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Alicia Garza is not synonymous with Black Lives Matter, the movement she helped create, and thats very deliberate. The 39-year-old organiser is not interested in being the face of things; shes interested in change. We are often taught that, like a stork, some leader swoops from the sky to save us, she tells me over Zoom from her home in Oakland, California. That sort of mythologising, she says, obscures the average persons role in creating change.

Garza is also scornful of fame for fames sake and of celebrity activists. The number of people who want to be online influencers rather than do the work of offline organising knocking on doors, finding common ground, building alliances depresses her. Our aspiration should not be to have a million followers on Twitter, she says. We shouldnt be focused on building a brand but building a base, and building the kind of movement that can succeed.

That doesnt mean Garza doesnt care about her image: for our interview, she has sneakily avoided having her webcam switched on, but only because shes doing a [skincare] face mask before your shoot today, so I didnt want to scare you. While Garza is ferociously smart, laser-focused on pushing our political system to move from symbol to substance, she also has a lighter side. She laughs often, draws you in; her passion is infectious.

The origin story of Black Lives Matter is one of collective, collaborative action rather than individual glory. After George Zimmerman was acquitted of fatally shooting Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager, in 2013, Garza wrote a Facebook post she called a love letter to Black people. Her friend Patrisse Cullors shared the post with the hashtag BlackLivesMatter. Another friend, Opal Tometi, designed the blacklivesmatter.com website and social media platforms, using the signature black and yellow colour palette. Seven years later, that rallying cry has changed our lexicon and landscape. Black Lives Matter has been chanted by millions of protesters around the world. It has been painted in giant letters on a road leading to the White House, and posted on windows in primary schools in Northamptonshire.

The evolution of Black Lives Matter, Garza says, has been deeply humbling, and super weird to watch. Particularly considering she was repeatedly told, by everyone from pundits to peers, that the name sounded too threatening. People said we should call it All Lives Matter or Black Lives Matter Too, if we wanted to get more people involved. There have been so many full-circle moments.

Four years ago, nobody talked explicitly about Black Lives Matter during the Democratic National Convention, for example. But, Garza says, you couldnt get through five minutes of this years without the movement being namechecked. Whats more, its being talked about with more substance than weve seen before. In the early days, many of the solutions being discussed in relation to the movement were relatively symbolic measures, like mandating that the police wear body cameras, requiring implicit bias training and setting up police reform taskforces. Now, however, there are serious discussions about defunding the police; about whether or not policing keeps us safe. And that is a huge, huge change. Those conversations arent just happening in the US, either; theyre happening around the world.

Garza attributes the movements global spread to two catalysts: Donald Trump and his overtly racist administration; and Covid-19, which meant people were more likely to be at home and glued to their screens when George Floyd was killed on camera. Black Lives Matter is now in the muscle memory of many of us, Garza says. And it was triggered by watching a man murdered by a police officer, who stared into the camera as he did it.

Garza has distilled the lessons she has learned from Black Lives Matter, and a decade of community organising, into her first book, The Purpose Of Power: How To Build Movements For The 21st Century. While the subtitle makes it sound like a how-to manual, one of its key lessons is that there is no quick and easy way to build a movement. As she writes, you dont just add water, oil and milk to a premixed batter; after 30 minutes in the oven, a movement is baked. Building movements, she stresses, means building alliances.

Garzas book starts with a history of one of the most successful movements of recent times: rightwing conservatism in the US. One reason the right has been so powerful, she argues, is that it has been very effective at building networks and alliances and coalitions that all agree on the purpose of power which is for them to keep it. The right are very good at bringing different groups together around a shared vision, and have been building power for the last three decades, Garza says, entrenching their agenda and values in the US. You can see it in the way conservatives have strategically, often surreptitiously, used the media to advance their ideology. Take Sinclair, for example, which late-night TV host John Oliver once called maybe the most influential media company you never heard of. Owned by a fervent Trump supporter, its the largest operator of local television stations in the US and has compelled its news anchors to parrot Trump talking points.

In particular, Garza says, the right has perpetuated the idea that success is purely a matter of personal responsibility. The message to poor people has been that its their laziness holding them back; the message to black people, that systemic racism doesnt exist the problem is their life choices. Worse, the narrative of personal responsibility for systemic failures has often been used by Black leaders to secure their seat at the table, Garza writes. That includes Barack Obama who, she notes, carefully avoided criticising law enforcement when Zimmerman was acquitted after the Martin shooting: He acknowledged that there is a long history of racial disparities in our criminal justice system while making sure to state that you cant blame the system. In adopting these rightwing talking points, she says, he capitulated to the same people who had called him and Michelle Obama Muslim socialists.

