Annotated Bibliography

Jaydon Arslanian

Period 2

11/16/20

Dr. Haslam

My issue is why BLM is needed in our society today? As well as the issues it brings up

that have been hushed for decades. I will also be discussing how it hurts our country and drives

us farther and farther apart. I will also talk about why we need it because of the way police are

trained and it needs to be brought up how we need to change that. Overall, I will be talking about

the purpose of BLM, the effects of these protests, as well as how it has damaged our country

during a pandemic, and other elements that BLM brought to light.

Duvernay, A. (2020, August 23). Locals have organized against Black Lives Matter, leading to

street fights, standoffs. Retrieved November 16, 2020, from

https://www.registerguard.com/story/news/2020/08/23/locals-have-organized-against-

black-lives-matter-leading-street-fights-standoffs/5601292002/

Adam Duvernay talks about how these BLM protests have caused Blue Lives Matter

supporters to get up and start protesting their opinion too in his article Locals have organized

against Black Lives matter, leading to street fights, standoffs for the Register-Guard on August

23rd of this year. Duvernay goes on to say how it has caused fights to break out between these

two sides, causing people to come armed. He goes on to quote Blue Lives supporters and why
they got out to do it. He says they did it to stop the violence that was happening. Next, Duvernay

talks about a professor saying that they are creating an “imagined threat” which causes more

extreme violence, it even occurs in our own state, just think about that. Then, he quotes a side of

Black Lives Matter saying that his group rejects the damage and violence. A good quote he

states is, “They showed up at the Black Lives Matter protest, some carrying firearms and the set

of homemade plywood riot shields made up to look like protest signs that they have carried into

multiple protests and rallies. The two sides squared off near the federal courthouse, exchanging

competing chants and taunts. Then a shot was fired into the air.” He shows how the protests can

get violent at these protests.

Duvernay gives more examples of riots and fights that have occurred because of the

police brutality that occurred in Minneapolis and George Floyd. He also gives another example

in Oregon of a fight that happened between the 2 sides. The author mentioned that this also

caused vandalism and broken property to happen. He continues on in the rest of the article giving

examples of more fights and skirmishes that happened, as well as peaceful protests.

This supports the viewpoint of mainly how BLM is unhealthy for our country and how it

causes damage and fights to break out. However, the article also includes parts where they say

peaceful protesting occurred here, and such, but mainly how BLM is hurting our country. It fits

into the debate because it talks about how fights have happened against opposing sides, and that

is not good for that to keep occurring. The audience is mainly people who have been part of

BLM and want to learn about it. This source is credible because it quotes multiple sources of

each side, specifically leaders of a specific movement, so it is credible. Duvernay is also credible

because he has written for notable places like USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, and

many other places, so he has some ethos here.

Elzie, J., McKesson, D., & Singyangwe, S. (2020). Mapping Police Violence. Retrieved

December 04, 2020, from https://mappingpoliceviolence.org/

Mappingpoliceviolence.org is a website by Johnetta Elzie, DeRay McKession, and

Samuel Singyangwe. The website by the authors lists facts and statistics about police violence

against individuals. The authors list a lot of mind-blowing statistics like this one “Black people

have been 28% of those killed by police in 2020 despite being only 13% of the population.” and

“Black people are 3 times more likely to be killed by police than white people.” The authors

have a lot more statistics like this throughout the website. The authors discuss a bunch of facts

and statistics about police brutality, as well as the problems behind it and how wrong it is.

