Black Lives Matter has been called the largest civil movement in U.S. history. Since 2013, local BLM chapters have formed nationwide to demand accountability for the killings of dozens of African Americans by police and others. Since the summer of 2020, when tens of millions in the U.S. and around the world marched under the Black Lives Matter slogan to protest a Minneapolis police officers murder of George Floyd, the movement has risen to a new level of prominence, funding and scrutiny.
BLM has long been seen as a coordinated yet decentralized effort. Lately, the movement and its leading organizations have become more traditional and hierarchical in structure. Public opinion is also changing, as BLM chapters call on the movements leaders to be more accountable to its grassroots groups. We caught up with two scholars of worldwide African communities and cultures Kwasi Konadu and Bright Gyamfi to discuss BLM as both a movement and an organization.
Black Lives Matter started in 2013 as a messaging campaign. In response to the 2012 acquittal of George Zimmerman for shooting and killing Black teenager Trayvon Martin, three activists Opal Tometi, Alicia Garza and Patrisse Cullors protested the verdict on social media, along with many others. Cullors came up with the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter, which gained widespread use on social media and in street protests.
Over the next several years as Black Lives Matter flags, hashtags and signs became common features of local, national and even international protests in support of Black lives this messaging campaign became a decentralized social movement to demand accountability for police killings and other brutality against Black people.
The movement remained decentralized, although some significant, formal BLM-related organizations emerged during this time. For instance, in 2013 Cullors, Tometi and Garza formed the Black Lives Matter Network to facilitate communication, support and shared resources among the dozens of locally organized and led Black Lives Matter chapters that were springing up around the United States.
In 2014, the Movement for Black Lives, or M4BL, formed as a separate but related coalition of dozens of organizations of Black activist and others, including the Black Lives Matter Network.
In 2017, the Black Lives Matter Network transformed into the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, co-founded by Tometi and Cullors, who was the executive director until she stepped down in May 2021. This group describes itself as a global foundation supporting Black led movements.
While the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation says it is decentralized, over time it has followed a pattern similar to other social movements driven by individuals and organizations. It has become more of a conventional hierarchical organization, centralizing its operations and leadership. Its founders have won awards, book deals and notoriety.
The BLM Global Network Foundation has not developed any publicly known independent source of funding, nor was a decision ever made to rely primarily on grassroots support or small individual donations. As a result, it is dependent on corporate and foundation money to pay for its operations and programs. Amid the George Floyd uprisings in 2020, the BLM Global Network Foundation generated some US$90 million in donations or grants from corporations and foundations.
The Movement for Black Lives, which calls itself decentralized and anti-capitalist, also raised millions in 2020, including $100 million from the Ford Foundation.
All told, corporations pledged close to $2 billion to BLM-related causes in 2020, though less is known about pledges for 2021.
Meanwhile, many frontline Black Lives Matters chapters have struggled to stay afloat. Some key chapters have begun calling for financial transparency and more democratic decison-making from national leaders at the BLM Global Network Foundation, as well as a share of the funds the national groups have raised.
Others have disavowed the Black Lives Matter Network and defected from it, focusing on local community fundraising and organizing to support their work.
Though the phrase Black Lives Matter has become a common sight, the movement is losing public support. According to a new Civiqs survey of 244,622 registered voters, support for BLM fell from two-thirds of voters in June 2020 to 50% in June 2021.
Some of this shift may be due to growing public awareness of the movements internal struggles, such as competing visions and competition over scarce resources, as well as questions about whether some BLM leaders have used donations for personal benefit.
Tensions and conflicts are part of the evolution of all social movements, including BLM.
Movements for peoples of African ancestry also face a distinct challenge: They often have to appeal for both funding and action from the same white power structure and corporate interests that participate in and benefit from the suffering of Black people.
For example, although President Lyndon B. Johnson is remembered for helping pass the 1964 Civil Rights Act, he routinely referred to the 1957 version of that act as the nigger bill in conversations with his Southern white supremacist colleagues.
Another example involves the McDonalds Corp. In 1968, after the death of Martin Luther King Jr., McDonalds partnered with U.S. civil rights organizations. The company claimed its African American-owned franchises were carrying on Kings civil rights agenda to empower the Black community.
According to historian Marcia Chatelain, however, instead of enabling economic freedom, McDonalds has burdened the Black community with low wages, relatively few franchises and high rates of obesity, diabetes and heart disease. McDonalds has benefited from a devoted African American consumer base, more so because African Americans consume more fast food than any other race, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Money shaping social movements, such as the civil rights movement, is not new. The civil rights movement, including the summer of 1963s March on Washington, was funded by white liberal organizations and foundations. In the summer of 2020, BLM protests also generated millions in similar funding. Indeed, the Ford Foundation and the Borealis Philanthropy recently formed the Black-Led Movement Fund, which raises money for the Movement for Black Lives.
