Archive for the ‘Black Lives Matter’ Category

Black Lives Matter | Definition, Goals, History, & Influence …

Black Lives Matter (BLM), international social movement, formed in the United States in 2013, dedicated to fighting racism and anti-Black violence, especially in the form of police brutality. The name Black Lives Matter signals condemnation of the unjust killings of Black people by police (Black people are far more likely to be killed by police in the United States than white people) and the demand that society value the lives and humanity of Black people as much as it values the lives and humanity of white people.

Protesters carrying Black Lives Matter signs at a demonstration against police brutality in Boston, Massachusetts, May 2020.

BLM activists have held large and influential protests in cities across the United States as well as internationally. A decentralized grassroots movement, Black Lives Matter is led by activists in local chapters who organize their own campaigns and programs. The chapters are affiliated with the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, a nonprofit civil rights organization that is active in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

BLM was cofounded as an online movement (using the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter on social media) by three Black community organizersPatrisse Khan-Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi. They formed BLM after George Zimmerman, a man of German and Peruvian descent, was acquitted on charges stemming from his fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed Black teenager, in Sanford, Florida, in February 2012. Zimmerman, a neighbourhood-watch volunteer, had seen Martin walking in his neighbourhood and called the police because he thought Martin looked suspicious. Although police told Zimmerman not to do anything, he followed Martin, got into an argument with him, and shot and killed him. Zimmerman remained free for weeks after the shooting but was finally charged with second-degree murder and arrested in April, after demonstrations demanding his prosecution were held in cities across the United States. At his trial more than a year later, Zimmerman claimed that he had acted in self-defense. His acquittal in July 2013 was widely perceived as a miscarriage of justice and led to further nationwide protests.

The BLM movement expanded in 2014 after the police killings of two unarmed Black men, Eric Garner and Michael Brown. Garner died in Staten Island, New York, after a white police officer held him in a prolonged illegal choke hold, which was captured in a video taken by a bystander. Brown, a teenager, was shot and killed by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. Large protests of these deaths in the name of Black Lives Matter captured national and international attention. The BLM movement thereafter continued to play a prominent role in demonstrations against police brutality and racism. Notably, BLM activists protested the deaths at the hands of police or while in police custody of several other Black people, including Sandra Bland, Philando Castile, Freddie Gray, Laquan McDonald, Tamir Rice, Walter Scott, Alton Sterling, and Breonna Taylor.

National march against police brutality, Washington, D.C., December 2014.

In 2020 George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, was pronounced dead after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on Floyds neck for several minutes, despite Floyds repeated protests that he could not breathe. Wide circulation of a bystanders video of Floyds last minutes triggered massive demonstrations in cities throughout the United States and across the globe. The tragedy swayed U.S. public opinion in favour of the Black Lives Matter movement while drawing wide attention to the problem of entrenched racism in American society.

The Black Lives Matter movement has many goals. BLM activists seek to draw attention to the many ways in which Black people are treated unfairly in society and the ways in which institutions, laws, and policies help to perpetuate that unfairness. The movement has fought racism through such means as political action, letter writing campaigns, and nonviolent protests. BLM seeks to combat police brutality, the over-policing of minority neighbourhoods, and the abuses committed by for-profit jails. Its efforts have included calls for better training for police and greater accountability for police misconduct. BLM activists have also called for defunding the policethat is, reducing police department budgets and investing the freed-up funds in community social services, such as mental health and conflict-resolution programs. BLM activists have also worked on voter registration and get-out-the-vote campaigns in Black communities. In addition, BLM programs have celebrated Black artists and writers.

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Black Lives Matter | Definition, Goals, History, & Influence ...

Face facts: Black Lives Matter is all about hate

Its agenda is plain for all to see: cop-killing.

With another two police officers shot at the Black Lives Matter riot in Louisville on Wednesday, its time to lift the veil on the whole movement: Its a haven for unrepentant cop-killers.

These arent isolated incidents. It has been fewer than two weeks since supposedly peaceful BLM radicals chanted, We hope they die, while blocking the entrance to a hospital where two Los Angeles County sheriffs deputies were undergoing life-saving surgery. An assailant had walked up to their patrol vehicle and opened fire from point-blank range without provocation.

Those chilling words echo the rhetoric we hear from BLM founders and members, who make clear that a prime objective of BLM is to Kill Cops. Up until now, this has been kept well enough under wraps to deceive major corporations, professional sports leagues and countless well-meaning Americans.

Joe Biden has made propagating this movements lies a centerpiece of his presidential campaign, waiting months before condemning the wanton violence perpetrated by BLM. Staff members on the Biden campaign contributed money to secure the release of rioters charged with crimes. Meanwhile, progressive Democratic prosecutors refused to even charge some of the worst rioters.

Some people try to separate BLM the organization from the movement that goes by the same name, but at most they are two sides of the same coin. From the start, both the organization and the movement BLM writ large have been about hatred and violence that extends beyond police and includes all white people, all blacks who are conservative and the United States of America.

We saw this in 2014, when BLM first attained national prominence. After months of anti-police rioting, a man pledging revenge for Michael Brown and Eric Garner traveled to New York City, stuck a pistol through the window of a squad car and opened fire. Detectives Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu died on the scene.

I mourned the officers like the rest of New York did. And when I met with the Ramos and Liu families, I was aghast. I reiterated my call for politicians to abandon their reckless anti-police rhetoric. Maybe, I suggested, they should spend the next four months not talking about police hatred, but talking about what they are going to do about bringing down crime in the community.

Nineteen months later, a man opened fire at a BLM protest in Dallas, murdering five officers. BLM disavowed responsibility, but the killer had deep links to the movements radical ideology, stating that he wanted to kill white people, especially white officers. BLM supporters certainly didnt stop chanting Pigs in a blanket, fry em like bacon in the aftermath, either.

BLM counts on a legion of journalists who believe BLM will help advance a progressive agenda. They will never admit that violence against police isnt an unfortunate outgrowth of the BLM movement but the central point.

Black Lives Matter isnt about black lives. It ignores the 8,000 to 9,000 black lives taken by other blacks every year in minority communities across the nation. Those black lives, and the lives of African American police officers, dont matter.

Black Lives Matter isnt about holding police accountable, and it isnt a good-faith call for reasonable reform.

If we had a functioning mainstream media, this would be common knowledge by now. Instead, people are learning the real nature of BLM by watching protesters scream We hope they die outside a hospital where two cops are fighting for their lives.

The time has come to face the facts. If you ever supported Black Lives Matter, then you are either a left-wing radical or you got duped. There is no shame in the latter. By design, the relentlessly repeated cry of Black lives matter is an unassailable moral truism, calculated to bully people into supporting a radical, revolutionary, anti-order movement.

The good news is that it isnt too late to make the right decision. You can be a good person who decries racism and condemns police misconduct yet still reject violent left-wing radicalism unequivocally. You can stand for the safety and human dignity of black people and of all people and simultaneously stand with the police officers who maintain law and order.

It starts with rejecting BLM and every politician who has been cynical enough to enable the radical forces intent on tearing this country apart. When you see Black Lives Matter, realize they are dedicated to killing cops. Too much blood has been spilled already. It has to stop.

Rudolph Giuliani is the former mayor of New York City.

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Face facts: Black Lives Matter is all about hate

What Black Lives Matter Means – Why Saying ‘All Lives Matter …

As protests against racist police brutality sweep across the United States and spread around the globe, rallying cries of "Black Lives Matter" echo through our streets and our digital avenues. As we all digest the news and think about how to respond and participate at such a pivotal time, its important to recognize what Black Lives Matter really means as well as why the phrase "All Lives Matter" is problematic.

At its face, "All Lives Matter" sounds like a we're-all-in-this-together statement. Some may be using the phrase to suggest that all races should join hands and stand together against racism, which is a sentiment that comes from a good place. But the problem is, the phrase actually takes the focus away from those who need it. Saying "All Lives Matter" redirects the attention from Black lives, who are the ones in peril.

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Instead, it's important to understand what drives the BLM movement and how to support it by using the phrase and standing behind what it means. It can be an uncomfortable experience for many of us, especially if you're someone that hasn't taken the time to grapple with your own role in the systemic oppression that exists in our society. But it's also an essential education, no matter where you are in your journey.