This source is definitely on the side of BLM and we do need it because these stats are

way too large. It fits into the debate because it has a bunch of good facts I can use. They establish

ethos because the authors are each very credible. Sinyangwe is a data scientist and policy analyst

and is the cofounder of the website. He graduated from Stanford in 2012 where he studied race

and its impact on the U.S. McKesson is the former Senior Director of Human Capital in

Minneapolis Public Schools. He is a very good activist and even opened an academic enrichment

center in Baltimore. Elzie worked for New York Times, PBS, NBC, and CNN. She has also

organized a bunch of human rights groups in Chicago. The website establishes pathos because it

plays on your emotions because of all the stats that make you feel empathy for the blacks. It also

establishes logos because all the facts connect and make sense. The audience would be most

likely BLM supporters and people looking to dig deeper into the facts of police brutality. The

source is credible to the audiences because the authors are credible. I think it is a credible source

to the audience. I like this source because it has a lot of useful resources that I could use to

strengthen my point.
Lucero, M. (2020, June 26). Meaning behind the movement: Black Lives Matter. Retrieved

November 16, 2020, from http://news.unm.edu/news/meaning-behind-the-movement-

black-lives-matter

Marissa Lucero wrote her article, Meaning behind the movement: Black Lives Matter for

the University of New Mexico in June of this year and talks about how BLM has evolved over

the years. Lucero begins by talking about the origin of BLM and how it came to be. Lucero talks

about how the shooting of Trayvon Martin was the situation that caused BLM to become such a

big organization. Lucero says how the purpose of the movement is to let black people be able to

leave their homes. Another purpose according to Lucero is to eradicate white supremacy and

stop the violence that has occurred in the black community, they want all people to be treated

fairly. Then, Lucero says how the George Floyd protests really brought this movement in the

spotlight again and caused protesting and such. Lucero also has a professor quoted several times

throughout talking about the meaning of the movement and how violence is not the answer. A

notable quote from the article is, “In fact, Coleman explained Black Lives Matter doesn’t want to

be given anything. Instead, he said, what Black people want is to be able to leave their homes, to

peacefully assemble and address the government without fearing for their lives.” Lucero’s quote

is important because it shows the purpose of BLM and why it came to be so relevant today.

This source is almost neutral, but it is more leaning towards the BLM side. It supports the

BLM side because it talks about its origin and good intentions it has. It fits into the debate

because it goes along with the argument of why we need BLM and the stuff it has brought to

light because of the movement. It has plenty of ethos because it quotes a notable professor who

studies this kind of stuff, so he knows what he is talking about. The article also includes pathos
because it makes you think about how it would feel if you weren’t able to leave your own home.

The audience is a person looking to support the movement or get to know it better. The source is

credible because of the evidence that is proposed, and the source it has, which is a professor at a

university, so it has a good amount of ethos. Also, the place she writes for has received numerous

awards, which adds more to the credibility as well.

Miller, J. (2020, June 19). Black Lives Matter - Why the Movement is so Important. Retrieved

November 16, 2020, from https://www.ttownmedia.com/press_banner/black-lives-

matter---why-the-movement-is-so-important/article_6d56252a-b195-11ea-89e9-

c34ead86410c.html

Jill Miller’s article Black Lives Matter - Why the Movement is so Important written for

Town Media on June 19th, 2020 and is about why BLM is so important to the country. Miller’s

article begins by talking about George Floyd and how this caused many people to speak out and

protest. Miller then goes on to define the movement and its purpose and its origin. Miller goes on

to talk about how black people have been oppressed for decades and they don’t deserve this

treatment. Miller compares different cases and how the sentences are different because of their

skin color. She ends off by saying we need to support black lives and lead them to freedom and

take a stand. Also, Miller says that we need to make sure that black lives have equal treatment

and chances to succeed. An important quote she says in the article is, “ As protests spread across

the world against police brutality, systemic racism, and injustice, this is a great time for our

community to reflect on what we can do to empower Black lives and all people of color within

our communities and within our world. In order to accomplish this, we must be more than “not

racist;” everyone must fight to be actively anti-racist.” This quote is significant, and I am glad
Miller included this because it shows how we can eliminate racism and make it less of a

problem.

This article is definitely supporting the side of BLM. It fits into the debate because it

talks about how we need to make black lives as equal as everyone else. It talks about how much

it matters to us today and how it progresses us closer and closer to ridding of inequality. A good

rhetorical device used in this is definitely pathos and logos because it gets into your emotions

and makes you feel empathy for them and makes you want to help make change. She also

establishes ethos because you can tell that she has done her research on the issue and knows what

she is talking about. Her audience is most likely African-Americans and/or BLM supporters

because the article talks about the support for it.

