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Civil Disobedience: The Black Lives Matter Movement

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The Black Lives Matter movement has intervened on America’s unjust treatment of African Americans with nonviolent protests, rallies to reach out to the people, and the making of coalitions of Black Americans. Since the Black Lives Matter movement has started the ideal of civil disobedience has changed in the public eye. Civil Disobedience is still relevant in today’s world, but with the historic beliefs of Mahatma Gandhi, Henry David Thoreau, Martin Luther King, and other advocates of bettering America, we can discover a better way to find resolutions in violent political conflicts. “Consent of the governed determines if a law is just” was an ideal coined by John Locke, an advocate of America freedom. The ideal says that the people that follow …show more content…

On August 9, the shooting of the unarmed, African American teen, Eric Garner, cited the outcry of many people who didn’t see a peaceful resolution because of their anger. The protestors of Ferguson, Missouri burned down stores, threw rocks and molotov cocktails at police, who then in return, fired tear gas and rubber bullets at the protestors. These violent protests began when the judge made the decision that the police officer responsible for the killing of Eric Garner would not be charged. “Anger is the enemy of non-violence and pride is a monster that swallows it up”. (Mahatma Gandhi) The reason people around the world don’t believe in civil disobedience today is the violence that occurs from angry protesters not knowing a rightful way to respond to the unfairness, except taking to the streets and destroying anything around them to send a message. The only message that the violence sends is that the advocates of the Black Lives Matter movement are unintelligent, ignorant, simple minded imbeciles who only know how to handle the unrighteous treatment of their fellow brothers and sisters with the action of wild apes. Do you want your beliefs and the way you represent yourself be identified with a monkey? The only successful protest is nonviolent protest. To better the message that Black Lives Matter is sending to people it must take more action with …show more content…

The only people who can change what laws are instituted among them and their voice within these laws are the people who follow them. On July 6, 2016 Diamond Reynolds live streams aftermath of her boyfriend's shooting. Mrs. Reynolds uses Facebook livestream to showcase the shooting of her boyfriend, Philando Castile, within their car as Castile is asked to show some type of identification to the officer. When he reaches for his wallet the officer fires 4 bullets into his chest, revealing blood all over Mr, Castile’s shirt and the screams of Diamond Reynolds. When Reynolds asked the officer why he shot her husband, he shakes with uncontrollable fear, then speaks, “I don’t know”. Mr. Castile later dies. President Obama speaks on the incident calling the recent African American deaths “tragedies” and demanding that the country as a whole “do better”. (McLaughlin) At this time in America I believe the African American people are lacking the power that the democratic government has promised them. The Minnesota governor, Mark Dayton made the statement saying that he didn’t think the incident would have occurred if the couple was white. The African American’s voice is being suffocated and strangled out of them by the police and the government, the enforcers

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“Performing Struggle: Parrhēsia in Ferguson” by Bal Sokhi-Bulley comes from Law Critique, a peer-reviewed journal. Bulley’s piece covers police brutality in Ferguson and around the world. She mainly focuses on the racial tensions that arose between the police force and citizens of Ferguson, Missouri. This includes speculations for the reasoning behind this unease, intricate details about race within the

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In result, she only received probation while the driver who was white faced no consequences. All she wanted to do was draw attention to the pressing issue of racism in Ferguson. Activists and protesters are always putting their lives at risk for the greater good of their communities. There is a misconception that Black Live Matters protesters in particular are not peaceful protesters. When in reality, they are peaceful protesters and then the police show up in army gear to tear gas and threaten people, and that is when things become chaotic.

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Castile’s family have no faith with the system Castile’s family decried the court’s decision to acquit Yanez. Castile’s mother said that: “The fact in this matter is that my son was assassinated, and I will endure to say assassinated, because where in this earth can you tell the truth, and you be frank, and you still be killed by the police of Minnesota.”

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In order to achieve true freedom one must discover that you can break unjust laws through peaceful protest. In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and “The Speech at The March Washington” by Josephine Baker each article passionately argues about the disadvantages of the black community, the equality and power of education. We must learn to act with patients and not guns we must protect are self’s with a pen and paper not violence. Dr. King once4 said “Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. It is unique in history which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it.

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Los Angeles experienced a very similar situation to Ferguson. When four Los Angeles police officers that had been videotaped beating an unarmed African-American driver were acquitted of any offense in the arrest, anger and protest swiftly turned to violence, as “rioters in south-central Los Angeles blocked freeway traffic and beat motorists, wrecked and looted numerous downtown stores and buildings, and set more than 100 fires” (This Day in History, April). The video of Rodney King’s being beaten was constantly broadcasted on television, fueling anger over what was interpreted as a pattern of hostility and abuse by the Los Angeles police toward Africa-Americans and Hispanics. Peaceful protests, civil disobedience, and demonstrations are common ways to express non acceptance of something that has been done or a law that is not acceptable. However, riots are unlawful and violent acts that do not accomplish anything positive.

