Chapter Overview

With deep gratitude to the 2012-2014 Masters in Cultural Studies University of Washington Bothell cohort and to our teachers. This chapter is grounded in our shared learning.

– Nora Karena

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXXd_5sCesg

“Social movements are not marginal to society. They are social engines of social change.”

– Aldon Morris

What do you think of when you hear, “Black Lives Matter?” You might think of protests, police violence against People of Color, or some of the counter-protests. Fundamentally, Black Lives Matter is a response to racial inequity. Racial inequity exists when different racial groups experience unequal outcomes. In 2013, #BlackLivesMatter emerged as an urgent and provocative claim driving the most recent iteration of a centuries-long social movement for racial justice in the US. Racial justice is a response to racism that seeks to change social systems in order to reduce racial inequities and to address the social and interpersonal conditions caused by racial inequities. As you might remember from Chapter 2, racism is the marriage of racist policies and racist ideas that produces and normalizes racial inequities.

In the summer of 2020, Portland, Oregon was one of many cities across the US that erupted in nightly protests against the over-policing of Black people. Protests in Portland continued for more than 100 days and captured national attention. These ongoing protests of outrage and dissent amplified critical narratives about policing and racism that continue to shape public policy in the city. To see highlights of the protests, please watch the first 5 minutes of the video in Figure 9.1.

Since the summer of 2020, BLM-inspired strides towards racial justice, in terms of both public opinion and policy change, have coincided with a so-called “anti-woke backlash,” which includes attempts by activists and elected officials to censor educational materials about racism, intersectionality, queer studies, and other critical theories. In 2023, as of this writing, the police have killed more than 1200 people. Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, Black, Native American, and Hispanic people are more likely to be killed by the police than White people. If you would like to look at the most current statistics, feel free to examine Mapping Police Violence [webpage].

In this chapter, we consider the impacts of the social movement identified with #BlackLivesMatter (BLM) as a case study of how social movements can drive social change. We will apply the social problems process to policing in underserved communities. To understand how sociologists think about social movements, we will also trace out a history of BLM organizing within a broader movement to reimagine safe communities and consider theoretical and activist lineages with roots in the emancipatory sociology of W.E.B. Du Bois and the civil rights movement of the mid-20th Century.

We will get to know Alicia Garza, Ayo Tometi, and Patrice Cullors, organizers with a bold abolitionist vision who built a platform that has transformed the global conversation about racism, policing, and the value of Black lives. Finally, we will consider claims that policing can be considered a racist response to the social problems associated with communities that have been historically under-resourced and under-represented in the US.

Licenses and Attributions for Chapter Overview and Learning Objectives

Open Content, Original

“Chapter Overview” by Nora Karena is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

All Rights Reserved Content

Figure 9.1. “100 Days of Protest in Portland” by The Oregonian is licensed under the Standard YouTube License.