BLM Co-Founder Alicia Garza Reflects on Three Years of the Movement

FEATURING ALICIA GARZA – It was in July 2013 that three African American women, Patrisse Cullors, Opal Tometi, and Alicia Garza, who were prominent activists in their communities, joined together and coined the simple yet powerful refrain, “Black Lives Matter.” It happened in response to in the acquittal of George Zimmerman for the killing of Trayvon Martin.

A year later, an uprising in Ferguson, Missouri over the police killing of Michael Brown, catapulted the phrase and the activists empowered by it, into a movement.

The three women co-founders of BLM have received accolades, been interviewed in major media outlets, invited to give speeches, and much more. But throughout it all, they have stuck to their principles, and inspired a new generation of activists.

Alicia Garza, special-projects director in the Oakland office of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, she serves on the Board of Directors for the School of Unity and Liberation (SOUL) in Oakland, California, and is a contributing writer for WarTimes magazine. Garza is the co-founder of #BlackLivesMatter along with Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi.