Black Lives Matter is an international human rights movement which originated from within the African-American community, which campaigns against violence and systemic racism towards black people. Black Lives Matter often holds protests speaking out against police brutality and police killings of black people, and broader issues such as racial profiling and racial inequality in the United States criminal justice system.
In 2013, the movement began with the use of the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter on social media after the acquittal of George Zizzerman in the shooting death of the African-American teen Trayvon Martin in February 2012. The movement became nationally recognised from street demostrations following the 2014 deaths of two African Americans which resulted in protests and unrest in Ferguson.
The movement returned to national headlines and gained further international attention during the global George Floyd protests in 2020 following Floyd’s death by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota
George Floyd
George Perry Floyd Jr. (mainly known as George Floyd) was an African-American man who was killed by police during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25th 2020. Protests in response to both Floyd’s death, and more broadly to police violence against other black people, quickly spread across the United States and internationally.
Floyd had five children, including two daughters who reside in Houston ages 6 and 22, and an adult son in Bryan, Texas. Floyd was arrested on the 25th May 2020 on a charge of passing a counterfeit $20 bill at a grocery store in the Powderhorn Park neighborhood of Minneapolis. According to the store clerk, the bill was obviously fake and Floyd had refused to return the purchased cigarettes when challenged. He died after Derek Chauvin, a white police officer who pressed on his knee on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds during the arrest. Floyd was handcuffed face down in the street while two other officers further restrained Floyd and a fourth preventer onlookers from intervening. For the last three of those minutes Floyd was motionless and had no pulse but officers made no attempt to revive him. Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd’s neck as arriving emergency medical technicians attempted to treat him.
Various memorial services were planned across the world. On June 4th 2020, a memorial service for Floyd took place in Minneapolis with the Rev, AI Sharpton delivering the eulogy. Services were planned in North Carolina with a public viewing and private service on June 6th and in Houston on June 8th and 9th. Floyd will be buried next to his mother, Larcenia Floyd in Pearland Texas.
Issues Raised
Floyd’s death triggered demonstrations and protests in more than 75 U.S cities and around the world against police brutality, police racism and lack of police accountability.
The George Floyd protests are an ongoing series of protests and demonstrations against police brutality and racism in policing which began in the United States in Minneapolis on May 26th 2020. The unrest began as local protests in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area of Minnesota before quickly spreading across the entire nation and internationally in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. While the majority of protests have been peaceful, demonstrations in some cities descend into riots, widespread looting and street skirmishes with police. At least 200 cities imposed curfews by June 3rd, while at least 30 states and Washington D.C activated 24,000 National Guard personnel due too the mass unrest. From the beginning of the protests to June 3rd, at least 11,000 people have been arrested, including all four police officers involved in the rest which led to George Floyd’s death.
The Trump administrations has drawn widespread criticism for its hardline, militarised response and aggressive rhetoric. The unrest is also occurring during the global Covid-19 pandemic, which health experts warring that the protests will likely facilitate an accelerated speed or rebound of the virus. The economic impact of the protests exacerbated the 2020 corona virus recession by sharply curtailing consumer confidence, straining local businesses, and over whelming public infrastructure with large-scale property damage. The protests have led to numerous legislative proposals on all levels to combat police misconduct, systematic racial bias, and police brutality in the United States.
The Media’s Views
The Guardian: “Rage and anguish: how the US papers have covered the George Floyd protests” — “The front pages of US newspapers over the past few days tell of the double tragedy of a nation rocked by protests over the death of George Floyd and the growing coronavirus toll.”
Washington Post: “Opinion: How Amy Cooper and George Floyd represent two versions of racism that black Americans face every day” — “How refreshing it would have been if Amy Cooper had said, ‘Yep, that was a pretty clear act of racism on my part,’ instead of apologising to ‘that man’ and insisting that she was not really a racist.”
Vox: “Police targeted journalists covering the George Floyd protests” — “On Friday night, photojournalist Linda Tirado was shot in the eye by a rubber bullet while covering an anti-police brutality protest in Minneapolis — one of more than two dozen incidents of journalists experiencing violence while covering the recent demonstrations.”
Washington Post: “‘The norms have broken down’: Shock as journalists are arrested, injured by police while trying to cover the story” — “Ali Velshi knew almost instantly what had happened when he felt a sharp pain in his leg Saturday night in Minneapolis: He’d been hit with a rubber bullet fired by police.”
New York Times: “A Reporter’s Cry on Live TV: ‘I’m Getting Shot! I’m Getting Shot!’” — “Linda Tirado, a freelance photographer, activist and author, was shot in the left eye Friday while covering the street protests in Minneapolis.”
Washington Post: “‘Never seen anything like this’: A CNN journalist’s arrest on live television shocks nation and inflames racial wounds” — “CNN reporter Omar Jimenez began his workday before dawn on Friday, prepared to cover the aftermath of protests in Minneapolis that had turned destructive. Smoke still wafted and a small fire flickered from the remains of a liquor store burned out the night before as he and his crew set up their live shot on a broad avenue.”
Buzzfeed News: “We’re Keeping A Running List Of Hoaxes And Misleading Posts About The Nationwide Police Brutality Protests” — “The death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer who used a knee chokehold on him, has sparked protests all over the country. As they gained traction, so did online hoaxes and disinformation about them. BuzzFeed News is keeping a running list of the false and misleading information.”
Los Angeles Times: “George Floyd and the special hell reserved for black journalists covering his killing” — “When my cell rang, an unfamiliar number popped up on the screen. Normally I ignore these calls, certain my service provider has sold my information to half the country’s telemarketing companies. This time I picked up.”
Vox: “What we’re missing when we condemn “violence” at protests” — “A pandemic has taken the lives of more than 100,000 Americans and put more than 30 million out of work, and to top it off, there has been an almost 30-day, caught-on-tape spree of police and vigilante violence against black people. For some, it may feel like the nation is on the brink of near-biblical levels of chaos.”
Links to my Media Work
We have looked at Formation by Beyonce which she goes into the subject on the Black Lives Matter movement as there are many in depth meanings throughout the music video as she has filled the music video with the images that ranged from graffiti that rear “Stop Shooting us”, to a wall of SWAT officers and a literal sunk police car into a body of water to let everyone know where she stood on the issues at hand.
The very first words you hear are none other than “What happened at the New Orleans?” at the opening image of the video shows parts of the city under water, reminiscent of the fatal aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. During the tragedy came controversy, as onlookers believed that New Orleans didn’t receive the attention it deserved because of its mostly black community. Sadly, parts of New Orleans are still uninhabitable, ever all these years later. The images work as a silent reminder of the dark time in their nation.
My Opinion
In my opinion, I have learned so much about the Black Lives Matter movement over the past couple of weeks and has opened my eyes so much more to the matters what are happening around the world what have been hidden. I believe that the media has been a very important role during all of this as it has informed me and educated me on what has been going on and what has happened during this time and I am greatly proud of how people have come together to peacefully fight for what is right and that the world needs to change to be equal.
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