CURRENT ISSUES
IN NORTH AMERICAN AND CULTURAL STUDIES

MLK Day Lecture 2022: Where did We Go frpom There? Roots, Raptures, and Reiterations in the Black Freedom Struggle

Monday
January 17, 2022
6:00 - 7:30 pm

with
Jun.-Prof. Dr. Rebecca Brückmann
Ruhr University Bochum

“Black Lives Matter,“ both as a statement and a demand, was initiated in 2013 by the Black activists Alicia Garza, Topal Omet, and Patrisse Khan-Cullors after George Zimmerman’s acquittal of his killing of Trayvon Martin. This movement for Black equality gained renewed momentum after the police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd in May 2020. Across the globe, an unprecedented number of people rallied for the cause. Commentators mused on how #BlackLivesMatter continued Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy in the twenty-first century.
Two years later, support for the movement has waned, and politicians have increasingly negated #BlackLivesMatter’s legitimacy, distinguishing it sharply from prior forms of Black civil rights activism. This lecture will critically assess the long trajectory of the Black Freedom Movement from the mid-20th century until today, re-evaluate classical narratives, and question how #BlackLivesMatter’s goals and methods fit into it, as well as uncover sustained white supremacist resistance against Black equality, then and now.

Rebecca Brückmann is Assistant Professor North American history and its transcultural context at Ruhr-University Bochum. Her research interests include African American history, Southern history, and the history of white supremacy. She is the author of Massive Resistance and Southern Womanhood: White Women, Class, and Segregation (University of Georgia Press, 2021).

The event will take place on Zoom. In order to register for the event, please visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lecture-series-current-issues-north-american-studies-and-cultural-studies-tickets-183369401 817