Are Blacks In America Unsafe? Black Lives Matter ‘Mark Yourself Unsafe’ Tool Launched To Highlight Racial Discrimination

Black Lives Matter launched a “Mark Yourself Unsafe” tool that would enable social media users to check themselves unsafe for “being black in America,” according to reports. The tool aims to highlight racial discrimination across the country.

MarkYourselfUnsafe.com is a take on Facebook’s popular “safety check” feature, first used after the 2011 tsunami in Japan, that lets users assure friends and family that they are safe in case of a disaster.

Launched Tuesday, the so-called "unsafety check" is reportedly part of “Reclaim & Resist,” Black Lives Matter’s week of action from Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 16 to Inauguration Day on Jan. 20.

“From slavery to Jim Crow to prejudicial and deadly policing, America has never been a safe place for Black people,” the movement’s co-founder Patrisse Cullors said Tuesday. “We need to take action to continue to raise awareness about how racism impacts our families and communities.”

“We know that social media is only one way to take action on behalf of the Movement for Black Lives,” Cullors said, adding: “We ask that people take additional action by joining local organizers in demanding justice in the streets.”

Social media users can log in through Facebook and Twitter to use the tool. So far, 1,365 people have marked themselves "unsafe."

“Being Black in America is a national emergency. Black people are being attacked and murdered while doing day-to-day activities,” according to MarkYourselfUnsafe.com.

Black Lives Matter is reported to have started after a viral hashtag by the same name after George Zimmerman was acquitted in the 2012 shooting death of black teen Trayvon Martin. Since then, the movement has protested against fatal police shootings of black people across the United States.