The Black Community’s Association With Crime and Poverty in Contrast to the Black Lives Matter Movement

Upon reading a story in the Guardian, the long read titled; “Black Lives Matter: birth of a movement” by Wesley Lowery, one recognizes the theme of police brutality on the black people. Death of Michael Brown generated black activists’ movements with an aim to protest against this cowardly act by the police. The black community has always been associated with crime within the country; this has been affirmed by this act of brutal killing day of the blacks’ day in day out (Bonilla et al., 2015).

Another clear-cut theme in the story is the unlawful arrest of the blacks by the police. Wesley Lowery starts the story with him being arrested and treated harshly by the police. He is not aware of what is going on and can only gaze of police victimization of the blacks. It is tough to understand why the police were targeting just the blacks in the city of Ferguson. A sign of solidarity is witnessed when large crowds filled the streets in protests against the killings without being organic or call to action by a specific group of human rights or activists. This spirit of togetherness in times of need was so essential if people thought the government or involved parties would act accordingly. Over one hundred and fifty protesters are later arrested on an account that the failure to disperse from the streets as per the police order. This led to the rise of a series of activist movements. This was a clear point in which policing was against race (Bonilla et al., 2015).

The social media is set ablaze with the hash tags “Black Lives Matter,” this was to show solidarity and to support the social justice movement in alarming the whole country and the world of these unfamiliar moments. It is necessary to mention the role the media played in support and to protest these sinful acts by the police. Twitter, Facebook, and other social media accounts which in most instances have been criticized from spreading evil in this situation show its ability in exposing most of this injustice against the common man and specifically the black race. In this short narration, Wesley Lowery, explains that this all shooting and killing brought so much division and hatred amongst the people who felt the police might be victimized while maybe and just maybe there actions were justified. He identifies that a group was seen to be exaggerating the issue to achieve a given mileage (Bonilla et al., 2015). This shows how the contemporary society today can be so wicked that everything on earth can be used in obtaining a given favor. A judiciary that is not strong and independent is categorized in this chronology of events. The court faces criticism on their failure to put beyond bars most of the police officers who were brought to book despite the evidence presented before them.

One could easily argue that it was a case of one race against the other with the judiciary overwhelmingly occupied by the whites. Several instances of black killings by the police were witnessed, and this even led to more uproar against this kind of action by the police. The society is finally at a crossroad on their safety and the role of the police in protecting and safeguarding life despite your race and color (Bonilla et al., 2015). Local elected leaders are also put to question on their role in ensuring survival was guaranteed to everyone. The right to life for the black people was seemingly in turmoil, and there was a need for everyone to stand with truth and justice for the blacks.

References

1. Bonilla, Y., & Rosa, J. (2015). # Ferguson: Digital protest, hashtag ethnography, and the racial politics of social media in the United States. American Ethnologist, 42(1), 4-17.