Running head: Black Lives Matter 1

Black Lives Matter Media Coverage

Shayla McKoy

Junior Journalism and Mass Communication Student

Concentration in Mass Media Production

North Carolina A&T University

Greensboro, NC
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Media coverage Black Lives Matter

Creating Black Lives Matter

Black Lives Matter movement was created in 2013 by three organizers; Alicia Garza,

Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi the organization became a household matter after the acquittal

in 2012 of George Zimmerman from the infamous case of Travyon Martin. “Black Lives Matter

represents an ideal that motivates, mobilizes and informs the actions and programs of many local

branches of the movement. Akin to the social movement brand that can be picked up and

deployed by any interested group of activists inclined to speak out and act against racial

injustice. (Lebron). The movement became worldwide during the Ferguson and St. Louis march.

Before the Black Lives Matter platform was to eradicate poverty and employment, reduce the

prison population and end racial profiling from the police. The organization did not want to only

focus on the injustice of black men but any “Building on the legacy of the civil rights and LGBT

movements, Black Lives Matter has created a new mechanism for confronting racial inequality.

The movement also draws on feminist theories of intersectionality, which call for a unified

response to issues of race, class, gender, sexuality and nationality.” (weforum) the Black Lives

Matter movement is not just one organization in reality it has networked with the Black Youth

Project 100, the Dream Defenders, Assata’s Daughters, the St. Louis Action council, Millennial

Activists United, and the Organization for Black Struggle, with many more contributing.
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Social Media coverage

#BlackLivesMatter was born from social media influence, it first on the social media

engine Twitter in 2013. It sparked something in the citizens just like the me-too movement, it

made people feel they can speak out and their voices will be heard. “The hashtag leaped from

social media to the streets, mobilizing a new wave of civil rights protests in the U.S.”

(USAToday). To show the influence of BLM they collected “other hashtags that appear with

#BlackLivesMatter in order to measure how online communities influence the framing of the

movement. We find that #BlackLivesMatter is associated with five types of hashtags. These

hashtags mention solidarity or approval of the movement, refer to police violence, mention

movement tactics, mention Ferguson, or express counter-movement sentiments.” (Cooper,

Orrick) After the mainstream of Twitter, they tapped into other media engines such as Facebook

and Tumblr to allow people to seek social justice while offline in the streets of their community.

The website was supposed to allow black people the opportunity to share their stories and

strategize and come together as one to bring peace and freedom for all. They made joining the

movement is easy anybody with a cell phone and social media account could participate in

signing up and marching along the streets. The hashtag was used over 200,000 times on Twitter

when prosecutor announced there would not be an indictment in the Michael Brown case.

“I think that part of the issue here is when people hear 'Black Lives Matter,' sometimes

they think that someone is saying your life doesn't matter, and that's not what 'Black Lives

Matter,' at least to me, is saying.” Benjamin Watson. Although Black Lives Matter movement

was made to

give black people a stance in society, yet some did not agree with their statement people

believed it was creating a hierarchy generating the perception that black lives are more important
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than other lives. Being convinced that this is true they created the All-Live Matter and Blue Live

Matter movement. “The All-Lives Matter campaign, for instance, is one among several groups

that have sprung up to argue that every human life, not just those of black people, should be

given equal consideration.” (weforum.org) These movements became well-known as the debate

around race and law continued to grow and the shooting of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and

five police officers in Dallas. Blue Lives Matter was to show that the police are not supposed to

be threatening people and they are risking their lives for the community and should not be

punished for it. “So far, the media has focused on the campaign’s events and protests on the

street, but Black Lives Matter has also been involved in campaigning to change legislation. As

recently as August this year, the movement released more than forty policy recommendations,

including the demilitarization of law enforcement, reparation laws, the unionization of

unregulated industries and the decriminalization of drugs.” (weforum)

Involvement

Black Lives Matter hit mainstream and did not seem like it's going to dwindle any time

soon. The organization was started on the case of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed

black seventeen-year-old boy that was shot by a neighborhood watch member.

