ABSTRACT
I argue in this chapter that Black Lives Matter as a social movement is best understood as a confrontational and intersectional movement that squarely fits within the Black Liberationist tradition and follows the mandate of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who called for this type of action. In the second part of the chapter, I examine the action on the bridge. I do this in two different ways. First, by way of reviewing media accounts of the direct social action, I attempt to tell a narrative of what happened that evening. Second, through an autoethnographic framework, I examine the march that occurred after protesters left the bridge. Not covered by the media as much as the bridge shutdown, I argue that the march is important to share because it symbolized for most protesters a reclamation of agency. In short, many people felt as if “they did something that night.” They felt empowered. Many celebrated the fact that the protest was “peaceful” in that police did not arrest anyone, but more importantly, police did not kill anyone that night either. I close the chapter by reflecting on Black Lives Matter as a social movement.
