Black Lives Matter! We matter! Is what Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi were thinking when they came up with these hashtags. This slogan started in 2013 on social media after the ruling of George Zimmerman who shot and killed innocent Trayvon Martin. 26 million people participated in the 2020 Black Lives Matter protest making it one of the largest movements in the country’s history. The movement today in 2022 is bigger and it only seems to be growing. The target audience is to whomever will listen and to whomever will help spread awareness. They are trying to get people to realize even after 400 hundred years you should not treat someone differently just because of the color of their skin. How America  is turning their back on the people of color and they are not doing anything about it. How we are not getting justice for all but only for certain people.

            In the movement with the short speeches, vidoes, songs, and poems they used certain terms to communicate their logos to the audience. It is some pathos because they want others to see where they are coming from and to see it is hurting us. In Trey Songz song 2020 Riots: How Many Times he sings “how many mothers have to cry, how many brothers have to die. He said this because police are taking parents’ children no matter what age they are. Parents should not have to bury their children because what if that was your child? They are taking so many of our black men that are dads,brothers,uncles and more. In a poem with an unknown author they said ‘black mothers’ tears keep graveyard grass green”. Meaning they have killed more than we can count. No parent should want to watch or hear about another parent losing an innocent child.  It is more facts pointing out why the movement is going on and why the movement will continue to go one. For instance the movement returned to national headlines and gained further international attention during the global George Floyed protest in the 2020 following his murder by Minneapols police officer Dereck Chauvin. That is only one out of hundreds of cases of police brutality that we are trying to shine the light on so these people’s families can get justice for their loved ones. The news even stated “ This movement circles back to the beating of Rodney King in march 1991 and the riots that followed”.

            Over the years the movement has grown to be successful to many. We wanted to tell and show people near and far that African Americans’ lives matter too. They have captured millions of attention around the world. They even painted a huge Black Lives Matter merial in yellow that can be seen from outer space. What a way to get the message all the way out there. The merial was eventually vandalized and painted black, but will still be seen by thousands everyday. It will still hold its power, and the meaning behind it is bigger than just the black community it is for all races.  Others will say it was not so successful because of some of the things that got burned down and vandalized in the process. You have some that see the protesters as rioters and want them killed or locked away for trying to fight for a simple right. The movement has come a long way but we still have more to get done. They have gotten their message across. Now we are just waiting for the right people in power to stand up and stand with the African Americans as well.

            The creators of the Black Lives Movement are saying America does not care about African Americans or anywho who is willing to help them. This movement is bringing awareness to us losing our lives to police officers and not getting justice for it. All we want is to be treated equally with the same kindness and respect we deserve like the rest of America. We are saying how cops should be punished for killing innocent men, women, and children of color and not just a slap on the wrist. We are saying Americans are not even hiding its hate for us anymore; they kill us in the broad daylight.

                                                                        Works Cited