Black Lives Matter is an anthem, a slogan, a hashtag, and a straightforward statement of fact. While it is not a new movement, the message is central to the nationwide protests happening right now. BLM speaks out against the police brutality and systemic racism that caused the recent deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade and Breonna Taylor, as well as the thousands of violent incidents that happen to Black people that arent recorded, arent reported or arent afforded the outrage they deserve. At its most basic level, it calls for a shift in the statistics that Black people are twice as likely to be killed by a police officer while unarmed, compared to a white individual. According to a 2015 study, African Americans died at the hands of police at a rate of 7.2 per million, while whites were killed at a rate of 2.9 per million.

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One of the goals of the Black Lives Matter movement is to raise awareness that we, as a nation, need to reconsider our priorities. Right now, there are U.S. institutions and systems that act as if black lives don't matter. For example, according to a report by American Progress, in 2015, each of the 10 states with the highest percentage of Black residents reported state and local policing expenditures of more than $230 per resident per year. Thats at least 328 times more than what each state spends on enforcing anti-discrimination laws.

While racism in the United States goes back hundreds of years to the country's founding, the Black Lives Matter timeline started much more recently. The movement arose out of the acquittal of George Zimmerman after he killed Trayvon Martin in 2013. Today, the Black Lives Matter Foundation, Inc. is a global organization thats active in the U.S., U.K., and Canada, although it has supporters all over the world.

The BLM guiding principles are to eradicate white supremacy and intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities through advocacy, fundraising and education. The organization aims to combat and counteract violence, amplify Black innovation, and center Black joy.

While the intention of the phrase "All Lives Matter" may be to put everyones life on equal footing and convey a sense of unity, responding "All Lives Matter" to "Black Lives Matter" is actually more divisive than unifying. That's because it discounts and diminishes the focus on the violence and discrimination Black individuals face every day in this country.

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It's a natural reaction to respond to one group centering its experience with, "But what about all lives?" or "Isn't my safety important, too?" But the truth is, Black Americans are disproportionately impacted by police violence and systematic racism in our nation. Our entire social structure centers around whiteness as a default. Asserting that "All Lives Matter" just reaffirms or at best ignores that reality. Of course every life is valuable, but not everyone's lives are in danger due to their skin color. Saying "Black Lives Matter" isn't equivalent to saying other lives don't, but rather that Black lives should matter as much as white lives.

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Alicia Garza, one of the creators of the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag, explained in 2014 how Black lives mattering is a precondition for all lives mattering:

Think of it this way: If you get into a car crash and one person has a serious head injury but the others have a few bumps and bruises, the person whose life is at risk gets first priority when it comes to medical care. That doesnt mean paramedics wont help the rest of the passengers, but that triage places the most dire situation first in line. Or, to look at it another way, if someone keeps setting your house on fire, you'd want firefighters to do something about it. Wouldn't it upset you if instead, people kept telling you that "all houses matter equally," if yours was the one burning?

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For those of us who are invested in working toward equality for all people, its important not to only see color, but to work on leveling the playing field. Its a sad reality that the Black experience in America isnt the same as non-Black experiences, in both seemingly small and incredibly large ways. If youve bought adhesive bandages, pantyhose, or foundation, you know what the default color range is. Many workplaces and schools still prohibit natural hairstyles or look at them as less "professional."

More than half of African Americans also report experiencing racial discrimination at work, from getting interviews at lower rates right on up to pay and promotion disparities. And the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that was established to fight workplace discrimination is too underfunded to adequately respond. In 2018, the EEOC secured $505 million for victims of discrimination, but the agencys lack of resources has created a backlog of nearly 50,000 charges. Moving through the world is just easier for non-Black people in America, and its long past time we acknowledge that. Only then can we work to fix it.

The first step to combating racism in our society is listening, no matter who you are. It hurts to hear that you might hold prejudice, especially if you consider yourself an open-minded person. But instead of getting defensive or jumping in to explain your own perspective immediately, listen to other points of view including those of Black change-makers, elected officials, celebrities, friends and coworkers. Push back on prejudice in your own social circles, even if it requires awkward conversations. And educate yourself on your own inherent bias, even if you dont think you hold any. Vote in your state and national elections to help enact change on a wider platform. And support racial justice organizations monetarily if you can, and share their messages on social media so others can get the information, too.

