User:DraconicDark/Black Lives Matter Portal
Portal maintenance status: (February 2019)
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Introduction
Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people and to promote anti-racism. Its primary concerns are police brutality and racially motivated violence against black people. The movement began in response to the killings of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Rekia Boyd, among others. BLM and its related organizations typically advocate for various policy changes related to black liberation and criminal justice reform. While there are specific organizations that label themselves "Black Lives Matter", such as the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, the overall movement is a decentralized network with no formal hierarchy. , there are about 40 chapters in the United States and Canada. The slogan "Black Lives Matter" itself has not been trademarked by any group.
In 2013, activists and friends Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi originated the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter on social media following the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of African-American teen Trayvon Martin. Black Lives Matter became nationally recognized for street demonstrations following the 2014 deaths of two more African Americans, Michael Brown—resulting in protests and unrest in Ferguson, Missouri—and Eric Garner in New York City. Since the Ferguson protests, participants in the movement have demonstrated against the deaths of numerous other African Americans by police actions or while in police custody. In the summer of 2015, Black Lives Matter activists became involved in the 2016 United States presidential election.
The movement gained international attention during global protests in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. An estimated 15 to 26 million people participated in Black Lives Matter protests in the United States, making it one of the largest protest movements in the country's history. Despite being characterized by opponents as violent, the overwhelming majority of BLM demonstrations have been peaceful.
The popularity of Black Lives Matter has shifted over time, largely due to changing perceptions among white Americans. In 2020, 67% of adults in the United States expressed support for the movement, declining to 51% of U.S. adults in 2023. Support among people of color has, however, held strong, with 81% of African Americans, 61% of Hispanics and 63% of Asian Americans expressing support for Black Lives Matter as of 2023. (Full article...)
Selected general articles
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Image 1On October 3, 2013, in Washington, D.C., Miriam Carey, a dental hygienist from Stamford, Connecticut, was shot and killed by law enforcement officers after attempting to drive through a White House security checkpoint in her black Infiniti G37 coupe. She struck a U.S. Secret Service officer, and was chased by the Secret Service to the United States Capitol where she was shot five times in the back, including one shot which hit the left side of the back of her head. A young child, Carey's daughter, was found unharmed in the car. (Full article...)
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Teressa Raiford (born 1970) is an American activist and politician in Portland, Oregon. She founded the local Black-led non-profit Don't Shoot Portland. (Full article...) -
Image 3Individuals and organizations throughout the United States and the world have responded to the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent protests and riots. (Full article...)
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Image 4Running while Black is a sardonic description of racial profiling experienced by Black runners in the United States and Canada.
In the United States, jogging gained popularity after World War II, and has largely been portrayed by American media as an activity typically engaged in by white people; joggers of color are treated with suspicion. Black runners report taking precautions such as wearing bright colors to appear non-threatening, avoiding running outside of daylight hours, running in groups for safety, and avoiding running fast enough to appear to be "running away from something."
In 2021, Lyndsey Hornbuckle found that the issue was particularly common when Black people were running in white neighborhoods, and especially higher socioeconomic white neighborhoods. (Full article...) -
Image 5On July 18, 2013, Tyrone West, a 44-year-old African American male, was pursued by two officers of the Baltimore Police Department after he fled a traffic stop during which cocaine was allegedly found. The cocaine later went missing in police possession after a subpoena was issued. West was on parole at the time of this incident with an extensive criminal record including assault, resisting arrest, and attempted first-degree murder. West ultimately died during the scuffle with police and various medical experts have given conflicting assessments of contributing factors including cardiac arrhythmia, dehydration, positional asphyxia, and extreme environmental temperatures.
The incident fueled tension in the North Baltimore community, playing a contributing factor in the eventual Baltimore riots of 2015. The death of West drew attention from notable African American leaders including U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, and celebrity Charles Barkley. (Full article...) -
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Patriot Front is an American white supremacist and neo-fascist hate group. Part of the broader alt-right movement, the group split off from the neo-Nazi organization Vanguard America in the aftermath of the Unite the Right rally in 2017. Patriot Front's aesthetic combines traditional Americana with fascist symbolism. Internal communications within the group indicated it had approximately 200 members as of late 2021. According to the Anti-Defamation League, the group generated 82% of reported incidents in 2021 involving distribution of racist, antisemitic, and other hateful propaganda in the United States, comprising 3,992 incidents, in every continental state. (Full article...) -
Image 7"The Bigger Picture" is a protest song by American rapper Lil Baby. It was released on June 12, 2020, in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. In the song, Lil Baby shows solidarity with the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests calling for justice against police brutality in the United States and systemic racism. Proceeds from "The Bigger Picture" benefit The National Association of Black Journalists, Breonna Taylor's attorney, The Bail Project, and Black Lives Matter.