(SLCC Library) Newman, A. (2020, October 5). Black Lives Matter: Behind the Facade. Civil

Unrest, pp. 35-38.

Alex Newman’s article, Black Lives Matter: Behind the Facade written for the New

American last month criticizes the way BLM functions. Newman’s newspaper article begins by

talking about how BLM is a danger to us as a country and is the root of a Marxist group. He

begins by talking about how it is a big danger to everyone. He gives examples of violent events

that have happened and how lives were lost because of them. Newman also says how vandalism

has happened and how a leader of BLM has said some bad stuff about inciting riots and such.

Newman talks about how BLM leaders have done a lot of unlawful crimes that have been pretty

bad because of this. A quote I like from the article that Newman says is, “Civilians are in the

cross hairs, too. During a BLM protest in Provo, Utah, in June, BLM activist Jesse Taggart, 33,

of Salt Lake City, began shooting passers-by.” I thought to include this quote from Newman
because it is a local example and shows how even we can be impacted by this and it gives more

evidence as to why the protests are dangerous.

The next part Newman talks about, is how they say it is destroying freedom in our

country and how they are versed in ideological theories and how they are Marxists. Towards the

end, Newman talks about how Black Lives Matter is not about black lives. He talks about how

the leaders of the movement say that the purpose is to stop oppression and create equality

because police officers are racist. However, Newman says that the facts state the opposite. He

goes on to list facts and stuff that say the movement is violent and wrong.

This viewpoint is definitely on the far side against BLM because it is violent and has the

incorrect idea in mind. It fits into my part of my research question because it talks about the

issues that BLM causes and how it is unhealthy for us citizens. Rhetorical devices it uses a lot of

are ethos and logos. It gives a lot of facts and statistics that support the side against BLM and it

gives the author credibility because he lists a lot of facts that support his side. I feel like it also

includes pathos because he really makes you surprised and go, “Wow!” when you see the stuff

he says, so it makes you surprised and maybe even question your own knowledge. The audience

is a supporter of All Lives Matter or someone who wants to dig deeper and look at both sides of

this argument. I think this source is credible because they have a lot of good information and a

lot of different articles on their page, but this article does lean one way a bit, but they back it up

with facts to get their point across.

Reynolds, B. (2019, March 01). I was a civil rights activist in the 1960s. But it's hard for me to

get behind Black Lives Matter. Retrieved November 16, 2020, from
 https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/08/24/i-was-a-civil-rights-

activist-in-the-1960s-but-its-hard-for-me-to-get-behind-black-lives-matter/

Barbara Reynolds’ article, I was a civil rights activist in the 1960s. But it's hard for me to

get behind Black Lives Matter written and published by the Washington Post in March of last

year, compares and contrasts the protests in the 60’s and now, and shows how we can improve

our ways of protesting. She begins by talking about how this BLM movement is much different

than back in the 60’s when MLK was leading a movement for equality. Reynolds says she agrees

with their stance, but has the wrong approach in mind. Reynolds goes on to say that it is hard for

older people to support this movement, but it is hard because they seem to be violent and scary

because of the stuff they have done. An important quote she states that I would like to include is,

“He’s right. It looks, sounds and feels different. Black Lives Matter is a motley-looking group to

this septuagenarian grandmother, an activist in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Many in

my crowd admire the cause and courage of these young activists but fundamentally disagree with

their approach. Trained in the tradition of Martin Luther King Jr., we were nonviolent activists

who won hearts by conveying respectability and changed laws by delivering a message of love

and unity.” I included this quote by Reynolds because it shows how we have to change our ways

of protesting and our approach because back then, it was way better and much more peaceful.

Reynolds goes on to say that you can’t really distinguish between actual activists and

people who just want to riot and loot and be violent. She compares it to back in the 1960’s

because back then, they were less violent and more loving and caring, because that is not the

case now. Reynolds concludes by saying that we need to encourage and need to be more

respectful and loving, but still solid in your stance.

