What is #BLM and why does it matter?

Disclaimer: The viewpoints in this blog post are my own and do not reflect the views of all members of the black community, and the #BLM movement.

I would like to start off this blog post with a journal entry I wrote in December 23rd, 2017 after reading a segment of Ta-Nehisi Coates' Between the World and Me (great book by the way! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars!) This is "Master of None":

I am currently reading Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates and in his book – an open letter to his 15-year-old son about navigating the world as a black man – he discusses how hip-hop music and black culture all touch on this important point: mastering one's own body. The reason why black music, art, poetry, etc. have to talk about this point is because all throughout American history black people have been taught and shown that they are not in control of their own bodies. Their bodies are properties to be toyed with – their bodies are breakable, alterable, and expendable. Think slavery, which involved the literal selling and exchanging of black bodies, and less explicitly: police violence and killings, the mass incarceration of black men, the hyper-sexualization of black bodies – mostly of women – and sex trafficking, which disproportionately targets young black and Latina/x women and children. Hip-hop and rap music, streetwear and black culture, black writings, and gang violence, although criminal, and their influence in black communities are outlets for members of the black community for self-empowerment. They give black people the illusion, for the lack of a better word, that they are in control of their own bodies, when history has all but shown us that, that is not the case. This is the sad reality.

Some may say that the viewpoints above are very pessimistic and slightly objective, and I'm not going to lie to you – they are, but I also believe that they hold some truth. If you really delve deep into America's relationship with the black community and other minority populations throughout history, you will see that this idea is a common trend. And the idea of black people not having ownership of their own bodies, as early as birth, is a scary one, but it is also the reason why the Black Lives Matter movement is so important. You see, Black Lives Matter isn't to say that white lives don't matter, and other lives that aren't black don't matter, but it is to say that our lives matter too.

Black Lives Matter isn't to say that white lives don't matter, and other lives that aren't black don't matter, but it is to say that our lives matter too.

Black Lives Matter is not about taking away the power that the current people in power hold, but dismantling the systems that allow them to disproportionately obtain that power. Black Lives Matter is fighting for our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all people, not just the select few. Isn't that what America is all about? If your answer is yes, then why is this still a problem? And why is this something people have to fight for and is not granted to them at birth?For the black community, and many other marginalized communities, #BLM is about taking back our lives and our bodies; it’s about having proper ownership of our bodies when current systems tell us, and consistently prove to us, that we don't have that ownership.

Black Lives Matter is for everybody. And if you take anything from this op-ed, I want it to be that: Black. Lives. Matter. Is. For. Everybody. Tupac said that T.H.U.G L.I.F.E meant: "The hate you give little infants, fucks everybody." This means that the hate you give black people and black bodies will end up fucking you over. It is already fucking you over. And if you want the current political climate to stop fucking you over and stop hindering you from "getting your dinner" and living your life with no distractions, obstructions, and a clear head and conscious, then you need to stop complaining about movements and protests stopping traffic and do something about it.

You need to sit down and listen. You need to care about their stories, our stories. You need to push for policy that dismantles current systems of oppression. It is the path to righteousness. It is the path to peace. It is the path to a better America. It is the path to a better world.

Xo, Naydeline