Music Meets Fashion Issue August September 2016

Who Really Matters?
#B l a c k l iv e s OR
#Bluelives #A LL LIV ES
A
ccording to theguardian.com
African American men ?were nine
times more likely than other
Americans to be killed by police
officers in 2015?. Unfortunately, the
Guardian study revealed that 1,134
young black men were tragically
killed last year. The research further
disclosed that ?African American
males between the ages of 15 and 34
comprised more than 15% of all
deaths logged this year by an
ongoing investigation into the use of
deadly force by police. Their rate of
police-involved deaths was five times
higher than for white men of the
same age?. Given these statistics,
many individuals have become
outraged by racial profiling, police
brutality, and injustice. Therefore,
some people are using social media
as a platform to publicly vocalize
their thoughts and concerns against
these atrocities.
In 2013, hashtag #BlackLivesMatter
was created as a direct response to
the acquittal of George Zimmerman
in the murder of Trayvon Martin.
Since this time, the hashtag grew
from a mere ?trending topic or
discussion? to an entire movement
called, ?Black Lives Movement (BLM)?.
Recently, many musical celebrities
such as Pink, Snoop Dogg, Beyonce
and Jay Z have aligned themselves
with this movement using their
power and influence to speak out
against the loss of lives by the hands
By: Marage Blakeney
of police officers. Grammy award
winning singer, Pink stated on Twitter
?To anyone who has an issue with me
saying black lives matter, please
unfollow as fast as you can, also
black lives matter?. On July 25,
Charlotte Hornets owner and Hall of
Famer, Michael Jordan donated $1
million to the Institute for
Community ?Police Relations and $1
million to the NAACP Legal Defense
Fund, as his personal contribution to
this important issue.
However, some proponents question
the motive of #BlackLivesMatter.
These individuals believe that the
trending topic and movement has
become divisive. Many people
wonder why race should even be
included in the hashtag. ?Should not
all lives matter, not just black ones? is
the burning question posed to the
supporters of BLM. Therefore,
#AllLivesMatter was created with the
intention that all lives are considered
as sacred and valuable. Musical stars
such as, Jennifer Lopez, Chris Brown,
Kevin Gates, and Fetty Wap began to
use their Twitter accounts to support
this effort. Initially, rap artist Fetty
Wap tweeted, ?My kids are
mixed? #AllLivesMatter?. During an
interview, Kevin Gates stated that,
?#AllLivesMatter and picking up a
sign won?t change anything?. He
further added that he does not
support BLM because ?we kill each
other? when you stand for
something, you gotta stand for it all
the way, not halfway? referring to black
on black crime.
However, Jennifer Lopez and Fetty Wap
later deleted their initial tweets
surrounding this hashtag after receiving
substantial objections. Fetty apologized
to his social media followers by stating, ?I
apologized a to a thousand ppl (people)
because I didn't fully understand the
hashtag I'm really sorry to those who I
offended ? on my life I would never
disrespect nobody family I ain't better
than no one I just was speakin for my
kids not knowing the full meaning I can
take criticism, but I'm man enough to
apologize?. Many individuals are
confused by the negativity surrounding
BLM hashtag, using the example?Would
you scream all cancer matters at a breast
cancer walk?. An article listed on
www.complex.com explains why
#AllLivesMatter may garner such
criticism, ?We should all matter. While it
might sound noble, it misses the point.
There is a difference between focus and
exclusion, and the aggressive retort that
All Lives Matter ignores the racial
injustices in America out of which Black
Lives Matter was born.?
Recently, Unitarian Universalist minister,
Daniel Schatz, addressed an open letter
as a response to a congregant that was
outraged over ?the signage that is
outside of (his) church stating that ?Black
Lives Matter ?. Interestingly, within his
rebuttal, Daniel as a Caucasian male
stated, ?Our society has a long history of
treating some people as less valuable
than others. Study after study has
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