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The shootings of Trayvon Martin, Philando Castile, Michael

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Black lives matter movement should also argue, stop black on black crime. There are lots of violence going on today, particularly within our own community. We have young black men killing each other over drugs and other nonsense that may torment our community. Not to mention, the constant reminder of the black on black crime that is plastered on the news daily. It saddens me to know our ancestors endured so much hardship and we turn around and kill one another.

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People's justification to engage in civil disobedience rests on the unresponsiveness that their engagement to oppose an unjust law receives. People who yearn for a change in a policy might sometimes find themselves in a dead end because their “attempts to have the laws repealed have been ignored and legal protests and demonstrations have had no success” (Rawls 373). What Rawls says is that civil disobedience is a last option to oppose an unjust law; therefore, providing civil disobedients with a justification for their cause. Civil disobedience is the spark of light that people encountered at the dead end and they hope that this spark of light will illuminate to show that an unjust law should not exist at all. Martin Luther King, Jr, in his “Letter from

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If you were to take this movement of “Black Lives Matter” (disregarding all race standards and segregation) into the 18th century during the time of George Washington and John Adams it would’ve created outrage in the colonists. The outcome of a riot by the Sons of Liberty were successful because of the actions they took and the loyalty of the members. The British government had no control over the angered colonists even though by law they did. The angered colonists disregarded all government actions and all authority was

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Also, there was the John Crawford accident in 2014 who was on the phone with his mother of his kids when he was shot and killed by police for being suspected as a dangerous shooter. These incidents have led to very damaging riots like the one in Ferguson, Missouri because Michael Brown was shot and killed after bullying a store clerk. A much more recent episode of rioting took place in Baltimore, Maryland after the death of Freddie Gray who was manhandled and not given medical assistance after being brutalized. During one account where an officer attacked a black man, the department stated that it had nothing to do with race but the man feels differently. Across the nation and all over social media many have given their opinions about these issues with the majority saying that the government really needs to step in and help the situation.

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The actions of these individuals managed to make their statements without causing harm to others. Nonviolent protests are lasting through today. It can be seen in the modern Black Lives Matter movement, a campaign participated in by members of all ethnicities in protest of institutional racism. January 2017's Women's March was participated in across the globe, with an estimated 1,000,000 marchers of all ages, genders, and ethnicities. The issues we care about and have the right to reject unite us with cause and

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As kids people get taught what is wrong and right from a parental figure or experiences of life teach us how to react to different situations. When we finally turn adults no one is there to remind us of what’s good and what's bad so we have to use our past experiences and our knowledge to help guide us. Each adult shapes their societies for their generation and many more generations to come. Mohandas k. Gandhi and Susan B Anthony’s speech along with the article Selma to Montgomery March on history show that civil disobedience is a moral responsibility.

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Para 1.) “After police shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old. The fatal gunshots, fired by a white police officer, Darren Wilson, on 9 August 2014, were followed by bursts of anger, in the form of protests and riots. Hundreds and then thousands, of local residents, had flooded the streets. The killing of Michael Brown created a new generation of black activists, with thousands taking to the streets, and a hashtag used more than 27m times.

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The title of the article I chose to address is titled “The rise of Black Lives Matter: Trying to break the cycle of violence and silence”. This article extend beyond the idea of Black Lives Matter and wants the reader to be informed on what it is like to be black in america. The author includes a wide amount of information to help the reader understand why this cry for help was even created and why they want to stand up and make a change in our society. The purpose of this piece is to inform the general audience as to what Black Lives Matter really is and explain how they hope to rise as a movement. All though there may be issues within the group and outside forces that are wanting to go against them they will still not be silenced.

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Resisting authority and the act of civil disobedience has been on display in a number of both low- and high-profile occasions in this country’s history. With his essay, “Resistance to Civil Government,” Henry David Thoreau would go on to inspire an entire generation to take a stand and to fight injustice and corruption whenever spotted. Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, and Nelson Mandela were all some of the high-profile examples of civil disobedience, but the act of resisting authority and combating social injustice did end in the last century. If anything, it is stronger now than ever before. Since the dawn of this sweeping epidemic of police brutality, people have taken it upon themselves to seek action, to protest and to seek peace from

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