In 2020, after the death of African American George Floyd, the Black Lives Matter movement came into media focus and attracted a lot of attention worldwide. You probably know this civil rights and anti-racism movement.
But fewer people are aware of the related All Lives Matter movement that started at the same time. What are the goals of this movement, how did it come about and what criticism is being expressed about it?
All Lives Matter & Black Lives Matter Definition
To understand what the All Lives Matter movement is, you should first know what the Black Lives Matter Movement is as they are closely related.
the Black Lives matter («Counting Black Lives») Civil Rights Movement is a movement that originated in the United States. she takes a seat against racism in general, but in particular against violence against African Americans. The movement began because of police violence against blacks in the USA.
the All Lives Matter Movement, on the other hand, can be explained as follows:
the All Lives Matter movement (ALM) means «All Lives Count» in German and is a civil rights movement and slogan/hashtag that has garnered a lot of attention online. It should be viewed in relation to the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, as it goes in a similar direction.
ALM movement supporters don’t think it’s right to just say «Black lives matter» but «All lives matter», because they don’t want to refer to just one population group.
So, broadly speaking, the ALM movement differs from the BLM movement in that supporters don’t see it as right to say that only the lives of People of Color (PoC) counting. They emphasize that all lives must be respected and protected.
Thus, the ALM movement on the one hand, a complementary movementbecause she also opposes racism, but at the same time also a counter-movement to BLM, because it opposes the emphasis on people of color.
Want to read more about civil rights movements in the US? Then check out our statement «The Civil Rights Movement in the USA».
Black Lives Matter Statement
Because the ALM and BLM movements are closely related, as you have just learned, you are now learning more about the Black Lives Matter movement.
As briefly described in the definition, the Black Lives Matter Movement a world-renowned movement that was founded in the United States. The supporters’ protests are against racism and any violence against African Americans.
development and goals
The civil rights movement was 2013 through the Hashtag #BlackLivesMatter launched on social media websites. It was created after and mainly because of the case involving security guard George Zimmermann. In 2012, Zimmermann shot and killed an innocent 17-year-old African American man, Trayvon Martin, while he was walking home and was subsequently acquitted.
After the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter was created, Activists Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi founded the civil rights movement Black Lives Matter in response to the Martin and Zimmermann incident. The three founders had also previously been involved with the Black Power movement and modeled the principles of the Black Lives Matter movement on the Black Power movement.
If you would like to read more about what the Black Power movement is and what exactly it stands for, you can read about it in our article «Militant Black Power Movement».
After the foundation in 2013, demonstrations and protests took place again and again, which attracted more and more attention. Over the years that followed, and during these demonstrations, many more victims of police violence against African Americans were pointed out. The most well-known example of this is George Floyd or Breonna Taylor in 2020.
George Floyd was a 46-year-old African American man living in the city of Minneapolis who was killed by a white police officer (Derek Chauvin) on May 25, 2020.
Floyd is said to have paid with counterfeit money in a store, which called the police. When police arrived, Floyd was arrested but refused to get into the police car.
He was then laid on the ground without resisting. Police officer Chauvin pressed his left knee on Floyd’s neck to immobilize him. This method is illegal in the US because it cuts off the victim’s air supply.
Floyd voiced several times I can’t breathe. (I can’t breathe.») but the police officer pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for over nine minutes until he died. This whole process was filmed and posted online. This is how the case became known worldwide.
With the demonstrations, the Black Lives Matter activists wanted to achieve the following above all: They wanted
- on the Police violence against PoC indicate in the USA.
- on raise awareness of racism in general.
- against violence and Actively fight racism.
- protest against the acquittal of the accused in the murder cases.
If you would like to know more about civil rights movements by African Americans, you are welcome to have a look at our summary on the topic «Militant Black Power Movement» or on «Martin Luther King».
Demonstrations of the Black Lives Matter movement and its spread
The first major BLM demonstration took place in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014, where more than 500 African Americans gathered and protested together against racism and police violence. The trigger for this demonstration was the violent death of Michael Brown.
