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?