Land of the (Un)Free

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Land of the (Un)Free

The Black Lives Matter Movement’s Objectives and Achievements

Author: Nicole Bertilsson Supervisor: Manuela Nilsson

Bachelor-thesis

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Abstract

This thesis studies the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement and what achievements it has been able to accomplish related to its objectives, in order to create a better understanding of how new social movements work and what they can accomplish. The objectives and achievements were divided into different categories: cultural recognition, physical security, socio-economic, and other.

The findings show that most of the objectives were of the physical security and socio-economic category while most of the achievements were outside of the objectives the BLM movement set and are mostly related to the cultural recognition category. The study argues that this is due to the characteristics of the BLM movement as a new social movement as well as the BLM not being specific enough in its objectives. With this knowledge there is an understanding that new social movements are very good at engaging people but could improve in their achievements.

Keywords: BLM Movement, New Social Movement Theory, Goal Setting Theory, Post Materialism

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List of Abbreviations:

BLM - Black Lives Matter

M4BL - Movement for Black Lives NSM - New Social Movement

BPRC - Black Philadelphian Radical Collective

Introduction

Social Movements

Social movements are reactions to unsolved fundamental problems or developments in society (Schmitt-Beck 1992, p. 361), as such they are generally born out of grievances and are linked to the possibility to improve the oppressed groups’ status. The United States has always had a rich history of social movements with examples of the women’s rights movement, the civil rights movement, and more recently the Occupy Wall Street movement.

The women's movement for instance started as early as 1848 with the first wave. The first wave was more focused on attaining women’s suffrage, but also in trying to secure women's freedom in property, marriage, wages, and children (Jeydel 2004, p. 28-29). The second wave that occurred between 1890-1928 was when the movement abandoned all other issues than women's suffrage because they were viewed as too controversial (Jeydel 2004, p. 84- 85). The third wave, which took place during 1960-1985, worked towards the legislation of abortion, equal opportunities in the workplace and in education, equal pay for equal work, and getting the equal rights amendment ratified (Jeydel 2004, p. 144).

Another movement is the civil rights movement, the predecessor to the Black Lives Matter movement. It came about in the 1960s and was advocating for the freedom of black people against Jim Crow laws in the South, white supremacy, and for black people’s right to vote, and critique of the legal system (Clayton 2018 p. 451, Colley 2012 p. 7). With the help of black

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churches, the civil rights movement was able to organize but also provide the civil rights movement with structures of support and network (Kirk 2013, p.

20, Clayton 2018) and as a matter of fact, Martin Luther King Jr. went on to become its leader through his previous engagements as a pastor (Kirk 2013, p. 7). The movement used nonviolence and negotiation and was able to pass the civil rights act in 1964 and the voting act in 1965 (Kirk 2013, p. 184).

The more recent movement, Occupy Wall Street, was created as a critique of the American financial system. People gathered in a park nearby Wall Street, the symbolic heart of the system (Hammond 2013, p. 499). While the

movement have not made any tangible change, they have been able to bring the subject to light and start a discussion about the financial system and its unfairness (Langman 2013, p. 521-522). The Occupy Wall Street movement could, like the Black Lives Matter movement, be said to be a new social movement (Langman 2013).

This study focuses on the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, the latest new social movement in the US. While its goals might be more focused on police brutality, its larger goal is to eliminate the racism that black people are affected by. According to Cambridge’s definition of racism, it is “policies, behaviors, rules, among others that result in a continued unfair advantage to some people and unfair or harmful treatment of others based on race”

(Cambridge dictionary 2020). This is the most basic understanding of racism and today there is a more comprehensive understanding of racism, so-called structural racism. Gee and Ford define racism as “the macro-level systems, social forces, institutions, ideologies, and processes that interact with one another to generate and reinforce inequities among racial and ethnic groups”

(2011, p. 116). This is the kind of racism the BLM movement is trying to eliminate. It is this kind of structural racism that maintains the school-to- prison pipeline, which disproportionately affects people of color (Mallett 2015, p. 5), or the prison industrial complex, which too disproportionally

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affects black people (Brewer & Heitzeg 2008, p.2), or health disparities for that matter (Gee and Ford 2011).

Research Problem and Relevance

While there have been others who have written about the BLM movement in different aspects, there has not been anything written in terms of what the movement has managed to actually accomplish. For instance, there is an ongoing debate about whether or not the movement should be concerned with specifically black people. There is also another debate about whether or not the BLMs goals are achievable or not but there is nothing written on what it has actually accomplished, compared to the movement’s declared goals, and as such, this paper will try to answer that question.

The BLM movement has from its inception in 2014 grown tremendously.

After the death of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor in the spring of 2020, the support for the movement increased and the turnout for the protests was nationwide (Thomas & Horowitz 2020). As such, it is a movement that, if successful, would have implications for how future democracy will develop in the US (Updegrove, Cooper, Orrick & Piquero 2020, p. 87). This is something which all of the aforementioned movements have in common, where the first two were able to strengthen democracy by making it more inclusive. Besides this, the success of the BLM movement would have a tremendous impact on the lives of black people all over the world.

Seeing as the BLM movement has grown in such a way that it is now active in several countries, as well as it being the latest movement in the US, this new social movement serves as an excellent case study to analyze how well it has managed in their said goals, especially with how successful the movement has been. As the BLM movement is a new social movement, this study will contribute to the understanding of how new social movements are structured and what accomplishments they could have. With the knowledge

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of the BLM movement’s objectives and what they have been able to achieve, it could be applied to other new social movements in order to understand their capacities to accomplish their goals and the challenges they face in that process, as social movements are imperative to channeling societal conflict and bringing about social change and are thus instrumental to the creation of democratic societies around the world.

Objective and Research Questions

The objective of this research is therefore to study what kind of

achievements a social movement such as the Black Lives Matter movement can accomplish, in terms of their goals. In order to reach the objective, this paper will focus on three questions:

● What characterizes BLM as a new social movement?

● What objectives does the BLM movement have and how are they related to perceived grievances?

● What has it achieved so far?

In order to answer these questions, a text analysis will be applied as a method to the case-study of the BLM movement. The findings will then be applied through the lenses of new social movement theory and goal-setting theory to understand the objectives and achievements as well as Galtung's three dimensions of violence in order to understand the perceived grievances that are the basis for the objectives.

