The Interior of the Movement for Black Lives: “A New Political Generation”

Abstract

Limited sociological literature exists on the interior of local organizations’ intersectional politics in the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL). To address this gap in the literature, I conducted 48 interviews in Baltimore and College Park, Maryland; Atlanta, Georgia; Knoxville, Tennessee; and the District of Colombia from 2016 to 2019, to identify the experiences of Black women and queer people in local organizations connected to the M4BL—leaders, organizers, and protestors. I utilized Ruth Milkman’s articulation of “a new political generation” and Ashleigh K. McKinzie and Patricia L. Richards’s “context-driven intersectionality” to theoretically ground a structural intersectional analysis. The themes emerging from these interviews identify local organizations as places where women and queer people contend with patriarchy, homophobia, and classism. This research provides a nuanced discussion of the struggle to build a global working-class movement in local anti-racist organizations, thereby outlining the schism between theory and action. Implications for future research are discussed.