Dear News Directors,
As a longtime community activist in Durham NC, I have a concern with the protests that have happened over the last several months, There seems to be a tendency by the media to lump all African Americans under the banner of “Black Lives Matter.” This is not true. Many of us have differences with the Black Lives Matter ideology.
While the popularity of Black Lives Matter, as an organization can be traced back to the protests after the police involved murder of Michael Brown in August of 2014, the murder of George Floyd earlier this year has prompted media outlets to lump all black activists under the BLM umbrella.
Many of us subscribe to a black social justice tradition and Black empowerment tradition that stretches back almost 100 years based on a lineage that includes Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael) and many more.
What is , extremely, problematic is the majority of the local BLM labeled protests , especially the ones involving violence and property damage appear to involve mostly white people who seem to be exploiting black suffering to push an agenda. Yet, there is rarely a discussion of the demographic makeup of these protests. So, because they are labeled “Black Lives Matter” protests, it is inferred that Black people are doing the vandalism.
There used to be a saying when people did not agree with the domestic policy of the US government “Not In Our Name.” I believe the the same slogan is appropriate in during the Black Lives Matter Era when dealing with much of the vandalism committed by nonBlack people #NotInOurName.
Thank you,
Min. Paul Scott, founder
Black Messiah Movement
PO Box 15123
Durham NC 27704
(919) 972-8305
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