Structure

This study first reviews the literature and then the theories mentioned above to continue with a description of the chosen method as well as an explanation of what has been done, what sources have been used, and what limitations and delimitations have been set. Thereafter the findings will be presented.

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The analysis applies the theoretical framework to the findings which will then be followed by a conclusion of the study.

Literature Review

While there has been a lot written on the subject of the Black Lives Matter movement, there has not been any account of what the movement actually has been able to achieve. This could partly be due to the fact that the movement has not had any goals before that have been associated with the whole movement, and also because it is quite loosely structured. Clayton (2018) discusses this in his article while making a comparison with the civil rights movement and the Black Lives Matter movement. He concludes that the civil rights movement was more structured, and had the intention of mobilizing, not just the black people, but everyone, something the BLM movement does not do. They also had more influential leaders that were able to move and mobilize people (Clayton 2018 p. 474).

There is an ongoing debate in regard to the Black Lives Matter movement, concerning whether or not the movement is right to be so focused on black peoples’ issues. Some argue this alienates others, who might experience the same issues that the BLM movement is concerned with. For example, Szetela (2020, p. 1360) writes that poor people who are white or non-black become alienated by the movement because they are only focused on black people's struggle. On the other hand, there are the people who don’t really criticize the Black Lives Matter movement, or at least not in regard to that. They might criticize the fact that the BLM movement does indeed alienate other groups but not that this is due to colorism (Szetela 2020, p. 1364-1365). This debate is necessary in order to determine how successful the movement is/could be, but not in terms of what they have actually accomplished, which is the goal of this paper, and therefore this paper will not explore that debate any further.

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Some of the literature is written about how the Black Lives Matter movement made use of social media such as Facebook and Twitter. Ince, Rojas & Davies (2017, p. 1827) write about how the BLM movement uses social media to interact with the movement and the effect the message of the movement. They argue that the movement uses distributed framing, meaning the usage of social media allows for the message of the movements to be manipulated and changed. Mundt, Ross & Burnett instead writes about how social media can be used for scaling up. They define scaling up as “the process of expansion and/or internal strengthening that broadens movement impact” (2018, p. 1). They conclude that social media is a key instrument when it comes to scaling up. It plays a role in helping to facilitate the collective identity, which is of importance to social movements and their work. While it is mostly positive to have a social media presence, Mundt et al stress the risks that it comes with, in regard to security (Mundt, Ross &

Burnett 2018, p. 11-12).

There is also one written article that examines whether or not the BLM movement is more akin to new social movements like Occupy Wall Street than older, more traditional movements (Tillery Jr. 2019, p. 299-300).

Through studying tweets from different chapters, three different results were found. One, that the vast majority of tweets were expressive in nature. Two, the frames used by the chapters were not definitive. Some made references to gender, racial identities and LGBTQ while most used a liberal frame focused on individual rights. The third result shows that a vast majority urged their following to actions within the political system, as such it greatly challenges new social movement theory (Tillery Jr. 2019, p. 318). To conclude, Tillery Jr. writes that the results present a varied narrative of BLM, suggesting that

“BLM groups do value the political process and are willing to mobilize their followers to pursue outcomes within it” (2019, p. 319) however he further argues that while it might seem like BLM is something of a hybrid

movement the meaning of the results should not be overstated.

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Updegrove et al (2020) study what predictors of opposition to the BLM movement can be found on state and individual level. They do this by studying a nationally representative sample of 2,114 individuals from 33 different states in the context of the racial threat perspective. The results show that conservative older males are more likely to oppose the Black Lives Matter movement. Furthermore, individuals who believe their local police are racially biased against blacks are less likely to oppose the BLM movement. Concluding they write that the BLM movement is a politically polarizing issue, where states who are inclined to be red and individual republicans are more likely to oppose the BLM movement (Updegrove et al 2020, p. 102).

The closest article written on the subject of this paper is ‘Black Lives Matter at five: limits and possibilities’, that also looks into the achievements of the movement, although is instead focused on their achievability (Szetela 2020).

Szetela discusses the problem of how the goals set by the leaders of the movement were not achievable (Szetela 2020, p. 1359-1367). Besides this, it also discusses the problem of black exceptionalism and reflexivity (Szetela 2020, p. 1367-1377). The focus in regard to the debate will be on

achievability as the other subjects of the article are not of relevance in this study. In regard to achievability Szetela argues that the BLMs demands are too broad and do not have the support needed, additionally, he argues that their demands are not inclusive enough, as most of them only concern Black people. Ray (2020) critiques Szetela’s article and argues it is Szetela who is limited in his vision when arguing that the achievements are too broad and further explains that in order to not end up with a watered-down version of the policies they put forward and helped create, it is necessary to create ambitious goals. Ray gives the 13:th, 14:th, and 15:th amendments as

examples of legislations that are watered-down versions (Ray 2020, p. 1395).

He additionally argues that there is support, even among whites, in regard to police brutality (Ray 2020, p. 1396). Though the question of achievability is not part of this study, it is, however, a question that is still up for debate. As

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this debate is the closest to exploring what accomplishments a movement has made in terms of their objectives and achievements, which is what this study’s objective is, it is evident that there is no other literature on the subject.

Theory

As this study will examine the Black Lives Matter movement, a theory that is grounded in social movements seemed fitting, but the regular social

movements theory is so far from how the BLM movement is organized that instead of using that as an analytical framework, the new social movement theory appeared better. Besides this, the study examines the objectives and achievements of the BLM movement and it, therefore, was deemed suitable to have a theory on that subject, and as such the goal-setting theory became relevant. In order to conceptualize the findings Galtung’s three dimensions of violence will be used and therefore reviewed in this chapter.

One of the most widely used theories when it comes to social movements is the social movement theory. The theory essentially argues that the role of social movements in society is to disrupt the ‘business as usual’ and the societal order, to be able to promote societal change (Chernega 2017, p. 237, Schmitt-Beck 1992, p. 361). Because social movements are reactions to unsolved fundamental problems or developments in society (Schmitt-Beck 1992, p. 361), they are generally born out of grievances and are linked to the possibility to improve the oppressed groups’ status (Jenkins 1983, p. 532).

