4 ms·

BLM entered the social conscience of plenty of people, and managed to influence discussions in the media, even in some countries outside the US. That in itself

BLM entered the social conscience of plenty of people, and managed to influence discussions in the media, even in some countries outside the US. That in itself is a pretty strong form of power.

jononor 9y ago
Awareness and media attention has potential for power, but unless one is able to follow through and use this to gain something tangible it is not worth much. There is also a huge difference between media being willing to cover the conflict, and media willingly amplifying your message. In the former the power stays in the hands of the media (and the people it usually serves), only in the latter I would say that one has something that can be an effective power. More a general comment, I don't know how BLM does wrt to media coverage.
- maxerickson 9y ago
  Black Lives Matter gets little media coverage, with a lot of what they do get being demonization from right wing outfits. I saw a comment here not long ago that managed to peel off the vehicle murderer in Charlottesville from the white supremacist organizers that praised him and at the same time directly blamed BLM for police killings that many leaders in the movement have condemned. I imagine media coverage contributes to such mental acrobatics.
  - darepublic 9y ago
    In Toronto BLM hijacked the gay pride parade and prevented police participation in the parade. The founder of BLM in Toronto has called whites subhuman.. but BLM still has apologetic articles written in its defense by the left wing media. Defending such a useless harmful and racist organization is a far worse mental acrobatic
    - _delirium 9y ago
      It's hardly only BLM who doesn't want police in pride parades. The phenomenon of gay-pride marches started on June 28, 1970, to commemorate the one-year anniversary of an NYPD raid on a gay bar in New York, and the movement has as a result been very anti-cop since the beginning. It's only in recent years, as corporate Democrats and other politicians of that kind have found it fashionable to join the movement, that anyone would dream of inviting cops to a pride parade in the first place. Unsurprisingly, not everyone is on board with the change.
      - darepublic 9y ago
        That should be the decision of the organization hosting the parade, not a separate group with it's own agenda.
    - maxerickson 9y ago
      Hey look a leftist rag published a column calling for her to resign: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/james-di-fiore/black-lives-matter-toronto-yusra-khogali_b_14635896.html http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/james-di-fiore/black-lives-matt... Quite the apologia.
      - darepublic 9y ago
        Well the Toronto Star actually let her write her own op-ed! https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2016/04/10/i-was-vilified-for-telling-the-truth-about-racism-in-toronto.html https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2016/04/10/i-was-... https://i.imgur.com/Gf86VlO.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Gf86VlO.jpg
        maxerickson 9y ago
        Yes, newspapers often publish the writings of public figures, it doesn't imply an endorsement. Do you think they made a mistake by publishing her op-ed?
      - Chris2048 9y ago
        > respectfully, it is time for her to resign. > maybe if this was her only controversial statement all could be forgiven A rare thing for someone to get so toxic even HuffPo calls her out, but flip it around and they would have no problem calling someone white with similar views a white-supremacist, and condemning them - without the "respect" or second chances. In fact, they pretty much spell it out: > many media outlets faced scrutiny for focusing on that tweet instead of the issues black communities are facing Yusra is now causing more harm than good, so she has to go. Otherwise, they'd tolerate her.
  - KekDemaga 9y ago
    I agree the logical standard is either the extreme mentally ill elements of a group are a groups responsibility or they are not. It simply can't be both.
Clubber 9y ago
I can't find the transcript or quote, but Jon Stewart said that all the work he does and all the voice he has doesn't have real power; it's the politicians that have the power. He likened his crusade to get the NYC first responders health coverage to the movie Ghost where Patrick Swazye spent a ton of energy and effort to the point of draining him for hours to just move a penny a few feet. With their constant crying wolf and manufactured outrage, the US media has all but neutered themselves.
Overtonwindow 9y ago
However BLM was less about injustice and more about a minority group trying to capture and exert power over people they perceived has wronged them. The entire BLM movement is about power. Once people started realizing that it totally lost its momentum.
- mercer 9y ago
  I'm more than a bit confused by your argument. First of all, it strikes me that pretty much any movement concerning a minority is fundamentally about power. Second, surely 'perceived [have] wronged them' is an odd statement in the context of a minority group that has seriously been wronged in the distant and recent past, and not to mention is still suffering from being wronged on a regular basis. Now I don't know the fine details of BLM as a movement so I'm honestly open to hear where my thinking is faulty. Could you elaborate a bit?

