#BLACKLIVESMATTER
by Nikki Camera
The three women who co-founded #BlackLivesMatter, Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi, have maintained this focus of intersectionality since the movement's start, yet high-profile police brutality cases have centered on young black men, and the growing movement followed suit. This is not to say the movement should not have spread this way, but a focus on intersectionality would make the struggle much more powerful.
Garza explains the intersectional nature of #BlackLivesMatter, writing, "#BlackLivesMatter doesn’t mean your life isn’t important–it means that Black lives, which are seen as without value within White supremacy, are important to your liberation. Given the disproportionate impact state violence has on Black lives, we understand that when Black people in this country get free, the benefits will be wide reaching and transformative for society as a whole."
The understanding of intersectionality is crucial for the liberation of all people.
If we can connect the dots between our respective struggles, we can fight together. This is why other struggles should stand in solidarity with #BlackLivesMatter, because black liberation means a better chance at freedom for women, transgender, queer, disabled, undocumented people, etc. All members of these groups and their allies should be marching and chanting that black lives do matter because each struggle is a struggle for the liberation of all people.
This is why exclusionary assumptions of #BlackLivesMatter are completely unfounded and ultimately damaging. Renditions of the phrase such as #AllLivesMatter once again defines the issue of racial inequality as nonexistent. Garza writes, "When you drop “Black” from the equation of whose lives matter, and then fail to acknowledge it came from somewhere, you further a legacy of erasing Black lives and Black contributions from our movement legacy… The legacy and prevalence of anti-Black racism and hetero-patriarchy is a lynch pin holding together this unsustainable economy."
Thus, women and other oppressed groups are so easily excluded from the narrative of black liberation largely due to an insufficient understanding of intersectionality within the movement. Next time you go to a protest like the Millions March, which was organized by two black women named Synead (Cid) Nichols and Umaara Elliot, consider making a poster with the names of female lives lost to police brutality. This honors the women who have bravely led the black liberation movement and brings awareness to intersectionality of #BlackLivesMatter. Consider putting the names of victims like Aiyana Jones, Rekia Smith, Yvette Smith, or Tarika Wilson on your posters.[1] Garza also writes that whiteness and/or manhood should not determine whether or not one deserves liberation. The conclusion of this disparity is very simple, as Garza writes, " When Black people get free, everybody gets free."