Malcolm X, in his analysis of the 1963 March on Washington, brought attention to the influence white philanthropy and leadership held over black social justice organizations, especially regarding funding that was controlled by the white power structure. Siding with Malcolms analysis, James Baldwin also observed, the March had already been co-opted.
Based on our research on civil rights-Black power organizations and on Black internationalism, BLM would benefit from a starfish organizational structure.
Starfishlike organizations are decentralized networks with no head. Intelligence is spread throughout an open system that easily adapts to circumstances. If a leader is removed, new ones emerge, and the network remains intact.
In the U.S., BLM organizers work through various groups, yet all are tied to centralized hubs, like the Movement for Black Lives coalition. These organizational choices conform to a spider analogy. Compared to the starfish structure, spiderlike organizations operate under the control of a central leader, and information and power are concentrated at the top.
[Youre smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversations authors and editors. You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter.]
In the wake of the 2020 mass protests against racism after George Floyds murder, many Republican-led states proposed a new wave of draconian anti-protest laws to stifle dissent. This suggests that BLM might be more resilient if it followed the starfish approach.
In their desire to appeal to a diverse public to end white supremacy, Black Lives Matters leaders fail to consider that pervasive anti-Black violence is the very engine that powers white supremacy and makes broad coalitions ineffective.
More here:
Black Lives Matter: How far has the movement come?
- Why does Black Lives Matter only care about black lives when white people are threatening them? - Telegraph.co.uk [Last Updated On: July 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 1st, 2020]
- Presque Isle Black Lives Matter protests call for end to discrimination and symbols of racism - The County [Last Updated On: July 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 1st, 2020]
- Majority agree with Black Lives Matter and say major police reform is needed CBS News poll - CBS News [Last Updated On: July 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 1st, 2020]
- Shots fired as Black Lives Matter and Back the Blue collide in Provo - Universe.byu.edu [Last Updated On: July 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 1st, 2020]
- Why Black Lives Matter-L.A. is trying to take down the county's first Black DA - NBC News [Last Updated On: July 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 1st, 2020]
- Pence says leaders of Black Lives Matter movement have 'radical left' agenda | TheHill - The Hill [Last Updated On: July 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 1st, 2020]
- Black Lives Matter protests may have slowed overall spread of coronavirus in Denver and other cities, new study finds - The Colorado Sun [Last Updated On: July 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 1st, 2020]
- Meaning behind the movement: Black Lives Matter - UNM Newsroom [Last Updated On: July 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 1st, 2020]
- Cortland Black Lives Matter Cautiously Considers Support From Local Libertarians - Juvenile Justice Information Exchange [Last Updated On: July 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 1st, 2020]
- How Trump and the Black Lives Matter Movement Changed White Voters Minds - The New York Times [Last Updated On: July 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 1st, 2020]
- People of all races are supporting the Black Lives Matter movement - KELOLAND.com [Last Updated On: July 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 1st, 2020]
- People donated millions of dollars to the wrong Black Lives Matter foundation read this before you give to any charity - MarketWatch [Last Updated On: July 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 1st, 2020]
- Nextdoor Will Offer Bias Training To App Moderators To Combat Racism - NPR [Last Updated On: July 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 1st, 2020]
- Martin Luther King III on a Pivotal Wave of Black Lives Matter Protests - The New York Times [Last Updated On: July 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 1st, 2020]
- The lies told by the Black Lives Matter movement [Last Updated On: July 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 1st, 2020]
- Trump: Black Lives Matter is a 'symbol of hate' - Politico [Last Updated On: July 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 1st, 2020]
- The Danger of the Black Lives Matter Movement - Imprimis [Last Updated On: July 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 1st, 2020]
- The Black Lives Matter movement explained | World Economic Forum [Last Updated On: July 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 1st, 2020]
- Black Lives Matter: A primer on what it is and what it stands for [Last Updated On: July 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 1st, 2020]
- 5 Things You Need To Know About Black Lives Matter | The ... [Last Updated On: July 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 1st, 2020]
- What Does "Black Lives Matter" Actually Mean? Why Saying ... [Last Updated On: July 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 1st, 2020]
