DOCSLIB.ORG

Which Identity Frames Boost Support for and Mobilization in the #Blacklivesmatter Movement? an Experimental Test TABITHA BONILLA Northwestern University ALVIN B

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Which Identity Frames Boost Support for and Mobilization in the #Blacklivesmatter Movement? an Experimental Test TABITHA BONILLA Northwestern University ALVIN B American Political Science Review (2020) 114, 4, 947–962 doi:10.1017/S0003055420000544 © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the American Political Science Association Which Identity Frames Boost Support for and Mobilization in the #BlackLivesMatter Movement? An Experimental Test TABITHA BONILLA Northwestern University ALVIN B. TILLERY JR. Northwestern University he Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement has organized hundreds of disruptive protests in American cities since 2013 (Garza 2014; Harris 2015; Taylor 2016). The movement has garnered considerable attention from the U.S. media and is well recognized by the U.S. public (Horowitz and https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055420000544 T . Livingston 2016; Neal 2017). Social movement scholars suggest that such robust mobilizations are typically predicated on clear social movement frames (Benford and Snow 2000; Snow et al. 1986). Tillery (2019b) has identified several distinct message frames within the social media communications of BLM activists. In this paper, we use a survey experiment to test the effect of three of these frames—Black Nationalist, Feminist, and LGBTQ+ Rights—on the mobilization of African Americans. We find that exposure to these frames generates differential effects on respondents’ willingness to support, trust, canvass, and write representatives about the Black Lives Matter movement. These findings raise new questions about the deployment of intersectional messaging strategies within movements for racial justice. https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms INTRODUCTION animating principle and mantra of the movement against police brutality in Black communities in the United n August 2012, Marcus Anthony Hunter, an urban States (Bonilla and Rosa 2015; Jackson and Welles I studies scholar at the University of California, Los 2016;Rickford2016;Taylor2016,13–15). Hundreds of Angeles, was the first to post the hashtag #Black- large, disruptive Black Lives Matter protests have been LivesMatter on Twitter (National Public Radio 2019). staged in American cities since 2014. Public opinion and The hashtag began to go viral on the social media media studies have reported that these protests have platform after Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal ’ registered in the national consciousness (Horowitz and Tometti posted it on July 13, 2013 to protest a jury s Livingston 2016;Neal2017; Tillery 2017). decision to acquit George Zimmerman in the shooting As is often the case when new movements emerge death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed African Ameri- (Gusfield 1994, 59; Zald 1992), the Black Lives Matter can teenager, during a confrontation in Sanford, Florida. movement has also become the subject of scholarly In the years since this viral post, #BlackLivesMatter has — inquiry about how its origins, tactics, and effects fit into been tweeted more than 35 million times making it one existing theoretical paradigms and how it is understood of the three most used hashtags on the Twitter platform by others (Freelon, McIlwain, and Clark 2016; Harris (Freelon, McIlwain, and Clark 2016;Garza2014; , subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at 2015; Lebron 2017;Merseth2018; Rickford 2016; Taylor Hockin and Brunson 2018). The phrase Black Lives 2016;Tillery2019b). The consensus within this burgeon- Matter (BLM) has also acquired an off-line life as the ing literature is that the Black Lives Matter movement is akin to the New Social Movements—like Germany’s antinuclear movement or the Occupy Wall Street move- — Tabitha Bonilla , Assistant Professor, Human Development and ment in the United States that have emerged in 23 Jan 2021 at 06:17:34 Social Policy and Political Science (by courtesy) and Faculty Fellow advanced industrialized societies since the 1980s (Harris – – – , on Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, tabitha. 2015,3536; Rickford 2016,3536; Taylor 2016,145 [email protected]. 148, 156–159; Tillery 2019b). Under this formulation, we Alvin B. Tillery, Jr. , Associate Professor of Political Science can expect the activists associated with the Black Lives and African American Studies (by courtesy), alvin.tillery@northwes- Matter movement to evince less concern with mobilizing tern.edu. We are grateful to Sky Patterson for research assistance. We resources to affect public policy debates or shift the would like to thank Professor Pearl Dowe (Emory University), trajectory of political institutions than did their prede- Valeria Sinclair-Chapman (Purdue University), Daniel Gillion (Uni- cessors in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and versity of Pennsylvania) for insightful comments on an earlier draft of 1960s (Johnston, Larana, and Gusfield 1994;Melucci the paper. We also thank Fernandes Tormos-Aponte (University of 1989; Pichardo 1997). We can also expect Black Lives The University of Texas at El Paso . Maryland-Baltimore County) and Valeria Sinclair-Chapman (Pur- Matter activists to replace resource mobilization in the due University) for organizing, hosting, and inviting us to participate service of instrumental demands with a “politics of in a mini-conference on social movements