 This source is leaning a little toward the side of how BLM is dangerous and is not the

same as it was decades ago. The source fits into my debate of how BLM has caused issues and

violence and how we need to change our approach. A rhetorical aspect to take into account is

ethos and logos. It lists a couple credible people, and uses a lot of logic as to what this violence

causes and such. It includes pathos too because you get to see BLM from a first-person

perspective, and makes you see and feel a little bad to see her opinion on what it has turned into.

The audience is most likely older people because this article references the old times several

times to compare our approach now, so it is probably for the older generation. The source would

be very credible to that audience and possibly other audiences looking to see an older person’s

perspective on this issue. This article has a lot of credibility because she has a lot of sources that

she got in touch with to make sure she covered all bases of this issue, and is well-researched

herself.

Walton, S. (2020, October 30). KSP training slideshow quotes Hitler, advocates 'ruthless'

violence. Retrieved November 16, 2020, from

https://manualredeye.com/90096/news/local/police-training-hitler-presentation/

This article, KSP training slideshow quotes Hitler, advocates ‘ruthless’ violence, is from

a high school newspaper in Kentucky, written on October 30th, 2020 by Satchel Walton and

Cooper Walton. They talk about how there were references to Hitler in a police training

presentation. They talked about the slideshow contained statements telling officers to be

“ruthless killer[s],” and to always top violence with more violence. According to the Waltons,

the presentation also quotes a line from Hitler’s book Mein Kampf which basically says to be
violent. There are two other occurrences of Hitler in this presentation, the Waltons say, which

makes Hitler, according to the article, the most quoted person in the presentation.

Cooper and Satchel go on to give a quote from a local police officer saying the quotes are

used for content and relevance to the topic in the presentation. The police officer also says how

the presentation might be several years old and made by an instructor at the academy, and is not

clear if it is still used. Cooper and Satchel go on to say that the local police department in

Kentucky committed at least 16 shootings, making it the most in the state, including Brianna

Taylor. They end their article by saying that it is dangerous to be showing that presentation to

officers and is the opposite of what officers should be doing out in the field.

This article is definitely on the side of BLM because they went and found this

presentation to show that police officers are dangerous to blacks possibly because of this very

bad presentation. This source fits into my debate of why we need BLM because BLM

encourages better training, and this presentation clearly shows that more revising of the training

of officers is needed. The author uses ethos, pathos, and logos pretty much equally. They give

credible sources as evidence who are involved with this issue, like local police officers and such.

They appeal to the emotion because it makes the reader feel empathy for blacks and makes them

want to stick up for blacks because of this. Lastly, it uses logic to connect everything together to

make it make sense. The audience is most likely high school students because this was a school

newspaper, but it made national headlines, so more people most likely read this as well because

it is well written. Initially though, it was for high school students. The source is credible because

it does give a lot of good evidence and reasoning throughout that strengthens the article. This

would be credible for a lot of people because it is a very relevant issue today, and even gives the
presentation in the article to show that they aren’t lying, so it makes them pretty credible for

doing so.

Some good info I have gained from my research is that this is a really significant issue

happening in our country. This is something that has been going on for an extremely long time,

and it is mind-blowing to see all the impacts it has had on everyone. I have noticed that there are

a couple perspectives on this issue: The side of BLM and social justice, the side of All Lives

Matter and how BLM is hurting our country, and the middle ground, the perspective of BLM

being good as well as bad at the same time. Each side has a lot of great points, so if you were

chosen at random to pick a side, it might be hard for you. All my sources relate because they all

have to do with BLM and the way it has transformed our country for the better, as well as the

worse too. They all talk about BLM, the purpose, or the impacts. There is a variety of

information that I am excited to dig even deeper into. I should probably look more into the riots

and more of the cases of African-American and see what was done wrong, and how we can fix it.

A question that I have that needs to be answered is, how long can we keep our country the way it

is? As well as how can we fix it so all sides can benefit? I am willing and ready to find the

answer to those questions.