Translator: Rosalind Eccles Reviewer: Denise RQ
I'll begin with a story.
Fall term - I'm walking home from my African-American History class,
and I see this guy, and he's walking these two cute little black pugs,
and I don't have a filter, so, I lean down, and I say,
"Aww, black pugs matter, don't they?"
(Laughter)
I think it's hilarious.
(Laughter)
This guy immediately goes, "Oh, they're not, like, 'Black Lives Matter' pugs,
they're more like 'Civil Rights' pugs.
They're good boys, they're nice."
Funny? Yes. Awkward? Even more.
Because I've heard previously about people comparing
the Black Lives Matter movement to the Civil Rights Movement,
but are people really holding one over the other?
So I decided to dig deeper.
I found Dr Fredrick C. Harris at Columbia University, who explained
that in the last half-century
all of Black activism has been compared to the 1960s,
which are called the glorious days of Black history,
but this comparison is nostalgic at best.
However, I found a Gallup poll in August of 2015
that said 76% of Americans believe
that the Black Lives Matter movement is ineffective,
because it's too violent compared to the Civil Rights Movement.
At this point, I'm thinking, "Wow, America's just one giant struggle bus,"
because we're just struggling to understand
that you cannot place the expectations of the Civil Rights Movement
on the Black Lives Matter movement;
they're two completely different movements.
The Civil Rights Movement fixed things like de jure racism
- racism by law, segregation -
but left de facto racism - racism for racism's sake - wide open,
and if we keep comparing those two, we won't have change,
we will not be able to change those comments.
So, you may be thinking, "OK, we compare, so what?"
Well, it's like comparing apples to oranges,
and because of it, our efforts are not fruitful.
Like apples and oranges, they're both fruit,
but if I want an apple pie, I'm going to expect an apple pie.
The Black Lives Matter movement and the Civil Rights Movement
have ultimately the same goal,
but they're two completely different fights.
And this comparison is lethal.
In the year of 2015, 1,134 deaths occurred
of young, Black, and unarmed individuals.
[Unarmed]
Yet, according to that aforementioned Gallup poll,
46% of America believe Black civil rights are no longer an issue
because it was fixed already by the Civil Rights Movement.
[IT WAS FIXED ALREADY]
But there's a way to solve this.
Patrisse Cullors, in a personal interview, once told me
that we compare our Black history like a Spotify playlist:
exchanging our nonviolent rhetoric
instead of really thinking about things like the Freedom Riders.
However, our activism has to be constant.
If you want to be an advocate, please come find me at any time,
I have business cards available for you
that have starting points about the Black Lives Matter movement,
places where you can find out how to join a local Chapter,
and you can even email me
if you don't feel comfortable engaging in a dialogue with your friends,
because everyone deserves a safe place to talk.
And it's important that we all are part of this,
because this is not a Black problem.
This is our problem.
And just because this is no longer a problem
does not mean that fight is over.
So, I hope I've inspired you to join the Black Lives Matter movement
or change the way you think about comparing the two,
because it is definitely not your mama's Civil Rights Movement.
(Applause)