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SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (ABC4 Utah) Ten years ago, Salt Lake City watched in horror as a mass shooting unfolded at Trolley Square. A lone gunman walked into the mall and began firing.

When it was over, five were dead, four others wounded. One of those who survived, Carolyn Tuft has become a voice in the anti-gun movement.

Tuft lost her daughter 15-year-old Kirsten Hinckley that night. Mother and daughter were together shopping for Valentine's Day cards.

Later Tuft would take part in a very unusual project.

It's Carolyn Tuft on the front cover of a prestigious magazine in New York City. Next to her, Todd Underwood, a seller of firearms over the internet.

"He said do you know who I am? I said no. Sorry," said Tuft.

It was an experiment in empathy to see if people could understand each other.

Ten years ago, Tuft was wounded in a mass shooting at Trolley Square. A lone gunman killed five people and wounded four others. Her daughter Kirsten Hinckley, 15, was one of those killed.

In December Tuft and 16 others were invited to New York City to share their stories. She was paired with Todd Underwood.

"He said I'm Todd Underwood. Still I had no idea and he said I'm the founder of United Gun Group. And I still had no idea and he said I'm the one who bought and sold George Zimmerman's gun, the one who shot and killed Trayvon Martin."

In 2012, George Zimmerman was acquitted in the fatal shooting death of Trayvon Martin in Florida.

"And my mind went blank. I couldn't. I said to him how could you sell a weapon that destroyed another life? I just felt that was so ethically wrong and hurtful.

Good4Utah Skyped with Underwood in his Kansas City home. He says he didn't make a dime selling Zimmerman's gun and defended his website.

"Basically if it's legal activity that surrounds the Second Amendment we decided to allow it and allow our members in what kind of activity they wanted to engage in," said Underwood.

Underwood was unaware of the Trolley Square shooting until that weekend.

"It was one of the hardest things I've done in all my life, tell her story... it was definitely a difficult experience," said Underwood.

The story exchange: each person tells his or he partner's story.

"I suffer from MS and if anybody wanted to take me down, I would be an easy target. So I carry a gun because it keeps me safe. I feel safe with a gun. It levels the playing field. I just want to keep my family safe," said Tuft.

"He shot me in my arm. On the ground shot me again in the back and then I watched him put a shotgun on daughters head and and ended her life," said Underwood.

At the end as they discuss solutions, there's bickering. Some walk out including Underwood.

"I didn't want to leave on that note. I got up and left. Not because I was mad or anything. But I didn't want to take away from my personal experience. I wanted to see everyone as my dear friend," said Underwood.

"After learning his story, I understood how he felt. So I really couldn't judge him for how he felt... I didn't agree with him but I couldn't judge him," said Tuft.

"If we understand each other and how it feels to walk in each other's shoes then maybe we'll be kinder, maybe we can pass some legislation that we all can agree on because we can understand," said Tuft.

Underwood say the anti-gun and pro-gun community want the same thing to keep families safe. Because of this encounter, Underwood began demanding full disclosure from anyone buying a firearm on his website.

See more here:
Can a Victim of Gun Violence and Gun Advocate Find Common Ground? - Good4Utah

From the grassroots to the upper levels of government, the national conversation today is indicative of a new development in the U.S. where resistance is widespread, diverse, and aboveground. Dissent is everywhere. Millions of newly-politicized people are refusing to normalize hatred in its myriad forms. The arrogance with which the new administration issues its spiteful and unconstitutional executive orders, and appoints unqualified candidates to positions that will devastate the majority of the people, has had the unintended effect of mobilizing the largest-scale protests in this countrys history. Even those of us who maintain that Trump is doing little that deviates much from the path this country was already on (the border wall, Muslim registry, deportations, torture, etc., are sadly nothing new) acknowledge that the vindictiveness and ferociousness of this administration are setting into motion a mass outrage that would not have happened otherwise.

The post-inaugural Womens March on Washington and the multiple sister marches in every state in the country have seized upon the national feeling and catalyzed a movement that shows every sign of having longevity, rather than merely being a proud moment. Spoken or unspoken (and it definitely was spoken quite a bit), there was an understanding for the millions who marched that day, that were in it for the long haul, and that we would have to organize, and organize better, in order to block the harm we knew this administration would hasten to unleash upon the people.

