Marina Cairns

Abstract:

The Black Lives Matter Movement started in 2014 after the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. American Civil Rights Activist Alicia Garza wrote a post on Facebook after the acquittal of George Zimmerman, what she called a “Love Letter to Black People,” where she ended the post with “our lives matter too,” to which her sister responded #BlackLivesMatter and that’s where it all began. The movement gained attention in 2020 after the death of George Floyd. This study examines the perceptions of members of the Black Student Union on the Black Lives Matter movement. Interviews with members of the BSU find that students are acutely aware of this more than 200-year-old battle.