Baton Rouge Police Killings Overshadow Black Lives Matter Activism

FEATURING RASHAD ROBINSON – As the Republican National Convention opens in Cleveland, Ohio, the Presidential election season is looking more like a circus than a serious political exercise. Presumptive nominee Donald Trump has announced Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his running mate. And on day one of the convention, a rally in support of Trump is expected to take place in Cleveland, attracting gun-toting right wing supporters of the businessman-turned-politician.

But the issue of guns has begun to invoke fear in all sectors of society in the wake of two major shootings of police officers in Dallas, Texas, and, this past weekend in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Three officers were killed and several others injured in a shooting that has left people shocked. An African American man named Gavin Long was killed by police as the suspected shooter. Like the Dallas shooter, Micah Johnson, Long served in the US military.

Authorities are already blaming the Black Lives Matter movement for creating an atmosphere that targets police. But BLM has avowedly denounced the killings.

How can the central issue of police violence and the grassroots activism of Black Lives Matter translate into positive change, particularly through democratic and electoral means?

Find more at www.colorofchange.org.

Rashad Robinson, Executive Director of Color of Change, Former Senior Director of Programs at GLAAD.