'Black Lives Matter' has become an important statement phrase for many following the death of an African-American man called George Floyd in 2020, but it was used widely back in 2013 after a teenage boy called Trayvon Martin was killed. After his death, people turned to social media to speak out against what had happened. They felt upset about the injustice that was taking place in that the lives of black people did not have the same value as other people's lives. This led to the birth of the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter.
Some people have been using the phrase 'All Lives Matter' in response to the Black Lives Matter movement. However, it's still viewed by many campaigners as a problematic statement because it's seen to take away from the important issues that are affecting black lives in a bad way, and which need to be addressed. BLM are saying as a movement is that all those lives matter equally. Black lives have to matter just as much as everybody else's.
The Keeping Bristol Safe Partnership (KBSP) work together with the police and other agencies across the city to tackle hate crime including racism and discrimination relating to sexism, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity, and disability. Bristol is a vibrant city with many different cultures and in exploring our cultural differences, we can better understand what discrimination exists and work together to eradicate it.
For support and advice about hate crime, including racism, visit the Hate Crime page
Black Lives Matter and Black history resources on the BBC website
