Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation

The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation is a decentralized organization with multiple chapters based in various cities dedicated to organizing and continuing activist activities in the Black Lives Matter movement. The organization has no leader and most chapters act very autonomously. The organization is often mistaken for other organizations in the Black Lives Matter movement because it often solely employs the phrase "Black Lives Matter" as its name.[2] While the BLMGNF often simply calls itself "Black Lives Matter" it is not the sole organization within the broader Black Lives Matter social movement.[3]

For the broader social movement utilizing the "Black Lives Matter" slogan, see Black Lives Matter.
Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation
Formation2013
Founders
TypeActivist organization
PurposeAdvocacy and protests against racial discrimination[1]
Location
  • International, largely in the United States
Websiteblacklivesmatter.com

The organization was founded in 2013 by three female activists and currently serves as a loose network of activists within the Black Lives Matter movement.[4] The organization is international and advocates for the eradication of systematic racism and to prevent police violence.[5]

Organization

The organization exists as a decentralized international network of local-based chapters. As of September 2020 there are 17 chapters in cities throughout the United States and Canada. Each local chapter must embrace the set principals of the BLMGNF but is allowed to organize internally however they please. Each chapter can form their own agendas with some being more radical than others. Local chapters are mostly funded via direct donations but can also apply for more funding from the BLMGNF. The BLMGNF itself is funded by donations and grants using the legal title Black Lives Matter Global Foundation, Inc, the organization is hosted on the donation platform Thousand Currents.[6]

The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation is a member of the coalition organization Movement for Black Lives.[7]

History

Formation

After the 2013 acquittal of George Zimmerman in the killing of Trayvon Martin activist Alicia Garza would wake up in the middle of the night crying and decide to write about her emotions in a Facebook post. In the post she would comment she was surprised "at how little Black lives matter". The post would inspire Garza's friend Patrisse Cullors to create the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter on July 15th, 2013.[8] Garza and Cullors would reach out to their associate Opal Tometi to help establish Tumblr and Twitter accounts using the hashtag and where users could share relevant personal stories. Garza put the "Black Lives Matter" slogan on signs and displayed them in a local shoe shop. Cullors led a march down Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills with the slogan on her sign. Eventually, the slogan and hashtag would gain popularity.[9]

The first chapter for the BLMGNF organization would be organized in Los Angeles in 2013 with the help of Melina Abdullah. The first chapter would consist of 30 people, notably artists, students, organizers, and mothers.[10]

Activities

During 2014 protests in Ferguson Graza, Cullors, and Tometi organized "Freedom Rides" to Ferguson. 500 people would sign up travel to Ferguson in these "Freedom Rides". Protesters throughout Ferguson would adopt the slogan "Black Lives Matter" throughout the months-long protests.[9] The organization's involvement in protests in Ferguson and the slogan's popularity brought the organization and the Black Lives Matter movement to national attention. Newfound popularity sparked a rise of other Black Lives Matter organizations that were independent of the BLMGNF, as well as new chapters of the BLMGNF forming in other cities.[11]

After the killing of George Floyd and later protests many people tried to donate money to the BLMGNF but often accidentally donated money to a similarly named organization called the "Black Lives Matter Foundation".[12] The BLMGNF would itself receive around 1.1 million donations averaging about $33 each after the killing of George Floyd. The BLMGNF would soon create a 12 million dollar fund to aid its local chapters activities and other independent grassroots organizations.[13]

Accolades

In 2021, the foundation won the Olof Palme Prize for "promoting 'peaceful civil disobedience against police brutality and racial violence' across the globe" and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.[14]

See also

References
  1. "About". Black Lives Matter. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  2. Evans, Erica (August 1, 202o). "The hashtag, the movement and the groups: Understanding Black Lives Matter". Deseret News. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  3. Luibrand, Shannon (August 7, 2015). "Black Lives Matter: How the events in Ferguson sparked a movement in America". CBS News. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
  4. Barron-Lopez, Laura (July 22, 202o). "Why the Black Lives Matter movement doesn't want a singular leader". Politico. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  5. "Statement by Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation in Response to Trump's "Stand back, Stand by" Debate Comment". St. Louis American. July 22, 202o. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  6. Leazenby, Lauren (September 3, 202o). "What you need to know about Black Lives Matter in 10 questions". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
  7. McFadden, Syreeta (September 3, 202o). "Why the Black Lives Matter movement doesn't want a singular leader". The Atlantic. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
  8. "How Black Lives Matter went from a hashtag to a global rallying cry". CNN. October 11, 2020. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  9. Day, Elizabeth (July 19, 2015). "#BlackLivesMatter: the birth of a new civil rights movement". The Guardian. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
  10. Maqbool, Aleem (July 9, 202o). "Black Lives Matter: From social media post to global movement". BBC. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  11. Ransby, Barbara (2018). Making All Black Lives Matter Reimagining Freedom in the Twenty-First Century. University of California Press.
  12. Albrecht, Leslie (July 6, 202o). "People donated millions of dollars to the wrong Black Lives Matter foundation — read this before you give to any charity". MarketWatch. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  13. Morison, Aaron (June 18, 2020). "Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation establishes $12M grant fund". USA Today. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  14. "Black Lives Matter foundation wins Swedish human rights prize". BBC News. 2021-01-29. Retrieved 2021-01-30.
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