BLACK LIVES DO MATTER…COMPANIES SHOULD THINK SO TOO: THE POSSIBILITY OF INFLUENCE, CORRECTION, AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN POLICING WHEN CORPORATIONS GET INVOLVED

Abstract

Police brutality in the United States has been an institutional injustice that has plagued the country for decades. More alarmingly, police violence has disproportionately affected the Black community throughout history — th is trend continues to be the case today. With this acknowledged as a problem, my thesis points to the start of a contemporary solution. My thesis examines the relationship between corporations, social media, and institutions in a way that illuminates the p ossibility of coordination among the three seemingly distinct domains, in an effort to bring about an end to police brutality against the Black community. I will consider the role that corporate social activism plays, specifically with the presence of soci al media, in starting the conversation that inspires the kind of institutional reform that sets to condemn police brutality and violence against the Black community in the United States. Examining social media responses from companies and brands such as N IKE, Ben & Jerry’s, and L’Oréal, I argue that social media and corporate social activism taken together confirm the possibility of institutional reform through influence, correction, and accountability. Institutional reform in the realm of policing is not a lost cause. This reform requires the kind of activism and commitment that firms, through social media, have been able to realize. Through firms holding themselves accountable to promoting change, even the most rigid of institutions in this case, policing — can find promise in doing the same. Considering the substantial impact that corporate social activism on social media has on inspiring direct action to end police brutality in the Black community, I assert that there is adequate room for Black lives to ma — tter in society, and companies should think so too.