From #Blacklivesmatter to Black Liberation

From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation is written by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor. Published in 2016 by Haymarket Books, the book explores the emergence of Black Lives Matter (BLM) and raises questions about and suggestions for future direction of the movement. Taylor contextualizes BLM within a broader history of institutional racism and Black resistance, noting continuities between BLM and earlier movements, as well as significant divergences that suggest the potential for radical transformation of the political economy of the United States. The central aim of Taylor’s discussion is the exploration of why BLM emerged under the tenure of the nation’s first Black president. She answers the question by building an argument that locates Obama within a Black political tradition and a broader political establishment that promulgates myths about American exceptionalism, meritocracy, and equal opportunity in service to the maintenance of capitalism.

This guide refers to the 2016 Haymarket Books edition of From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation.

Plot Summary

In Chapter 1, Taylor examines two interrelated and mutually reinforcing ideas—American exceptionalism and culture of poverty. She articulates how they work together to “explain” the persistence of Black poverty in the United States by deflecting culpability away from systemic causes and absolving the state of culpability for the conditions it created and creates and the responsibility to resolve them.