About
Black Lives Matter-South Bend (BLMSB) began in 2016 to address systematic injustices targeting South Bend's Black and Brown communities. In particular, BLMSB addressed police brutality, state-sanctioned violence, educational inequality, and to promote Black empowerment. Specifically, community members galvanized in reaction to the DeShawn Franklyn police brutality decision that awarded him a mere $18 for the South Bend's police department's violation of his Civil and Constitutional Rights. Black Lives Matter-South Bend gained new energy after the 2019 Father's Day shooting death of Eric Logan by Officer Ryan O'Neill in the Central High Apartments parking lot. BLMSB called for accountability by the South Bend Police Departments and then Mayor Pete Buttigieg.
As of late-2019 Black Lives Matter-South Bend is an official chapter of the Black Lives Matter Global Network.
Guiding Principles
Black Lives Matter-South Bend seeks social, economic, environmental, political, and legal justice for all people of the African Diaspora in Northern Indiana and Southern Michigan, the area known as the Michiana region. We believe that no one is free until Black people are free, because Black people have been personally and systematically deprived of power and it is our duty to reclaim it for ourselves. In doing so, everyone is liberated from systems of oppressive domination.
Seven Pillars
Seven intersecting pillars guide Black Lives Matter-South Bend's actions and commitments to Black and Brown communities:
