About Black Lives Matter

Origin of the Black Lives Matter Movement

List of Demands

Opposing Viewpoints provides full text access to differing points of view on current social issues. On the issues below, Opposing Viewpoints brings together viewpoint articles, contextual topic overviews, government and organizational statistics, court cases, profiles of government agencies and special interest groups, newspaper and magazine articles, as well as links to more than 1,800 reviewed and subject-indexed web sites.

Opposing Viewpoints: Civil Rights

Opposing Viewpoints: Civil Liberties

Opposing Viewpoints: Criminal Justice

Opposing Viewpoints: Guns and Violence

Opposing Viewpoints: Freedom of Speech

Opposing Viewpoints: Media Bias

Opposing Viewpoints: Racial Profiling

Opposing Viewpoints: Racism

San Francisco

• Black Lives Matter Protesters Block San Francisco's Bay Bridge (1/16)
• After the Police Killing of Mario Woods, SF is "That Kind of Town" (12/15)
• Hundreds of Students March from SF Mission to Protest Mario Woods Killing (12/15)

Militarization of Police/Police Brutality

• LAPD is more diverse, but distrust in the community remains (3/15)
  Recent history of police race relations in Los Angeless
• Code Switch Roundup: On race, policing, and Ferguson (8/14)
  Exploring what it means to live under police surveillance compared to living in an area where the police protect you 
• Use of deadly force by police disappears on Richmond streets (9/14)
  Story of how programs in the Richmond, CA Police Department have resulted in no person being killed by a cop since 2007 
• Tamir Rice and the Value of Life by Charles M. Blow (1/15)
  Details on the police shooting and inhumane treatment Rice received from police afterwards 
• Black Lives Matter: Eliminating Racial Inequality in the Criminal Justice System (2015)
• The Paranoid Style of American Policing by Ta-Nehisi Coates (12/15)

Databases/Statistics/Graphs 

• Stark racial divisions in reaction to police shooting (8/14)
  Statistics from the PEW Research Center of reactions to the shooting along racial, political, and age divisions
• What happens to #Ferguson affects Ferguson: Net neutrality, algorithmic filtering, and Ferguson (8/14)
  Discussion about the impact of internet filtering an algorithms on public access to stories about and like Ferguson
• A White Flight Tour up West Florissant Ave to #Ferguson and North St Louis County (9/14)
  A white St. Louis resident explores racial divides through architecture 

Racism in the United States: Historical Context

• Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates (2015)
• Ferguson isn't about black rage against cops. It's about white rage against progress. (8/14)
  Washington Post op-ed about the various historical oppression that have been constructed by white Americans against black Americans. 
• 50 years before Ferguson, a summer of riots racked the U.S. (8/14)
  Brief description of summer riots in 1964 in response to police brutality in black neighborhoods. 
• Legacy of Racial Subjugation: Denying the Right to Vote | Ira Glasser (11/14)
  A brief history of the United States through the lens of criminal justice system discrimination against African Americans 

The State of Race in the United States Today: economics, communication, and more

• Jesse Williams' speech from BET awards June 2016
• How municipalities in St Louis County, MO, profit from poverty (9/14)
  In-depth investigation into the local justice systems and the many hazards faced by poor communities of color on a regular basis 
• Macy's Settles racial profiling allegations (8/14)
  Summer 2014 article about racial profiling and subsequent law suits against the retailer. 
• When whites just don't get it (8/14)
  Comparision, with compelling statistics, about white American's beliefs about racism today and the realities 
• I don't know how to talk to white people about Ferguson (8/14)
  "How do I talk to white people about this!? How can I possibly explain the rage, fear, sadness, and every other emotion I don’t have a name for yet as I watch these events unfold?"
• Ta-Nehisi Coates on class and race (9/14)
  Series of tweets by Ta-Nehisi Coates on the race disparity of the middle class. 
• The New Racism (9/14)
  On victim blaming and white refusal to see racism in progress 
• Otherwise, Ferguson by Ashon Crawley | Interfictions Online (9/15)
  Poetic peace about the emotional impact of police violence against communities of color 
• My Vassar College Faculty ID Makes Everything OK (11/14)
  Moving piece on racism in higher education
• Kareem Abjul Jabbar: The Police aren't Under Attack. Institutionalized Racism is. (12/14)
  Comments on Ferguson and the two police officers murdered by a mentally ill man in New York City 
• Ferguson Police Routinely Violate Rights of Blacks, Justice Dept. Finds (3/15)
  Details of the Justice Department report 
• Boys with Tender Hearts and Big Dreams in Their Hoodies (7/13): Eve Ensler's letter to Trayvon Martin

On Protest and Organizing

• In Ferguson, photographs as powerful agents (8/14)
  New York Times blog of photography used in the aftermath of the Michael Brown shooting to highlight racism that is experienced by African Americans. 
• Ferguson Pastor: This is not a race issue; it's a human issue (8/14)
  On anger and generational interactions during the Ferguson protests 
• An interview with Scott Bonner, Ferguson librarian (9/14)
  How the library in Ferguson served the community during the aftermath of the shooting 
• Between the Peacekeepers and the Protesters in Ferguson (9/14)
  The nuanced tension between protesters and other community members about how to best engage in protest 
• A Herstory of the #BlackLivesMatter Movement by Alicia Garza (10/14)
• Get on the Bus: Inside the Black Life Matters 'Freedom Ride' to Ferguson (9/14): A perspective on the #blacklivesmatter movement.

Impacts of the Shooting and Protests 

• Ferguson sets broad change for city courts (9/14)
  The Ferguson City Council makes changes to how much revenue the city can generate from fines 
• The Meaning of the Ferguson Riots - NYTimes.com (11/14)
  The details of the grand jury investigation in Ferguson and its impact on the community 
• Ferguson Police Routinely Violate Rights of Blacks, Justice Dept. Finds (3/15)
  Details of the Justice Department report 
• California becomes First State to Ban Grand Juries in Police Shooting Cases (8/15)

Resources on Baltimore 

• Baltimore Orioles Exec. Issues Suprisingly Powerful Defense of Protestor's Right to be Outraged about Freddie Gray and Economy (8/15)
  Analysis and comparison of media coverage of Baltimore protests 
• Many Organizers at the Forefront of Protests are Women, Despite Men Taking Center Stage (8/15)
  Discussion of variety of narratives that are told and remain untold about the Baltimore protests 

General Information about the Shooting Michael Brown and the Subsequent Protests 

• I'm From Ferguson and I'm Tired and Fed Up (8/14)
  Personal account of a black Fegurson resident and insights into the community's reasons for protest 
• What Happened in Ferguson (8/15)
  Detailed images and description of events, protests, and grand jury investigation from the New York Times
• Workers who were witnesses provide new perspective on Michael Brown shooting (9/14)
  An anonymous county worker who was in Ferguson that day shares details of what he witnessed
• The Ferguson Masterpost: How To Argue Eloquently & Back Yourself Up With Facts (11/14)
  Specifics to help anyone having a conversation about the shooting of Michael Brown in the face of fake facts, misleading information, and misguided questions 

America After Ferguson - PBS

America After Ferguson - Defining Systems of Bias part I - PBS

America After Ferguson - Defining Systems of Bias part II - PBS