Today radical black activism, or what passes for it, is very different. It’s reaching levels of self-parody by simply screaming at whoever the target of the day is. It’s indifferent to achieving any results. It just matters that you “raise awareness”. A group of young, angry students who are appalled at injustice do not comprise a movement, or at least a movement that can make a tangible difference. Organization, clear objectives, and willingness to compromise and change direction does. These things require real work, and are not always newsworthy, but they are necessary.

In their attempt to bring the suffering of the communities to the forefront of political discourse, Black Lives Matter and similar activist organizations exacerbate the suffering of marginalized blacks and other minority groups. By reducing the bulk of their work to censoring offensive speech, the black lives that most need to be helped are left on the wayside. For decades, poor, marginalized blacks have been used as pawns for legitimacy by social and political movements. Everyone from Jesse Jackson to Bernie Sanders to Black Lives Matter claims to be a voice for black lives, but the truth is even as they do so, more, not fewer, black people are suffering. Black lives deserve better than a twenty-three-year old holding a sign. They deserve professionals who are driven by empathy and not a desire for cheap publicity.