After George Floyd was innocently murdered by Derek Chauvin, the whole world blew up in a frenzy. It was also because people were stuck indoors and everything was stopped. In Minneapolis, riots and vandalism began. People broke into stores of large corporations and police reacted brutally. While there was some violent occurrence, most protests were peaceful. Either way, the police responded violently. They threw tear gas, shot rubber bullets at peoples’ faces, and used physical violence. Due to all of this chaos, there was media coverage, whether, through biased news reporters or social media, it was widespread. I think because it started in America, which people envisioned as a prospering and successful country, it showed to the world how embedded America was in racism. This sparked other global movements, as other people see America as a model country and to the opportunity to protest about police brutality that occurs in their countries
One example, that surprised me was the New Zealand reaction. I knew in 2019 after a Muslim Mosque had a shooting, it took a few months for them to ban semi-automatic firearm. However, the parliament was considering giving police guns to help “ protect” its civilians. When they placed an influx of police around brown communities, it surprised me as the man who committed the crime was white. I think groups of people in other societies connect to the BLM movement in the U.S this summer, due to the awareness, the media gave. Because technology is constantly evolving, it allowed the BLM to become more widespread and showed a constant change in people’s focus. It switched from the whole world watching people’s lives lost to the virus, to lives lost to police brutality. Especially with George Floyd, it was one of the first times that a police officer murder someone physically, meaning not by a weapon, but in close proximity and physically slowly taking someone’s life.
An example of a movement that began in one country and sparked a similar movement in another is where Me Too movement where people advocated against sexual abuse and sexual harassment, specifically men who were able to do so by their authority and status. The phrase “ Me Too” came to light during the MySpace days by activist Tarana Burke. It was a way to empower and unite women to demonstrate the numbers of women who have been taken advantage of in the workplace. The movement boomed in the US during 2017 where Harvey Weinstein, a celebrity producer, was accused of multiple sexual allegations. Because he worked with A-listed celebrities, his allegation not only blew up in the US but also internationally. The Me Too movement is now a worldwide movement. The hashtag MeToo trended in more than 85 countries and translated into multiple languages. After Weinstein’s allegation, women from other countries began exposing powerful people in the entertainment and government for using their powers to sexually harass women.
I agree with your statement about how people shifted their awareness to George Floyd and it became so widespread because of media. Everyone in the world was exposed to posts about George Floyd and saw the gruesome actions by the police. The Me Too Movement is such a great example of how a movement in one country can spark a movement in another and it also shows the effect of social media when it comes to spreading awareness about certain topics.
Hi Sandy, I also wrote about how social media was one of the forces that mobilized the Black Lives Matter movement. I felt like without social media services such as Tiktok, awareness of the movement would have not been so widespread. Instead, news medias would have shown their own bias in the videos and would have tried to make the masses see the protestors like how the news medias want them to see it. It’s terrifying to know that George Floyd’s death was captured on film. However, it really makes me question how the circumstances would have changed if someone was not recording.
I like how you talked about how even though people were peacefully protesting, the police still responded violently. I think that shows another instance of police brutality, even after George Floyd’s death. Both instances, it is only harming lives. There are other avenues that can be taken to ensure that the peaceful protests stay peaceful, without introducing other methods like tear gas and rubber bullets. The Me Too Movement is a good example of how a movement in one country can reach another country through social media. Social media helped spread the message behind the movement and encouraged women to speak up about how they were taken advantage of, knowing that they will have the support of other women.