Black Lives Matter

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Black Lives Matter (#BlackLivesMatter) is a slogan, an organization, and a social movement.[1] Alicia Garza, one of the co-founders of the movement, describes Black Lives Matter as, "a broad umbrella for social justice campaigns to eradicate poverty and unemployment, overhaul the public education and health care systems, reduce the prison population and end racial profiling."[2]

History

The term "Black Lives Matter" was first coined by Bay Area activist Alicia Garza in 2013. After the acquittal of George Zimmerman for killing the unarmed black teen Trayvon Martin, Garza posted "a love letter to black folks" on Facebook. In it, she concluded: “Black people. I love you. I love us. Our lives matter."[1]

A Los Angeles activist, Patrisse Cullors, turned the slogan into a hashtag, #BlackLivesMatter. Then, together with Opal Tometi, they created #BlackLivesMatter Twitter and Tumblr accounts.[1] The phrase became more popular after the police killings of another unarmed black teen, Michael Brown, in Ferguson, MO in August 2014, and Eric Garner in Staten Island, NY.

Articles and resources

Related SourceWatch articles

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Matt Pearce, "Why the term 'Black Lives Matter' can be so confusing," LA Times, October 20, 2015, Accessed November 18, 2015.
  2. Jessica Guynn, "Meet the woman who coined #BlackLivesMatter," USA Today, March 4, 2015, Accessed November 18, 2015.

External resources

External articles

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