And as the blows keep raining down fast and furious on us, the people are responding with newfound determination to resist, stay strong, stop Trump. Already, there is a general strike called for on February 17, around Presidents Day, and another on March 8, International Womens Day. And repeated calls for strategic organizing.

Importantly, the Womens March on Washington originated from the impulse to denounce Trumps blatant misogyny, yet the platform of the march included multiple intersecting struggles that would have been ignored by millions of newly-mobilized protestors, were it not for the vision and experience of the organizers. This is because many of the marchers were newcomers to dissent, indeed, only newly-threatened by a government, and would have been satisfied, even elated, had Hilary Clinton won the presidential election.

But the march organizersare women who have always been vulnerable, and who had long been active in struggles ranging from the school-to-prison pipeline, to challenging Zionism and Islamophobia, anti-Black racism, and environmental devastation, women who understand that so-called leaders who dismiss the massacres of Palestinians as collateral damage, and the deaths of Iraqi babies as worth the price, are the same people who would argue that George Zimmerman was standing his ground, but not Marissa Alexander. Angela Davis, who spoke at the Womens march, also cast a wide net for our activism as she stated,The struggle to save the planet, to stop climate change, to guarantee the accessibility of water from the lands of the Standing Rock Sioux, to Flint, Michigan, to the West Bank and Gaza. The struggle to save our flora and fauna, to save the airthis is ground zero of the struggle for social justice.

The signs protesters carried are not empty slogans, they reflect an awareness, long-held for some, newly-found for others, of the inherent interconnections of struggle. More people are realizing today the incongruity of denouncing a border wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, but not Israels apartheid wall. More people are realizing that when we oppose a Muslim ban in the U.S., we must also denounce it in Israel. When we act in solidarity with immigrants and refugees, we must also support the Palestinian right of return.

Taking to the streets is important, but insufficient. As we march and strike to denounce this countrys multiple wrongs, laid bare for all to see, now is the time for an intentional revisiting of how we can organize optimally. We are mobilizing together at a historic moment when large-scale resistance is no longer focused on narrowly-defined causes and identity politics. Yes, these are extremely important, and an understanding of our differences even as we come together is absolutely critical for the long-term viability of our alliances. But for the marginalized, criminalized communities, these have never been silos, we have lived, and survived, at their intersections.

And today, as we look around, we cannot help but notice, and be thankful for, a new mindset in progressive politics. The leaders of national and transnational resistance movements are mostly young, overwhelmingly gender non-conforming women of color, with a critical understanding of violence encompassing intimate as well as institutional, state-sanctioned violence. Its a leadership grounded in an experiential understanding of intersectionality.

And this understanding, this lifelong experience of social vulnerability, of surviving despite a system that wants you dead, comes with a wealth of knowledge from which we can all benefit. Some advice is for the long haul, behaviors we can use right away to strengthen ourselves, so we can keep taking more and more powerful and strategic actions, according to the wisdom for organizers site Finding Steady Ground.

Another equally useful analysis is about centering and prioritizing the voices of marginalized populations, because We have always resisted. Resisted the lies of the two-party electoral game. Resisted police beatings and murders. Resisted environmental degradation and the evils of corporate polluters. Resisted male violence and transphobia. Resisted the rich bosses and landlords who own the airwaves and politicians. Resistance is our legacy. Resistance is our duty. We have resisted a long time. We will continue to resist, said the Bay Area grassroots organizationCausa Justa, Just Cause.

Indeed, some of us have been on the unwanted list all our lives, while others are now realizing that their lives dont matter much. It is absolutely vital to our success that we not prioritize the newly-revived white feelings of victimhood. These are potentially truly revolutionary times, bringing about much-needed radical change, rather than reform. Radical change is about sustaining the leadership of the most disenfranchised, the most criminalized, those who have been in the struggle the longest. Leaders who understand that this is not a nation of immigrants, and who are made uncomfortable, rather than reassured, by settler-colonial anthems such as Woody Guthries This Land is Your Land.

We see this taking place at the Standing Rock Sioux camps, we see it in the leadership of Black Lives Matter, and the Womens March, we see it in the embrace of the Palestinian-led call for BDS, and we must continue to support these visions that emanate from the experiences of those who, in the immortal words of Audre Lorde, were never meant to survive.

