The Black Lives Matter group has been deemed a terrorist group by the law enforcement authorities in the United States over the years. Cullors (2018) provides a personalized account of the negative publicity attached to the group, something that has over the years impaired its effectiveness in championing equality across the racial divide. I realize that the author leads the reader to wear their shoes and consider what would happen if they were considered a terrorist for championing equality.
The book exposes both overt and systemic racism in the United States and how efforts to bring justice to society are directly suppressed. Furthermore, I felt that the book focused on black people and all the minority groups in the country. This is because they realize that police violence is targeted predominantly non-white men. This indicates that racial profiling has been grandfathered into the American law enforcement effort.
Instead of focusing on the general nature of the suppression of the efforts to restore equality in society, the author provides a first-hand account. This increases the book’s resonance with the reader as the author relays how the consideration of Black Lives Matter as a terrorist group would affect the lives of the individual activists under the group.
The author exposes how personal ties and relationships were frustrated due to the unnecessary suppression of pursuit of police reform in the United States. The author subtly implied that the law enforcement authorities might be the real terrorists. The books expose the connection between administrations and political activism and how individual activists can help shape the political system. The author illustrates how individual activists are vulnerable to predatory law enforcement authorities. I felt that this was to show how self-sacrificing the activists are.
Reference
Cullors, P. (2018). When they call you a terrorist: A black lives matter memoir. St. Martin’s Press.
