Draw
from your lived experiences and connect your writing to your everyday, concrete
realities.  Consider the lens through
which you view the world, the way you feel, see and experience reality. [Provide
at least 2-3 direct quotations from the text under consideration in your
response!!]

1) 
Alicia Garza,
Opal Tometi and Patrisse Cullors, founders of the Black Lives Matter Movement
(BLM) have explained that the movement’s inception coincided with the murder of
Trayvon Martin and eventual acquittal of George Zimmerman, who shot and killed
Martin in 2012.  They also trace the movement’s
beginnings back to the murder of Oscar Grant at the Fruitvale BART Station in
2009, the brutal beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles Police in 1991, and
historically to the legacy of violence during American slavery. 

First
describe how the movement has been portrayed through mass media outlets.  For instance, what kinds of images and key
words/phrases have been associated with the movement?  Secondly, provide a discussion of the central
issue of police brutality and state violence that initially sparked the
movement.  Consider what role the
militarization of police forces across the nation has played in perpetuating
police brutality?  Additionally, what are
some of the other core issues that the Black Lives Matter Movement seeks to
address?  How do the root causes of
oppression addressed by BLM connect to the issues tackled by the Black Panther
Party during the 1960s?  Do their demands
share similarities? 

Lastly, talk
about how you have been exposed to the Black Lives Matter Movement.  In what ways do you feel the movement impacts
your life?