Follow the lead of black leadership and your own local city and your state," BLM co-founder and chair of Reform L.A. Jails Patrisse Cullors told Nightline. She listed Dignity and Power Now and the Youth Justice Coalition as places to start. Those are just a few organizations that help in these moments when we have people who are upset and [in] pain, angry, grieving," she added. There's hundreds of thousands of more organizations across the country.

We can all work together to dismantle the racial bias that underpins virtually every aspect of our country and world. Its hard work. Its uncomfortable. But nothing worth doing is easy. Theres nothing more important than creating a world in which our children dont have to be afraid to walk through an unfamiliar neighborhood, to go birdwatching, to buy a bag of Skittles, to browse in a high-end store, or even ask a police officer for help, no matter the color of their skin.

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What Black Lives Matter Means - Why Saying 'All Lives Matter ...

Fact-checking claim about deaths, damage from Black Lives …

Tom Kertscher| PolitiFact.com

This piece was originally published on PolitiFact.com on August 7, 2020

Facebook posts: Black Lives Matter "injures 1000 police officers kills 36 people and does $8 billion in damage."

PolitiFacts ruling: False

Heres why: Some Facebook commenters focused on professional sports leagues support of Black Lives Matter when they read this Facebook post:

"BLM injures 1000 police officers kills 36 people and does $8 billion in damage and gets celebrated by pro sports?"

We focused on the rest, and found that the biggest problem with the post, leaving aside the numbers claimed, is the lack of proof that Black Lives Matter caused the violence that is claimed.

The post was flagged as part of Facebooks efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

The numbers claimed

The latest flareup of protests against police brutality began May 26 in Minneapolis, where the previous day, George Floyd, a Black man, died after a white police officer kneeled on his neck. As we reported two weeks after the protests began, a review of demonstrations in five major cities found that all of the protests started with violence, but then became largely peaceful.

As for the numbers claimed in the post, the U.S. Justice Department told us it does not have figures on officer injuries or property damage resulting from civil disturbances, and the FBI said it had no comment. There are scattered news reports that dont entirely back up each part of the claim, and we found no official figures.

Officers injured: The New York Post reported on June 8, citing the U.S. Justice Department, that more than 700 law enforcement officers were injured on the job during nationwide protests over Floyds death.

People killed: In early June, news accounts reported the number of people killed during the Floyd protests at roughly a dozen, or as many as 19. The victims include a 77-year-old man who was a retired St. Louis police captain and a 22-year-old woman from Davenport, Iowa.

Damage caused: In late June, Fox News reported that according to insurance experts and city officials, the Floyd protests could eclipse the 1992 Los Angeles riots to become the most expensive civil disturbance in U.S. history. The 1992 riots, which followed the acquittal of four police officers in the beating of Rodney King, cost $1.4 billion in 2020 dollars, according to the report, which did not give a specific damage estimate for the Floyd protests. A spokeswoman for the Insurance Information Institute told Scripps National News that "most likely" the Floyd protest "would lead to higher losses," but did not provide an estimate either.

Black Lives Matter didnt respond to our requests for comment.

Difficult to flatly blame BLM

There is a Black Lives Matter national organization, which says it has more than a dozen U.S. chapters, along with countless numbers of individuals who support the organization.

As the New York Times reported July 3, four recent polls "suggest that about 15 million to 26 million people in the United States have participated in demonstrations over the death of George Floyd and others in recent weeks. These figures would make the recent protests the largest movement in the countrys history, according to interviews with scholars and crowd-counting experts."

There are also people who have participated in demonstrations, which have occurred in hundreds of cities, who may have no allegiance to Black Lives Matter, or may even oppose it, and have rioted or committed other acts of violence making it even more difficult to determine how a violent incident occurred.

Whats more, news coverage of the protests have also included numerous reports that identify law enforcement officers as causing injury to civilians.

In short, there isnt evidence to back the numbers in the claim or to blame Black Lives Matter for each part of the claim.

Our rating is False.

PolitiFact Texas is a partnership of the Austin American-Statesman, Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News to help you find the truth in Texas politics.

