Black Lives Matter was formed on the heels of George Zimmerman's acquittal following the shooting death of Florida teen, Trayvon Martin.
Here in Southern California, Black Lives Matter activists recently made headlines after confronting Mayor Eric Garcetti at a town hall meeting at Holman United Methodist Church in South L.A. Their actions have been condemned by several prominent members of L.A.'s black community.
Though community leaders remain divided over the tactics that activists should use to spread their message, they remain relatively united in their vision for the community. This was the takeaway from a roundtable discussion, hosted by Take Two’s Alex Cohen, that brought together community leaders from different walks of life.
The disruptive tactics of Black Lives matter have been the topic of several debates since the group's inception. Povi-Tamu Bryant, an organizer for the group, says the — now infamous — town hall protest was born from frustration with Mayor Garcetti.
“Eric Garcetti was supposed to be in conversation with the community, and not all members of the community were invited to the conversation,” she said. “Black Lives Matter LA folks had sat down with Eric Garcetti back in July and requested that he have open town hall conversations with the community where the community was setting the agenda.”
Bryant says the town hall meeting at Holman church was supposed to host the conversation they were promised, but that’s not what ended up happening.
“If you have a mayor who’s saying that he’s holding a town hall for the black community — that was at the bequest of BLM LA organizers and conversations that he had with them — but he never invited any of those people to the conversation, some of that might feel like he’s turning his back on you,” Bryant said.
Bryant says that when activists turned their backs on Mayor Garcetti, it was to “amplify” how they felt they had been treated.
NAACP Compton president Paulette Simpson-Gipson says that, though many community members are outraged at what happened at the town hall meeting, people shouldn’t lose sight of the issues at the heart of the protest.
“I don’t think that any of us really want to separate ourselves, because we can’t separate ourselves from being black,” she said. “We’re all black. How we get to the common goal may be different, but I think at the end of the day we want the same things,” she said.
Simpson-Gipson contends that the media chooses to zero-in on the separation, exacerbating the problem. She recommends community activists have any future conversations about protest tactics behind closed doors.
Though these conversations have yet to be had, UCLA history and African American studies professor, Brenda Stevenson, says she’s hopeful that Black Lives Matter and other organizations pushing for change in South Los Angeles can find a way to move forward together. She says history shows that more voices are heard when activist groups collaborate.
“There are always these kinds of things which occur. Some of them are generational, some of them have to do with socio-economic status, educational background, relationship to religion,” she said. “What happens is you get a much broader and comprehensive agenda that needs to be addressed … It may seem painful, it may cause some harsh feelings, but it is a very healthy political process …”
Press the blue play button above to hear the roundtable
To hear the roundtable in its entirety, click the Bonus Audio link below the player.
Roundtable guests:
- , an organizer with Black Lives Matter L.A.
- Paulette Simpson-Gipson, president of the
- Brenda Stevenson, professor of history and at UCLA