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What is the Black Lives Matter movement?
Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a social movement that started in the United States of America (US). The movement aimed to spread awareness about the [[racism::The unfair treatment or hatred of people based on their race or skin color.]] experienced by African-American or black people in the US.
Because of this racism in the country, the American police is more likely to injure or kill black people than white people. This was one of the issues that the BLM movement hoped to address.
The main goal of the BLM movement was to stress the importance of black lives. Black Lives Matter means that the lives of black people are just as important as other people’s.
How did the Black Lives Matter movement begin?
In 2012, an [[unarmed::Not carrying or equipped with any weapons.]] black teenager named Trayvon Martin was killed by George Zimmerman. Zimmerman claimed that he killed Martin because he looked suspicious.
The BLM movement was started in 2013 by three women - Alicia Garza, Patrisse Khan-Cullors, and Opal Tometi. This movement began when George Zimmerman was not punished for the murder of Trayvon Martin.
The movement first began as a hashtag on social media. Due to more similar cases of black people being killed by police, the movement grew into physical protests.
Why did black people protest in 2020?
The BLM movement really took off in 2020, when George Floyd, an unarmed black man was killed by Derek Chauvin, a police officer in Minneapolis. A video of the incident went viral on the internet, in which Chauvin was seen killing Floyd.
People across the world were angered by the death of George Floyd and joined the movement. As a result, Chauvin was [[convicted::Declared guilty of a crime by a court of law.]] of murder in 2021. However, there are many similar cases where the policemen are never convicted. This is why the BLM movement is still important today.
What was the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement?
Not everyone supported the BLM movement. Several groups argued that racism against black people did not exist in the country.
Despite the [[criticism::The act of expressing disapproval or pointing out the faults of someone or something.]], the BLM movement helped spread awareness about the [[oppression::Prolonged unfair or cruel treatment and control over people by those in power.]] of black people in the country. The movement also helped in changing a few laws and policies. For example, some cities and states in the US have banned the use of chokeholds (which caused the death of Floyd).
Black Lives Matter is an ongoing movement and will continue to impact the lives of black people in both big and small ways.
Quick revision
BLM is a movement that started in the US to fight against the racism experienced by black people in the country.
The movement spread across the world when George Floyd, an unarmed black man, was killed by Derek Chauvin, a police officer in Minneapolis.
The BLM movement has spread awareness about the racism experienced by black people and helped make some changes in policies and laws.