Zimmerman's “arrest sparked a national debate over racial profiling and the role of armed

neighborhood watch members in law enforcement.” (bio) Michael Brown's case he was unarmed

and shot by officer Darren Wilson causing Ferguson a monumental march that last weeks of

demonstrations. “As the night wore on, the situation grew more intense. Buildings were set on

fire, and looting was reported in several businesses” (nytimes). Alton Sterling's was a 37-year-
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old man who was pinned down and shot and the two officers involved avoided federal charges.

Another officer has been fired for killing Jordan Edwards, a 15-year-old honor student. Along

with yet another officer pleaded guilty for shooting Walter Scott a 50-year-old man for running

away. Black women have also been neglected and targeted like men creating the hashtag “Say

Her Name is intended to serve as a resource for the media, organizers, researchers, policy

makers, and other stakeholders to better understand and address Black women’s experiences of

profiling and policing.” such as Rekia Brown was shot in the head by an off-duty cop that shot

recklessly in a dark alleyway, Sandra Bland a woman that was pulled over for a traffic stop and

later found hanging in her cell being ruled a suicide yet the community believe is a cover up.

Atatiana Jeffersons was shot while playing video games with her nephew while conducting a

wellness check because her door was opened throughout the night.

These are just a few of the many, many cases that have occurred over the time span of

2013-2018. The common denominator of most of these cases that is causing discomfort for the

community is that most of these victims did not get the justice of conviction toward these

officers, which caused an even bigger divide between police and the black community. Thinking

that killing an unarmed black person is tolerable for the police to do.

Conclusion

The fact that a powerful movement that is still advancing in its community was once

started from a hashtag at a devastating time for black people. The hashtag was not meant to

demean other races but to shine light on the one race that was being harmed and racial profiled

by police and turned a blind eye upon. Furthermore, Black Lives Matter was a movement call to
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action against violence and anti-black racism. Though many have created many other

movements that try to distinguish the purpose of BLM, the people come together and prevail

trying to bring awareness to the injustice of any black person in society. “Black Lives Matter was

created as a response to state violence and anti-black racism and a call to action for those who

want to fight it and build a world where black lives do, in fact, matter.” - Alicia Garza. Black

Lives Matter movement may not be in the news as much as it was in 2013 but they are still

protesting and trying to change and create laws that protect the black community. “It said what it

needed to say so succinctly… In a moment where black folks are getting killed, just this simple

sentiment that black lives matter was important.”- Mark Anthony Neal. The only thing Black

Lives Matter movement would like people to take from this movement is that before they had no

voice but when they come together as a community you will have to listen to their demands

because they will not stop until black people's lives are taken into as much consideration as any

other race.

References

Lebron, C. J. (2019). The Making of Black Lives Matter: A Brief History of an Idea.

Guynn, J. (2015, March 4). Meet the woman who coined #BlackLivesMatter. Retrieved

December 10, 2019, from https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2015/03/04/alicia-garza-black-

lives-matter/24341593/.
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Norris, Z., Minneapolis Protestors Occupy Police Precinct, Inaugural Philanthropy

Forward Leadership, & NFG News. (2018, December 7). #SayHerName: Resisting Police

Brutality Against Black Women. Retrieved December 10, 2019, from

https://www.nfg.org/news/sayhername-resisting-police-brutality-against-black-women.

Tedeneke, A., & World Economic Forum USA. (n.d.). The Black Lives Matter

movement explained. Retrieved December 10, 2019, from

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/08/black-lives-matter-movement-explained/.

Trayvon Martin. (2019, April 16). Retrieved December 10, 2019, from

https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/trayvon-martin.

What Happened in Ferguson? (2014, August 13). Retrieved December 10, 2019, from

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/08/13/us/ferguson-missouri-town-under-siege-after-

police-shooting.html.

Alicia Garza Quotes. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved December 9, 2019, from

BrainyQuote.com Web site: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/alicia_garza_913479

How Black Lives Matter Changed the Way Americans Fight for Freedom. (2019, January

28). Retrieved December 10, 2019, from https://www.aclu.org/blog/racial-justice/race-and-

criminal-justice/how-black-lives-matter-changed-way-americans-fight

Alexander H. Updegrove, Maisha N. Cooper, Erin A. Orrick, Alex R. Piquero. (2018)

Red States and Black Lives: Applying the Racial Threat Hypothesis to the Black Lives Matter

Movement. Justice Quarterly 0:0, pages 1-24.