“Black Lives Matter has nothing to show for the money it raises and media attention it receives. They gave words, a name to a mass movement, but they haven’t articulated any political message to date.”
“Black lives matter was gaining ground. Then a Sniper Opened Fire.” This New York Times article encapsulates everything that is wrong with the ubiquitous but ultimately useless organization, Black Lives Matter. The phrase is now used to describe any protest by black people in the last two years and has come to symbolize the fight against police murder. So much so that it is difficult to offer any serious commentary about BLM.
To be clear I differentiate between the organization and the many efforts to fight back against 21st century lynch law. That fight is a righteous fight, but BLM as an organization is an abject failure. BLM makes no political demands of Obama or any other officials. The founders of BLM know good marketing when they see it and the phrase is used by the righteous and the scoundrels alike. If BLM was the truly radical, revolutionary organization that we so desperately need, it wouldn’t feel a need to explain actions, defend itself or offer anything other than political demands. Its leaders wouldn’t care what the New York Times or anyone other than the masses of black people had to say about them.
The Most Revolutionary Act 
Margaret Kimberley is right, as she usually is. BLM, and I have covered this before and said pretty much the same things Ms. Kimberley has said about that farce, is not effectively representing the interests and the needs of Black people, anywhere. I have never gotten behind that group, in fact, I have denounced it as a fake-assed attempt to mask itself as an organization fighting for the rights of Black people in AmeriKKKa when it is doing nothing of the sort. That Black Lives Matter group is more phony than a four dollar bill. And I would tell any of its members that to their face.
This is exactly why you will never find me at a protest rally because it will always be assumed that the protest was organized by BlackLivesMatter. Every protest that has been initiated since BlackLivesMatter got up and running was not associated with that ‘organization’, but every group gathering, every meeting of Black people get grouped in with BLM. That is also done by design.
BLM has made not one gain since its inception, not one. Killings of Black people have actually increased since BLM, so what does that tell you? All you need to know.
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I know. That was the first thing that struck me when I read Kimberley’s article – how much it resonates with what you have been writing. My experience with radical groups is that you don’t really accomplish much with repeatedly holding protest demonstrations. Holding one or two is useful for drawing people into a movement, but it’s just a prelude to setting up groups that meet regularly, draw up specific demands and regularly engage the officials to whom these demands are directed.
I was involved in Mothers Against Police Harassment in Seattle in 1991 – which was organized to counter police brutality against the African American community. Our principal demand was a civilian review board to ensure that cops who beat up or killed black people were accountable to civilians rather than to the police hierarchy.
This demand was eventually won after I left – Seattle got their Civilian Review Board which was toothless because they had no subpoena power.
So this was their next demand – to strengthen the power of the Office of Police Accountability. They also forced the city to install dash cams in patrol cars and were instrumental in getting the Department of Justice to intervene to file suit against the Seattle police for excessive use of force: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-washington-settlement-idUSKBN0OY2Q720150618
.Holding mass protests eventually loses its effectiveness as a tactic unless you incorporate other tactics, such as nonviolent (or violent civil disobedience) that make it impossible for the powers that be to continue business as usual.
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And as you can see, Dr. Bramhall, BLM has done nothing of the sort. Hell! They don’t even know what their demands are beyond, apparently, that everyone attend another protest rally and scream, “No justice! No peace!” and “Hands up! Don’t shoot!” Uh…excuse me…but that ain’t working.
And mass protests, quite frankly, have no effectiveness because if they did, after all the peaceful protesting that went on during the Civil Rights Movement, we should have made enough progress and gains whereas, today, we have no need for protests. So, that tells you right there that protests are ineffective when used alone and not in conjunction with anything else, because, as I have already stated, the statistical data on police killings of Black people is, actually, on the rise. This would not be the case if BLM and what they are doing, is effective.
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In deed the failure is to be found in the lack of a wider analysis. See also:
„Police Brutality Against Black Americans: Is There „More“ Behind it Than „Only“ the Inherent Racism?“: https://wipokuli.wordpress.com/2016/07/10/police-brutality-against-black-americans-is-there-more-behind-it-than-only-the-inherent-racism/
Andreas Schlüter
Sociologist
Berlin, Germany
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Excellent article Schluter. Thanks for sharing.
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I wonder if it is the media that does not cover BLM goals, agenda and organization. That was the case of Occupy Wall street protesters. You might be right that they need to elect leaders and have an agenda. They have made a loud roar that has been heard all over the world. It is up to it’s citizens to give them support. I urge them to carry on this important issue. I hope they use MLJ methods to finish his dream.
Honey
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From reading the article, puppies, it sounds like Kimberley attended their national conference last year (or knows someone who did) and there was absolutely no effort to develop consensus on political action. I’m always highly skeptical of movements that focus on “touchy feeling” topics such as “healing” and “safe spaces” and deliberately avoid political discussion. In most cases, these groups are heavily infiltrated by Left Gatekeeping Foundations funded by the CIA (see https://stuartjeannebramhall.com/2014/09/02/the-history-of-cia-funded-foundations/)
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I find this to be an interesting perspective… What do you think the movement should do from here?
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I essentially agree with the author – that any serious movement must move past protest demonstrations to build cohesive groups and organizations that demand specific reforms. Obviously this is already happening with some BLM groups – for example Kalamazoo: http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2016/07/black_live_matter_kalamazoo_ra.html
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Really interesting
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A good lesson in organizing, isn’t it?
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I just started a blog after seeing the disgust over social media about the election. I wanted to speak but I am a teacher and friend and was concerned over expressing my thoughts. So I created “Take the Floor” where people like me could ask question and receive true, honest opinions with anonymity. Please post a thought on the current BLM topic. I just had a reader ask about media coverage based on race. I would love you to comment on that! I enjoyed reading your post.
http://www.takethefloorblog.com
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Great blog, Jenifer. Congratulations. Thanks for stopping by.
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