and intersectionality at ” SPSA 2020. We also thank all participants for their helpful feedback. signification that seeks to create a space for and repre- Finally, we thank the three anonymous reviewers and the previous sent their distinctive identities within postindustrial cul- APSR editors, Professor Thomas Koenig and Professor Ken Benoit, tures (Johnston, Larana, and Gusfield 1994;Melucci for pushing us to significantly improve this paper through the review 1989). In other words, we should observe Black Lives process. Replications files are available at the American Political Matter activists devoting considerable attention to mes- Science Review Dataverse: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/IUZDQI. saging about the various identity groups that they pur- Received: September 20, 2019; revised: June 12, 2020; accepted: port to represent in the public sphere. https://www.cambridge.org/core June 15, 2020. 947 Downloaded from Tabitha Bonilla and Alvin B. Tillery Jr. Scholars of social movements have long acknow- shaping both the attitudes that rank-and-file African ledged the importance of “social movement frames” Americans hold about the movement and their willing- both to generate support for and to mobilize individuals ness to participate in it. We ask whether a framing to participate in social movements (Goffman 1974; strategy grounded in intersectionality theory works to Snow and Benford 2000; Snow et al. 1986; Tarrow mobilize African Americans to support and participate 1992). Indeed, many scholars argue that the difference in the Black Lives Matter movement. Does framing the between successful and unsuccessful movements hinges Black Lives Matter movement as addressing the “inter- on the ability of their core activists to behave as “sig- locking systems of oppression” lead to the same or nifying agents actively engaged in the production and greater levels of support for the Black Lives Matter maintenance of meaning for constituents, antagonists, movement and mobilization among African Americans and bystanders or observers” (Snow and Benford 2000, as when the movement is framed more broadly as a https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055420000544 613). The focus on frames within social movement fight for racial justice? Or, do movement frames predi- . studies has corresponded with the rise of the New cated on marginalized subgroup identities function as Social Movements. Despite this fact, there has not been micromobilizers for those bearing overlapping iden- much empirical work on how the identity frames tities? We answer these questions through a survey deployed by the leaders of New Social Movements experiment designed to test whether the subgroup shape public opinion and affect micromobilization. frames are as potent as a frame based on racial identity Instead, social movement scholars have tended to sim- for encouraging African Americans to adopt positive ply catalog the rise of new frames and describe how well attitudes about the Black Lives Matter movement and they seem to “resonate” with collectivities during pro- engage in political actions to support the movement. tests (Benford and Snow 2000; Keck and Sikkink 1998, We believe that exploring these questions through 223–226; Snow and Benford 1992; Snow and Machalek experimental methods is warranted for three reasons. https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms 1984). In most social movements, the framing of the First, while there is a wealth of excellent qualitative movement is competitive (Carroll and Ratner 1996; research on the dynamics of the Black Lives Matter Benford and Snow 2000; Zald 1996)—that is, activists movement (see, for example, Chatelain and Asoka from different branches of a movement tend to com- 2015; Harris 2015;Rickford2016;Taylor2016), there is pete with one another to elevate their message to the a dearth of causal research on the movement’s impact on position of “master frame” or dominant narrative of African American communities. Second, because Black what the movement is about (Mooney and Hunt 1996; Lives Matter is the first avowedly intersectional move- Snow and Benford 1992, Bonilla and Mo 2019). Such ment to gain significant traction in the American public competition has largely been absent from the history of sphere, developing theoretical insights about how it the Black Lives Matter movement. On the contrary, the shapes political attitudes and behavior holds
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Blacklivesmatter—Getting from Contemporary Social Movements to Structural Change
    Georgetown University Law Center Scholarship @ GEORGETOWN LAW 2021 #BlackLivesMatter—Getting from Contemporary Social Movements to Structural Change Jamillah Bowman Williams Georgetown University Law Center, [email protected] Naomi Mezey Georgetown University Law Center, [email protected] Lisa O. Singh Georgetown University, [email protected] This paper can be downloaded free of charge from: https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/2387 https://ssrn.com/abstract=3860435 California Law Review Online, Vol. 12, Reckoning and Reformation symposium. This open-access article is brought to you by the Georgetown Law Library. Posted with permission of the author. Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub Part of the Criminal Law Commons, Law and Race Commons, and the Law and Society Commons #BlackLivesMatter— Getting from Contemporary Social Movements to Structural Change Jamillah Bowman Williams*, Naomi Mezey**, and Lisa Singh*** Introduction ................................................................................................. 2 I. Methodology ............................................................................................ 5 II. BLM: From Contemporary Social Movement to Structural Change ..... 6 A. Black Lives Matter as a Social Media Powerhouse ................. 6 B. Tweets and Streets: The Dynamic Relationship between Online and Offline Activism ................................................. 12 C. A Theory of How to Move from Social Media