Gaza to Ferguson is not an empty slogan. Water is Life in South Dakota, Flint, Michigan, and the Gaza Strip.

Our organizing base is getting broader. The connections we have been diligently forging over the past years are blossoming, as an ever larger number of people from all walks of life realize that solidarity is our weapon.

Welcome to the resistance.

Originally posted here:
Welcome to the resistance - Mondoweiss

Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin speak at Peace Fest 2014 in St. Louis on August 24, 2014.

By Richard Perry/The New York Times/Redux.

Its been nearly five years since 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed on his way home on a rainy evening in Sanford, Florida, a bag of Skittles and a can of Arizona watermelon fruit juice in hand. The ensuing trial in 2013 of George Zimmerman, and his acquittal for second degree murder, sparked a national debate around gun violence, racism, and the controversial stand-your-ground law. After the verdict, President Barack Obama spoke personally and powerfully about Trayvon: This could have been my son. Another way of saying that is, Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago.

A few weeks after Trayvons death, hundreds took to the streets of New York to protest the shooting and to honor his memory in what was called the Million Hoodie March. Trayvons parentsSybrina Fulton and Tracy Martinhave worked to build a legacy that goes beyond their personal loss, grief, and anger. Theyve started a foundation in Trayvons name, which has dedicated itself to putting an end to gun violence. Their leadership has been integral in their sons death becoming a rallying cry for a new generation of civil-rights activists, eventually inspiring the Black Lives Matter movement. (A USA Today report last week said they were both considering running for office.) Their new book, Rest in Power, published last week by Spiegel & Grau, is a testimonial to their sons life and the inspiration drawn from his death that furthers their work. Its pages chronicle Trayvons youth, and the events of February 26, 2012, that set them on their ongoing quest for justice. Vanity Fair spoke with Fulton and Martin this week, shortly after the books publication.

Vanity Fair: It was Trayvons birthday yesterday.

Tracy Martin: Yes, yesterday was his 22nd birthday. It was a tough day . . . we got through it. I got up there [to Trayvons grave] and did the flowers and everything . . . It was tough. I went out there early, our family was still at church. Sometimes you just have to be by yourself, you need a little space and time, so yesterday I just needed a little time to myself.

What kind of impact do you hope to have with this book?

Sybrina Fulton: We want to encourage people to talk to their teenagers about the book. We know that it speaks to the heart of parents, not only to parents who have lost their children to senseless gun violence but also parents who have a child that committed suicide, or died as a result of an illness, or car accident. As parents, we all too well know the everyday worrying about our children. Now that worrying has been amplified by our children being shot and killed, and nobody is being held accountable. People are going home and sleeping in their beds as if [our childrens] life didnt matter. We just want people to be encouraged by this book, [and experience] the resilience and love that we have for our son.

James Baldwin said, history is not the past. It is the present. Do you feel like history was thrust upon you, and how do you live that history presently?

Martin: I definitely feel like history was thrust upon us, but we dont look at it as history because this is more than just a story to us. This is our son. This is our life. This is who we live for. So its not history to us. Its history to many people, but this is our life, this is our child that was taken away from us unjustly. So we have to learn to live with that. We havent grieved, we havent sat down and started to grieve yet. Its real important that people understand that, true, it may be history for some, but for us, this is our life, our son.

Historically, people of color have rarely been afforded the opportunity to control the narrative of their stories. How did it feel to write this book, to be able to tell Trayvons story exactly as you wanted to?

Martin: The importance of this book was that [we wanted to challenge] those who had a misconception about Trayvon, because they really didnt get to know who Trayvon was through the court system, and so as parents we wanted to characterize exactly who he waswho he was to us. We know that he wasnt a perfect child, but he was our child. We know that he wasnt an angel, but he was our angel. So through our eyes, as parents, we felt that it was important to tell who he was, to tell our story, and just let the public know that this wasnt a bad kid who got taken away. This wasnt a kid that wasnt doing what he was supposed to be doing. We wanted to let the world know who he was to us.

Fulton: For me it was very emotional, it was hard to write. It took us about a year and a half because we would start, and stop, and we would start again . . . it was an emotional rollercoaster for me, and it just reopened the wounds that were trying to heal.

The chapters alternate between your two perspectives; what was the writing process like?