It is Lil Baby's highest-charting song as a solo artist on the Billboard Hot 100, debuting and peaking at number three, behind "Trollz" by 6ix9ine & Nicki Minaj and "Rockstar" by DaBaby & Roddy Ricch. It was later added to the deluxe edition of his second studio album My Turn. The song received two nominations at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards: Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song. (Full article...) -
Image 8The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation (BLMGN or BLMGNF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit civil rights organization dedicated to promoting the Black Lives Matter movement. The organization is often mistaken for other organizations within the Black Lives Matter movement because it often solely employs the phrase "Black Lives Matter" as its name and it also owns the domain name "blacklivesmatter.com" as its official website. While BLMGN often simply calls itself "Black Lives Matter," it is not the sole organization within the broader Black Lives Matter social movement. It is, however, the largest and most well-funded, and it also claims to speak on behalf of the movement. Efforts which were started in late 2020 by its then Executive Director Patrisse Cullors began to centralize its operations.
The organization was founded in 2013 by three female activists. International but largely based in the United States, the organization advocates for the eradication of systematic racism and the prevention of police violence. Among its core beliefs is that the entire US legal system, mainstream media, and society is inherently white supremacist; and that "policing at-large is an irredeemable institution" and should be defunded. (Full article...) -
Image 9Black maternal mortality in the United States refers to the death of women, specifically those who identify as Black or African American, during or after child delivery. In general, maternal death can be due to a myriad of factors, such as the nature of the pregnancy or the delivery itself, but is not associated with unintentional or secondary causes. In the United States, around 700 women die from pregnancy-related illnesses or complications per year. This number does not include the approximately 50,000 women who experience life-threatening complications during childbirth, resulting in lifelong disabilities and complications. However, there are stark differences in maternal mortality rates for Black American women versus Indigenous American, Alaska Native, and White American women.
There have been significant differences between the maternal mortality of white women versus Black women throughout history. In the U.S., the CDC reported that Black women experience maternal mortality two to three times higher than that of white women. As of 2021, the estimated national maternal mortality rate in the United States is about 32.9 per 100,000 live births––but it is about 69.9 per 100,000 live births for Black women. Furthermore, data from the CDC Pregnancy Surveillance Study shows that these higher rates of Black maternal mortality are due to higher fatality rates, not a higher number of cases. Since the usual causes of maternal mortality are conditions that occur or are exacerbated during pregnancy, most instances of maternal mortality are preventable deaths. (Full article...) -
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Police brutality is the use of excessive or unnecessary force by personnel affiliated with law enforcement duties when dealing with suspects and civilians.
The term police brutality is usually applied in the context of causing physical harm to a person. It may also involve psychological harm through the use of intimidation tactics beyond the scope of officially sanctioned police procedure. (Full article...) -
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Keith Lamont Scott, a 43-year-old African-American man, was fatally shot on September 20, 2016, in Charlotte, North Carolina, by Brentley Vinson, an African-American city police officer. It sparked both peaceful and violent protests led by Black Lives Matter in Charlotte.
The shooting prompted investigations by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Department of Justice. As is customary for the department, Vinson was placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation. In November 2016, county prosecutors decided not to charge Vinson, concluding that the shooting was justified. (Full article...) -
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Amir Locke, a 22-year-old Black American man, was fatally shot on February 2, 2022, by SWAT officer Mark Hanneman of the Minneapolis Police Department inside an apartment in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where police were executing a no-knock search warrant in a homicide investigation. The officer-involved shooting was reviewed by the office of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, the office of Hennepin County attorney Michael Freeman, and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Ellison and Freeman declined to file criminal charges against the officer who shot Locke in a report released on April 6, 2022.
Several protests were held in reaction to the shooting. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey imposed a moratorium on most no-knock warrants on February 4. Multiple reviews of the no-knock warrant policy were announced, including by the Minneapolis City Council Policy and Government Oversight Committee and the Minneapolis Office of Police Conduct Review, as well as racial justice activist DeRay Mckesson and professor of police studies Peter Kraska of Eastern Kentucky University in coordination with the city. On April 8, Minneapolis banned "no knock" warrants in a new policy. (Full article...) -
Image 13Police accountability involves holding both individual police officers, as well as law enforcement agencies responsible for effectively delivering basic services of crime control and maintaining order, while treating individuals fairly and within the bounds of law. Police are expected to uphold laws, regarding due process, search and seizure, arrests, discrimination, as well as other laws relating to equal employment, sexual harassment, etc. Holding police accountable is important for maintaining the public's "faith in the system". Research has shown that the public prefers independent review of complaints against law enforcement, rather than relying on police departments to conduct internal investigations. There is a suggestion that such oversight would improve the public's view on the way in which police officers are held accountable. (Full article...)
