A Love Note to Our Folks When protests erupted across the United States late last year, after grand juries failed to indict the police officers who killed Michael Brown and Eric Garner, a friend who works for a prominent media outlet wrote to me wondering "if it's all just the internet organizing itself." [5] When she showed up to her interview, her interviewer (Malachi) was forty minutes late. But she also acknowledges that there are challenges moving from symbol to substance. Of the critiques to defund the police, Garza references the criticism Black Lives Matter received for years. So my focus has been making sure that Black communities are a part of our communities of change, and playing meaningful and purposeful roles. Garza's work challenges us to celebrate the contributions of black queer women's work within popular narratives of black movements and reminds us that the black radical tradition is long, complex and international. In 2013, Garza was a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement, an activist movement focused on campaigns against violence and systemic racism towards African Americans. function(a9, a, p, s, t, A, g) { There are so many people out there who are looking around them and asking, How did we get here, and what can I do about it? I hope this book helps you answer that question by learning a bit about my own journey as an organizer, how I found the movement and what I've learned (and unlearned) along the way. [46] The first project for Black Futures Lab was the Black Census Project. ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. Marianne Schnallis a widely-published interviewer and journalist and author ofWhat Will It Take to Make a Woman President?,Leading the Way, andDare to Be You. Every single day, we confront things that we believe . //, The Purpose of Power: How We Come Together When We Fall Apart, Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019. They had been friends for seven years when Trayvon Martin 's killer was acquitted of all . Alicia Garza talks about this historic moment and what needs to happen next. President Obama's legacy was mixed in this regard, and Black communities really felt that. How do you stay grounded and positive despite the challenging times we are living through? Black communities are a critical part of the infrastructure needed to create communities of change, and yet we are often missing from those communities of change. In opposition to the changes they saw in their communities, POWER formed a coalition between other groups against the project's developer, Lennar. THE DIGITAL REPOSITORY FOR THE BLACK EXPERIENCE. gads.async = true; Browse the library of TED talks and speakers, 100+ collections of TED Talks, for curious minds. } Civic Leader. }); I've told myself several times this past year that we're all doing the absolute best we can, and for now, that just needs to be good enough. [63], In 2020, Garza also was number 32 on Fast Company's Queer 50 list. October 20, 2021. Her first four years were spent in San Rafael, living with her African-American mother and her mother's twin brother. Moms has a glioblastomaa very aggressive brain tumor. All rights reserved. I think that looks like pushing forward this reckoning on race, so that it's not just a moment; it's pushing for that reckoning to be reflected in the rules that govern our lives; and it's pushing for us to not just be at the table but to set the menu. Alicia Garza started fighting for change at 12 years old. The statement asks you, do you believe Black lives matter? Described as "an essential guide", the book tells Garza's story as an activist and shares lessons for future activists.[25]. Alicia Garza is an activist, editorial writer and co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement. [CDATA[ "Application": "GoodreadsMonolith", Alicia Garza. } Time and time again we have challenged this country to live up to its values, freedom, justice, democracy for all. Are the Black people in your company assigned roles of diversity officer? the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. [28] She has given speeches to audiences across the United States of America, from union halls to the United Nations Office of the High Commission on Human Rights. Power also means having the ability to reward and punish and decide how resources are distributed." Thats really where the rubber hits the road., So what role does corporate activism play? The majority of companies in this country are run by and designed by people who reflect the dominant culture in society. Cullors, 37, has reportedly purchased four high-end homes for $3.2 million in the U.S. alone, per New York Post, including property in a Topanga Canyon in Los Angeles County for $1.4 million . The first time we were fighting people to even say Black lives matter. "Events.SushiEndpoint": "https://unagi.amazon.com/1/events/com.amazon.csm.csa.prod", For one thing, the actress who plays the assistant district attorney just quit. She was convicted in the murder of a police officer in a May 1973 shootout on the New Jersey. Alicia Garza took to social media to express her anguish and love for . It must be the thing that wakes us up in the morning, the thing we fall asleep thinking about. You just don't. And at the same time, it's important for us to remember that all of us have gone through a process . I think that's true of a lot of us. This event was recorded