Fulton: We wrote the chapters separately, and we wanted to give both parents point of view. My point of view as a mother, and Tracys point of view as a father. We wanted to show the country, the world, the kind of unity [that we have] for our children, and how close and tight-knit parents come together for the love of their child, even during the death of their child.

Do you feel as if what happened to Trayvon reflects a truth that we are living through this country?

Fulton: We absolutely believe that what happened to Trayvon can and continues to happen to our young black and brown boys, and even some of our young ladies are being shot and killed, and nobody is being held accountable. So we understand that although this happened to our son, that Trayvon Martin represents so many other young adults and teenagers. Even with the verdict, we feel that the justice system sent an awful message to our young people, and thats what makes them so afraid to just walk home from the store in their own community, because they dont feel safe. We gotta create a safe environment for our children. I remember when I was young we played at the park, we played in the street, we went from house to house, there was no fear about getting shot. But now, our young people are afraid to be shot, to be shot by the police, theyre afraid of so many things that we didnt have to worry about. This country needs to get back into a space where our young people feel safe again.

Martin: I think that the fallout after our sons death has definitely brought some type of awareness, but we still have a long way to go because there are many instances that have occurred since the death of Trayvon that are embarrassing for us as a country, simply because it sends a bad message, that our childrens lives have no value. We have to change that narrative. We have to shift that paradigm. And until we do that, this country will still view us in the manner that they view us. As an African-American parent, we have to really, really worry about our children and how our children are perceived in this country.

After the verdict, President Obama said that we must ask ourselves if were doing all we can do to widen the circle of compassion and understanding in our own communities. How do we go about that today, especially in this political climate?

Martin: I think its important for people to just stay encouraged, and stay uplifted. I know that for many that may be a struggle because were coming from an administration that has spoken out and that has been there for all communities alike. For us to make this transition into this new administration and hear some of the things [they] are speaking about . . . its important for us to stay encouraged and stay hopeful. We know as well as anybody that you cant just place your faith and your hope in one system, because when that system fails you, what do you do? Its important for us as people to be hopeful that this administration will continue the progress that our last administration did.

Is this new administration a dramatic shift for you?

Martin: Its a big shift, but at the same time I think that we have to remain open-minded and stay hopeful. I cant say what this administration will truly do toward the progress that weve made, but all I can say is that Im very hopeful that this administration does reach out and does try to continue the progress that President Obama and his administration made.

Are you considering running for office?

Fulton: We are researching the possibilities to see what positions we think might be a good fit for us. Were considering it, but we have not made any decisions, were not campaigning at this time. Were looking at whats available and how we can be the most effective to help our community. Were going to start with local government, here in Miami, and then, eventually, the state of Florida, and then wherever it leads. We just want to be a part of the change, so were going to make sure that we are abreast of whats going on and be a part of that change.

What is your hope for the future, and where do you see the journey going from here?

Fulton: My hope for the immediate future is that we repeal the stand-your-ground law. Im hopeful. I want to see everybody treated fairly when it comes to the justice system . . . If its a 17-year old with a hoodie: his life matters. I want to see people in politics doing more to change these unjust laws. More judges making decisions that are more fair and not leaning to one side or the other. I want to see people respecting one another, regardless of their religion, their sexual orientation, their educational background. I just want to see people getting along in harmony, and not with so much fighting and wars and shooting. There just needs to be overall unity in this country, and thats not what Im seeing right now. There needs to be unity.

Martin: We hope to see a more diversified country, where people can view everyone as equal individuals, where people can start seeing our young black and brown boys and girls and valuing their lives as we would value other lives. I would definitely like to see the education process more enhanced in African-American communities, because we need to be educated on laws that are relevant to our communities and our people, as well as to any other ethnic groups. A broader view of how people perceive African-American boys and girls in this country is what Id like to see.

Ron Davis, Jacksonville, Florida: I want the world to change, instead of being so violent. Im here basically for the young people. The young people have made a decision: were not going to accept our family members being gunned down by law enforcement whose duty it is to protect and serve us.

Yusef, Brooklyn: Im out here marching because I dont feel safe. I dont believe in the practices the N.Y.P.D. is implementing for their officers.

Miasha, Philadelphia: Nieces, nephews, younger brothers, uncles, cousinsI cant even imagine anything like this happening to them. The thought of it brings tears to my eyes almost. We have to get this in the papers, and on the TVs. Everyone needs to know about this.