BLM entered the social conscience of plenty of people, and managed to influence discussions in the media, even in some countries outside the US. That in itself is a pretty strong form of power.

jononor 9y ago

Awareness and media attention has potential for power, but unless one is able to follow through and use this to gain something tangible it is not worth much. There is also a huge difference between media being willing to cover the conflict, and media willingly amplifying your message. In the former the power stays in the hands of the media (and the people it usually serves), only in the latter I would say that one has something that can be an effective power. More a general comment, I don't know how BLM does wrt to media coverage.

maxerickson 9y ago
Black Lives Matter gets little media coverage, with a lot of what they do get being demonization from right wing outfits. I saw a comment here not long ago that managed to peel off the vehicle murderer in Charlottesville from the white supremacist organizers that praised him and at the same time directly blamed BLM for police killings that many leaders in the movement have condemned. I imagine media coverage contributes to such mental acrobatics.
- darepublic 9y ago
  In Toronto BLM hijacked the gay pride parade and prevented police participation in the parade. The founder of BLM in Toronto has called whites subhuman.. but BLM still has apologetic articles written in its defense by the left wing media. Defending such a useless harmful and racist organization is a far worse mental acrobatic
  - _delirium 9y ago
    It's hardly only BLM who doesn't want police in pride parades. The phenomenon of gay-pride marches started on June 28, 1970, to commemorate the one-year anniversary of an NYPD raid on a gay bar in New York, and the movement has as a result been very anti-cop since the beginning. It's only in recent years, as corporate Democrats and other politicians of that kind have found it fashionable to join the movement, that anyone would dream of inviting cops to a pride parade in the first place. Unsurprisingly, not everyone is on board with the change.
    - darepublic 9y ago
      That should be the decision of the organization hosting the parade, not a separate group with it's own agenda.
  - maxerickson 9y ago
    Hey look a leftist rag published a column calling for her to resign: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/james-di-fiore/black-lives-matter-toronto-yusra-khogali_b_14635896.html http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/james-di-fiore/black-lives-matt... Quite the apologia.
    - darepublic 9y ago
      Well the Toronto Star actually let her write her own op-ed! https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2016/04/10/i-was-vilified-for-telling-the-truth-about-racism-in-toronto.html https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2016/04/10/i-was-... https://i.imgur.com/Gf86VlO.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Gf86VlO.jpg
      - maxerickson 9y ago
        Yes, newspapers often publish the writings of public figures, it doesn't imply an endorsement. Do you think they made a mistake by publishing her op-ed?
    - Chris2048 9y ago
      > respectfully, it is time for her to resign. > maybe if this was her only controversial statement all could be forgiven A rare thing for someone to get so toxic even HuffPo calls her out, but flip it around and they would have no problem calling someone white with similar views a white-supremacist, and condemning them - without the "respect" or second chances. In fact, they pretty much spell it out: > many media outlets faced scrutiny for focusing on that tweet instead of the issues black communities are facing Yusra is now causing more harm than good, so she has to go. Otherwise, they'd tolerate her.
- KekDemaga 9y ago
  I agree the logical standard is either the extreme mentally ill elements of a group are a groups responsibility or they are not. It simply can't be both.

Clubber 9y ago

I can't find the transcript or quote, but Jon Stewart said that all the work he does and all the voice he has doesn't have real power; it's the politicians that have the power. He likened his crusade to get the NYC first responders health coverage to the movie Ghost where Patrick Swazye spent a ton of energy and effort to the point of draining him for hours to just move a penny a few feet. With their constant crying wolf and manufactured outrage, the US media has all but neutered themselves.

Overtonwindow 9y ago

However BLM was less about injustice and more about a minority group trying to capture and exert power over people they perceived has wronged them. The entire BLM movement is about power. Once people started realizing that it totally lost its momentum.

mercer 9y ago
I'm more than a bit confused by your argument. First of all, it strikes me that pretty much any movement concerning a minority is fundamentally about power. Second, surely 'perceived [have] wronged them' is an odd statement in the context of a minority group that has seriously been wronged in the distant and recent past, and not to mention is still suffering from being wronged on a regular basis. Now I don't know the fine details of BLM as a movement so I'm honestly open to hear where my thinking is faulty. Could you elaborate a bit?