- For Friends Of The Children, Black Lives Matter Is More Than A Moment - Forbes [Last Updated On: July 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 21st, 2020]
- How Graffiti Artists Are Propelling the Vision of the Black Lives Matter Movement - Artsy [Last Updated On: July 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 21st, 2020]
- After being told to remove her "Black Lives Matter" face mask, Whole Foods employee quits in protest. - Berkeleyside [Last Updated On: July 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 21st, 2020]
- Black Lives Matter mural placed on top of building in 5 Points neighborhood - WRAL.com [Last Updated On: July 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 21st, 2020]
- Corporate ads said Black Lives Matter. But the industry creating them is nearly all white. - NBC News [Last Updated On: July 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 21st, 2020]
- Black Lives Matter mural in Redwood City washed away after suggestion to paint MAGA 2020 - KRON4 [Last Updated On: July 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 21st, 2020]
- Black Lives Matter Activist: Abolishing The Police '100%' Means Just That - Here And Now [Last Updated On: July 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 21st, 2020]
- What Black Lives Matter Has Revealed About Small-Town America - The New York Times [Last Updated On: July 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 21st, 2020]
- Before Black Lives Matter: Black justice slogans, symbols dating back to the 1700s - ABC News [Last Updated On: July 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 21st, 2020]
- 63% support Black Lives Matter as recognition of discrimination jumps: POLL - ABC News [Last Updated On: July 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 21st, 2020]
- 12 White Female Bodies in Garage Freezer Tagged "Black ... [Last Updated On: July 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 21st, 2020]
- Black Lives Matter -- Manifesto in Ten Points | National ... [Last Updated On: July 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 21st, 2020]
- Black Lives Matter - Wikipedia [Last Updated On: July 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 21st, 2020]
- New reports of vandalism to Black Lives Matter sign on the Gunflint Trail - wtip.org [Last Updated On: July 31st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 31st, 2020]
- How the NYC mayoral candidates have responded to the Black Lives Matter protests - City & State [Last Updated On: July 31st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 31st, 2020]
- Magic forward Jonathan Isaac only player to stand, not wear Black Lives Matter shirt during national anthem - Yahoo Sports [Last Updated On: July 31st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 31st, 2020]
- Dodgers to Auction Off Opening Day Black Lives Matter Jerseys - NBC Southern California [Last Updated On: July 31st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 31st, 2020]
- From the renegade to Black Lives Matter: How Black creators are changing TikTok culture - NBC News [Last Updated On: July 31st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 31st, 2020]
- Police reveal identity of man killed at Black Lives Matter protest in Austin, Texas - Insider - INSIDER [Last Updated On: July 31st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 31st, 2020]
- Survey posted to help determine location of 'Black Lives Matter Street' in Buffalo - WKBW-TV [Last Updated On: July 31st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 31st, 2020]
- UMTV's The Culture sheds light on the Black Lives Matter movement - University of Miami [Last Updated On: July 31st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 31st, 2020]
- Orlando Hudson says he won't wear Black Lives Matter shirt - SCNow [Last Updated On: July 31st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 31st, 2020]
- NBA Season Officially Restarts With a Nod to the Black Lives Matter Movement - E! NEWS [Last Updated On: July 31st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 31st, 2020]
- Organizers gather strength for the next push in the Black Lives Matter movement - Columbus Alive [Last Updated On: July 31st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 31st, 2020]
- Listen to the young voices of the Black Lives Matter movement - The Guardian [Last Updated On: July 31st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 31st, 2020]
- A man held a Black Lives Matter sign in Harrison, Arkansas. He posted the racist responses to YouTube. - USA TODAY [Last Updated On: July 31st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 31st, 2020]
- Fact Checking Kennedy And Markey On Their Black Lives Matter Claims - WBUR [Last Updated On: July 31st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 31st, 2020]
- Technologys Role In Driving Progress In Black Lives Matter - Forbes [Last Updated On: July 31st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 31st, 2020]
- Instead of demonising Black Lives Matter protesters, leaders must act on their calls for racial justice - The Conversation AU [Last Updated On: July 31st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 31st, 2020]
- A Black Lives Matter mural is defaced with red, white and blue paint in Washington state - CNN [Last Updated On: July 31st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 31st, 2020]
- From Bloody Sunday to Black Lives Matter, the role of the Black church is shifting - POLITICO [Last Updated On: July 31st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 31st, 2020]
- Jackie Lacey, Husband Sued by Black Lives Matter Members Over Gun Incident - NBC Southern California [Last Updated On: October 20th, 2020] [Originally Added On: October 20th, 2020]
- Suspects in Black Lives Matter, Back the Blue rally assaults plead not guilty in Nevada County Superior Court - The Union of Grass Valley [Last Updated On: October 20th, 2020] [Originally Added On: October 20th, 2020]
- 'Where Would the Black Lives Matter Movement Be Without the Right To Free Speech?' - Reason [Last Updated On: October 20th, 2020] [Originally Added On: October 20th, 2020]
- Black lives matter everywhere. That's why the world should support the #EndSARS movement - The Guardian [Last Updated On: October 20th, 2020] [Originally Added On: October 20th, 2020]
- Vandalism charges OK'd for damage to Black Lives Matter sign in Thousand Oaks - VC Star [Last Updated On: October 20th, 2020] [Originally Added On: October 20th, 2020]
- What Angela Davis has to say about today's Black Lives Matter movement | TheHill - The Hill [Last Updated On: October 20th, 2020] [Originally Added On: October 20th, 2020]
- A Wisconsin County cut funding to a domestic violence shelter that showed support for Black Lives Matter - CNN [Last Updated On: October 20th, 2020] [Originally Added On: October 20th, 2020]
- Starbucks customer says 'F--- Black Lives Matter' when asked to put on mask | TheHill - The Hill [Last Updated On: October 20th, 2020] [Originally Added On: October 20th, 2020]
- A poll worker was fired for telling voters to turn their 'Black Lives Matter' shirts inside out - CNN [Last Updated On: October 20th, 2020] [Originally Added On: October 20th, 2020]
- Ben Harper talks Winter Is For Lovers, Black Lives Matter and special relationship with New Zealand - Newshub [Last Updated On: November 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: November 29th, 2020]
- Cricket: West Indies and Black Caps take knee for Black Lives Matter - New Zealand Herald [Last Updated On: November 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: November 29th, 2020]
- COVID-19, Black Lives Matter, Superspreader: Oxford names 2020 words of the year, saying this year cannot be - MassLive.com [Last Updated On: November 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: November 29th, 2020]
- The Urgency of Black Lives Matters #BlackXmas in the Midst of Pandemic - Lasentinel [Last Updated On: November 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: November 29th, 2020]
- BTS, snubbed singers and Black Lives Matter: Here are 12 things to know about this year's Grammy Award nominees - MarketWatch [Last Updated On: November 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: November 29th, 2020]
- Black Lives Matter activists, Biden, and Fauci nominated for Time's 'Person of the Year' award - Washington Times [Last Updated On: November 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: November 29th, 2020]
- NZ, Windies teams to take a knee in Black Lives Matter gesture - Sportstar [Last Updated On: November 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: November 29th, 2020]
- Black Lives Matter: Will Britain change? Hard facts laid bare in Race And Revolution TV show - Sky News [Last Updated On: November 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: November 29th, 2020]
- Black Lives Matter calls for police chief and officers involved in shooting teen to resign - KFOR Oklahoma City [Last Updated On: November 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: November 29th, 2020]
- Policing, Racism And The Black Lives Matter Movement In Albany - WAMC [Last Updated On: November 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: November 29th, 2020]
- Black Lives Matter has its eyes on Biden and the Georgia Senate election runoffs - Vox.com [Last Updated On: November 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: November 29th, 2020]
- The Weeknd Reveals Next Album Will Be Inspired by Pandemic, Black Lives Matter Movement - Billboard [Last Updated On: January 1st, 2021] [Originally Added On: January 1st, 2021]
- 2020 in review: Five ways Black Lives Matter affected the arts in Ottawa - Ottawa Citizen [Last Updated On: January 1st, 2021] [Originally Added On: January 1st, 2021]
- From the Pandemic to Black Lives Matter and the US Election, Here Are Foreign Policy's Top Arguments From the Year That Changed Everything - Foreign... [Last Updated On: January 1st, 2021] [Originally Added On: January 1st, 2021]
- Coronavirus, Megxit and Black Lives Matter: Review of the year 2020 - South Wales Argus [Last Updated On: January 1st, 2021] [Originally Added On: January 1st, 2021]
- Captain Tom and Black Lives Matter fist light up London skies for New Year display - Mirror Online [Last Updated On: January 1st, 2021] [Originally Added On: January 1st, 2021]
- 2020 politics in review: Trump vs. Biden, Markey vs. Kennedy and Black Lives Matter - Boston Herald [Last Updated On: January 1st, 2021] [Originally Added On: January 1st, 2021]
- THE 12 INTERVIEWS OF XMAS: Sinad O'Connor on Trump, Black Lives Matter and 'Trouble Of The World' - hotpress.com [Last Updated On: January 1st, 2021] [Originally Added On: January 1st, 2021]
- Black Lives Matter shaped the nation and the north shore in 2020 - Itemlive - Daily Item [Last Updated On: January 1st, 2021] [Originally Added On: January 1st, 2021]