Initially a response to George Zimmerman's acquittal for killing Trayvon Martin in 2013, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement - both as a social media hashtag #blacklivesmattter and as a call to action -has again come to prominence in mainstream and social media as a response to George Floyd's lynching in May 2020. Urging an overhaul of systems that have disenfranchised Black communities and perpetuated systemic racism, "Black Lives Matter" has been the rally cry of demonstrators, protestors, and activists across the US and world.
The BLM movement focuses on intersectionality in the Black experience and, from the BLM website, "It centers those that have been marginalized within Black liberation movements. It is a tactic to (re)build the Black liberation movement."
When we say Black Lives Matter, we are broadening the conversation around state violence to include all of the ways in which Black people are intentionally left powerless at the hands of the state. We are talking about the ways in which Black lives are deprived of our basic human rights and dignity.
...Every day, we recommit to healing ourselves and each other, and to co-creating alongside comrades, allies, and family a culture where each person feels seen, heard, and supported.
BLM is self-described as a movement of "Black self-determination" and is, most notably, focused on the discriminatory regulatory, judicial, punitive, legislative, and judicial practices that disenfranchise the Black community.