Michael Brown was an 18-year-old black student who was on his way to visit his grandma when he was killed by a police officer. How exactly this happened is still unclear to this day, as the testimonies of the witnesses differed immensely. What is clear is that the patrol car rolled past Michael Brown and there was some conflict between the unarmed student and the police officer, prompting the police officer to shoot the African-American student 12 times, killing him.
The aim of the protests was to take peaceful action against the injustices in order to prevent further outbreaks of violence. Most of the protests went just as calmly and according to the rules as planned, only a few resulted in riots and vandalism.
Found over the years 2014-2016 more and bigger demonstrations held across the US as BLM continued to be fueled by new deaths of people of color from police violence.
The attention that the BLM movement received increased and so did the number of supporters. One reason for this is that the deaths of black people were not kept secret as before, but received media attention.
The international BLM’s most famous demonstration was in 2020 after the death of George Floyd as video of his death became known around the world. This was followed by a number of demonstrations in Minneapolis (the city where Floyd was killed) and many other US cities that lasted for weeks. Thousands of people also demonstrated in Germany.
Known supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement
Many internationally known stars supported the BLM movement, such as:
- Beyonce, who did the unofficial anthem «Black parade» for BLM.
- Alicia Keys singing a song about police brutality.
- Rihanna starting fundraisers for BLM.
- Barack Obama, who called for help with his quote (translated) «Let’s get to work».
All Lives Matter vs Black Lives Matter
the All Lives Matter movement stands for anti-racism towards all population groups and feels it is wrong for the Black Lives Matter movement to only look at the lives of African Americans. The ALM supporters find this emphasis on the PoC wrong, because in their eyes it should not only be fought against racism towards blacks, but against any racism.
The BLM protesters, however, mean the slogan «Black Lives Matter» very differently. Not only do they want to fight against violence against PoC and ignore the other groups, but they also want to emphasize that racism and violence against African Americans is most prevalent and this demographic is most vulnerable.
So they don’t put black people above others, as is often assumed by supporters of the ALM movement, but they do highlight that they are the ones most affected by the problem.
All Lives Matter – development and goals
The All Lives Matter movement emerged somewhat offset to the Black Lives Matter movement as it builds on it. However, there is no exact history of its origin. The idea of ALM spread online via social media, since the movement first appeared as a hashtag.
That The aim of the ALM activists is to fight against racism and also, like the Black Lives Matter movement, against police violence to deliver. However, while BLM specifically calls for violence against African Americans, the ALM movement finds this too one-sided and calls for an end to violence against all people.
All Lives Matter – demos and their distribution
Although the All Lives Matter movement is also known internationally, it is not as widespread and well-known as the Black Lives Matter movement. This group is best known in the USA, where it also originated.
The All Lives Matter movement, like BLM, also opposes racism, but in some cases the movement is misconstrued and misunderstood by individuals. Some demonstrations by the ALM movement have drawn negative headlines.
For example, in one Ohio city, Black Lives Matter protesters were attacked by All Lives Matter protesters as the attackers accused the BLM movement of ignorance.
There was also a negative example in Germany: 50 neo-Nazis got together in Karlsruhe, supposedly to demonstrate for All Lives Matter (the exact goal of the group is unclear, however). However, it is suspected that the neo-Nazis did not want to campaign against racism, but only wanted to put the All Lives Matter and Black Lives Matter movements in a bad light. However, the entire ALM movement should not be closed by such isolated cases.
All Lives Matter Movement – Criticism
Critics of the All Lives Matter movement say they is too general and misinterpreting the Black Lives Matter movement. The ALM supporters who embrace the slogan «It’s not just black lives that matter, all lives matter.» represented, according to ALM critics, have not properly grasped the background of the BLM movement.
Many of the All Lives Matter protesters believe Black Lives Matter means putting the lives of African Americans ahead of the lives of other populations. However, this is by no means true. The Black Lives Matter protesters also want equality and the abolition of racism for everyone. However, the aim of Black Lives Matter is to specifically point out the deprivation of PoC, as these…