Facebook, post (archived here), July 25, 2020

Email, Justice Department spokeswoman Lauren Lambert, Aug. 4, 2020

PolitiFact, "Post inflates number of police killed in connection to protests," June 10, 2020

New York Times, "Black Lives Matter May Be the Largest Movement in U.S. History," July 3, 2020

New York Post, "More than 700 officers injured in George Floyd protests across US," June 8, 2020

Associated Press, "Retired officer, ex-college athlete among victims of unrest," June 2, 2020

Forbes, "14 Days Of Protests, 19 Dead," June 8, 2020

Fox News, "Deadly unrest: Here are the people who have died amid George Floyd protests across US," June 8, 2020

Fox News, "George Floyd protests could be most expensive civil disturbance in US history, experts say," June 29, 2020

USA Today, "Fact check: More Black people died in 2019 police shootings than in George Floyd protests," June 18, 2020

YouTube, Scripps National News story, June 12, 2020

Email, Manali Basu, public affairs specialist, FBI, Aug. 5, 2020

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7 Myths About Black Lives Matter That People Need To Stop …

In the wake of police violence against George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Jacob Blake and countless other Black men and women, the Black Lives Matter movement once again has the national spotlight. But with so much confusion and disinformation plaguing the conversation, not everyone understands what BLM is or how it works.

At best, myths about Black Lives Matter prevent people from giving their support. At worst, these myths actively detract from the movement and the anti-racism work its members have been doing.

What some people might call myths, I dont see them as myths I see them as tools by other groups used to do harm, stop change and maintain the status quo, said Richard M. Cooper, a clinical assistant professor at Widener University whose work centers on race and social justice issues.

In other words, myths dont just fall from the sky. Theyre created. They are a tool to provide misinformation, to incite fear, to get people to misunderstand an issue so that ...we dont have to promote structural change, Cooper said.

With that said, heres a look at the most harmful untruths surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement that need to end.

1. Its new.

The phrase Black lives matter wasnt really part of the modern conversation until the killing of Trayvon Martin, when writer and activist Alicia Garza included the phrase in a Facebook post and it was amplified by others. But the idea has been fought for over the past several hundred years.

Its really a continuation of the legacy of fighting for civil rights and social justice by people of color, particularly Black people.... It just happens to be called Black Lives Matter now, Cooper said.

He added that the only thing thats really changed is the access activists have to platforms, particularly online, and the speed with which people can get that information. But we are still talking about an ethnic group of people who have had to constantly and consistently fight for social agency and human rights in a society that continues to find ways to deny them of such, Cooper said.

2. Its disorganized.

There are three well-known founders of the Black Lives Matter organization, including Garza, but the general movement by that same name is a decentralized, grassroots effort that spans regions, demographics and mediums. For that reason, some critics say that it lacks leadership or a clear agenda. However, Cooper said this is largely a generational misunderstanding.

When it comes to the fight for civil rights, older generations were accustomed to seeing it unfold a certain way: A national or regional leader would serve as the spokesperson, organizing protests, sit-ins and other methods of demonstration, and lead the charge for change.

Black Lives Matter, on the other hand, exists in pockets across the country (and the globe). Theres no right way to get the message across, and members from hyperlocal chapters and other organizations rely on a variety of methods, including sustained protesting, social media campaigns, art and poetry.

SETH HERALD via Getty Images

According to Cooper, the criticism shows a lack of understanding about the particular features of the organizers and their strategies. They have been very smart and organic, Cooper said.

For an outsider, it might seem disorganized. But like demonstrations of the past, such as the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott in the 1950s, many strategic choices have been made that people of color dont get enough credit for, Cooper said. It shows a level of sophistication, actually, and an understanding of nuances and regional differences that this group has organized far better than past movements.

3. Its pro-violence.

About 93% of the 10,600-plus racial justice protests in the U.S. this summer have been peaceful. Those that did become violent involved aggression by police or by counterprotesters from extremist groups, researchers noted. But one-off instances of violence, looting and aggressive demonstrators have been conflated to suggest the Black Lives Matter movement employs and condones violence.

Its absurd because its the thing were protesting against, said Michelle Saahene, co-founder of the activist group From Privilege to Progress. People need to be able to differentiate between protesters and rioters, or protesters and opportunists.

The unfortunate truth is that there will always be outliers who look for opportunities to cause chaos or harm during tense times. Looting and riots also occur because of hurricanes, sporting events and for many other terrible reasons. That doesnt excuse the violence surrounding Black Lives Matter protests, by any means. But it is important to understand that the actions of these individuals are not aligned with the mission of the movement.

