Impact of the Phrase “Black Lives Matter” in the Caribbean Region
Introduction
Black Lives Matter (BLM) uprisings and protests have sparked protests and conversations about systemic racism and relations in different parts of the world. The protests in the United States following the death of George Floyd created a powerful impact in the Caribbean and Latin America (Sobo, Lambert, & Heath, 2020). Activists and local people in the Caribbean region have been inspired by the Black Lives Matter in the United States have created demonstrations to propagate justice for historical injustices associated with racism, classism, and police brutality.
Impact of the Phrase “Black Lives Matter” in the Caribbean Region
The BLM movement has increased human rights violations in the Caribbean region for unresolved cases of police brutality. Police brutality has affected the minority with a growing pattern of criminalizing the poor and ethnic minority in the community. One of the most famous demonstrations was as a result of the death of Giovanni Lopez on June 4 after getting detained for failure to wear a mask. Further protests were seen on the 9th of June following the death of Alexander Gomez who was killed by police officers without cause (Lima, 2020). This is evident that the wave of BLM in the United States has encouraged Mexicans and particularly those from minority groups to press for their civil rights and end police brutality.
The phrase “Black Lives Matter” has created the need for the blacks in the Caribbean region to speak about anti-black racism and anti-blackness which is rooted in colonialism and white supremacy. BLM has given the community the motivation to hold a difficult conversation about colour and race and its intersection with gender, nationality, class, and sexuality. Along with protests in the country, activists have created awareness forums to encourage people to expose the internalized racism and light-skin privileges. The conversations have also been shifted on the need to uncover classism, sexism, and racism as well as the function played by homophobia in the communities and families. As such, the phrase BLM has caused the region to uncover historical issues and hold difficult conversations about police brutality, racism, and the power and privileges associated with colourism.
Movements on Black Live Matter have created the need for black communities to handle colonial trauma, poverty, and current problems that are associated with indigenous experiences of colonialism and oppression (Sobo, Lambert, & Heath, 2020). The phrase has created the need for minorities to stand united and fight against the colonial systems of structural oppression and systemic racism. It is thus evident that although movements on BLM have facilitated protests in the Caribbean region, it has served as a moment of awakening such that the communities have identified faults in the system and aspire to make changes for their benefit and generations to come
Conclusion
Activists and local people in the Caribbean region have been inspired by the Black Lives Matter in the United States have created demonstrations to propagate justice for historical injustices associated with racism, classism, and police brutality. The phrase encouraged the minority groups in the country to hold protests against police brutality following the death of Giovanni Lopez and Alexander Gomez, among others. It has also created the need to handle classism and racism by holding awareness forums and conversations on topics that were considered difficult in the past. Finally, the protests have created the need for the community to heal from colonial trauma and solve problems in the society associated with colonialism and structural oppression of minority groups.
References
Lima C. E. (2020). Black Lives Matter is inspiring demonstrations all over Latin America. Retrieved from https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2020/06/22/black-lives-matter-movement-latin-america-protests
Sobo, E. J., Lambert, H., & Heath, C. D. (2020). More than a teachable moment: Black lives matter.