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Image 14On March 6, 2023, 28-year-old Irvo Otieno died after he was restrained by Henrico County sheriff's deputies and hospital employees at Central State Hospital in Dinwiddie County, Virginia, near Petersburg. He was arrested on March 3 for a suspected breaking and entering, and was taken to the hospital three days later after he was found naked in his cell. A total of ten people, seven deputies and three hospital employees, were charged with second-degree murder in connection with Otieno's death. (Full article...)
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Image 15On August 24, 2023, Ta'Kiya Young, a 21-year-old pregnant woman, was shot to death by a police officer in Blendon Township, Ohio after she accelerated her vehicle. The shooting occurred after police attempted to question her about shoplifting from a local grocery store. (Full article...)
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Image 16On May 1, 2023, Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old black man who was homeless, was killed by Daniel Penny, a 24-year-old white former Marine. Penny placed Neely in an extended chokehold while riding the subway in Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
Neely boarded the train at the Second Avenue station just before it departed and reportedly began screaming that he was hungry, needed a job, was not afraid of going to prison, and was ready to die. Freelance journalist Juan Alberto Vázquez, who witnessed the incident, said that Neely removed his jacket and threw it violently to the floor, resulting in other passengers moving away from him. Penny then approached Neely from behind and put him in a chokehold. (Full article...) -
Image 17Jen Reid (born 2 November 1970) is a British Black Lives Matter activist from Bristol. After the statue of Edward Colston was pushed into Bristol Harbour, Reid stood on the empty plinth and made a Black Power salute. This pose was then recreated in the sculpture A Surge of Power (Jen Reid) 2020. (Full article...)
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Image 18Auon'tai M. "Tay" Anderson (born July 5, 1998) is an American politician and community organizer from Denver, Colorado. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a director of the Denver Public Schools Board of Education from 2019 to 2023. In September 2021, he was censured by the board for "behavior unbecoming of a board member" following an investigation of allegations against him. (Full article...)
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Image 19Fruitvale Station is a 2013 American biographical drama film written and directed by Ryan Coogler. It is Coogler's feature directorial debut, and is based on the events leading to the death of Oscar Grant, a young man killed in 2009 by Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) police officer Johannes Mehserle at the Fruitvale district station in Oakland, California. The film stars Michael B. Jordan as Grant, with Kevin Durand and Chad Michael Murray playing the two BART police officers involved in Grant's death, although their names were changed for the film. Melonie Diaz, Ahna O'Reilly, and Octavia Spencer also star.
The film debuted under its original title, Fruitvale, at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award for U.S. dramatic film, and was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the award for Best First Film. It received critical acclaim, and was released in theaters on July 12, 2013, grossing over $17 million against its $900,000 budget. (Full article...) -
Image 20
The 2015 Texas pool party incident, also known as the "McKinney pool party", was a civil disturbance that occurred on June 5, 2015, at a pool party in McKinney, Texas, United States.
While responding to 911 calls that reported the trespassing of dozens of individuals on private property, a McKinney police officer, corporal Eric Casebolt, was video-recorded violently restraining Dajerria Becton, a 15-year-old black girl wearing a swimsuit. He later drew his handgun on unarmed teen witnesses during the same incident. (Full article...) -
Image 21On October 26, 2020, Walter Wallace Jr., a 27-year-old African-American man, was fatally shot by Philadelphia police officers Sean Matarazzo and Thomas Munz at 6100 Locust Street in the Cobbs Creek section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The two officers arrived in the area to respond to a domestic dispute. When they arrived, Wallace walked out of his house carrying a knife. The two officers backed away while telling him to drop the knife shortly before they each fired several rounds at Wallace, hitting him in the shoulder and chest. He later died from his wounds in the hospital. Wallace's family stated that Wallace was having a mental health crisis.
