Reflection At Opal Tometi And The Black Lives Matter Movement

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For my intercultural campus event, I attended the Opal Tometi black lives matter lecture. Opal Tometi is currently a major activist in search of equal rights for African americans as well as the cofounder of the black lifes matter movement. The black lives matter movement is a movement that is focusing on creating an equal America for everyone. It was inspired by all of the racial violence that is occurring across America today. During Tometi’s lecture, the current social injustices were addressed as well as what we have to do to correct them. Her lecture helped me better understand privilege and oppression in the America as well as tied in to many of the course concepts. Before attending the event, I did background research on Tometi and The Black Lives Matter Movement. I discovered that Tometi is second generation African America that is most known for role in starting the Black Lives Matter Movement. …show more content…

During her lecture she explained how African Americans are automatically disadvantaged at birth just because of their skin color. She explained how in American skin color is used to create hierarchy of superiority. Several of the facts and statistics that she provided us were that every 28 hours an unarmed black person is murdered, African Americans are seen with less empathy, and that whiter skinned people are seen as more trustworthy. She explained that these are examples of unconscious dehumanization and it’s due to the fact that the government and state have instilled it within us. Another name for it is institutional racism. One of the big example of this in American history is the Jim Crow laws. Tometi said that America today still is oppression and unequality. She said that our belief systems don’t allow for African Americans and other races to be as successful as whites and how we allow for social

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