Social Movements: Campaigning for Human Rights

1 Social Movements Social movements are loosely organized entities that engage in a sustained campaign to support a specific goal. Characteristics of a social movement are looseness, collectiveness, lack of permanent office, and having a common goal and ideology (Martin, 2015). The movement leverages various platforms to reach millions of people and rally them toward a common goal. For instance, the Anti-war movement advocated for ending the Vietnam War. On the other hand, the Black Lives Matter movement seeks to end the racially inspired killing of African Americans.

Moreover, the social movements I have studied mainly engage in raising awareness against a particular social problem. Social movements researched include the Anti-war, Disability rights movement, Civil Rights Movements, Black Lives Matter movement and Abolitionist Movements that sought to address discrimination, racism, oppression, and violations of liberties in society. Most movements act as agents of social change to resolve societal challenges.

2 For example, the Civil Rights Movement, Black Lives Matter, and Abolitionist Movement sought to end oppression, discrimination, and societal inequalities. The Civil Rights movement agitated for the equality of all Americans, ending discrimination against African and women in exercising political and civic rights. Black Lives Matter fights for an end to oppression and violations of the liberties of people of color (Bell, 2021). In this respect, the social movements I have researched connect with concepts in weekly readings such as liberty, social change, oppression, inequality, and liberty.

The lived experience informed my thinking about democracy in America, capitalism, oppression, exploitation, liberty, and prosperity. Whereas democracy is a good system of government, it allows a few organized people to control the majority. The organized minority is dominated by the rich and privileged, which explains why the adopted governance system may not favor minority groups (Bell, 2021). Capitalism produces inequalities because for the rich to amass more wealth, they must make profits, which promotes the exploitation of the poor and underprivileged. The Black Lives Matter movement reveals the legacy of slavery and the slave trade in the U.S. Slavery and rising racism were tools of exploitation and oppression, violating African American liberties and denying opportunities to prosper (Bell, 2021). The scholars from weekly readings helped to illuminate and expound on course concepts of inequality, discrimination, social change, liberty, social justice, and oppression by discussing social movements and issues they dealt with.

Part II: FACT SHEET  The Black Lives Matter social movement was founded in 2013 as social media hashtag #BlackLivesMatter by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi following an exoneration of George Zimmerman in a case about the shooting and killing of Trayvon Martin in 2012.

3  The acquittal of Zimmerman was received with shock among African Americans, prompting the creation of a hashtag to voice dissatisfaction with how the American justice system handles cases of shootings of African Americans.  Black Lives Matter agitates for stopping police brutality and pressuring courts to treat black people equally. The group is an agent for social justice, seeking a change that will guarantee equal treatment of African American and White lives.  To highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people.  Black Lives Matter is a change movement that agitates for better treatment of African Americans, guaranteeing them equal justice with their White counterparts.

4 References Bell, S. (2021). The rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. BrightPoint Press.

Martin, G. (2015). Understanding Social Movements. Routledge.

Meyer, D.S. (2015). The politics of protest: social movements in America (Second ed.).

Oxford University Press.