and is available to watch on our YouTube channel and portions of the audio were released on our podcast. Our grandparents, and our parents, and now many of us have put our lives on the line to be free, and they didnt intend to turn back, and I dont think we should turn back either. Alicia Garza, a cofounder of the Black Lives Matter organization, came to Berkeley Thursday night "to rant for a minute" before settling into a somber talk about BLM today and the urgent need to fight threats ranging from fascism and extra-judicial racial terror to white supremacy. [52][53], Garza gave a speech to a crowd of 200 students on the 2020 elections in celebration of Black History Month. Schnall: We have just been through a very disheartening election. We consume everythingeven our social movements that are geared toward change. if (window.csa) { Advertisement "Democracy is increasingly hard to define, especially in today's political context. Alicia Garza. Black Future Labs plans to use the results of the Black Census Project to determine pressing legislative and policy issues. A UC San Diego alumna and co-creator of the Black Lives Matter movement, Garza believes Black communities deserve what all communities deserveto be powerful in every aspect of their lives. She is the co-creator of Black Lives Matter Global Network. } Over two dozen Black Lives Matter organizers and supporters marched in the Pride Parade behind Garza, who sat next to transgender rights activist Miss Major, the previous year's Community Grand Marshal. Her inbox is a "whole-ass mess," her movement changed American history, and she believes Fenty Beauty saves lives. She was also featured in the Politico50 guide to the thinkers, doers and visionaries transforming American politics in 2015. We can develop tunnel vision around all the things that are wrong and in doing so, we forget to work the muscles that help us imagine the world we're trying to build. When George Zimmerman was acquitted I wrote a post on Facebook that we later called A Love Letter to Black People,' said Garza, the co-founder of Black Lives Matter, while speaking at theLesbians Who Tech Summitin New York on Sept. 13. googletag.enableServices(); What mattered more was how important that person saw their historic status to be in the role, and what they did with it. A.async = !0; [48], While Garza has been critical of Donald Trump,[49] she has also been critical of Barack Obama[50] and Hillary Clinton, saying: "The Clintons use black people for votes, but then don't do anything for black communities after they're elected. Saving Private Ryan actor Tom Sizemore's family say the actor, 61, has 'no further hope' after going into a coma as they make 'end-of-life plan' . . googletag.pubads().enableAsyncRendering(); She is also the co-creator of #BlackLivesMatter, an international movement and organizing project focused on combatting anti-black state-sanctioned violence. You may opt-out by. throw new Error("could not load device-specific stylesheet : " + err.message); She wanted to make contraception available in nurses' offices throughout her school district in Marin County, Calif., during a national conversation around family values that former President Ronald Reagan ushered in with the Moral Majority. Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza is not one to mince words, and her June 20 interview with The Huffington Post is no exception. It just required us to pay attention., For companies not as attuned as Garzas, she urges a top-down approach of looking critically at the C-Suite. function isShowingBuyableFeatures() { Alicia Garza writes that real-world power is more important than online followers. var sourcesToHideBuyFeatures = ["ebfg_gr", "ebfg_fb", "ebfg_fbm", "ebfg_tw", That we deserve to live with dignity, no matter who we are, or where we come from. Garza: To be honest, there is glaring inequity of Black people overall in sectors and industries, and that has everything to do with the way that racism permeates every aspect of our society and economy. Even though this time is really intense, it makes me hopeful because this is the second time around. Black Lives Matter (BLM) co-founder Alicia Garza is co-presenting at this year's National Women's Studies Association (NWSA) Conference with fellow feminist and prison abolitionist Angela Davis, launching a weekend of conversations about the intersections of feminism and racial justice activism and academia as both NWSA and the historic Combahee Here we are seven years later, and I think what's become clear is that some of the discomfort with this statement is that it forces you to choose sides. Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people.Its primary concerns are incidents of police brutality and racially motivated violence against black people. Black people. As we seek to rebuild, what kinds of shifts do you think are possible and necessary to build a more equitable and just world? You could have Black people concentrated in the administrative part of an organization or company and think that's enough because technically Black people are represented. Garza talks about this historic moment and what needs to happen next Browse what does alicia garza's tattoo say... May 1973 shootout on the New Jersey Obama 's legacy was mixed this. President Obama 's legacy was mixed in this country to live up to its values freedom... 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