About
Black Lives Matter, also known by the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter, is the name of a movement created by three Brooklyn women during the protests following the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the murder of Trayvon Martin in 2013, which intends to “affirm the lives of black queer and trans folks, disabled folks, black undocumented folks, folks with records, women and all black lives along the gender spectrum.”[1] The movement grew in traction during the police brutality controversies in Ferguson, MI, New York City, and Baltimore, MD throughout 2014 and 2015.
Origin
Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi began Black Lives Matter as a response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman for the murder of Trayvon Martin in 2013. Alicia Garza, writing in The Feminist Wire[2], explained
Black Lives Matter is an ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise. It is an affirmation of Black folks’ contributions to this society, our humanity, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression.
Spread
During the protests over the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown in late 2014, the hashtag went viral worldwide, often paired with similar hashtags like #Icantbreathe and #handsupdontshoot. Twitter released this map to record the uses of the hashtag during the protests.
As of March 2015, at least 700 “Black Lives Matter” demonstrations have been held worldwide, and there are currently 23 chapters of the organization. The American Dialect Society chose the hashtag form of the phrase as their word of the year for 2014.[1]
Notable Examples
Search Interest
External Resources
[2]The Feminist Wire – A Herstory of the #BlackLivesMatter Movement by Alicia Garza
[3]Washington Post – Watch as Twitter shifts from “#BlackLivesMatter” to “#ICantBreathe” -- and back again