Dr. Thurka Sangaramoorthy has written a new article for SAPIENS, an editorially independent publication of the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. The article, Black Lives Matter and Reflections from a Civil War, discusses the similarities of the Black Lives Matter movement to the struggles of Tamils in Sri Lanka that eventually led to a Civil War.

"Throughout the United States, similar shootings and incidents of police brutality have given rise to Black Lives Matter (BLM), a grassroots movement working to end anti-black racism. In the hours and days following the Sterling and Castile shootings, thousands of people took to the streets to protest. The year before, I had seen violence erupt in Baltimore (where I live) over the death of Freddie Gray, another young black man who died after being held in police custody. Hundreds of people were arrested in the ensuing protests and riots, and a state of emergency was declared, with thousands of police and National Guard troops called in. Having lived through the beginning of a civil war as a child in Sri Lanka, I am particularly sensitive to the onset of unrest, and I worried about the escalation of violence."

Read the rest of the article here: http://www.sapiens.org/culture/black-lives-matter-civil-war/