From Hashtag to Strategy: The Growing Pains of Black Lives Matter

Written on September 27th, 2015 in politics Comments Off

Published on In These Times, by Bill Fletcher jr., Sept 23, 2015 … movement activists discuss strategy and tactics;

In the last several months, the movement for Black lives (also known as the Black Lives Matter, or BLM, movement) has made headlines by engaging – often aggressively – with Democratic presidential candidates Martin O’Malley, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. Each action brought with it pointed questions and often, tactical criticisms.  

Meanwhile, several national and local organizations have come to be identified with the movement. As we found in building the Black Radical Congress (1998-2008), questions are emerging: How should we approach electoral politics? Should struggles for reforms be connected to a longer-term struggle for social transformation? Can U.S. capitalism accommodate the movement’s demands?

Today, we lack a strong, conscious, self-identified Left, both nationally and within Black America. Despite the overall strength of the Black Lives Matter movement, the weakness of the Black Left has contributed to a downplaying of ideology, strategy and the centrality of the Black working class in the movement.

In These Times organized a panel to examine the challenges faced by BLM. Alicia Garza is a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Network and helped conceive the slogan in 2013; Jamala Rogers is a founding member of the St. Louis-based Organization for Black Struggle and a long-time community organizer, as well as the author of Ferguson is America: Roots of Rebellion; R.L. Stephens is the founder of Orchestrated Pulse and an organizer in Minneapolis who was present at the Baltimore protests.

Let’s set some context: What exactly is Black Lives Matter? … //

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Black Lives Matter:

Links:

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Gallup: 60% of Americans Want a New Political Party, But, Why? – A Crisis of Legitimacy, on Global Research.ca, by Eric Zuesse, Sept 26, 2015;

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6-hour day? on RWER Blog, by David Ruccio, Sept 25, 2015: the American 40 hour week actually lasts 47 hours;

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