I found this article (linked below) on the buildup and spread of the Black Lives Matter protests an interesting read. It touches on the themes of our classes this week by explaining the point that forces people to participate in protests. As we talked about there is a point where the threshold to take action is lowered so that the rewards and reasons to participate outweigh the risks. This is different for all people but as has been seen through the large numbers of people gathering to protest in support of BLM not just in the US but globally, the video of George Floyd served as that catalyst for many people. As pointed out in this article the protests have been attracting more racially diverse participants than previous protests in support of BLM. As more and more people participate and join these protests globally, it will snowball as people feel that they have safety in numbers and will help to overcome the barrier of fear as we have discussed in class this week.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52969905
This is a really interesting article and I definitely agree with all the points you raised. I also read a piece called "My tiny, white town just held a protest. We're not alone" that was mentioned in the main article. This piece relates to what we were talking about on how social media is used for protests. It mentions how someone created an event and posted about it on the Norwood community page to let others know that a "sunset walk and candlelight vigil outside the local library was organised to let the family of George Floyd and the entire United States know that Norwood, Colorado is listening”. This shows how social media serves as a coordination function as the Facebook post provided you with all the information.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/06/05/my-tiny-white-town-just-held-protest-were-not-alone/
Hi there, thanks for sharing this was a very interesting read. It is incredible how the movement has gotten so big recently, the article is quite right in saying that this is likely because the video was so obviously murder, an unarmed incapacitated man being killed. It's a shame it takes a graphic video showing the end of ones life to spark change in the people and the system. I think it's also interesting to consider that police brutality is not the only way African American people are being harmed in the United States. A clear example of this is the lack of clean water in Flint (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint_water_crisis), a predominantly African American area, which has had the problem for years, but the government and local authorities refuse to do anything about. State orchestrated violence towards African Americans is prevalent in many forms.
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