Wallace's killing gained attention after a cellphone video of the incident was posted to social media platforms, where it went viral. Protests against the killing occurred throughout Philadelphia in late October. Peaceful protests took place, as well as several protests which escalated into violence and looting, leading to arrests, injuries to police and protesters, deployment of the Pennsylvania National Guard, and a citywide curfew. (Full article...) -
Image 22On May 10, 2019, Ronald Hardin Greene, an unarmed 49-year-old Black man, was killed after being arrested by Louisiana State Police following a high-speed chase outside Monroe, Louisiana. During the arrest, he was stunned, punched, pepper sprayed and placed in a chokehold. He was also dragged face down while handcuffed and shackled, and he was left face down for at least nine minutes. At least six white troopers were involved in the arrest; five were criminally charged in December 2022.
When Greene's corpse was brought to the hospital, police told doctors that his car had run into a tree, a story a doctor said "does not add up", given the nature of Greene's injuries and the fact that there were two stun-gun probes lodged in his body; police later acknowledged that Greene had died during a struggle, but did not mention specifics about any use of force by officers. Although authorities refused to release body camera footage for two years, the Associated Press obtained and published a portion of it in May 2021. In 2022, a medical examiner ruled the death a homicide. (Full article...) -
Image 23In law enforcement in the United States, a gypsy cop, also known as a wandering police officer, is a police officer who frequently transfers between police departments, having a record of misconduct or unsuitable job performance. The term is slang, referencing the stereotypical nomadic lifestyle of Gypsies. (Full article...)
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Image 24Colin in Black & White is an American drama television limited series that premiered on Netflix on October 29, 2021.
In advance of the series premiere, the pilot episode received a preview screening in the Primetime program at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival. (Full article...) -
Image 25A "Black Lives Matter" street mural was painted in Capitol Hill, Seattle, in the U.S. state of Washington in June 2020. Maintained by the Seattle Department of Transportation, the artwork has survived longer than many Black Lives Matter street murals across the United States. (Full article...)
Did you know...
- ... that Arkansas legislator Denise Jones Ennett took part in a Black Lives Matter protest in front of the Arkansas State Capitol?
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For editor resources and to collaborate with other editors on improving Wikipedia's Black Lives Matter-related articles, see WikiProject Black Lives Matter.
Selected images
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Image 1Protest march in response to the Jamar Clark killing, Minneapolis, Minnesota, November 2015 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 2Black Lives Matter protest against St. Paul police brutality at Metro Green Line, September 2015 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 4Map depicting rates of police killings by state in the United States in 2018 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 5One-year commemoration of the killing of Michael Brown and the Ferguson unrest at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, August 2015 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 6A Black Lives Matter protest of police brutality in the rotunda of the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, in December 2014 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 8Black Lives Matter demonstration in Oakland, California, December 2014 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 9"What happened to 'All Lives Matter'?" sign at a protest against Donald Trump, January 29, 2017 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 10Vehicle with a BLM sticker, September 18, 2015 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 11A Black Lives Matter die-in over rail tracks, protesting alleged police brutality in Saint Paul, Minnesota (September 20, 2015) (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 13Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C., as seen from space on June 8, 2020 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 14Bernie Sanders and Black Lives Matter activists in Westlake Park, Seattle, August 8, 2015 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 16Black Lives Matter protester at Macy's Herald Square, November 2014 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 18George Floyd protests at Lafayette Square, Washington D.C., May 30, 2020 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 19"Black Lives Matter" on the facade of the Washington National Cathedral, June 10, 2020 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 20Protest outside the U.S. Embassy in London, June 7, 2020 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 21The empty pedestal of the statue of Edward Colston in Bristol. Subject to increasing controversy since the 1990s, when his prior reputation as a philanthropist came under scrutiny due to a growing awareness of his slave trading, in June 2020 the statue was toppled, defaced and pushed into Bristol Harbour. (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 22Black Lives Matter protest on September 20, 2015, against police brutality in St. Paul, Minnesota (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 23Al Sharpton led the Commitment March: Get Your Knee Off Our Necks in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 2020 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 24Protest in response to the Alton Sterling killing, San Francisco, California, July 8, 2016 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 25A demonstrator raising awareness of the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore, April 2015 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 26Protests in May 2020 after George Floyd's death (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 27Protest march in response to the killing of Philando Castile, St. Paul, Minnesota, July 7, 2016 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 28Black Lives Matter protest at Herald Square, Manhattan, November 2014 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 30Demonstration at Christiansborg Slotsplads, Copenhagen, June 7, 2020 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 31Black Lives Matter protest in Aotea Square, Auckland, June 14, 2020 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 33Ferguson, Missouri, August 17, 2014 (from Black Lives Matter)
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Image 34An activist holds a "Black Lives Matter" sign outside the Minneapolis Police Fourth Precinct building following the officer-involved killing of Jamar Clark on November 15, 2015 (from Black Lives Matter)
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