Black Lives Matter Rejects Show of Support From the DNC

By Jesse Byrnes, The Hill

31 August 15

upporters of the Black Lives Matter movement are distancing themselves from a Democratic National Committee resolution voicing support for their cause. 

The Black Lives Matter Network said the resolution the DNC adopted at its summer meeting last week "in no way implies an endorsement of the DNC" by the group.

"The Democratic Party, like the Republican and all political parties, have historically attempted to control or contain Black people’s efforts to liberate ourselves," the group said in a statement Sunday.

"True change requires real struggle, and that struggle will be in the streets and led by the people, not by a political party," it added, suggesting later the DNC was a "self-interested ... political machine." 

Democrats passed the resolution on Friday "affirming 'Black lives matter' and the 'say her name' efforts to make visible the pain of our fellow and sister Americans as they condemn extrajudicial killings of unarmed African American men, women and children," according to MSNBC. 

The Black Lives Matter movement has become a political force in recent months, interrupting and derailing speeches for multiple Democratic presidential candidates on the campaign trail.

Hillary Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, recently suggested to the movement's supporters that they define an agenda, which has generally touched on criminal justice reform.

Activists behind the Black Lives Matter Network said Sunday that the DNC resolution "won't bring the changes we seek."

"Resolutions without concrete change are just business as usual. Promises are not policies. We demand freedom for Black bodies, justice for Black lives, safety for Black communities, and rights for Black people. We demand action, not words, from those who purport to stand with us," they said.