Abstract In August 2014, 18 year-old Michael Brown was shot in his hometown of Ferguson, Missouri, launching a series of events that would lead to increased media scrutiny of police interactions with people of colour in the United States. Since then, the news has been filled with accounts of Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Freddie Gray, Sandra Bland, and more than a dozen other African-Americans who have died at the hands of police. This article examines how the events surrounding Michael Brown’s death shifted the American public’s knowledge of police brutality, creating an opportunity for change. Using social movement theory and a comparison with other historical racial movements in the US, the article analyses how BLM both fits and defies the expectations of a social movement. I conclude with a discussion of some changes that are a direct or indirect result of BLM’s efforts.

中文翻译：

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黑人生活很重要：美国的种族警务

摘要2014年8月，年仅18岁的迈克尔·布朗在他的家乡密苏里州弗格森被枪杀，发起了一系列活动，这引起媒体对美国警察与有色人种互动的详细审查。从那以后，这个消息充斥着埃里克·加纳（Eric Garner），塔米尔·赖斯（Tamir Rice），弗雷迪·格雷（Freddie Gray），桑德拉·布兰德（Sandra Bland）以及其他十多名死于警察手中的非裔美国人。本文探讨了迈克尔·布朗（Michael Brown）死后的事件如何改变了美国公众对警察暴行的认识，从而为变革创造了机会。通过使用社会运动理论并与美国其他历史种族运动进行比较，本文分析了BLM如何适合和否定社会运动的期望。