By Kaelani

You might have heard a lot about the Black Lives Matters movement, but do you know who are the founders? Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi created the BLM foundation to advocate and protest against racial discrimination. Originally, they started the movement in 2013 as a hashtag on social media after the death of Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman. Momentum grew throughout 2013, and 2014. The founders utilized their platform to amplify anti-Black racism across the country.

Unfortunately, violent deaths of Africa Americans continued. Because of that, the movement became not only a nationally recognized hashtag but a way to demonstrate against the many deaths of African Americans at the hands of police. BLM made headlines and gained further international attention after the death of Minnesota’s George Floyd. Protests erupted Memorial weekend in May 2020. That included between 15-26 million people around the world.

The Black Lives Matters protests across the United States are part of the largest movements in the country’s history.

Source: https://blacklivesmatter.com/about/