There have been a lot of theories on the subject of social movements and what makes them successful. The theory that has dominated the debate is the resource mobilization theory (Beuchler 1993, p. 2). These theories however are not really suitable for explaining the Black Lives Matter movement, as the movement is now. The resource mobilization theory views social

movements as extensions of institutionalized actions and has thus focused on

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movements that intend to change institutionalization by trying to change parts of the social structure (Jenkins 1983, p. 529). Resource mobilization theory states that for the movement to be successful they need to be well organized and should be centralized with a charismatic leader (Chernega 2017, p. 237), in order to be able to mobilize as much support as possible (Chernega 2017, p. 237). Resource mobilization theorists have also argued that grievances are secondary, as they are part of social change and as such are constant. They instead believe that it is the opportunity for collective action, successfulness, and organization that is prior (Jenkins 1984, p. 530).

New social movement theory

Social mobilization theory was part of the traditional social movement theory and it was out of this theory that the new social movement theory was born, among others, such as neo marxism (Langman 2013, p. 511). It is actually not accurate to call it social movement theory seeing as there are several new social movement theories with their origin in different ideologies/concepts that emphasize different themes and have diverse relations with alternative traditions (Buechler 1995 p. 442). However, this study will only focus on the general new social movement theory and it is therefore not of interest to explore the different sub-theories further.

Regarding what does unite these different new social movement theories, Beuchler (1995) lists a number of characteristics: first, that symbolic actions in civil society are a major arena for collective action along with

instrumental action within the political sphere. Second, instead of trying to maximize influence and power through mobilization, new social movement theories tend to find processes that promote self-autonomy and self-

determination of higher importance. Thirdly, new social movement theories rather emphasize post-materialist values instead of conflict of material resources, when it comes to contemporary collective action. Fourth, new social movement theory tends to perceive ideology and grievances as coming

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from a socially constructed nature, rather than from a group's structural location. Fifth, new social movement theories usually look beyond assuming that conflict groups and their interest are bound to structures but rather problematizes the rather fragile process of constructing collective identities and the identification of a group's interests. Lastly, the theory does not view centralized organizational forms as necessary to successfully mobilize but rather recognizes a variety of networks that support collective action (Buechler 1995 p. 442).

One new social movement theorist’s, Manuel Castells’, analysis, although made from what he refers to as urban social movements, exemplifies those themes, like the emphasis on cultural identity, the recognition of

constituencies that are non-class based, and the importance of autonomous self-management. Another theorist on the subject, Alain Touraine, who views these new social movements as seemingly apolitical, argues that this is due to the fact that there has been a displacement of politics from the

economic realm to the cultural one. Jurgen Habermas, a third new social movement theorist, brings up the point concerning the objectives/goals new social movements place. The conflict in which new social movements care less about “material reproduction and more about cultural reproduction, social integration, and socialization” (all in Buechler 1995 p. 445-446). As such they bring with them a new sort of politics that is engaged with matters of quality of life, goals of participation, and identity formations. As these are not traditional struggles of economic distribution, Habermas (1984-1987 in Buechler 1995 p. 442-446) argues that these types of movements cannot be represented by political parties. As new social movements are primarily concerned with post-materialist values which the established political organizations and institutions are not willing to engage with, these

movements must rely on protest tactics in order to achieve their goals and exert political influence. As such new social movements increasingly rely on more “unconventional” forms such as demonstrations, petitions, different forms of civil disobedience among others, which is evident in how the BLM

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movement prefers to occupy intersections and highways for example. New social movements, therefore, are usually reformist single-issue movements and not meant to be challengers to the current socio-political system (Schmitt-Beck 1992, p. 364-365).

There is also a debate among theorists on the subject about the term new social movement theories, as they did not appear from out of anywhere. Not only do most of these theories have their history in the previous social movement theories, but most of these so-called new social movements have a history as well (Buechler 1995 p. 447). While there has been quite a large difference between the “old” and “new” movements, the new ones still have the same objective as the old theories, such as the social mobilization theory mentioned above. Take the civil rights movement, although it was a

centralized movement with clear leadership and structure, it was still fighting for rights for black people in the US. Meanwhile, the Black Lives Matter movement is a global grassroots movement, it does not have clear leadership and it has a horizontal movement structure (Chernega 2017 p. 241, Clayton 2018). Dalton and Kuechler (1990 via Buechler 1995 p. 448) write that while the movements may draw on long-standing humanistic tradition, the aspects of post-materialistic value base, pragmatic solutions, and global awareness are new aspects to the movements. Another thing that distinguishes new social movements from its predecessors is their usage of mass media (Schmitt-Beck 1992, p. 361). The usage of the internet has been able to enhance their objectives and as such, their power (Langman 2013, p. 517).

Another discussion regarding the new social movement theory is of what nature they are, political or cultural. Brandt (1986) argues that they are larger than conventional politics as they are both carriers of critique of modern civilization, but he also views them as projects of modernity itself (via Buechler 1995 p. 451). Modernization is a prerequisite in order for social movements to emerge (Schmitt-Beck 1992, p. 361). Brandt identifies new social movements as “having discrete, political effects in terms of

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consciousness-raising, political socialization, and the politicization of decision making” (1986 via Buechler 1995 p. 451).

The third debate in regard to new social movements is what social class they draw from, as the “old” social movements drew from the working class, new social movements are assumed to draw from a class as well, but there is no consensus as to which one, if any. In actuality, the fact that class is not of importance is part of what sets new social movements apart and identifies them as “new”. If one discounts an economic notion such as class, one can appreciate the way new social movements are defined by the dynamics of social divisions such as race, ethnicity, and gender among others. As such one could argue that there has been a shift within the group identities of collective action from class to race, ethnicity, status among others (Buechler 1995 p. 453). Buechler further writes

First, these movements represent a major form of social activism whose social base is sometimes best defined in something other than class terms, whether that be gender, ethnicity, race, sexuality, or age. Moreover, new social movements require us to rethink how all collective identities (including class identities) are not structurally guaranteed but socially constructed (Hunt, Benford, and Snow 1994; Meyer and Whittier 1994). As such, they do not come in neat, mutually exclusive, packages but rather in dialectically interrelated combinations of positions and identities (1995, p. 456).

Schmitt-Beck writes that new social movements, because of these group identities, have the capacity to “turn the mobilization potentials that are usually hidden in the ‘latency’ of everyday life quickly into the visibility (Melucci 1984) of manifest political action” (1992, p. 360). Moreover, Langman writes that it is the utopian thought that really embodies new social movements and that

Without understanding emotions in general, and people’s needs for attachments, a dignified identity, creative agency, and

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meaning that engender hope, without considerations of morality, social movement theory is as empty and vacuous as the ‘one-dimensional society’ that has given rise to ‘the great refusals’ (2013, p. 516).

