According to their website, the organization formed after George Zimmerman, Trayvon Martin's murderer, was acquitted for his crime. The movement has garnered increasing support and more national recognition for its work following the murder of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO and taking . This increased support led to the decision to make the movement chapter-based, which allows for the increase in local events in addition to national ones. By forming teams around the U.S., the organization has made it possible to affect change through leading teams of people who have bought-in to the same ideals to political action as opposed to leaving the social media hashtag to linger on Black Twitter. But what is the draw?
The leaders of #BlackLivesMatter, Alicia Garza, Opal Tometi, and Patrisse Cullors, appear to have a high Emotional Intelligence (EI). According to Chang, Sy, and Choi (2011, p 76), EI is "a set of competencies for identifying, processing, and managing emotions." Without a doubt, there is a veritable flood of emotions tied to race relations in our nation, and these women have been able to successfully navigate the varying dimensions that the authors identified: mood regulation, emotion appraisal, social skills, and emotion utilization. Garza, Tometi, and Cullors seemingly do this with a certain finesse, "appropriately responding to the emotions of their followers" (Chang et al., 2011, p. 80). Rallies, art shows, twitter chats, town halls, and more allow members a safe space to express their emotions and create plans of work to move the cause forward.
But more than allowing space to express these emotions, leaders created a space for other marginalized groups. They have effectively partnered with the LGBTQ community, brought a spotlight to those with disabilities, and given women a leading seat at the table. By tapping into the use of social media and providing opportunity for other minorities, they've increased their voices as a collective, creating a work team, or people who consider themselves to be part of a social entity (Henttonen, 2010).
Chua, Lim, Soh, and Sia (2012, p. 578) would add that #BlackLivesMatter leaders have developed a clan culture, which they say utilizes clan member communications "to direct, influence, or regulate others to achieve project goals." And it's easy to see why clan culture can take root here. Franz (2012, p.180) states that "when group rewards are large, there is more cohesion." This type of grass-roots movement and member-led direction accelerates group trust and cohesion and as trusts grow, so do synergies (Zornoza, Orengo, & Penarroja, 2009).
So where do we go from here? Well, for the movement at large, the 2016 presidential race has been a primary concern. Other organizations, such as We The Protesters, an off-shoot of #BlackLivesMatter, have joined in the call to bring race relations to the front of the debate, meeting with Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sec. Hillary Clinton. Their efforts are causing people to think and have important conversations about how they see race and the systemic injustices that occur, which is an important first step.
What can I learn from them? Having to navigate a particularly sticky work situation where I must play mediator between two groups, their success shows me that I need to establish a group identity and to employ the right emotions to garner buy-in. #BlackLivesMatter uses a mix of fear, anger, frustration, and even hope to rally supporters. In my work, appropriate emotions may simply be the need for adults to put differences aside to focus on the kids who need us. Just as they've provided space for marginalized groups to collaborate, I need to allow everyone a seat at the table while being emotionally intelligent and aware of how to manage those differences. They've created group trust through calls to action and actually doing something compared to just talking about it. I can help our team to form synergy by enhancing group trust, showing how meaningful their work is, and empowering members.
While my work situation is nowhere similar to the fight in which #BlackLivesMattter activists are engaging, their successful use of social capital to affect change is a lesson for us all.
References
Chang, J.W., Sy, T., & Choi, J.N. (2011).Team emotional intelligence and performance: Interactive dynamics between leaders and members. Small Group Research, 43(1), 75-104. doi: 10.1177/1046496411415692
Chua, C.E.H., Lim, W.-K., Soh, C., & Sia, S.K. (2012). Enacting clan control in complex IT projects: A social capital perspective. MIS Quarterly, 36(2), 577-600.
Franz, T. (2012). Group dynamics and team interventions: Understanding and improving team performance. West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell.
Henttonen, K. (2010). Exploring social networks on the team level-A review of the empirical literature. Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, 27, 74-109.
Zornoza, A., Orengo, V., & Penarroja, V. (2009). Relational capital in virtual teams: the role played by trust. Social Sciences Information, 48(2), 257-281. doi:10.1177/0539018409102414
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