January 16th is Martin Luther King Day. In the United States, this is a federal holiday in the United States marking the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. King was a key figure in the Civil Rights Movement, which protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. The fight against racial discrimination is still essential today. Listen to our rerun episode about the Black Lives Matter movement!

The Black Lives Matter movement originated in the U.S., following another tragedy. In 2012, black teenager Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by security agent George Zimmermann. When Zimmermann was acquitted the following year, three female activists created the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter on Twitter as a show of outrage at the verdict. It caught on, and gradually developed into a much wider movement, especially after the deaths of two more African-American men: Michael Brown and Eric Garner. 

Do black people really die more than others in the United States? Isn’t that just an attempt to dismiss the Black Lives Matter struggle? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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A Bababam Originals podcast. Written and produced by Joseph Chance.

In partnership with upday UK.

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