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Photograph by Jessica Lehrman.

Ron Davis, Jacksonville, Florida: I want the world to change, instead of being so violent. Im here basically for the young people. The young people have made a decision: were not going to accept our family members being gunned down by law enforcement whose duty it is to protect and serve us.

Photograph by Jessica Lehrman.

Yusef, Brooklyn: Im out here marching because I dont feel safe. I dont believe in the practices the N.Y.P.D. is implementing for their officers.

Photograph by Jessica Lehrman.

Miasha, Philadelphia: Nieces, nephews, younger brothers, uncles, cousinsI cant even imagine anything like this happening to them. The thought of it brings tears to my eyes almost. We have to get this in the papers, and on the TVs. Everyone needs to know about this.

Photograph by Jessica Lehrman.

Man with Black Sign: We consider it our job to amplify the voices of others who are speaking out for social justice.

Photograph by Jessica Lehrman.

Janaya, Massachusetts: Its obscene that people who look like my father or husband cannot be safe in the country that they call home. Im marching for my children, for my family. Im marching because its what right.

Photograph by Jessica Lehrman.

Kim: Were marching because injustice thats allowed to continue will just fester.

Photograph by Jessica Lehrman.

Photograph by Jessica Lehrman.

Vicky, Brooklyn: My grandfather was a policeman in the 30s, and he wasnt brutal. My uncle retired in the 70s, he said, I dont like the garbage theyre hiring. Being a policeman, whether youre black or white or Asian or whatever, is no longer a good job.

Photograph by Jessica Lehrman.

Natalie, Manhattan: Im marching for my kids to be able to run and play without getting shot.

Photograph by Jessica Lehrman.

Marcella, Manhattan: I dont want to live in a world where its O.K. to shoot a child, and because of the color of your skin, youre not going to face any legal ramifications.

Photograph by Jessica Lehrman.

Takira, Manhattan: Im tired of seeing these cops getting away with this scumbag activity. Its just not fair anymore. Im tired of it.

Photograph by Jessica Lehrman.

Photograph by Jessica Lehrman.

Joany, Hamilton College: I think we need to talk about the most vulnerable people: trans people, poor people, people of color, immigrants.

Photograph by Jessica Lehrman.

Evan, Manhattan: Growing up black in America. If I can do that, I can do this.

Photograph by Jessica Lehrman.

Jamie, Brooklyn: Were marching to end modernized Jim Crow. Were marching to keep our civil rights.

Photograph by Jessica Lehrman.

James, I Dont Live in New York: Im marching because of systematic police brutality, but if you ask me, theres more to the issue. Theres systemic racism in the country, that needs to addressed one way or the other.

Photograph by Jessica Lehrman.

Jessica, Nassau County: I think this whole thing is ridiculous. I think its all for attention, and we shouldnt give them any attention. I think its good that the cops are getting overtime hours before Christmas, and thats the only thing that I think is good about this march.

Photograph by Jessica Lehrman.

Talona, Manhattan: We realize that not all cops are racist cops, but we want to make sure that if there are racist cops, or cops that use excessive force, that we can bring them to trial, so that we can review the evidence, and see if there was a threat that justified their actions. And if there isnt, then they should be punished. And thats why were out there, to fix those problems in the justice system.

Photograph by Jessica Lehrman.

Charles, Brooklyn: Were protesting the death of Eric Garner, and all of the victims that were killed by police. I certainly hope my son doesnt have to go through it, because its a terrible thing. Its awful.

Photograph by Jessica Lehrman.

Big Rob, Brooklyn: Justice and equality for everybody, man. Police have to stop shooting people. Every week, its someone else. I dont think its going to stop, until one cop shoots another cops family member. I think thats when its going to stop.

Photograph by Jessica Lehrman.

Photograph by Jessica Lehrman.

Rosamond, Brooklyn: It has gone beyond the tipping point. Too many deaths. Its time for something to change, and more than just body cameras.

Photograph by Jessica Lehrman.

Dave, Harlem (in costume): This is the most disgusting thing the N.Y.P.D. has ever done, and unless if we stop, nothing is going to change, and its only going to get worse.

Photograph by Jessica Lehrman.