    [Show full text]
  • Resources on Racial Justice June 8, 2020
    Resources on Racial Justice June 8, 2020 1 7 Anti-Racist Books Recommended by Educators and Activists from the New York Magazine https://nymag.com/strategist/article/anti-racist-reading- list.html?utm_source=insta&utm_medium=s1&utm_campaign=strategist By The Editors of NY Magazine With protests across the country calling for systemic change and justice for the killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and Tony McDade, many people are asking themselves what they can do to help. Joining protests and making donations to organizations like Know Your Rights Camp, the ACLU, or the National Bail Fund Network are good steps, but many anti-racist educators and activists say that to truly be anti-racist, we have to commit ourselves to the ongoing fight against racism — in the world and in us. To help you get started, we’ve compiled the following list of books suggested by anti-racist organizations, educators, and black- owned bookstores (which we recommend visiting online to purchase these books). They cover the history of racism in America, identifying white privilege, and looking at the intersection of racism and misogyny. We’ve also collected a list of recommended books to help parents raise anti-racist children here. Hard Conversations: Intro to Racism - Patti Digh's Strong Offer This is a month-long online seminar program hosted by authors, speakers, and social justice activists Patti Digh and Victor Lee Lewis, who was featured in the documentary film, The Color of Fear, with help from a community of people who want and are willing to help us understand the reality of racism by telling their stories and sharing their resources.
    [Show full text]
  • Our Commitment to Black Lives
    Our Commitment to Black Lives June 3, 2020 Dear Friends of the CCE, We are writing today to affirm that we, the staff of the Center for Community Engagement, believe and know that Black Lives Matter. We honor wide-spread grief for the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery among the many named and unnamed Black lives lost to racial violence and hatred in the United States. The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement — co-founded by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi — arose to address ongoing legacies of racialized violence in our country. As BLM leaders have consistently stated, disproportionate violence toward Black communities by law enforcement is one manifestation of anti-Black systemic racism perpetuated across public and private institutions including health care, housing and education. We are firmly and deeply committed to the lives of Black community members, Black youth and their families, and Seattle U’s Black students, faculty and staff. We believe that messages like this one can have an impact, and yet our words ring hollow without action. The Center for Community Engagement is committed to becoming an anti-racist organization. Fulfilling our mission of connecting campus and community requires long-term individual, organizational, and system-wide focus on understanding and undoing white supremacy. We see our commitment to anti-racism as directly linked to Seattle University’s pursuit of a more just and humane world as well as our Jesuit Catholic ethos of cura personalis, care for the whole person. We urge you to participate in ways that speak to you during the national racial crisis that is continuing to unfold.
    [Show full text]
  • A Herstory of the #Blacklivesmatter Movement by Alicia Garza
    A Herstory of the #BlackLivesMatter Movement by Alicia Garza From The Feminist Wire, October 7, 2014 I created #BlackLivesMatter with Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi, two of my sisters, as a call to action for Black people after 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was post-humously placed on trial for his own murder and the killer, George Zimmerman, was not held accountable for the crime he committed. It was a response to the anti-Black racism that permeates our society and also, unfortunately, our movements. Black Lives Matter is an ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise. It is an affirmation of Black folks’ contributions to this society, our humanity, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression. We were humbled when cultural workers, artists, designers and techies offered their labor and love to expand #BlackLivesMatter beyond a social media hashtag. Opal, Patrisse, and I created the infrastructure for this movement project—moving the hashtag from social media to the streets. Our team grew through a very successful Black Lives Matter ride, led and designed by Patrisse Cullors and Darnell L. Moore, organized to support the movement that is growing in St. Louis, MO, after 18-year old Mike Brown was killed at the hands of Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson. We’ve hosted national conference calls focused on issues of critical importance to Black people working hard for the liberation of our people. We’ve connected people across the country working to end the various forms of injustice impacting our people.
