A Conversation about the Black Lives Matter Movement
The USC Annenberg Center for Third Space Thinking has worked with the China Development Research Foundation (CDRF) for a number of years providing executive education courses in Strategic Communication, Crisis Communication, and Stakeholder Engagement to senior-level government officials. Our relationship with CDRF has fostered a deeper sense of cultural understanding and empathy for our Chinese colleagues.
In that spirit, CDRF reached out to Dr. Ernest Wilson and the Center for Third Space Thinking to learn more about the Black Lives Matter movement as it began gaining momentum across the US and, consecutively, the world. As scholars and academics, we scheduled a conversation where we covered a number of questions including:
- How to understand the current Black Lives Matter movement in the US? How did it happen?
- What are the repercussions of this movement and what’s going to happen next?
- At present, how should China build and promote its image internationally?
Participants in the meeting included: Dr. Ernest Wilson, Shellee Smith, the Center’s Executive Director, and Rodney Wilson, an LAUSD school teacher. On the CDRF side, Mr. LU Mai (Secretary General for CDRF), Mr. HU Ziqiang (Director of Public Relations for CDRF), Mr. Jin Zhang (Program Manager of International Liaison Department for CDRF). It was an open and honest discussion that lasted around two hours where personal experiences and resources were shared to help convey the importance of this issue and how it affects different parties.
“As the relationship between the United States and China becomes more difficult, there are fewer opportunities for NGOs to carry on a dialogue of social importance,” said Dr. Wilson. “We urged our Chinese colleagues to open up and keep the conversation going.”
“It’s a shame that we did not have more time to talk more about China in the minds of US citizens. I hope that we can have more talks like today and further discuss this in the future, ” said Mr. HU of CDRF.
The Center for Third Space Thinking hopes that by offering opportunities for open dialogues like these, socially important issues can be better understood-- especially during times of uncertainty and tough political climates. We believe being able to understand these issues is the first step, tackling them in creative and effective ways is the second.
If you are interested in learning more, some of the resources shared at the meeting can be found below.
George Floyd Story:
https://cn.nytimes.com/usa/20200602/george-floyd-investigation/
Police Brutality and BLM:
https://cn.nytimes.com/world/20200611/police-brutality-protests/
Racism story that went viral in June:
https://cn.nytimes.com/usa/20200617/central-park-amy-cooper-christian-racism/
"What Is Owed?" NY Times magazine by Nikole Hannah-Jones:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/06/24/magazine/reparations-slavery.html
Black Lives Matter Home Page:
"Color of Change" home page:
The Trump administration abandoned Obama-era police reform efforts. Now critics want them restored:
How Police Unions Became Such Powerful Opponents to Reform Efforts:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/06/us/police-unions-minneapolis-kroll.html