Arya, Manhattan (with sign): Everybody has to have the same rights.

Photograph by Jessica Lehrman.

Ivy and Ahimsa, Manhattan: Our brothers and sisters are being killed. We have to be here. His name is Ahimsa, which means non-violence.

Photograph by Jessica Lehrman.

Photograph by Jessica Lehrman.

Photograph by Jessica Lehrman.

Photograph by Jessica Lehrman.

Here is the original post:
Five Years Later, Trayvon Martin's Parents Haven't Even Started to Grieve - Vanity Fair

In 2013, the #BlackLivesMatter movement quickly took off in response to the shooting of an African-American teenager, Trayvon Martin, by George Zimmerman. Ever since then, there has been a debate between two ideologies one being the Black Lives Matter ideology and the other being All Lives Matter ideology. I have no solid stance on the issue between the two ideologies. I feel like only saying a specific group of peoples lives matter is dangerous, but I also do know that African-Americans have undergone terrible civil injustices. I dont get caught up in media buzzwords, so whether someone says all lives matter or black lives matter does not really matter to me. However, I hope those that do claim that black lives matter are consistent with what they believe.

According to the main website for BLM, one of the guiding principles for the movement is as follows, We are committed to embodying and practicing justice, liberation and peace in our engagements with one another.I sincerely hope that those involved with the movement include pre-born boys and girls in that statement. I know several anti-abortion activists who are a part of the #BlackLivesMatter movement. I have no problem with people saying that black lives matter. However, I will have a problem if they are only talking about a certain group of black Americans.

I wont generalize, but its no secret that BLM comes mainly from the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party has recently been taking more and more of a pro-abortion stance. However, let's take a look at the state of New York, a state won by Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. In 2013 alone,34,960 abortions of African-American babies were performed, according to the New York Department of Health.This shows that the Democratic Party does not care about all black lives, but only a certain type of black lives. Its very contrary to the purpose of the BLM movement, which is to end discrimination of a type of group because of something that they cannot control.

As I have said, I see nothing wrong with anyone using thehashtag #BlackLivesMatter or following the movement. As a matter of fact, I applaud anyone who stands up for any sort of injustice, just like I do with abortion. Civil rights begin in the womb. If you believe that black lives matter, then act accordingly and stand against the current holocaust that is killing thousands of pre-born African-Americanboys and girls by the day. If you support the legal killing of African-American pre-born children, then do you really think that all black lives matter? So therefore I ask you, if youre pro-choice, dont say that all black lives matter.

Jacob is a sophomore studying pre-law at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those ofThe Post. How do you feel about the Black Lives Matter and All Lives Matter ideologies? Let Jacob know by tweeting him@JacobHoback.

Read more from the original source:
Pro-Life Pondered: You cannot be pro-choice and support Black Lives Matter - The Post

A 2015 rally against police brutality in Newark. (A. Katz / Shutterstock, Inc.)

To many, the Black Lives Matter movement started in August 2014, when protests erupted in Ferguson, Missouri, after a white police officer shot and killed an unarmed black teenager. But while the movement coalesced around the street marches in Ferguson and then spread to places like Baltimore, Cleveland, and Chicago, the declaration that supplied its name was coined considerably earlier: in 2013, shortly after George Zimmerman was acquitted of murder in the death of Trayvon Martin.

On the day of Zimmermans acquittal, a Bay Area activist by the name of Alicia Garza took to Facebook. I continue to be surprised at how little Black lives matter, she wrote. And I will continue that. [S]top giving up on black life. The death of Michael Brown in Ferguson may have been the national tipping point, the moment when Americans were jolted awake by this new rallying cry. But it was Garza and her fellow activists, Opal Tometi and Patrisse Cullors, who helped popularize the phrase as a hashtag on Twitter and Tumblr one year earlier. Movements often have these kinds of indeterminate beginningsseveral, at different moments in time, until they get everyones attentionand today, in fact, there are so many iterations of Black Lives Matter that it is perhaps most accurate to describe the protests not as a movement but as a set of movements, each with different locally based groups, and without a clear leader or group of leaders.

