Narrator: In July 2014, a cell phone video captured the final moments of Eric Garner, a Black man in Staten Island, New York. Surrounded by police officers for the minor offense of selling loose cigarettes, Garner is put into a chokehold, a maneuver banned by the NYPD. He gasps the words that would become a global rallying cry: "I can't breathe." He says it eleven times before losing consciousness and dying on the sidewalk. For activist and writer Shaun King, watching that video was a breaking point. It was a moment of profound horror that transformed his life, pushing him from a place of despair into a lifelong fight for justice. But it also raised a soul-crushing question: In the face of such overwhelming injustice, what can one person possibly do?

In his book, How to Make Black Lives Matter: More Than a Hashtag, an Action Plan for Real Change, Shaun King provides a direct and powerful answer. He argues that changing the world is not a matter of chance or hope, but a matter of strategy, organization, and deliberate choice. The book serves as both a historical analysis and a practical manual for anyone who has ever felt helpless and demanded to know how to fight back.

Narrator: A common misconception is that human history is a story of steady, upward progress. We see technological advancements and assume society is becoming kinder and more just. But Shaun King, drawing on the work of historian Leopold von Ranke, argues this is a dangerous illusion. History is not a straight line; it is a series of peaks and valleys. Periods of significant social progress are almost always followed by a backlash, a period of regression King calls "the dip."

This pattern is starkly visible in American history. The Reconstruction era after the Civil War saw unprecedented gains for African Americans, with thousands elected to public office. But this peak was followed by a brutal dip: the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, the implementation of Jim Crow laws, and a century of violent oppression. Similarly, the progress of the Civil Rights Movement was met with the "War on Drugs," a policy that, according to Nixon's own domestic policy chief, was intentionally designed to disrupt and criminalize Black communities. Understanding this cyclical nature of history is crucial. It prepares activists for the inevitable resistance and teaches them that progress is not an endpoint, but a constant struggle that must be defended.

Narrator: To understand why someone dedicates their life to fighting injustice, one must often look at their personal story. For Shaun King, the roots of his activism were planted long before he saw the Eric Garner video. Growing up as a biracial kid in a small Kentucky town, he was a target of relentless racism and violence. In 1995, this culminated in a brutal assault by a mob of white students at his high school. The attack left him with a shattered spine, requiring multiple surgeries and years of recovery. It also left him with deep emotional scars and a visceral understanding of what it feels like to be a victim of hate when the systems meant to protect you fail.

This experience, though traumatic, became a powerful catalyst. It instilled in him a profound sense of justice and a commitment to stand up for the vulnerable. When he later witnessed the stories of Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and Tamir Rice, he didn't just see news reports; he saw a reflection of his own pain and the systemic failure he had experienced firsthand. The book makes it clear that for many activists, the fight is not abstract. It is deeply personal, fueled by lived experiences that transform private suffering into a public purpose.

Narrator: The world is filled with overwhelming problems: climate change, mass incarceration, poverty, bigotry. For a person who cares deeply, the sheer number of crises can be paralyzing. King tells the story of speaking at Bates College, where a young Muslim student from Somalia asked him a poignant question. As a Black, female, immigrant, and Muslim, she felt oppressed on multiple fronts and asked, "How can I possibly pick just one issue to focus on?"

King’s answer is a central pillar of his action plan: you can care about many causes, but you can only effectively fight for one at a time. He argues that real, systemic change requires a laser-like focus. Spreading your energy, time, and resources across too many fronts ensures you will be ineffective on all of them. The first and most critical step for any aspiring changemaker is to make a deliberate choice. This choice shouldn't be based on trends, but on what breaks your heart, what keeps you up at night. By choosing one battle, you can dedicate yourself to becoming an expert, building deep relationships, and making a tangible impact, while still supporting other movements through donations, awareness, and solidarity.

Narrator: Being on the right side of history is not enough to win. King argues that movements fail not for a lack of moral clarity, but for a lack of strategy. He breaks down what every successful movement needs into three essential components.

First, it needs energized people. The status quo is a powerful, well-defended force. It takes a massive surge of energy, often sparked by a crisis like the murder of George Floyd, to create a "portal" for change. The protests of 2014 and 2015 were full of this energy, but energy alone is not enough.

Second, it needs organized people. The Civil Rights Movement is often remembered for its marches and boycotts, but King compares this to seeing only the tip of an iceberg. The vast majority of the work—the planning, fundraising, and relationship-building—happened out of sight in church basements and at kitchen tables. Deep organization means knowing the skills, passions, and networks of your supporters, not just having their email addresses.

Finally, it needs a sophisticated plan. Activists are often experts on the problem but have no concrete plan to solve it. King uses the analogy of a sermon he once gave, where his professor told him he had built an enormous "front porch" (the introduction to the problem) for a tiny "house" (the solution). A plan must be as complex as the problem it aims to solve. This was demonstrated in the successful "Raise the Age" campaign in New York, where a coalition of over a hundred groups used a multi-faceted, coordinated strategy to change the law, a stark contrast to well-intentioned but disorganized efforts that often fail.

Narrator: The work of fighting for justice is emotionally and mentally grueling. It involves constant exposure to trauma, hate, and disappointment. This leads to a high rate of burnout, which is one of the greatest threats to any long-term movement. King is unflinching in his description of the personal toll, from facing death threats to the vicarious trauma of supporting grieving families.

To counter this, he champions the idea of "revolutionary self-care." Quoting the poet Audre Lorde, he states, "Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare." This means setting firm boundaries, especially with technology, and creating phone-free time to be present with loved ones. It means seeking therapy, cultivating trusted friendships, and learning to say "no" to protect your focus and energy. It also means learning from failure. King details how his organization, Real Justice PAC, learned from devastating losses in California elections by realizing they needed to tailor their message to voters' self-interests, a lesson that led to major victories in St. Louis and Boston. Staying human, admitting mistakes, and prioritizing well-being are not distractions from the work; they are essential to sustaining it.

Narrator: The single most important takeaway from How to Make Black Lives Matter is that change is not a passive hope but an active responsibility. It is not something we wait for; it is something we build. King powerfully illustrates this with the story of Rodney Reed, a man on Texas's death row with an execution date just days away. Believing Reed was innocent, King and his team launched a campaign. They didn't just hope for the best; they created a petition that gained millions of signatures, organized hundreds of thousands of phone calls, and built a bipartisan coalition. Just days before the scheduled execution, the state of Texas granted an indefinite stay. It was a victory born not of magic, but of energy, organization, and a plan.

The book is a powerful refutation of cynicism. It challenges the reader to abandon the comfort of being a spectator and to accept the difficult, messy, but ultimately transformative work of making a difference. It leaves us with a simple but profound mantra that King and his partners would repeat when faced with a new injustice and realized no one else was coming to help: "It's on us."