To summarize, new social movement theory outlines four aspects characterizing the new social movements:

- Instead of being concerned with economic and material resources they are rather concerned with post-materialist values, such as gender, race, sexuality.

- Because these values are not something that is of importance to the established political parties, new social movements instead rely on protest tactics and other unconventional means of political

participation.

- Usually they are not structured traditionally, but rather utilize the support of other networks for collective action, in other words, they often feature a horizontal organization.

- They are not purely political, as their interests of post-materialism extend beyond the political realm, going into the cultural realm using symbolic action.

The new social movement theory will be used in order to understand how the BLM movement is organized which will provide insight to how the

movement functions, which could be argued to affect what the movement will be able to accomplish.

Goal-Setting Theory

There is an understanding that human beings have the ability to make volitional choices. They have the ability to think for themselves, through consciousness, and therefore they are able to choose their goal, whether it be short term or long term in nature (Locke & Latham 2013, p. 3). Based on this understanding of humans, a theory in regard to goals was formulated: control theory. Its basic premise is that because there is a discrepancy between an

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individual’s present and their desired performance, motivated people to strive towards attaining a certain goal. However, goal-setting theory asserts that it is the goal in itself that is the motivator for achieving it. It might seem like there is no difference between the two, however, if there is not, in the case of the control theory, people would instead simply eliminate their goals, and there would no longer be a discrepancy. And that is not the case, as people willingly create discrepancies between their performance and desired goal. They do this in order to create goals to strive for because people need attainable goals to be able to live (Locke & Latham 2013, p. 4). And so instead, the goal-setting theory was formulated.

In this theory, the term goal is defined as the object or aim of an action.

Goals have two main attributes, goal content, and goal intensity. Goal content according to Locke and Latham (2013, p. 4-5) refers to the object or result being sought, in this study, it is referenced by objectives, rather than goal content. The term goal intensity on the other hand stands for the effort needed in order to set a goal, the priority the specific goal has to a person in terms of goals in general, and their commitment to attaining that goal (Locke

& Latham 2013, p. 5).

In regard to the goals-performance relationship, there are some mechanisms that can improve the relationship. According to research done by Terborg (1976 via Locke & Latham 2013, p. 5), the more specific a goal was, the more attentive an individual was to the task at hand than those in the control group. Additionally, a high goal that is specific activates the skills and knowledge that are important to be able to achieve a goal (Locke & Latham 2013, p. 5). A goal that is specific is defined as the “desired end states and/or includes task description that helps during the performance of a task” (Nebel et al 2017, p. 102). That a goal is specific is important in order for people to know what they are working towards (Lunenburg 2011, p. 2-3). Effort is another mechanism of the goal-performance relationship. Latham and Locke conclude from their study that effort is “mobilized and expanded in

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proportion to the difficulty level of the goal” (2013, p. 6). Persistence is a third mechanism which is really the time spent on trying to achieve a goal (Locke & Latham 2013, p. 6).

There are also variables that moderate the goal-performance relationship.

One of them is ability as one cannot try to achieve a goal if they do not possess the abilities necessary, such as knowledge and skill. A second

variable is feedback as it allows people to evaluate whether a change, such as putting in more effort or changing strategy, is necessary. When feedback is part of the process the performance is far better than when it is not. A third variable is a commitment to a certain goal, as the more commitment a person has to a goal, the better they are likely to perform. Commitment can be divided into two categories, factors that make achieving a goal important and factors that make a person confident in the belief that it can be achieved.

There are several factors that were found to be of importance to a person’s desire to achieve a specific goal; authority, making the goal public,

incentives, rewards, and punishments among others (Locke & Latham 2013, p. 7). In general, the more successful a person is in achieving goals, the higher the degree of satisfaction they experience, which serves as a further motivator (Locke & Latham 2013, p. 9, Lunenburg 2011, p. 2).

In summary, the goal-setting theory is a theory that tries to explain how to best attain a goal. The theory asserts that:

- There are three mechanisms; specificity, which is important in order for the goal to be achievable, as well as effort and persistence, which refers to the time spent on a goal.

- There are also moderator variables; ability, feedback, and motivation - There is a general view that the more successful one is in achieving

goals, the higher degree of satisfaction which serves as a motivator to achieve more goals.

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The goal-setting theory will be used to try to understand the finding in terms of the objectives and achievements, or performance as it is referred to above, and that relationship. Some aspects of the theory are more or less helpful in understanding BLMs achievements, as the goal-setting theory does not usually apply to social movements, but rather companies or individuals.

Galtung’s three dimensions of violence

Johan Galtung is a prominent researcher when it comes to peace studies. He has explored and tried to explain the causes of violence, war, and how to achieve peace. In trying to explain this he puts violence in relation to peace, as it is the cause of war. However, he does not use a traditional definition of violence as his definition of violence is multidimensional.

According to Galtung violence can be divided into three different categories, outlined in the Direct - Structural - Cultural (DSC) violence. The direct part of the three dimensions is direct violence, which is the violence that is noticeable. It is explicit violence, like war, attacks of different sorts, looting for example. He describes it as being an event (Galtung 1996, p. 2,199).

Structural violence is indirect violence and violence that comes from the societal structure. It exists on every level, individual, societal, regional.

Structural violence can be repression, marginalization as well as exploitation.

While there is no bodily harm, there are still victims, but perpetrators are usually not identifiable, as the violence is rooted in the structure itself (Galtung 1996, p. 2). Johan Galtung (1996, p. 199) summarizes it as a process with its ups and downs. Lastly, there is the cultural aspect of violence. With cultural violence, Galtung refers to violence that is mostly symbolic. It exists all around us, in religion, economy, art, science, the law, media, education, health care to mention a few. It is the cultural violence that legitimizes the usage of direct and structural violence (Galtung 1996, p 2).

Galtung furthermore writes that cultural violence also motivates actors to

“commit direct violence or to omit to counteract structural violence; can be

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intended or unintended” (1996, p 32). Galtung (1996, p. 199) uses a triangle to exemplify the different dimensions, where you can put either one of the direct, structural, or cultural violence on top. For instance, if direct violence is at the top of the triangle, that would indicate that structural and cultural violence are the causes of direct violence. In other words they can all influence each other. He further writes that all of the different positions one can position the triangle in are relevant and worth exploring.

The three dimensions of violence that Galtung has formulated will be used in order to understand how the objectives are related to the grievances

experienced by the Black Lives Matter movement. All three dimensions, structural, cultural, and direct violence will be operationalized and part of the analysis.

Methodology

This study is a qualitative study that examines what social movements such as the Black Lives Matter movement can accomplish. This seemed like the most obvious choice as there was no possibility to travel to the US, and also, in order to answer the research question. As such this study will use an abductive approach which Danermark et al (2002, p. 91) describes as

something that strives to showcase what something might be, instead of what it is like deduction does. The authors further explain that abduction tries to get a deeper understanding parting from an original rule, which can be theory/conception, trying to get a deeper understanding. As an abductive study, it will look at what a social movement such as the BLM movement actually can accomplish by trying to understand what makes social

movements successful, and thus deepen the understanding of the subject of social movements.

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Design

This study will be written as a case study. The main focus will be social movements with the Black Lives Matter movement as a case for that study.

Case studies are done when one wants more understanding of the complexity of a certain case (Bryman et al 2012, p. 66). As such a case study should, in its own right, be of interest and the aim of the research should be to undergo an in-depth analysis of the object of interest that determines the case

(Bryman et al 2012, p. 69). There are different types of case-studies

depending on the reasoning behind the case. In the case of this case-study, it can be argued to be a typical case. A typical-case is a case-study where the object of interest is of interest because it represents a broader category

(Bryman et al 2012, p. 70). In this case, the BLM movement is representative of other social movements, and it is therefore a typical case-study. Seeing as the BLM movement is such a large movement as well as quite different from other previous movements, in how it organizes, what kind of reach it has had, and how it operates, it seemed appropriate to regard it in the form of a case study.

The method used for examining the research question is qualitative text analysis. When one does a text analysis the central point is to read the text actively as well as ask it questions to see if the one is able to answer them, or if the text is. Text analysis can be divided into two categories, systematizing and critically examining (Esaiasson et al 2017, p. 212). This text will focus on the first one. Systematizing is one of the most common ways of analyzing a text. By systematizing one tries to structure the text(s) and illuminate the meaning of it systematically (Esaiasson et al 2017, p. 213). By doing this the point is to enlighten the most important aspects of the content. This is most often done by logically categorizing the text (Esaiasson et al 2017, p. 213).

To be able to do this it can be good to operationalize words that can facilitate the analysis (Esaiasson et al 2017, p. 214).

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Operationalization

The texts that constitute the material in this study have been systematized as is mentioned above. When regarding the material, which consisted of the objectives and achievements, four themes were discovered, socio-economic, physical security, cultural recognition, and other. All of the different

objectives and achievements were then color-coded according to the different themes and categorized. No specific words were used as an indicator as to which objective/achievement belonged to which category but were instead decided based on how they were characterized. For instance, objectives that had to do with physical security often had to do with police brutality or violence towards black people.

Sources

The aim of this study is to map and look at what objectives and achievements the Black Lives Matter movement have been able to accomplish in order to understand what accomplishments new social movements could have. This was done by trying to establish what their actual objectives were. As the movement is not organized in a traditional way with a clear establishment of leaders and such, this was quite difficult. There really was not anything written on the subject although, there were some mentions of achievements but in other contexts. Based on those articles I knew where to look at different objectives/demands. A Vision for Black Lives was one of those sources, so was Campaign Zero, however, besides these other sources were explored. The different chapters were part of those and the Breathe Act, as well as the BLM homepage. All of the objectives are from primary sources.

However, when it comes to achievements, these were harder to find and therefore were mostly retrieved from second-hand sources.

The primary sources when looking at the objectives were based on the different organizations that can be viewed to be a part of the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as the chapters that are a part of the BLM

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movement and Black Lives Matter homepage. Seeing as they are the organizations and activists who are also a part of the BLM movement, it is reasonable to assume that they would be reliable in terms of setting the objectives.

The different organization that this study considered a part of the Black Lives Matter movement was the Movement for Black Lives who has its policy platform “a vision for black lives” which the Black Lives Matter organization along with 50 other organizations has endorsed (M4BL 2019).

Another organization that mentioned objectives that are part of the BLM movements was Campaign Zero. The objectives of Campaign Zero are not as wholesome as the ones of M4BL, but they are rather focused on the matter of police brutality. Activists who are also part of the BLM organization were said to be part of the campaign zero are therefore assumed to be part of the BLM movement, however, the connection is unclear and this study cannot state for certain that this is the case. There is also the BLM homepage, which unfortunately did not yield much, seeing as the only objectives mentioned there were quite broad, however, those broad objectives were in line with the objectives made by the other organizations which do speak to their

reliability. The chapters also have their own objectives. Most of these were similar to the objectives laid forward by the organizations, except they might be more focused on the state/city in question. As such there does seem like they all work towards a common goal. Besides this, BLM chapter

Philadelphia had the BPRC, which was a petition, but that was where they had formulated demands, that can be viewed as objectives. It was, however, linked to on the chapters’ webpage and it was thus clear that they were a part of the petition.

However, when it came to achievements most of them were found through second-hand sources. Most of the organizations’/movements’ webpages did not mention achievements and as such second-hand sources were necessary.

However, some achievements did come from first-hand sources. When it

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came to the chapters two of them did mention what they have been able to accomplish BLM LA and BLM Seattle, who, moreover, had a progress report. These are probably the most reliable sources in terms of what the Black Lives Matter movement would view as achievements, as they are a part of the movement. However, as this study also sought to study all achievements the BLM movement has been able to accomplish, other

sources were explored as well, which were mostly media accounts, however, these achievements were made outside of the objectives and mostly of the cultural recognition character.

There are limitations to the sources that were used in regard to achievements.

First, that most of them came from different media channels is a limitation in regard to their reliability. In order to try to ensure and increase the reliability, all sources and their stated facts have been confirmed through other sources.

Second, that media sources are second-hand sources which decreases the reliability, makes it difficult to ensure whether or not the achievements are what the BLM movement would consider achievements. However, seeing as there was little to no mention of achievements on the different organizations associated with BLM as well as no other research done on the subject, this was the only alternative. Moreover, even though it might be difficult to ensure that these are achievements that the BLM movement would consider achievements, they are nonetheless of importance to this study, as it regards not only achievements the BLM movement itself would consider, but also achievements outside of the movement.

Delimitations and limitations

One limitation that has been set is that this study will not try to examine whether the objectives of this study are actually achievable, as this would require another whole study. Rather it will only examine what the objectives of the Black Lives Matter movements are.