And sometimes the violence is strategic. The riots that took place in Minneapolis following the police killing of George Floyd, for example, were stoked by a white supremacist. Two people were killed and a medic was wounded by a white teenager with a semiautomatic rifle at a Black Lives Matter protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last month.

Because theres so much anti-Blackness, and white supremacy wants to be protected at all costs, people go out of their way to make it look like this movement is a violent movement, Saahene said. People really need to just think a little bit deeper... about what Black Lives Matter actually stands for and what theyre fighting against. Violence just doesnt make any sense.

4. Its anti-police.

Law enforcements track record with Black Americans is troubling, to say the least. Not only are Black men and women disproportionately stopped, arrested and killed by police, many of these instances of violence occur following 911 calls for fairly routine issues.

But the Black Lives Matter movement is not about retaliation or eliminating police. Rather, its about examining the structure of law enforcement and how it can better serve communities, especially Black and brown ones.

Defunding the police is a big part of that goal. And that idea is scary to a lot of people, often because they dont understand what it means. Defunding isnt about abolishing law enforcement. Its to look at how police departments have been funded to do things that they shouldnt necessarily have to do anyway and dont necessarily do well, that would be better met by other groups whove been trained differently and provided better resources, Cooper said.

For example, domestic disturbances or mental health crises could be responded to by social workers or medical professionals rather than armed police officers. If you come to a situation with a weapon, there is a possibility, even with a particular police officer who may be well-intentioned, for something to escalate if for no other reason than youre coming with a gun, Cooper said. The goal would be to deescalate these types of situations without the need for force and hopefully save lives in the process.

5. Its racist.

The phrase Black lives matter is not meant to be divisive. And yet it ruffles some (white) peoples feathers. Some even go so far as to claim that prioritizing Black lives is a form of reverse racism (which, by the way, is not a thing).

Because our lives are treated as if they dont matter, we have to specifically say that they do, Saahene said. Its just a phrase to get people to understand that because you have black skin does not mean that you should be treated any differently and certainly doesnt mean that your life should be cut short.

Were not saying Black lives matter more, were saying they matter too, added Melissa DePino, who co-founded From Privilege to Progress alongside Saahene. Its not about giving someone more and someone else less. Its about creating a situation in which everybody has the same privileges.

6. Its a front for Democratic funding.

Saahene said that there is a misconception that the Black Lives Matter movement arose for the purpose of gaining political control.

One of the biggest contributors to this idea is likely a now-deleted Facebook post that claimed donations to Black Lives Matter were being funneled to a Democrat Super PAC.

The claims were based on a video circulated on social media that showed that attempts to make donations on the Black Lives Matter website redirected users to a website called ActBlue. The video then showed a page on OpenSecrets.org that tracked how ActBlue spends its money, highlighting several multimillion-dollar contributions to campaigns for Democratic presidential candidates such as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former Vice President Joe Biden.

What is misunderstood in this video and the subsequent Facebook post is that ActBlue is simply a donation processing platform. Though it is popular among Democratic politicians and progressive nonprofits, it acts similarly to PayPal or other online payment systems. ActBlue doesnt actually pocket any of the donations or decide how theyre allocated. A donation to Black Lives Matter goes to Black Lives Matter.

Though members of the movement do seek to change many of the laws and policies that harm Black people, Saahene said, its not a political group. Theyre activists like me.

7. Its on Black BLM supporters to fix racism.

Though it can be tempting for white people to lean on Black friends and colleagues to educate them about racism and point out where its happening, the truth is that its not their job to fix racism. Theres enough emotional labor to dealing with racism in everyday life; the last thing white allies need to do is add to that burden.

When youre doing anti-racism work, you cant always have the victims doing the work, Cooper said. Its those who have the advantages, structurally and historically, who need to be rolling up their sleeves.

DePino agreed that racism is not a Black problem and its up to white people to learn history, acknowledge and understand their biases, and figure out how to stop causing harm, even if its unintentional. Thats the work that we have to do. And we cant just pay attention when someone gets murdered. We have to pay attention all the time and integrate it into our everyday life.

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7 Myths About Black Lives Matter That People Need To Stop ...