Semester Project Proposal: Black Lives Matter Movement

     For hundreds of years the African American community in the United States has been the subject of discriminatory actions and racism. The systematic racism and discrimination led to a call for change. Throughout American history citizens fought for equal rights and treatment for Blacks, with prime examples being the Civil Rights movement and the Black Lives Matter movement. For this reason, the focus of this project will be on the real issue of racial discrimination against black people and the act of resistance known as the Black Lives Matter movement.

The Black Lives Matter movement was first created back in 2012 after the death of Trayvon Martin. Martin’s murderer George Zimmerman was acquitted of his crime, and dead Trayvon was placed on trial for his own murder. This created a lot of protests that managed to build up action that soon leads to the creation of the hashtag #BlackLivesMatters on social media. This movement itself was a call to action and a response to what seemed to be anti-Black racism. In this project, I will provide more information about this information along with reports from the Trayvon Martin case.

Extensive research will be done on past events (slavery, the Civil Rights movement) and current events (the various shootings of Black individuals) which will serve as evidence that discrimination is occurring. I will go back to old reports that extend from slavery to the Civil Rights movement. The Civil Rights movement was a social movement in the United States whose goal was to end racial segregation and discrimination. This movement will be used as a reinforcement and a mirror image to the movement that is occurring today in order to support the message they both share. The mass media will play a big role in this project and it will be discussed as a way of raising awareness on issues. I will speak about the negative and positive impacts of the media during the movement. There is a lot of evidence that show that there are still issues involving African Americans. I will also speak about current issues, such as the reaction to results of the 2016 election.

Artist from previous class readings will be used to support the idea of this movement. One of them being from the Agitprop Exhibition, which includes artist Dread Scott and his piece titled “On the Impossibility of Freedom in a Country Founded on Slavery and Genocide”. Scott's piece was used to show the concept of "the struggle for freedom", which also references the Civil Rights struggle faced in Birmingham Alabama. Other artists from my own research will also be used to support the movement. One of these artists is Nate Hill, who is also an African-American man who has done pieces based on racial issues. Hill’s piece is titled "The White Ambassador", where he challenges the idea of reverse racism between Whites and Blacks. This art piece will be used to show that racism can be an issue both ways. Overall, this project will include a written essay focusing on the Black Lives Matter Movement along with a blog/website dedicated to supporting the movement.