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A delimitation that was part of this study is the number of chapters that are part of the study. First of all, since there was no list of the number of

chapters that could be found, there was no way of knowing if all of them are included or not. This study, instead, used a report from 2017, which lists all chapters as a reference. Another delimitation in regard to the chapters was that not all of them have their own homepage, which is necessary in order to keep the validity high. Therefore, the chapters that did not have their own homepage, or just worked out of some social media, were excluded from this study.

Ethical Considerations

There have been no ethical considerations made in this study.

Findings

The Creation of Black Lives Matter

The Black Lives Matter movement is a movement that started with the use of a hashtag after the death of Trayvon Martin in 2012. Trayvon Martin was a young man who was going home to his father's girlfriend who lived in a gated community in Florida. In his pockets, he had a drink and some skittles.

This was when a man, George Zimmerman, from a neighborhood watch association, noticed Trevon Martin and started to pursue him because he perceived him to be a threat. As a result, they got into an altercation that ended with Gorge Zimmerman shooting Mr. Martin dead. When George Zimmerman later was acquitted this sparked outrage in the whole country.

His defense had been built around the fact that Trayvon Martin had been a threat, even though he was merely on his way home (Kilgo, Mourao &

Sylvie 2018, pp. 414-415). Consequently, Alicia Garza wrote a post on Facebook where she wrote what she called ‘a love note to black people’ that said: “Black people, I love you. I love us. Our lives matter”. This was then

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shared by her friend, Patrisse Cullors, who added the #blacklivesmatter. Out of this hashtag, the movement started (Clayton 2018, pp. 453-454).

When Michael Brown was shot dead in 2014 by the police this sparked outrage and extensive demonstrations were arranged by the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement in his hometown Ferguson and in Saint Louis. As the protest ensued there, protesters were criticized by the media as well as tear-gassed and pepper-sprayed by the police (BlackLivesMatters 2020a).

However, this did not stop the protest, instead, the founders of the BLM movement organized a national wide ride to Ferguson, which they called the Black Life Matters ride. It was in the wake of this protest that the BLM movement was able to grow, because from those protests people became organized, and 18 chapters were developed in different communities all over the united states (BlackLivesMatters 2020a). It has since then been a

movement that has made itself noticeable all over the United States of America as well as globally (Clayton 2018, p. 454). The BLM movement is mainly focused on ending police brutality but also fights for freedom, justice, and liberation (BlackLivesMatter 2020b). It is a movement that has made intersectionality with a lot of focus on not only the police brutality towards black men but also women and the LGBTQ community (BlackLivesMatter 2020c).

In the following years, the movement has grown to include not just the United States but there are chapters in Canada and the UK as well. By 2017 there were more than 40 chapters active, internationally (BlackLivesMatter 2017). The Black Lives Matter movement started as a hashtag that grew into a movement that in the beginning were able to create disturbance with its protest.

Black Lives Matter in 2020

It is a movement that has just gotten larger and larger. In 2020 the death of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd once again sparked what became

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extensive protest. Breonna Taylor, who was a medical worker, was in her home asleep with her boyfriend when the police broke into her apartment in order to get in. As a response to the entering by the police Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker fired his gun, which hit one of the policemen.

Mr. Walker claims he did not know that it was the police who had entered the apartment, but rather thought that it was Ms. Taylors ex-boyfriend. The police returned the fire with 32 rounds, during which Breonna Taylor was shot six times, while still in bed. The police had received a search warrant due to the suspicion that Ms. Taylors ex-boyfriend, who they believed was part of a drug ring, had hidden narcotics in the apartment. No drugs were found, however, the search ended after the shooting. Breonna Taylor was shot dead on the 13th of Mars. In the aftermath of her death, the BLM movement started a ‘say her name’ campaign and Breonna Taylor’s name circulated widely as a protest against police brutality (BBC 2020a). Breonna Taylor’s death also led to wide-scale demonstrations in both the spring when it occurred and later on as the case drew more attention (Oppel Jr., Taylor &

Bogel-Burroughs 2020).

Two months later George Floyd was killed in broad daylight by three police officers who apprehended him and restrained him by sitting on top of him, which caused him to not be able to breathe. The police had been called due to Floyd using a 20-dollar counterfeit bill (BBC 2020b). He became non- responsive and when officer J Alexander Kueng tried to find a pulse, he could not. He was then taken to a hospital where he was declared dead (BBC 2020b). This incident sparked outrage in not only the United States but worldwide as a video of the incident was released. Protests ensued all over the United States as a response to the police brutality of black people, this in the midst of a pandemic (BBC 2020b). The Black Lives Matter movement has been at the forefront of the protests with the help of other movements as well. In the wake of the protests that started with the death of George Floyd, the support for the Black Lives Matter movement has increased, especially among black Americans (Thomas & Horowitz 2020).

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Since there were close to no objectives to be found on the BLM webpage, most of the objectives discussed in this study came from other organizations, which can be said to be part of the BLM movement, however, there is no clear connection between them.

Objectives

The Black Lives Matter movement has been active for more than 7 years, although at the beginning of the movement they did not have any outspoken goals other than to fight police brutality against black people and racism in society (Blacklivesmatter 2020c). That is still the case. When one looks at the Black Lives Matter homepage, there are no clear outspoken goals.

However, the BLM movement is part of the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) with around 50 other organizations, who created ‘A Vision for Black Lives’ as they refer to it, which is a comprehensive policy platform, (M4BL 2020a, M4BL2019). The BLM movement has also been associated with other platforms, such as Campaign Zero, where activists from the BLM movement helped outline the policies. Then there are also the chapters who, some of them, have their own said goals and others do not, but rather have the same ones as the BLM movement.

To make the objectives and results more manageable they have been divided into different themes. The themes are, physical security, socio-economic development, cultural recognition, and others, which are those that simply do not fit into any of the other themes. Cultural recognition includes goals that are focused on cultural/structural change, such as symbolic gestures, or changes that work to change the culture and structure of racism. Physical security includes goals whose objective is to ensure black people’s security, in this study it mainly manifests itself in the form of security from the police.

Lastly, there is the socio-economic theme which aims at goals with the objective to secure black people’s social and/or economic development, this can manifest itself in the form of restoration or economic justice.

