Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Eracism Minute 3/31/2019 Cat McIntyre

Black Lives Matter (BLM) is an international activist movement, originating in the African-American community, that campaigns against violence and systemic racism towards black people. The movement began because of frustration over George Zimmerman's acquittal in the shooting of Trayvon Martin.


I want to introduce you to the three Black women who created Black Lives Matter: Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi.


Alicia Garza, created the slogan after the July 2013 acquittal of George Zimmerman, when she posted on Facebook: "Black people. I love you. I love us. Our lives matter, Black Lives Matter". Garza saw similarities of Trayvon Martin to her younger brother, feeling that it could have been him who was killed instead. Garza grew up in Oakland, California, graduated from UC-San Diego, and self-identifies as a queer woman. Her spouse is biracial and transgender.

The second founder, Patrisse Cullors, shared Garza's FaceBook posting with the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter. She helped organize the 2015 Freedom Ride to Ferguson, that launched BlackLivesMatter chapters across the United States. Ms. Cullors also grew up in California, holds a degree in religion and philosophy from UCLA and now teaches at two colleges. Cullors identifies as queer.


The third founder of Black Lives Matter is Opal Tometi, the daughter of Nigerian immigrants. She grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, and now lives in Brooklyn, New York. She has two degrees from University of Arizona. She has appeared in several media outlets including Glamour, CNN , The Huffington Post and Time.



Since 2014, the originators of Black Lives Matter expanded their project into a national network of over 30 local chapters. The overall Black Lives Matter movement, however, is a decentralized network and has no formal hierarchy. It is characterized by gender inclusiveness and builds upon social media.

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