#BlackLivesMatter: A Brief Analysis of the Hashtag and its Evolution

#BlackLivesMatter was first used on Twitter in July of 2013 following the acquittal of George Zimmerman, who was responsible for the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. Since then, the hashtag has been used over 48 million times and counting. What #BlackLivesMatter represents now versus how it started is an evolution worth looking at - and worth paying attention to.

Then and Now

#BlackLivesMatter began as a cry of outrage on social media in response to the police killings of numerous African American people in 2014 - including but not limited to Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Dontre Hamilton, Jerame Reid, Antonio Martin, John Crawford III, and Tamir Rice, who was only 12 years old.

The Black Lives Matter hashtag helped bring to light numerous disturbing and upsetting photos and videos of police brutality in a way that had never really been done before. The social media movement marked a huge uptick in citizen journalism, with people tweeting about police injustices that were not (yet) being shown anywhere on TV.

Data showing the spikes in use of the BLM hashtag on Twitter in response to major news events. Source: Pew Research Center

With police brutality and shootings cropping up so frequently, the cry of outrage began became more than an online discussion. Through #BlackLivesMatter, people began to organize protests and demonstrations outside of the Internet to make their voices heard. Within just a few years, #BlackLivesMatter evolved from a Twitter hashtag to a full-blown movement for social change.

People march to protest the murder of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Herald Square, Manhattan, November 2014. In November of this year, both Tamir Rice and Akai Gurley were killed by police officers. Image Source: Otto Yamamoto

At the start of protests organized by the Black Lives Matter movement, the public opinion of the group in the United States was shockingly low. It took protests over six years for Black Lives Matter to be seen as a 'favorable' movement in the eye of the American public. According to data from the New York Times and Civiqs, American voters now support the movement by a 28-point margin, a large increase from the 17-point margin before the most recent wave of protests.

This large scale change in overall public opinion came after the very public deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

Data showing the net voter support for BLM as of 2020. Source: New York Times

Black Lives Matter is now considered to be one of the largest non-centralized movements in U.S. history. In 2020, there are an average of 140 BLM demonstrations a day since the large scale protests of this May. According to the New York Times, more than 40% of counties in the United States have had a protest this year.

Why it Matters

#BlackLivesMatter evolved from a cry of outrage on social media against police brutality to a large scale, non-centrally organized group fighting not only police brutality, but also the systemic racism engrained in our country.

With more and more eyes on the movement every year, it took on new purpose as a vehicle to not only protest injustice but to educate others on why all of this is still happening. Social media is the perfect way to reach a large audience with a message, and the Black Lives Matter hashtag has utilized this platform to teach and discuss issues of racism that were otherwise not being talked about.

The more favorable view of BLM today likely comes as a result of this new, more widespread sharing of knowledge. As more people become educated on the realities of systemic racism and the harm it causes, more people become impassioned to do something about it. Today, with huge protest turnouts and widespread demands to reform the police in response to everything that has happened, Black Lives Matter stands as a fully-realized social movement to fight for justice and change.

How it Relates to Health

This project centers around the effects of systemic racism on health in the United States, and #BlackLivesMatter is intrinsically tied to any discussion of racism and health.

Research from the National Institute of Health shows that systemic racism over generations not only denies people of color opportunities, but also robs them of their health, both physical and mental. According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, "The life expectancy of people of color is often a decade or more shorter than their white neighbors just a few blocks away. They face a higher risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, obesity, and mental illness. And babies born to black women are more than twice as likely to die in the first year of life as babies born to white women."

These inequities in health stem not only from oppressed and targeted, but from being ignored and not taken seriously. #BlackLivesMatter goes hand in hand with health because Black Lives Matter. So long as systemic racism continues to oppress people of color, it will continue to worsen and ruin the lives and health of black people across the country. BLM is a huge part of the fight for true equality, fairness and justice - and equality, fairness and justice cannot be achieved until we address the inequalities in every aspect of life here in the U.S., and that includes health.