    [Show full text]
  • Song & Music in the Movement
    Transcript: Song & Music in the Movement A Conversation with Candie Carawan, Charles Cobb, Bettie Mae Fikes, Worth Long, Charles Neblett, and Hollis Watkins, September 19 – 20, 2017. Tuesday, September 19, 2017 Song_2017.09.19_01TASCAM Charlie Cobb: [00:41] So the recorders are on and the levels are okay. Okay. This is a fairly simple process here and informal. What I want to get, as you all know, is conversation about music and the Movement. And what I'm going to do—I'm not giving elaborate introductions. I'm going to go around the table and name who's here for the record, for the recorded record. Beyond that, I will depend on each one of you in your first, in this first round of comments to introduce yourselves however you wish. To the extent that I feel it necessary, I will prod you if I feel you've left something out that I think is important, which is one of the prerogatives of the moderator. [Laughs] Other than that, it's pretty loose going around the table—and this will be the order in which we'll also speak—Chuck Neblett, Hollis Watkins, Worth Long, Candie Carawan, Bettie Mae Fikes. I could say things like, from Carbondale, Illinois and Mississippi and Worth Long: Atlanta. Cobb: Durham, North Carolina. Tennessee and Alabama, I'm not gonna do all of that. You all can give whatever geographical description of yourself within the context of discussing the music. What I do want in this first round is, since all of you are important voices in terms of music and culture in the Movement—to talk about how you made your way to the Freedom Singers and freedom singing.
    [Show full text]
  • Social Justice Practices for Educational Theatre
    VOLUME 7 ISSUE 2b | 2020 SOCIAL JUSTICE PRACTICES FOR EDUCATIONAL THEATRE ARTSPRAXIS Emphasizing critical analysis of the arts in society. ISSN: 1552-5236 EDITOR Jonathan P. Jones, New York University, USA EDITORIAL BOARD Selina Busby, The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, UK Amy Cordileone, New York University, USA Ashley Hamilton, University of Denver, USA Norifumi Hida, Toho Gakuen College of Drama and Music, Japan Kelly Freebody, The University of Sydney, Australia Byoung-joo Kim, Seoul National University of Education, South Korea David Montgomery, New York University, USA Ross Prior, University of Wolverhampton, UK Daphnie Sicre, Loyola Marymount University, USA James Webb, Bronx Community College, USA Gustave Weltsek, Indiana University Bloomington, USA Tammie Swopes, New York University, USA ArtsPraxis Volume 7, Issue 2b looked to engage members of the global Educational Theatre community in dialogue around current research and practice. This call for papers was released in concert with the publication of ArtsPraxis Volume 7, Issue 1 and upon the launch of the new ArtsPraxis homepage. The submission deadline for Volume 7, Issue 2b was July 15, 2020. Submissions fell under the category of Social Justice Practices for Educational Theatre. Social Justice Practices for Educational Theatre As of early June, 2020, we found ourselves about ten days into international protests following the murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Protesters the world over made specific calls to action: acknowledge that black lives matter, educate yourself about social and racial injustice, and change the legal system that allows these heinous acts to go unpunished. In thinking through how we in the field of educational theatre could proactively address these needs, I reminded myself that there were many artists and educators who were already deeply engaged in this work.
    [Show full text]
  • Hashtag Activism and Why #Blacklivesmatter in (And To) the Classroom
    City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works Publications and Research Brooklyn College 2016 Hashtag Activism and Why #BlackLivesMatter In (And To) the Classroom Prudence Cumberbatch CUNY Brooklyn College Nicole Trujillo-Pagán Wayne State University How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/bc_pubs/189 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] ISSN: 1941-0832 Hashtag Activism and Why #BlackLivesMatter In (and To) the Classroom by-Prudence Cumberbatch and Nicole Trujillo-Pagán PROTEST MARCH IN RESPONSE TO THE SHOOTING OF PHILANDO CASTILE, ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA ON JULY 7, 2016 (IMAGE: FIBONACCI BLUE) RADICAL TEACHER 78 http://radicalteacher.library.pitt.edu No. 106 (Fall 2016) DOI 10.5195/rt.2016.302 n the wake of the murder of Trayvon Martin and the not only transform people's self-understandings but also acquittal of George Zimmerman, the hashtag contest the legitimacy of received cultural codes and points I #BlackLivesMatter was started by Alicia Garza, of view” (Carroll and Hackett 2006, 87). A critical part of PatrisseCullors and Opal Tometi. 1 The case led to this discursive struggle involves social media, which multiracial protests across the country and Twitter became creates a virtual space to challenge, reframe, and a way of organizing and discussing these experiences. The reinscribe representations of who is victimized. subsequent media attention to the murders of unarmed Communities like Black Lives Matter (BLM) challenge the black and brown people encouraged further protest using legitimacy of an ostensibly “colorblind” judicial system.