In his new book They Cant Kill Us All, Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery sets out not only to track the latest developments in Black Lives Matter, but also to search for the movements deeper roots. For Lowery, although BLM protests originated with the recent police killings in the United Stateshis book takes its title from a sign spotted in Fergusonhe also wants us to recognize that the politics animating these protests have long been around. Lowery traces the movements origins to the hope of a postracial America that was symbolized by Barack Obamas election, and which has now proved to be little more than a phantasm of campaign rhetoric and political punditry. Having once hoped that the election of the first black president meant that the tide of race relations in America might begin to turn, many young black Americans were forced to face the realityby one high-profile police shooting after anotherthat living in a world in which theyre treated like their white contemporaries remains an impossibility.

The persistence of police violence against young black people, and the often-racist backlash that followed Obamas election, initiated this new generation into a cycle that has characterized Americas fraught racial history: A period of optimism born out of a spectacular political momentthe Emancipation Proclamation; Reconstruction; the civil-rights movement of the 1960sis then followed by a period of reaction and retrenchment. This narrative of youthful idealism followed by frustration and despair is the crux of Lowerys book, and he believes that the second half of this cycle is now in full swing. But while Black Lives Matter arose in a moment of disappointment and grief, it has for the past four years also helped to inaugurate a new era in the struggle for racial justice.

Wesley Lowery began his career on the metro beat at The Boston Globe. He mostly covered murders and street crime and also reported on the Boston Marathon bombings. But his ambition was to cover national politics, and when he moved to The Washington Post, he set his sights on the 2016 presidential race.

Lowerys beat shifted, though, shortly after Browns death and the protests that followed. The Post sent him to Ferguson; he got arrested even while brandishing a press pass, and soon found a new beat: police brutality and the protests that were emerging in its wake. Not since the Boston Marathon bombings a year and a half earlier had I covered a story for which there was such intense, immediate appetite, he writes, later adding: Police shootings arent uncommon, and as a reporter who is professionally acquainted with hundreds of other reporters, images of an angry vigil of grieving residents werent particularly out of place in my social media feeds. But even in those early posts, Mike Browns death just felt different. The crowds gathered near this young mans body emanated a guttural anguish. It was clear even then, for those paying attention, that this communal anger would not be easily muted or contained.

They Cant Kill Us All is the outcome of Lowerys past two years covering this anguish. He spends the first three-quarters of his book focused on several high-profile police killings: Brown in Ferguson; Tamir Rice in Cleveland; Walter Scott in North Charleston, South Carolina; and Freddie Gray in Baltimore. But while his book is ostensibly about these deaths and the local protests that they inspired, Lowery also has larger ambitions, ranging widely across race relations and racial violence in the United States, including the slaying of nine black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina, by a young white man; the removal of the Confederate flag at the South Carolina statehouse by an African- American woman named Bree Newsome; and the emergence of a national movement, or set of movements, responding to the call to arms of Black Lives Matter.

Lowery insists that the story of Black Lives Matters roots and intentions is often misunderstood at best and, at worst, purposefully muddied in order to discredit the movement and its leaders. Conservative talking heads have likened BLM and the young black people protesting police brutality to the Ku Klux Klan, arguing that the protesters are perpetuating violence against the police and, more broadly, against white people. Liberal pundits have also been guilty of misrepresenting the movement, seeking to link it to the Democratseven though many of its leaders have made it clear that BLM isnt tied to any political party.

Lowerys book therefore tries to offer a corrective: Movements often have many different origin stories, and his careful behind-the-scenes reporting offers insight into how the various grassroots campaigns converged into what is now often referred to as a single protest movement. He also wants us to discard whatever preconceived notions we have about Black Lives Matter and learn about the nuances and complexities involved in the making of a movement. What happened in Ferguson, Cleveland, and other cities wasnt anything new; it was just slowly being unveiled to the rest of the public. For centuries, black people in America have struggled for equality, and Black Lives Matter is yet another extension of that struggle. In fact, as BLM has emerged as a national movement, it has become linked with many other issues related to racial justice, from voting rights and mass incarceration to economic inequality and barriers to health care and educationall issues that concern the broader American left.

Many mainstream-media outlets have missed this larger context. Instead of trying to understand how the protests in St. Louis or Baltimore are linked to a much longer history of political struggle, journalists often descend on these cities to get a sensational photo or to break breathless news reports about the confrontations between police and protesters. Rather than looking at the long-standing patterns of police harassment or examining the ways in which these municipalities rely on the frequent ticketing of their black citizens for funds, many newspapers have run stories that indict the victims of police violence, not the officers who killed them or the larger system in which they operate. And by focusing on the character of the victim, Lowery writes, we inadvertently take the focus off the powerful and instead train our eyes and judgment on the powerless.

