Black Lives Matter Essay

Mayra Porcayo

                3rd period

        Black people had significant historical importance to the nation and the importance of black-white relations in U.S. society today. Throughout the history black people were denied many important things to have, a traditional life style, black Americans could not work, live, shop, eat, seek entertainment, or travel where they chose, they were denied in voting rights, education, employment. A large majority of blacks lived in poverty; kids could not receive proper education, blacks Americans were forced to go to separate schools for blacks only. Many years has passed since those times, but yet still to this day black people remain substantially behind white people, continuing to face discrimination.

        To begin with, a movement that goes by the name Black Lives Matter, began to promote their slogan and motto against police brutality and injustice in 2013. This movement began after George Zimmerman was found not guilty of the murder of Trayvon Martin. According to biography.com Trayvon Benjamin was an African American from Miami Gardens, Florida, who, at 17 years old, was fatally shot by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, in Sanford, Florida. Martin, who was serving a school suspension, had gone with his father on a visit to his father's fiancée at her townhouse at The Retreat at Twin Lakes in Sanford. On the evening of February 26, Martin went to a convenience store and purchased candy and a canned drink. As Martin returned from the store, he walked through a neighborhood that had been victimized by robberies several times that year. Zimmerman, a member of the community watch, spotted him and called the Sanford Police to report him for suspicious behavior. Moments later, there was an altercation between the two individuals in which Martin was shot in the chest. Zimmerman, who was injured in the altercation, was not charged at the time of the shooting by the Sanford Police, who said that there was no evidence to refute his claim of self-defense and that Florida's stand your ground law prohibited law-enforcement officials from arresting or charging him. After national media focused on the tragedy, Zimmerman was eventually charged and tried in Martin's death. A jury acquitted Zimmerman of second-degree murder and of manslaughter in July 2013.

        As a result, of Trayvon Martins murder, the Black Lives Matter movement began to take action. Recently this movement has been a huge political instability in the world. According to an article “Black Lives Matter Freedom & Justice for All Black Lives”, there has been numerous cases of shootings dealing with police brutality and black lives. For example, on July 5th two Baton Rouge police officers shot and killed 37-year-old Alton Sterling, a black man who was selling CDs outside of a convenience store. A Cell phone video of the shooting shows Sterling seemingly incapacitated on the ground when one officer yelled, “He’s got a gun!” An officer according to a witness, not the officer who shouted then drew and fired his gun into Sterling’s chest. More shots ring out in the video. Sterling died of multiple gunshot wounds. On the night of Alton Sterling’s death, more than 100 demonstrators in Baton Rouge shouted "no justice, no peace," set off fireworks, and blocked an intersection to protest Sterling's death. On July 6, Black Lives Matter held a candlelight vigil in Baton Rouge, with chants of "We love Baton Rouge" and calls for justice.