    [Show full text]
  • Run Toward Fear
    MLK DAY SYMPOSIUM 2018: RUN TOWARD FEAR SESSION 1 OFFERINGS (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER) Asian Privilege? Think Again. “Don’t complain—you’re Asian, so you already have it better than others.” How do Asians experience racism in the United States? Are the stereotypes imposed on Asian people really “compliments”? In this workshop, we will analyze specific historical examples of racism towards Asian Americans in the United States, and how history has created a lasting impact on racism towards Asian Americans today. We will discuss how institutionalized racism and internalized racism have altered the lives of Asian Americans, and how the UHS community can address these seemingly small microaggressions and impromptu remarks that are so prevalent in everyday student life. NOTE: this session is open to all, and is not limited to self-identified Asians. Contextualizing the News Through AJ+. Since 2014, AJ+ –Al Jazeera’s primary digital channel– has worked to help viewers contextualize news and information, telling the stories of the powerless in our societies across the globe both in the U.S. and beyond. This workshop will explore how AJ+ tells these stories through the perspective of producer Omar Duwaji, who told the story of his own community in his series, Syrians in America. The session will also illuminate how AJ+ tackles other big stories related to themes of race, identity, xenophobia, and U.S. foreign policy. (Omar Duwaji, Journalist and Digital Media Producer for AJ+) Ending Anti-Muslim Bigotry—Breakout Session with Panelist Madihha Ahussain (Special Counsel for Anti-Muslim Bigotry, Muslim Advocates). This session explores the ways misinformation, media and public and foreign policy in post 9/11 America contribute to negative public perceptions of Muslims at home and abroad.
    [Show full text]
  • BLACK LIVES MATTER and BLACK POWER By
    BLACK LIVES MATTER AND BLACK POWER by Daviana Fraser A thesis submitted to the faculty of The University of North Carolina at Charlotte in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Communication Studies Charlotte 2021 Approved by: ______________________________ Dr. Richard Leeman ______________________________ Dr. Jason Edward Black ______________________________ Dr. Janaka Lewis ii ©2021 Daviana Fraser ALL RIGHTS RESERVED iii ABSTRACT DAVIANA FRASER. Black Lives Matter and Black Power. Under the direction of DR. RICHARD LEEMAN Today, Black Americans face the same foes as in previous efforts to secure civil rights. Over the last decade, names like Trayvon Martin, Sandra Bland, Tamir Rice, Keith Lamont Scott, Philando Castile, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor join those of Emmett Till, Rodney King and countless others as causalities of white supremacy. This recurrence has ignited and unified a generation of activists through the phrase “Black Lives Matter.” The Black Lives Matter movement, like the Black Power movement, has named Blackness as a nexus for racial equity. For both movements, the specification of Blackness responded to a need to differentiate the experiences of Black people under racial oppression from others and binds members of this oppressed community to one another. In juxtaposition, both movements also trace the progression of Black centered social justice efforts led by and for members of the Black community who identify with the use of justified anger against injustice. These movements serve as critiques of the mainstream Civil Rights Movement and the ways that its leaders prioritized the feelings and permissions of white people. The objective of this thesis is to conduct a comparative analysis of Black Power and Black Lives Matter in order to better understand the rhetorical strategies of the latter, contemporary movement.
    [Show full text]
  • 2021 SUMMER READING LIST the ACLU of New Mexico Is Pleased to Share Our Annual List of Summer Reading Recommendations
    2021 SUMMER READING LIST The ACLU of New Mexico is pleased to share our annual list of summer reading recommendations. This year, our staff has curated a list of books across a variety of subjects, written by authors of color. These works represent a small, but powerful faction of story tellers whose creative and intellectual perspectives are shaping the contemporary literary landscape. Featured Book The Purpose of Power: How We Come Together When We Fall Apart by Alicia Garza In this essential guide to building transformative social justice movements, author and co-creator of Black Lives Matter, Alicia Garza, reflects on how making room for those who are still awakening can inspire and activate more people to fight for the world we all deserve. See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love by Valarie Kaur Valarie Kaur, renowned Sikh activist, filmmaker, and civil rights lawyer, describes revolutionary love as the call of our time. In sharing her own journey, Kaur helps us imagine new ways of being with each other—and with ourselves—so that together we can begin to build the world we want to see. Feminism, Interrupted: Disrupting Power by Lola Olufemi The Night Watchman Lola Olufemi explores state violence by Louise Erdrich against women, the fight for Based on the life of author Louise Erdrich’s reproductive justice, transmisogyny, grandfather who worked as a night watchman and gendered Islamophobia and solidarity carried the fight against Native dispossession with global struggles, showing that from rural North Dakota to Washington, D.C., the fight for gendered liberation can The Night Watchman is filled with powerful change the world for everybody when characters who are forced to grapple with the we refuse to think of it solely as worst and best impulses of human nature.