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Physical Security

Some of the results found in terms of objectives were related to the physical security of black people. For instance, when it comes to what the movement as a whole has as an objective they seem to be focused on police brutality, by defunding the police, ending the incarceration and criminalization of black people. Campaign Zero is among others who demand that the police “end profiling and ‘Stop-and-Frisk’ and establish enforceable protections against profiling to prevent police from intervening in civilian lives for no reason other than the ‘suspicion’ of their blackness or other aspects of their identity”

(Campaignzero 2020). They then go on to specify who and in what situations this should be included, as well as give examples of similar policies already in place (Campaignzero 2020). The Movement for Black Lives demands that there is a reallocation of funds at the different levels of policing in the US to

“long term safety strategies such as education, local restorative justice services, and employment programs.” (M4BL 2020b). Or the objectives had to do with actions they want the government to take. For example, following the COVID19 outbreak, there were calls from the BLM movement in the form of a petition for increased testing within black communities and that the poor, as well as the working poor, should be provided with enough

provisions, among other demands (BlackLivesMatter 2020d).

Socio-economic development

There is also a focus on investing in black communities, by divesting the police. In other words: taking money meant for the police and investing it into black people's social and economic development. This has most of the time come in the form of demands for economic justice or reparations. They feel that since black communities have not been invested in and due to slavery and colonialism there need to be reparations. For instance, the Movement for Black Lives demands “reparations for the continued

divestment from, discrimination toward and exploitation of our communities in the form of a guaranteed minimum livable income for all Black people,

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with clearly articulated corporate regulations” (M4BL 2020c). The Movement for Black Lives furthermore demands a

Federal and state job programs that specifically target the most economically marginalized Black people and compensation for those involved in the care economy. Job programs must provide a living wage and encourage support for local workers centers, unions, and Black-owned businesses which are accountable to the community (M4bl 2020d).

In trying to specify marginalized people they furthermore write

There would be special provisions in the jobs program that would have strict benchmarks for hiring Black trans people, queer people, women, formerly incarcerated people, differently-abled people, and other target populations that have extremely high disproportionate rates of unemployment (Pitts, Wallace & Bester n.d., p. 2).

As is noticeable based on this, most of the objectives have to do with either policies they want to implement or change, such as the Breathe Act which the Movement for Black Lives has spearheaded (M4BL 2020e). It aims to close all federal prisons as well as immigration detention centers, reallocate funds from policing to increase general social welfare, to name a few of its targets (Read 2020).

Cultural Recognition

The said goal of the Black Lives Matter organization itself is more general and aimed at cultural change in society. They state

Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, Inc. is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes. By combating and countering acts of violence, creating space for Black imagination and innovation, and centering Black joy, we are winning immediate improvements in our lives (Blacklivesmatter 2020c).

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It, therefore, falls under the theme of cultural recognition. Of course, some of the other changes could be said to also work towards that goal, but if it is a policy change focused on physical security or the socio-economic

development of black people, for example, then it is much better suited as such. Besides this, there was also only one other cultural recognition

objective found, which the BLM Philadelphia chapter had. it was the demand to ‘immediately and permanently remove all symbols of state violence’

(BPRC 2020).

Chapters

Chapters are local associations that constitute a part of the BLM movement, as they are chapter-based, with the mission to build local power

(BlackLivesMatter 2017). Some of the chapters do not have any officially stated objectives at all, or at least, not that could be found on their webpages.

The chapters that did not are assumed to have the same objective as the BLM movement. The other chapters that did have some objectives were usually along the same line as the one’s the BLM movement stood behind. Most of them had to do with policies related to black communities and police brutality but more specific to their own states. BLM Philadelphia for

example has joined other radical organizations in strategizing against police brutality which resulted in the ‘Black Philadelphian Radical Collective’

movement (BPRC). The BPRC then came up with 13 demands to end

“police terrorism and state violence” which include “NO to Philadelphia Police Department Budget Increase” and “Swift Firing of Killer Cops and Community Response” (BPRC 2020). The BLM Chicago chapter also has a list of demands that are aimed at ending police brutality. In total there are 10 of them, which include “justice for all killed by police'' which demands the name of police officers in the Chicago police department who are involved in the killing of anybody as well as the reopening of all cold cases in order to know the wideness of police brutality (Blacklivesmatterchicago 2020).

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Then there were some objectives from the chapters that were more on an individual level in the form of demands of specific prisoners. For instance, the BLM Philadelphia chapter through the BPRC has the demand of the

“Immediate Permanent Release of Mumia Abu Jamal, Major Tillery, Arthur Cetawayo Johnson, Russell "Maroon" Shoatz, Omar Askia, Joseph "Jo-Jo'' Bowen, and all Black Political Prisoners'' (BPRC 2020). They are demanding this due to the belief that they are innocent and never had a chance to prove because of false evidence (BPRC 2020). These objectives were also the objectives that are included in the theme other, as they did not really fit into any of the other themes. The BLM chapter Long Beach had demands that have been formulated as a response to the coronavirus. They were focused on health care, food, and housing security for black people as well as

transportation and education (BLM Long Beach 2020a). The demands are part of the socio-economic theme.

In general, it is evident that most of the objectives are focused on physical security and socio-economic development, both when it comes to the chapters and the BLM movement. It is also noticeable that most of the objectives the chapters have are similar to the objectives the BLM movement has.

Achievements

As with the objectives, the achievements have been divided into the same themes. What became evident when looking at the different divides was that there were quite a few results that were concentrated within the cultural recognition theme, but also in the physical security theme. This is an interesting finding, seeing as most of the objectives were within physical security and socio-economic themes, rather than the cultural recognition theme.

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With the massive protests in the wake of George Floyd’s and Breonna Taylor’s murder, the Black Lives Matter movement saw a lot of mobilization and support for its different objectives. This has led to some results being achieved as a response to those protests. As such most of the results found in this study are found in 2020.

Physical Security

When it comes to results under the theme of physical security there have been some made. In the wake of the protest of the deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, there were calls to defund the police. These calls had been there long before the protests ensued but with the increased support the Black Lives Matter movement saw during the protest in 2020, they grew louder and therefore had more support (Levin 2020). As such there was action taken by different cities and some police departments did receive a decreased budget. Among them were New York who decreased their police budget by 1 billion dollars out of the police department's 6 billion operating budget. Out of the $1 billion, $354 million were reallocated to mental health, homelessness, and educational services (Clingham-David 2020, Rubenstein

& C. Mays 2020). Los Angeles decreased its budget by 150 million dollars from its 1.86 billion proposed budget (Clingham-David 2020, Nbclosangeles 2020). San Francisco’s police and sheriff’s department’s budget was

decreased by 120 million dollars which were invested in black communities (Clingham-David 2020, Green 2020).

Another result that became evident under the theme was bans on no-knock warrants, the so-called Breonna’s law so that incidents such as the one Breonna Taylor and her boyfriend experienced do not happen again

(Clingham-David 2020, Gupta & Hauser 2020). In the wake of the death of Elijah McClain, there were changes made. Elijah McClain, who “resisted arrest”, and then was tackled to the ground and held there until the first responders came, who then injected him with ketamine. As a result, he suffered from a heart attack and was taken to the hospital where he died

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(Lampen 2020). As a response to his death, Colorado as well as Aurora city has banned the usage of ketamine as a sedative (McEvoy 2020).

Another result that was achieved was the executive order by President

Donald Trump to create a nationwide database that is intended to track police officers with a history of misconduct. According to the order, it will track criminal convictions, terminations, and civil judgments against law

enforcement officers for excessive force (Gauntt 2020, BBC 2020). A third achievement was back in 2015 when black students at the University of California were able to convince the school to divest 30 million dollars in prison investments, which is part of the objective the BLM movements have (Workneh 2015, Song 2015).

Chapters

When it comes to the chapters there is little to no mention of any actual achievements. There are only two that this study has found, in the BLM Los Angeles (BLM LA) chapter and BLM Seattle chapter. In BLM LA they were able to co-sponsor a ‘right to know’ bill which, with the help of BLM LA, was signed into California law, which has one of the most restrictive laws in the US when it comes to issues of police brutality and misconduct (BLMLA 2020, Blacklivesmatter 2018). Among other things, BLM LA was also able to persuade the Unifies School District board to stop the practice of

“random” searches, which occurred at schools with a higher concentration of colored students the most (BLMLA 2020). These achievements are viewed to be of the physical security character.

When it comes to BLM Seattle they have had some achievements of the socio-economic character. For instance, in the city of Seattle, they were able to persuade the city to reclaim and return the property to black people for healthcare and housing purposes. They also managed to get the city to remove its police from schools, among other things. In King County they have been able to defund the police from several school districts, at a county

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level they were able to declare racism a public health crisis, end cash bails as well as get marijuana convictions expunged, among other things

(Blacklivesseattle 2020). One other cultural recognition accomplishment that is underway of being achieved is the one regarding the removal of racist symbols. The BLM Philadelphia chapter specifically had this as one of their demands and when it comes to statues in Philadelphia there have been some statues removed as a response to the protest in 2020. For instance, the statue of the former mayor Frank Rizzo who, during the 1960 and 1970s, was against black and gay people as police commissioners (Hurdle & Cramer 2020). There have been statues taken down in other states as well. In

Richmond, Virginia, the Stonewall Jackson statue was removed, as well as a confederate monument in Decatur, Georgia, among others (Taylor 2020).

Cultural Recognition

Other results that have been achieved in regard to the BLM movement are the demands on limits on campaign contributions from democrats. For instance, top democrats in California have demanded that the party should stop taking campaign contributions from police unions (Garofoli 2020).

Other than these achievements most of the rest are of symbolic character. In Minneapolis for instance, the city council has agreed to replace the current public safety system with one that is instead focused on community health and safety (Clingham-David 2020). In regard to industries, there have been some changes made. At different companies, leadership is being held accountable for their racist and discriminatory actions. Clingham-David writes that “Executives from Bon Appetit, CrossFit, Refinery29, and other companies have resigned due to racist remarks or allegations of racist

company culture” (2020). In the aftermath of the protest that took place after George Floyd and Breonna Taylor’s murder, some companies have also donated money towards racial justice. For instance, Facebook pledged to donate $10 million, Chipmaker Intel is donating $1 million to different

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organizations, including the Black Lives Matter organization, to name a few (Togoh 2020).

One vague and partly symbolic result, but that might eventually help achieve other objectives is the support that the Black Lives Matter movement has been able to gain. This is shown in part by the fact that campaigns such as

“say her name” have been successful as in the case of Breonna Taylor (BCC 2020a).

Other achievements

There have also been unintended consequences with the movement. As an answer to the Black Lives Matter movement another movement was created, the Blue Lives Matter movement, meant to honor and raise awareness of the job police do. The Blue Lives Matter movement was created in the aftermath of the protests that occurred after the death of Michael Brown. On their webpage, they state: “In the months that followed, agitators spread outright lies and distortions of the truth about Officer Wilson and all police officers.

The media catered to movements such as Black Lives Matter...”

(Bluelivesmatter 2020). As such they are a clear direct consequence and result of the Black Lives Matter movement. They have also had

achievements among which are the Blue Lives Matter statues. They aim to include police and other first responders as a protected victim category, which has gone through in the states of Mississippi, Louisiana, Kentucky, and Texas (Mason 2020). As this does not fit into any other theme it is placed within the ‘other’ theme.

Summary

It should be noted that all of the objectives as well as results are only selected samples of the kind of objectives/achievements found. Thus, while it might appear as though there are equally many results on physical security as on

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cultural recognition, that is not the case. In reality, the results found were mostly of the cultural recognition theme.

What is evident is that there have been achievements made by the BLM movements, although most of them are not part of the objectives that they had formulated. Most of the objectives were of the physical security as well as socio-economic development character, while most of the achievements were of the cultural recognition or physical security, and the ones who were on the physical security were only partly achieved, as far as comparing them to the objectives. As such, it can be said that in terms of their objectives they have not yet been able to achieve them. The achievements that they have been able to accomplish have not been what the movement has set out to achieve but rather has been the effect of the movement and the protests. A direct consequence of the protest, for instance, has been for the high executives to step down, which can be viewed as a result of the BLM movement. That there have been divestments from the police and in some cases investments into black communities is an achievement in itself but also works towards the objectives the BLM movement has set.

Analysis

In order to understand the Black Lives Matter movement, it is important to know that it is a vastly different movement from the civil rights movements were, even though they were trying to achieve the same things. In order to analyze the results of this study, the analytical framework of new social movement theory, goal setting theory as well as apply the conceptual

framework of Johan Galtung’s three dimensions of violence will be applied.

Johan Galtung’s three dimensions of violence

Galtung’s three dimensions of violence, cultural violence, direct violence, and structural violence can be seen as part of the grievances that the BLM

Land of the (Un)Free