Alice Lopez
Dr. Kubal
SOC 122
2 May 2016
Black Lives Matter
In class we watched a film about the history of the movement for Black Lives Matter. The film explained how the movement evolved from a state & country issue, to a global issue. Our job was to analyze how they used the following tactics to advance their cause: resource mobilization, framing, and political opportunity.
The best tactic, in my opinion, that helped advance the movement was the use of their resources. In an era full of technology, they used it to let their cause be known to everyone. The movement itself was derived through the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter. This hashtag spread through all social media and helped bring on board people who were not part of the movement but believed in it. In other words, it mobilized citizens to take a stance and bring more light to the issue. Since more people were becoming aware of how they could shed light on the injustices, more videos sparked on social media that showed how police officers were arresting black people viciously. The use of self-media helps advance the cause because there is no need to depend on state or global news stations that all have political agendas when it comes to watch is shown or is not. Of course they had more resources like political figures; however, technology was the greatest.
As for framing and political opportunity, the movement grew from incidents that occurred in the community. It was cases like that of Freddy Gray that helped spark outrage amongst people and get them mobilized to put pressure on the government officials. Furthermore, there were violent riots on the streets because of these unjust beatings, but through these incidents there was more pressure and it resulted in getting 6 officers indicted. Of course this is only a small win, but nonetheless a win for the movement. There is still work to be done, but like in the film we see parents and citizens coming forth to take a stand against violent crimes being committed in the black community.
No comments:
Post a Comment