Station 3: #BlackLivesMatter

✊ Movement Background

Key Facts:

Started: 2013, by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, Opal Tometi

Catalyst: Police violence against Black communities

2020 Resurgence: 15-26 million participants (largest in US history)

Global Reach: Protests in 60+ countries including Aotearoa NZ

Youth Leadership: Many protests led by teenagers and young adults

Organising Strategies:

• Decentralized Leadership: Local chapters, no single leader

• Digital Organising: Social media to coordinate and document

• Community Defence: Protecting communities from police violence

• Policy Demands: Defund police, invest in communities

• Cultural Work: Changing narratives about Blackness and justice

• Intersectional: Centreing Black women, LGBTQ+ voices

What Made It Powerful:

• Young Black organisers refusing to wait for adult permission

• Sustained organising, not just one-day protests

• Clear analysis of systemic racism and solutions

• Building power in Black communities, not just protesting

🎯 Analysis Questions

Youth Organising Leadership:

How did young Black organisers lead this movement?
What organising strategies did they develop and use?
How did they challenge both racism and ageism simultaneously?

Building Community Power:

How did they build power in Black communities?
What role did social media play in their organising?
How did they create sustained change beyond protests?

Global Connections:

How does this movement connect to justice struggles in Aotearoa?
What solidarity did they build with Indigenous movements worldwide?
How did they inspire organising against racism in other countries?

Systemic Change Focus:

How did they target systems of oppression, not just individual prejudice?
What alternatives to police and prisons did they propose?
How did they connect racial justice to economic and environmental justice?

📚 Teacher Resource Notes

Purpose: Use this station card in a protest case study gallery walk to examine the Black Lives Matter movement as an example of civic action.

Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions

Students will engage with this resource to build understanding of systems, governance, and civic action in Aotearoa New Zealand, connecting to Te Ao Māori principles.

Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria

✅ Students can summarise the movement's goals and strategies.
✅ Students can connect it to systems thinking concepts (e.g. feedback loops in systemic racism).

🌿 Mātauranga Māori Lens

The BLM movement and Māori activism share roots in the struggle against systemic racism and colonial oppression. Mana motuhake (self-determination) is a principle both movements embody.

📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot

Differentiation: Provide sentence starters or word banks for students who need scaffold support. Extend capable learners by asking them to find a real-world NZ example connected to this resource. Support ELL students with vocabulary pre-teaching. Adapt for neurodiverse learners by offering choice in how they record their thinking.

Prior knowledge: Best used after the relevant lesson or as an introductory hook. No specialist prior knowledge required.

Curriculum alignment

Te Mātaiaho (2025) · Social Sciences · Phase 3 (Years 7–8) · Civics and Society (Knowledge): “Pressure groups influence decision-makers outside of elections.”
NZC (2007) · Social Studies · Level 4: “Understand how people participate individually and collectively in response to community challenges.”