QUESTION: How has the #BlackLivesMatter movement influenced public policy, and how has it been impacted by different factors in America?

PUBLICATION: Portland State University

ESSAY MODEL: “#BlackLivesMatter: This Generation’s Civil Rights Movement” By Tanika Siscoe

https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1327&context=honorstheses

As I stated in my topic reflection #BlackLivesMatter has always been a topic that I am constantly thinking about. This year in particular I have taken an extensive amount of time trying to educate myself and trying to spread awareness about different topics. For my essay I chose the question, “How has the #BlackLivesMattermovement influenced public policy, and how has it been impacted by different factors in America?”. I was given the suggestion to try and combine all of my questions into one. However, I still wanted to explore the idea of how the movement has been influenced by America instead of only the other way around. I wanted to be able to do more research on how #AllLivesMatter has tried to combat the movement and why people believe this in the first place.

Although the death of Trayvon Martin sparked the idea of #BlackLivesMatter, police brutality, or brutality against the black community in general, was nothing new. The lack of equality for people of color has been a problem for as long as e can remember. Even though the Civil Rights Act was a huge accomplishment for the black community, with the amount of systemic racism and hate crimes against the people, it seems as though the government is always 10 steps ahead. This is why #BlackLivesMatter is such an important movement. It brings awareness to the injustice the country faces. By making others aware, especially those who are not people of color, it is easier to bring about change. When more people of different races, religions, sexualities, and genders, come together as one the leaders of this country could finally realize how important this matter is.

For this essay, I plan to pace myself and really take the time to read through each of my sources and make note of anything I can possibly add to support my research question. This week I want to look for more sources and read through some cases involving police brutality. I would like to create a timeline for myself which includes important dates and accomplishments the movement has brought about. I also want to conduct more research on AllLivesMatter and try to find out who started that and how it has influenced the movement. During Donald Trump’s presidency, the number of hate crimes has risen, I would like to try and include this in my essay and acknowledge the connection between racism in America and the president. I feel like there are many factors I can include in my essay. In the end, I would like my essay to be able to persuade my audience (those who are not educated on the topic enough to be in support of the movement) to want to be apart of this and recognize that change is needed.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Jee-Lyn García, Jennifer, and Mienah Zulfacar Sharif. “Black Lives Matter: A Commentary on Racism and Public Health.” American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, Aug. 2015, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4504294/.

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