Black Lives Matter movement experiencing growing pains

WASHINGTON — Hundreds of Black Lives Matter activists, black and white, marched outside the Minnesota State Fair this weekend, hoping to bring attention to the deaths of African Americans at the hands of police.

Tracing its roots to the fatal 2012 shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida, the Black Lives Matter movement gained national ground after 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo.



[...] deaths of other unarmed black males at the hands of law enforcement officers have inspired protests under the “Black Lives Matter” moniker.

Having small, nebulous groups linked through social media and a shared cause may be enough for now, but odds are against such groups surviving for the long haul, said Deana Rohlinger, a Florida State University sociology professor who studies social movements and collective behavior.

Activists claiming to represent the group interrupted a speech about to be delivered by Bernie Sanders, a Democratic presidential candidate, and met with Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton and Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush.