they are created and grow. They have a lifespan of achievements or failures and then dissolve.

The Black Lives Matter movement is in its bureaucratization stage. It has gone mainstream. This is like most movements that have been in existence.

Is it clear what structure BLM will or should have in the future?

BLM activists in the United States operate via a variety of organizations. However, they are all linked to centralized hubs, such as the Movement for Black Lives alliance. These organizational decisions are like spider webs. These spider-like organizations are led by a single person, with knowledge and power heaped at the head.

Many Republican-led states fought for a fresh set of legislation against protests. This was to crush dissent after the 2020 significant demonstrations against racism after George Floyd’s death. This depicts that it might be better if BLM used the starfish technique.

In their attempt to reach out to a diverse target audience and destroy white supremacy, Black Lives Matter activists overlook that widespread anti-Black violence is “the fundamental engine that drives “white supremacy. This rendered broad coalitions ineffectual.

Conclusion

While the U.S. has seen the rise and fall of many movements, Black Lives Matter is one that garnered the eyes of people worldwide. It drove many to fight for social change. This movement, in a short while, went mainstream. And it still maintains its decentralized and anti-capitalist nature.