STATION 3
#BlackLivesMatter
Youth-Led Movement for Racial Justice

✊ Movement Background

Key Facts:

Started: 2013, by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, Opal Tometi

Catalyst: Police violence against Black communities

2020 Resurgence: 15-26 million participants (largest in US history)

Global Reach: Protests in 60+ countries including Aotearoa NZ

Youth Leadership: Many protests led by teenagers and young adults

Organizing Strategies:

• Decentralized Leadership: Local chapters, no single leader

• Digital Organizing: Social media to coordinate and document

• Community Defense: Protecting communities from police violence

• Policy Demands: Defund police, invest in communities

• Cultural Work: Changing narratives about Blackness and justice

• Intersectional: Centering Black women, LGBTQ+ voices

What Made It Powerful:

• Young Black organizers refusing to wait for adult permission

• Sustained organizing, not just one-day protests

• Clear analysis of systemic racism and solutions

• Building power in Black communities, not just protesting

🎯 Analysis Questions

Youth Organizing Leadership:

  • How did young Black organizers lead this movement?
  • What organizing strategies did they develop and use?
  • How did they challenge both racism and ageism simultaneously?

Building Community Power:

  • How did they build power in Black communities?
  • What role did social media play in their organizing?
  • How did they create sustained change beyond protests?

Global Connections:

  • How does this movement connect to justice struggles in Aotearoa?
  • What solidarity did they build with Indigenous movements worldwide?
  • How did they inspire organizing against racism in other countries?

Systemic Change Focus:

  • How did they target systems of oppression, not just individual prejudice?
  • What alternatives to police and prisons did they propose?
  • How did they connect racial justice to economic and environmental justice?
✊ Examine how young Black organizers built a global movement for systemic change. Consider connections to anti-racism work and Indigenous solidarity in Aotearoa.