    [Show full text]
  • Black Lives Matter Timeline
    Black Lives Matter Timeline 2/26/2012: George Zimmerman Shoots Trayvon Martin In Sanford, FL 3/1/2012: A Million Hoodies For Justice Is Created To 3/22/2012: A call for the arrest of Support The Arrest Of George Zimmerman results in a George Zimmerman petition on Change.org. It receives over 1.3 million signatures 3/26/2012: A month after Trayvon Martin's death 3/26/2012: 6 NY State rallies take place across Senators wear hoodies in the county the capitol chamber in 3/28/2012: Congressman honor of Martin Bobby Rush (D-IL) is thrown off of the House floor for wearing a hoodie 4/4/2012: The CBC introduce a in protest congressional resolution, H. Res. 612 regarding the death of Trayvon 4/6/2012: A group of students Martin and gun control from Gainesville, Tallahassee, Miami, and Orlando begin a 40-mile protest (The Dream Defenders) 4/11/2012: George Zimmerman is charged 4/19/2012: Stand Your with second-degree Ground for Justice Town murder Hall held in Sanford, sponsored by the National 6/20/2012: Sanford Police Bar Association Chief Bill Lee Is Fired 7/13/2012: George Zimmerman is acquitted of 7/14/2013: Patrisse Cullors re-posts a the murder of Trayvon message about the acquittal of Martin George Zimmerman in the murder of Trayvon Martin with the hashtag 7/20/2013: First massive protest #blacklivesmatter occurs for Trayvon Martin; over 1,000 people stage a sit-in in Times Square 11/2/2013: Renisha McBride is killed by a Theodore Wafer in Dearborn Heights Michigan 7/17/2014: Eric Garner is murdered by police in Long 7/18/2014: New York Daily News Island, New York Releases The Video of Garner’s 7/21/2014: The four EMS workers Death who responded after Garner went into cardiac arrest are 7/22/2014: About 100 people suspended without pay gather in a vigil and march for Eric Garner in Tompkinsville 7/23/2014: Hundreds gather in Brooklyn for Garner's funeral, 8/1/2014: The city's medical including his six children.
    [Show full text]
  • Blacklivesmatter 1–2/2016 Unpredictable Intimacies and Political Affects 46
    SQS "Queering" #BlackLivesMatter 1–2/2016 Unpredictable Intimacies and Political Affects 46 Bessie P. Dernikos Queer/ View/Mirror Opinion Piece ABSTRACT If I die in police custody, know that I want to live! We want to live! #BlackLivesMatter (#BLM) has garnered considerable attention in We fght to live! Black Lives Mater! All Black Lives Mater! recent years with its commitment to honor all black lives, yet the (Black Lives Mater Netroots Mob 2015) affective dimensions of this global cause remain largely under- theorized. Within this piece, I explore how #BLM, as a larger sociopolitical movement, works to collectively bind strangers Te 2012 shooting of 17-year old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida has together by transmitting affects that produce a sense of immediacy, intimacy, and belonging. I argue that these affective intensities garnered national atention in the United States, fueling intense speculation incite an ‘unpredictable intimacy’ that closely connects strangers to over what it means to live in a morally ambiguous world where police black bodies and intensifies the forces of race, gender, and hetero/ brutality and unchecked violence against African Americans tragically sexuality in ways that—counter to the movement’s purpose— proliferate. According to Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart violate the bodies of queer/black women, in particular, via the (2015): processes of replication and erasure. I conclude by proposing that, while #BLM aims to empower black lives and build a collective, we Since that rainy night three years ago, we have watched one horrifc remember the political possibilities that affect and queer theories encounter afer another involving unarmed African Americans on have to offer in order to attend to, and potentially disrupt, the the losing end of a gun or a confrontation with police.
    [Show full text]