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As various movements have sprung up like flash mobs to march and protest President Donald Trumps election, a question gradually occurred to me: Wheres Black Lives Matter?

Ever since the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter was born after a jury acquitted a neighborhood watch volunteer in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin in Florida in 2012, the loosely formed movement has turned up repeatedly to protest fatal shootings of unarmed black men and other racial disparities in the criminal justice system.

But since President Trumps election, we have seen new eruptions of racially suspicious police incidents, but not of major protests.

Last week, for example, we saw a suburban Dallas police officer charged with murder for allegedly firing his rifle into a car full of black teens, killing a 15-year-old boy.

Last month we saw the stunning video of police officers in Grand Rapids, Mich., holding a group of black children at gunpoint ranging in age from 12 to 14.

Yet as much as these disturbing stories made national news, they did not spark the major protests we have seen elsewhere. Why?

A Washington Post reporting team came up with one answer after interviewing what they described as more than half a dozen leaders in the Black Lives Matter movement.

The movement has entered a new phase, they were told. It is focused more on policy than on protest, all in response to the election of President Trump.

There are less demonstrations, Alicia Garza, one of three women credited with coining the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag, told the Post. People are channeling their energy into organizing locally, recognizing that in Trumps America, our communities are under direct attack.

Indeed, that makes a lot of sense at a time when Trumps election seems to have changed everything about how we Americans view the world.

But I think the energy and enthusiasm for Black Lives Matter street protests peaked out sooner than that. I think it happened last July when five police officers in Dallas were killed by a sniper at a Black Lives Matter protest. Ten days later, three more police were killed in Baton Rouge, La., after street protests over the shooting of another black man.

No, I dont believe it is fair to blame peaceful protestors for the shootings any more than I think it would be fair to blame Republicans for every deranged right-wing shooter who also happened to vote for their party. Still, its a little harder to criticize President Trump for his various inflammatory remarks if you dodge accountability for any anti-police tone in your protests.

Loosely organized flash-mob movements with weak leaders and vague agendas have become a trend in the Twitter age. But they tend to lack control over their members, their message and their momentum.

Lack of organizational discipline leads to embarrassments like the foolish protesters from St. Paul who chanted, Pigs in a blanket, fry em like bacon, while marching behind police officers at the Minnesota State fairgrounds two years ago. Conservative commentators still replay that video as though it was yesterday.

Everybody seems to have an opinion about what Black Lives Matter should do with itself. Heres mine: I think its time for the movement to move up from protests to planning, policies and programs. Protests have a lot of romantic appeal but theyre no substitute for an agenda, firm goals and a plan to get there.

Conservative media have pinned all manner of racist beliefs on Black Lives Matter, yet the movement has not put much of a priority on appointing official spokespeople to push back.

On the contrary, todays young self-styled woke (politically conscious) generation, I have found to my chagrin, too often thinks it is beneath them to arm themselves with knowledge and employ the simple art of persuasion to win people to their side. Its not my job to educate you, I have been told by some righteous activists in a form of intellectual snobbery that is bound to lead to failure.

Indeed, a lot of people find it easier to call for dialogue than to actually engage in one. Thats changing. Some Black Lives Matter activists have organized a formal agenda and leadership development programs, just for starters. Leaders matter. Whether things go right or wrong, somebody has to be where the buck stops.

(E-mail Clarence Page at cpage@chicagotribune.com.)

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Can Black Lives Matter move up in the age of Trump? - The Daily News Online

RICHFIELD, Minn. (KMSP) - A family outreach worker at a Richfield elementary school believes she was suspended after planning to wear a Black Lives Matter shirt to school as part of a planned protest.

Jessi Martinez wanted to wear the t-shirt to Richfield STEM Elementary, along with several other educators at the school, on the Friday before Martin Luther King Jr. Day. She never got the chance to wear the shirt, claiming the district banned the protest.

Two days prior to the planned protest, a group of 13 educators informed the principal of their plans to wear the shirts as a simple way to stand with students of color, or so they thought.

From there, the district office got involved. In a statement, the superintendent says administration shared the viewpoint that not including the entire staff could result in the division of staff. The statement goes on to say the following week Richfield Public Schools organized a district wide equity event that was an inclusive opportunity for all staff, adding throughout this process no discipline of staff was ever discussed or taken.

The full statement is posted on the districts website.

Fast forward to this week and Martinez says she was suspended on Monday.

The group Social Justice Education Movement says this is a pattern they've seen the district take against teachers speaking out. The group claims four teachers also planning to wear the BLM shirts have had their positions cut, and other staff feel intimated. Martinez, who has been the family outreach worker for the school for five years, believes she's the latest target.

The full statement from Social Justice Education Movement is posted here.

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Richfield educators fear possible retaliation for Black Lives Matter shirts - KMSP-TV

The production, written by a Ball State duo, is part of IndyFringe's OnyxFest, which spotlights black playwrights.

"Black Lives Matter (Too)" is one of the plays on the 2017 slate for IndyFringe's OnyxFest.(Photo: Photo provided/Dena Toler)

When Angela Jackson-Brown and Ashya Thomas wrote their play "Black Lives Matter (Too)," they set some goals.

They wanted to infuse thework which comprises scenes, poetry and music with human connections. They wanted to plant hope that triumphs in even the most difficult situations.

And when the play premieres this weekend, they want to use black people's stories from slavery through the present to unpack a term that has seen controversy. The work will be part of IndyFringe's OnyxFest, which spotlights work by black playwrights.

"A lot of these vignettes are going to be difficult to sit through, and that's intentional," Jackson-Brown said.

"We want to take people to uncomfortable places because so often we don't really talk about race in a constructive way. So we thought through the theater, oftentimes, people can be reached in ways that they can't through politicians or through lectures."

IndyFringe Executive DirectorPauline Moffat makes a habit of waiting until the festival itself to see the plays, but she is familiar with the strengths ofJackson-Brown. Her work has been part of IndyFringeandDivaFest, which highlights women playwrights.

Jackson-Brown "has such an incredible understanding of life and death, and ... the way she treats death is incredibly moving," Moffat said.

For "Black Lives Matter (Too)," Jackson-Brown, who is an assistant professor in the English department at Ball State University, teamed up with Thomas, who just graduated from the school. The two began collaborating on the play after Thomas turned in a particularly strong project, Jackson-Brown said. The OnyxFest work is Thomas' first play.

The darkened theater offers anonthreatening space to understand what Black Lives Matter means, Jackson-Brown said.The "(Too)" at the end of the play's titleclarifies the unspoken understanding that black people aren't saying they're the only ones who matter, she said.

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"It's simply a matter of, we've made too many strides to go backward," Jackson-Brown said. "So let's all remember what we came through during the '50s and the '60s, and let's not try to do things that are going to move us back to that place."

While race and relationships between black men and womenare part of the characters' journeys, Jackson-Brown said they sought an emphasis on self-love and a balance of storiesthat allowed characters to show their strength.

"We're not just exposing issues related to white and black, but we're also looking at issues related to black folks in general, problems that exist within our own community," Jackson-Brown said.

Meet the playwrights: Q&A from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Thursday.

"The Quilting": Mijiza Holiday.8 p.m. Saturday,7 p.m. Sunday and4:30 p.m. May 20at IndyFringe Indy Eleven Theatre, 719 E. St. Clair St.

Black Lives Matter (Too): Angela Jackson-Brown and Ashya Thomas. Produced by Jackson Brown Entertainment. 7 p.m. Friday, 6 p.m. Saturday and9 p.m. May 19at IndyFringe Basile Theatre, 719 E. St. Clair St.

Truth The One Man Show: Ryan Bennett. 7 p.m. Sunday, 7 p.m. May 19 and9 p.m. May 20at IndyFringe IndyEleven Theatre.

Cost:$15 at the door, $18 online (including fees), $13 students and seniors.

Call IndyStar reporter Domenica Bongiovanni at (317) 444-7339. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Read or Share this story: http://indy.st/2q61NrU

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'Black Lives Matter (Too)' play aims to unpack the term and share humanity - Indianapolis Star

Rozonda Chilli Thomas, a member of the all-black female hip-hop group TLC, came under fireon social media when she insisted that all lives matter instead of aligning her views with the Black Lives Matter movement.

During a May 9 interview that made waves Wednesday on social media, Thomas faced questionsfrom UKs Channel 4 News about being a black female in America, as well as herthoughts on the Black Lives Matter movement.

Another issue thats been highlighted in both the USA and the UK is the Black Lives Matter movement, reporter Jasmine Dotiwala began. Did you guys feel strongly about it when it was kicking off in America? Did you go on any marches? Did you go on any anti-Trump marches?

Thomas answered:

I personally didnt go into any marches, or anything like that, but for me, all lives matter, you know what I mean? Because there is a time when different groups are targeted for different things, you know what Im saying? So, I just think that, just the whole you know what happened with the police brutality against these young black boys and stuff like that, all of that kind of stuff is wrong, even if it was a caucasian teen kid that this was happening to or whatever. Its just not right.

She said that law enforcement sometimes takes things too far and that those in law enforcement should be vetted more heavily.

Some people take that authoritative position, and go crazy with it obviously, Thomas said. I think that before people are hired in these positions, they need to do some kind of better background check on them, or mental stability kind of check on them to see if they can really handle being in a position like that.

Tionne T-Boz Watkins another member of TLC and a former Celebrity Apprentice contestant added her two cents about policemen, claiming that copsstick together: That color sticks together too, blue, they stick together. Theyre not going to tell on each other.

Watkins also noted that she doesnt care about President Donald Trump, noting that his presidency doesnt affect her life.

I dont care about Donald Trump, Watkins said. God is my president, so I just feel sorry for people it affects, but I dont care about him.

When asked if they think Trump is a scrub, T-Boz laughed before adding, It doesnt bother me I worked on Celebrity Apprentice when he wasnt president and I wasnt too fond of him then. So I dont care really.

Twitter users disagreed a lot:

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Social media rips black pop star for disagreeing with Black Lives Matter movement - TheBlaze.com