ABSTRACT
This chapter places the Black Lives movement in a context of ongoing struggle against repression in which dissent control and crime control are integrated and resistance to coercive policing is intrinsic to dissent. A review of the history of movements around criminal justice issues shows both the continuity of the Black Lives Matter mobilizations with prior campaigns and the emergence of new groups. Multiple Black organizations addressed issues of policing and mass incarceration in the 1990s and again in the late 2000s and into the 2010s. Non-Black reform organizations also addressed these issues. The Black Lives mobilization of 2014 arose from and built on organizations that had already been active. The author’s experiences in one community are shown to be comparable to what happened in many places, with ongoing local struggles becoming intertwined with and amplified by the national movement. After 2014, the Black Lives movement sought to broaden its agenda and convert its momentum to proactive change. The ongoing cycle of struggle can be seen in both escalated policing and the counter-movements, including All Lives Matter, Blue Lives Matter, and the rise of overt White nationalist mobilization.
