Racialized Surveillance: Activist Media and the Policing of Black Bodies

This article places the neoliberalization of protest policing in conversation with the counter-surveillance tactic of video activism to understand how the surveillance of Black Lives Matter (BLM) reinforces what Simone Browne called “dark surveillance.” As state violence against communities of color is increasingly captured on smartphone cameras and broadcast on social media, these images catalyze movements championing police reform and racial justice. Through a case study of Black Lives Matter 5280 (BLM5280), I argue that although counter-surveillance tactics such as “cop-watching” and video activism illuminate law enforcement misconduct and elevate the discourse of social movements, the preemptive suppression of dissent by privatized and militarized police agencies creates an asymmetry between state surveillance and counter-surveillance that limits the efficacy of video evidence.