Why We Support Black Lives Matter

The UUCC Social Justice Committee agrees that the Black Lives Matter movement is the Civil Rights Movement for the 21st Century. It was born online after the not-guilty verdict in the killing of Trayvon Martin, and translated to the streets after the killing of Michael Brown. BlackLivesMatter is an organization, a movement, and a rallying cry for racial justice. Systematic racial injustice persists: young black men are 21 times more likely than their white counterparts to be shot by police, public schools are more segregated now than ever, and black unemployment is two times that of whites.

Black Lives Matter is broadening the conversation around state violence to include all of the ways in which Black people are intentionally left powerless at the hands of the state. Black Lives Matter continues to explore and talk about the ways in which Black lives are deprived of their basic human rights and dignity. Black Lives Matter is working for a world where Black lives are no longer systematically and intentionally targeted for demise. Black Lives Matter affirms people of color’s contributions to this society, our humanity, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression. Black Lives Matter is a project that calls for Black lives to matter to everyone of any color.