To: Black Lives Matter

From: Alix Swann

Subject: A Non-Violent Response to Ongoing Police Brutality

Black Lives Matter is an organization created to work toward the validity of Black life.

One of their main goals is to work to (re)build the Black Liberation Movement. It was created

after the murderer of of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman, was acquitted. Since

then, Black Lives Matter has expanded from a hashtag into an organization that fights anti-black

racism. Right now, the founders, Patrisse Cullors, Opal Tometi, and Alicia Garza do not intend

on being the sole leaders of the movement, they want it to be a leaderful movement so no one

leader is targeted. The problem with Black Lives Matter is that no substantial progress has been

marked down in history as a result of the movement, but there are principles written by Sun Tzu

that could be of assistance.

A large majority of the opponents of Black Lives Matter do not have valid reasons for

opposing the movement, they only oppose the movement because it is focusing on black lives

rather than all lives. Some people even believe that when people support black lives matter, they

believe that all other lives do not matter. One of Sun Tzus principles is if your opponent is of

choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant (page 9,

chapter 1, statement 22). Many of the opposers of Black Lives Matter do not even want to

organize, they simply say things such as White Lives Matter and then get angry and argue,

which shows their choleric temper. In comparison to the tactics of the opposition, Black Lives

Matter does community work, gets out the vote, and protests wrongsdoings. Sun Tzus advice is

to seek to irritate them, which could be taken in a couple of different ways. One way is to

completely oppose any mention of any lives matter besides black lives until some of the issues

Black Lives Matter is targeting, such as restorative justice and family ties are improved. Once the
opposition is shut down, Black Lives Matter can continue on its mission for black liberation.

Fighting this issue can be seen as being weak because it will appear as if Black Lives Matter is

not focusing on the stated objectives, and this will satisfy the opponent until they grow

arrogant and are defeated. Following this principle could be potentially helpful for Black Lives

Matter to continue with the mission.

Black Lives Matter is an organization that encompasses many people from different

spectrums, including LGBTQ+ and disabled people. One of Sun Tzus principles that can assist

with this is we can form a single united body, while the enemy must split up into fractions.

Hence there will be a whole pitted against separate parts of a whole, which means that we shall

be many to the enemy's few (page 29, chapter 6, statement 14). Everyone has different ideas on

issues that affect black people in the movement, but we must find a medium and form a single

united body so we are not separated on issues. When we appear separated on issues, this is

when the opponents come in and attack. Black Lives Matter outlines some guiding principles on

their website, but no course of action is strictly outlined. This means that each chapter is taking

different steps to combat the problems, some of which are effective, and some which are not. The

enemy is opposed on various fronts, including some just being opposed to black people, some

being opposed to an exclusive movement, and some just not supporting because silence is

opposition. With these separate groups, if Black Lives Matter is able to form a single united

body, we will be able to stand strong with no chance of defeat.

While we still need to become a single united body, we still need to focus on smaller

objectives within the movement. Sun Tzu said: The control of a large force is the same principle

as the control of a few men: it is merely a question of dividing up their numbers (page 23,

chapter 5, statement 1). The various city/state chapters of Black Lives Matter do not connect, and
they focus on different things to combat. If strategic planning was done, the whole operation

could run more smoothly. An assembly line is a great example. While everyone is working

toward a common goal, groups hyperfocus on one specific thing that they are able to do while

taking both quality and quantity into account. Assembly lines are proven to get the overall job

done faster, and Black Lives Matter could use this tactic to reach some of our objectives. I hope

you take my suggestions into consideration, while keeping in account that Sun Tzus methods are

and have been used by countless individuals successfully.

Take care,

Alix Swann