Lowery also takes the media to task for overstating the importance of their role in social movements. Its true that without journalists covering the civil-rights movement, many Americans might not have been persuaded of the justness of its cause. But Lowery believes that reporters often exaggerate their influence on the shaping of social movements.

One can hear a bit of self-criticism here as well. After all, Lowery is himself a journalist who hopes that his reporting may help provide a fairer and more accurate account of Black Lives Matter. In this way, these critical asides come not from a frustrated outsider, but from a respected mainstream journalist attempting to change the way his colleagues report on the movement as a whole.

The book tells a bleak story, but Lowery concludes on a relatively optimistic note. Although the nations future looks uncertain and there is much work left to do, in the end, he insists, both the rallying cry and the activism of Black Lives Matter will endure. (Of course, Lowery wrote his book before the election of Donald Trump, so he can be forgiven for not adopting a more ominous tone.) And by certain measures, the movement has been a notable success: BLM protests have been able to put and keep the issue of police brutality at the forefront of the national conversation; the movement has forced politicians to begin to speak the language of Black Lives Matter; and because of public pressure in the wake of Ferguson and Baltimore, a small number of police officers have been charged with shooting unarmed citizens.

But the police killings of unarmed black Americans continue. Each new shooting has seemed like a turning point to activists, an incident far too egregious to be ignored. But almost all of the high-profile police killings have led neither to prison sentences nor reforms. In South Carolina, Michael Slager, the white cop who shot an unarmed and fleeing Walter Scott in the back, was tried for murder, but the jurors couldnt reach a verdict and the judge was forced to declare a mistrial, allowing Slager to be released pending a new trial. A few months after Scott was killed, University of Cincinnati Police Officer Ray Tensing fatally shot Sam DuBose after pulling him over for a missing license platebut, as in the case of Scotts killing, the jury deadlocked and a mistrial was declared.

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More cases in which justice will be delayed or denied are certainly on the horizon; for each gain in police reform, there will be another glaring example of why more is needed. The cycle between hope and despair today seems to be in overdrive; each morning we awake to a country that is simultaneously more disheartening and more hopeful than the day before. The election of a president who ran a xenophobic, race-baiting, and ethno-nationalist campaign will mean even greater accelerations, as new protest movements emerge, only to find the space for social change dramatically shrinking.

In this way, the new era for Americas racial-justice movement seems not unlike previous ones. In the 1960s, while black Americans often protested injustice and police brutality with rallies and marches, white Americans terrorized these mostly peaceful protests with threats and acts of vigilante violence that went ignored by the local authorities. Likewise, while politicians like John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson helped usher in sweeping civil-rights reforms, they were followed by the likes of Richard Nixon, Barry Goldwater, and George Wallace, who responded to these reforms with the dog-whistle demonization of black people and anyone who stood with them. Plenty of Americans let their disdain for the civil-rights activists be known thenoften with the same kind of rhetoric and images used against Black Lives Matter.

Because hes a reporter first, Lowery writes much of They Cant Kill Us All in the evenhanded and straightforward register that one expects of contemporary reporting. But hints of emotion nonetheless break through. At one point, Lowery confesses that he was close to crying when he was assigned to fly out to North Charleston after Scotts death. I didnt want to get on this plane, he writes, I didnt want to spend days telling yet another story of a black man gunned down. But despite his growing sense of dread as he continues to report on the police shootings, Lowerys book is written mostly from a position of hope. While many of his peers have advanced a grimmer view when discussing the cycles of African-American history, Lowery finds a cause for optimism in our eras developing racial-justice movement. After the grand jury in Ferguson chose not to indict Officer Darren Wilson, many warned of rioting; instead, protesters took to the streets in droves to denounce this miscarriage of justice.

As we settle into the next four years of Trumps presidency, its hard to embrace fully Lowerys sense of hope and possibility. But the quiet optimism underlying his book is itself an act of protest in our dark times. As the Ferguson protesters, quoting Kendrick Lamar, insisted to Lowery: We gon be alright.

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