My Thoughts On Black Lives Matter

Condoleeza Rice taught me something a few years ago. She was blabbing but in there was some gold. She declared that “The story that’s easiest to retell usually wins.”

There are stories that are hard to tell and retell.

The complicated story of what it is to be black in this country is not one that can be easily retold or shared.

There are stories that are easy to tell, retell, and sell.

The story of the common person in the USA being thrown in jail for simple traffic violations is easy to tell.

The story of Big Government versus the common man is far easier to retell and resonates with an idea that Middle America will back more easily.

The story of non-violent drug violations sending people to jail with violent inmates is an easy story to retell.

Why the pitch is relevant:

It avoids racially divisive context while still having an output that creates more equality for the person of color. The two issues above heavily afflict the minority population in the US, but notice how I avoided mentioning that.

When we think about high efficacy protests with clear and present ROI. It is highly relevant to think of the easiest story to tell that will sell to the largest population.

If you run the demographics on cops, there’s 1.1M police in the USA. They have brothers, mothers, sisters, fathers, and people whom they take care of. Hating on police is likely not an effective strategy given the size and breadth they represent of the population. Especially in parts of the USA where being a cop is a highly respected career choice.