Black Lives Matter - Is it Really Controversial?
Black Lives Matter Movement
The Black Lives Matter movement has been around for quite a while. However, it gained popularity in 2020, after the horrible death of George Floyd in May of 2020 (Wamsley, 2021). The Black Lives matter website states "Black Lives Matter imagines a world where Black people across the diaspora thrive, experience joy, and are not defined by their struggles. In pursuing liberation, we envision a future fully divested from police, prisons, and all punishment paradigms and which invests in justice, joy, and culture." (Black Lives Matter). This movement was made to pursue equality and justice for African American people. In George Floyd's murder, the officer was pursuing him after a supposed fraudulent twenty dollar bill, while most can agree that handling the situation peacefully would be the answer, the series of events that followed was the officer leaning on Floyd's neck, resulting in his last breaths. While the officer was convicted of second-degree murder, many believe the outcome would have been different if Floyd was white. This pushed the Black Lives Matter movement to become a nationwide protest.
Black Lives Matter Collaborative Mural
This mural was used with spray paints, bright colors, shapes, and lines to bring the main points of the art to the surface. Many artists including, Muta Santiago and others who are unknown, came together to make this mural in Phoenix, AZ on June 18, 2020. A few weeks after Floyd's death. The colors are used as the background, while the people, also the main focus of the art are greyed out, showing their sacrifice for simply existing as a Black American. The mural is to recognize their sacrifice and to show that they are not forgotten, they are the motivators for a better future, one with justice and equality.
The Figurine
This unknown artist made a figure representing the exact pose that was filmed and watched millions of times on the internet. The officer kneeling on Floyd's neck is a symbol of police brutality toward African Americans. This piece was a small one, made of scrap metal, by an unknown artist, in Phoenix, AZ on June 18, 2020. The artist was able to stick to a very minimalistic statue as well as a bit of abstract, as it does not have distinctive features, but it can be easily deciphered by the viewer.
#The_Price_of_Black_Lives
This was another mural made in Phoenix, AZ on June 18, 2020. This artist used the symbolism of the twenty dollar bill, the bill that was originally thought to be fraudulent, with George Floyd's face on the bill. This demonstrates exactly what the artist was going for, the cause of the death of another African American. A symbol of how easy it was for police to jump straight to violence when it came to Floyd and his race, paired with the not proven claim that was made against Floyd.
Famous words spoken my George Floyd, in the video that presents this whole tragic event, you can hear Floyd yelling "I can't breathe!". This was heartbreaking to hear in the video. Floyd was not trying to resist, he just wanted to breathe, and the officer took that simple human function away from him. This mural was made with the most common hashtags and phrases used when people are referencing the death of Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement. This mural, along with the others, uses line work, color, and shapes to depict the face of this movement in 2020, Floyd himself. Showing just how prominent and unforgivable the act of police brutality was.
Mural in Kenya, by Mr. Detail Seven
This mural made it all the way to Kenya, where the artist used shapes, lines, colors, and emotions to illicit the point, this has made it worldwide, no one will forget this, and Floyd will forever live in the honor of defending African American rights. The death of Floyd made it to the internet after a video was published to almost all media platforms, where it went viral. It was watched over and over, and was not going to be silenced. Many in America, and many all over the world made sure that everyone knew that. This showed just how bad police brutality had gotten, and how racism still impacts African Americans, even though we are in the 21st century. What's with that America?
Mama, in Minneapolis, by Melodee Strong
Also stated in the video of the death of George Floyd, with his final breaths, you can hear him screaming "Mama!", an absolutely devastating moment for all mothers and African Americans. Strong stated to BBC, "That's what we do when we are in trouble or scared, we cry out for God or our mothers." (Haider, 2020). Strong used lines, stripes, colors, and emotions to illustrate the response from the public just how unforgiving the officer was. How he took not just an innocent life, but a son, brother, father, and a human being. Floyd had a loving family, the officer heard several cries for help and several people yelling from the crowd to get off his neck but yet, he continued to take Floyd's life. The upside-down American flag behind the women, or the grieving mothers depicted, shows how corrupted America is and how it's morals are upside down.
Emotions Illustrated
Most can agree, that all the art I presented today shows and makes the viewer feel, rage, injustice, sadness, grief, and an unsettling feeling. This was intentional, nobody was listening to peace, we tried for years to get peace for minorities but they didn't want to listen to peace. We needed to escalate to show the severity of the situation, so we started protesting, being angry, being sad, and being unforgiving. Americans and people all over the world were done with how terribly minorities were being treated all over the world. The best way to get a response was through media and anger. Americans were not going to back down this time.
My Opinion That Nobody Asked For
I have written this post crying and shaking. I remember the event of Floyd's death during my Junior year in high school, and here we are now, we have made some progress, but we still have a lot to do. I cannot express how angry this makes me, I always have been taught to love and treat everyone equally. But some people cannot get that through their thick skulls, also people I don't let into my life. If they can treat a stranger like that, how would they treat me? It is not the energy I want to welcome into my life. America needs to continue to make changes and show more progress with the Black Lives Matter movement. Many are still targeted by officers, lower-income neighborhoods are targeted with cops patrolling and are subject to renovation for rich people to purchase, kick them out of their only homes they could afford, and make white houses with picket fences. America can do better, and America needs to do better.
Works Cited
Black Lives Matter. “Black Lives Matter.” Black Lives Matter, 2022, blacklivesmatter.com.
Haider, Arwa. “The Street Art That Expressed the World’s Pain.” Www.bbc.com, 14 Dec. 2020, www.bbc.com/culture/article/20201209-the-street-art-that-expressed-the-worlds-pain.
Montgomery, Elizabeth. ““This Is How We Protest”: The Stories behind 3 New Black Lives Matter Murals in Phoenix.” USA TODAY, www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/arts/2020/06/23/black-lives-matter-murals-phoenix-arizona/3210129001/.
Wamsley, Laurel. “Derek Chauvin Found Guilty of George Floyd’s Murder.” NPR.org, 20 Apr. 2021, www.npr.org/sections/trial-over-killing-of-george-floyd/2021/04/20/987777911/court-says-jury-has-reached-verdict-in-derek-chauvins-murder-trial.
For your blog to be based on opinions no one asked for I do find myself on your blog a whole lot! I love this article from start to finish. From the different places that these murals and arts were created at, to the message and symbolism that each succeeded in presenting. I'll never forget those lives lost in 2020, and may their justice live on forever.
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