Paper short abstract:

This paper will discuss how indigenous people are utilizing the Black Lives Matter movement to bring attention to social injustice issues that are often similar to those of African-Americans such as police brutality.

Paper long abstract:

How has Black Lives Matter redefined and expanded the definition of blackness? The Black Lives Matter movement has become globalized with protests occurring in multiple nations. However, indigenous people have formed a sort of solidarity with the movement while at the same time highlighting mistreatment of their own people at the hands of police and other government agencies. This paper will explore commonalities of the Black Lives Matter movement in indigenous communities with their African-American counterparts. This paper will explore commonalities of the Black Lives Matter movement in indigenous communities with their African-American counterparts. The globalization of the Black Lives Matter movement beyond the United States borders can be examined through the lens of critical race theory and constructivist theory.

This is not the first time the plight, protest, and activism of African-Americans served as a catalyst and template for other disenfranchised people. The 1960s African-American Civil Rights Movement widely spread to others with differing levels of success. However, the focus on this presentation is on indigenous groups support of African-Americans through exchanging dialogue via social media and adoption of Black Lives Matter symbolic language. Will indigenous groups be able to sustain solidarity with others while also advocating for the eradication of social injustices such cultural genocide within their own societies? Perhaps, finally oppression of any group can no longer be justified or ignored.