Obama isnt the only liberal hero Garza takes to task. Her book also analyses the way in which Bill Clinton ushered in legislation such as the 1994 federal crime bill, which greatly exacerbated mass incarceration. And she is unsparing about the racism of Hillary Clintons presidential primary campaign against Obama in 2008, citing an occasion when a photograph of Obama in traditional Somali dress was leaked to the media. (The Clinton campaign denied responsibility, but a Clinton supporter then went on MSNBC and said Obama shouldnt be ashamed of being seen in his native clothing.)

It is unusual to see a nuanced critique of Clinton and Obama, I say. Does Garza think liberals idolise certain politicians, treating them like celebrities rather than public servants? Absolutely, she says: Our political system functions around personalities rather than policies, symbol over substance.

One example of that interplay, she says, can be seen in the case of Breonna Taylor, who was shot and killed in her home in Kentucky earlier this year. The day before our conversation, a grand jury has brought no direct charges against the police for killing Taylor, sparking widespread anger.

For Garza, there is an irony in the announcement. The attorney general of Kentucky, Daniel Cameron, is a Black Republican, and lots of people would say its good that we have a Black person in this role, right? Thats the symbol. But in Camerons press conference, about not holding any of these officers accountable for her murder, he upheld and espoused racist ideas and policies. He announced that he was going to start a commission studying how they execute search warrants in Kentucky. So the symbol of a Black man in a position of power is not enough. Whats needed is people in power who will create substantive and systemic change for black people.

There is also a big difference between popularity and power, Garza says. DeRay Mckesson, who has amassed more than a million Twitter followers after gaining prominence as a community journalist during the 2014 Ferguson unrest, is a case in point. Mckesson is probably the leading example of the celebrity activist phenomenon Garza decries, and her book uses his 2016 failed bid to be mayor of Baltimore as a cautionary tale about the limits of online fame. Despite his celebrity friends and high profile Beyonc follows him on Twitter, and Rashida Jones donated to his campaign Mckesson won only around 2% of the vote in his home town. Garzas message is that you cant just tweet your way to political power; youve got to put in the work.

Mckessons high profile means he is often (wrongly) credited with launching Black Lives Matter, and with the work Garza and her co-founders started. Its a mistake, she notes, that he often doesnt seem overly eager to correct. She is not, I want to emphasise, being petty here. I get the impression shes far too much of a pragmatist for that. This is bigger than DeRay, she tells me. Its a question of how we see leadership and who we think deserves it. The people who we think deserve to be elevated tend to be men; meanwhile, black womens labour is often overlooked and erased.

Why, she asks, with a touch of frustration, are we holding on to a trope about leadership that is older than me? People are still looking for the Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr when, actually, leadership of movements today looks more like Lena Waithe and Laverne Cox. Cox is the first openly transgender person to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy award in an acting category, for Orange Is The New Black; Waithe, a queer black writer, actor and producer, won an Emmy for the Netflix show Master Of None. The things that make us different, those are our superpowers, Waithe said in her acceptance speech.

***

Garza knows a thing or two about being different. She grew up Alicia Schwartz, raised by her black mother and Jewish stepfather in Marin County, a predominantly white San Francisco suburb. She describes herself as queer. Maybe its an outdated ass word, she laughs, but adds that its a useful umbrella term for being more fluid in who Im attracted to and who I build intimate relationships with. Garza is married to Malachi Garza, a trans man and activist, whom she met in 2003.

Difference, she notes, can be a source of strength and power; it can give you a vantage point with potentially more range and insight. Yet the NGOs for which she worked after graduating from the University of California, San Diego seemed to have little room for difference: while the staff were mainly people of colour, those running the show were white. She moved into more grassroots organising, fighting for affordable housing in San Franciscos black communities by building neighbourhood coalitions. This work, she says, changed the way she thought about politics. It was where she began to understand that winning is about more than being right; its about inviting people to be part of a change they may not have known they needed.

Black Lives Matter has certainly mobilised people; but its move into the mainstream hasnt been without its issues. Garza accepts that the phrase has become a generic term that gets attached to anything related to police violence or black people. The decentralised nature of the organisation has contributed to the confusion.

Mistakes were also made as Black Lives Matter grew. Its hard to build a plane while youre flying it, Garza notes, and the organisation missed opportunities, such as developing clear demands to take on the 2016 campaign trail. Following eight years of a black president who hadnt brought as much hope and change as hed promised, many within the network were disillusioned with electoral politics and focused on direct action instead.

So Garza has taken the insight she has gained from Black Lives Matter and channelled it into a new organisation called Black Futures Lab, which she launched in 2017. Protesting can only get you so far; now Garza wants politicians to feel as accountable to black people as they do to corporations. Our work is purely focused on making sure that Black people are powerful in politics, so that we can be powerful in every aspect of our lives, she explains.

Obviously Black voters are not a monolith, Garza says, so one of the first challenges has been to create a consistent and coherent agenda for a diversity of experiences. In 2018, Black Futures Lab initiated what Garza calls the largest survey of Black people in America in 15 years; the resulting data went into developing the Black Agenda, a policy platform reflecting the most common concerns within Black communities across the political spectrum. One policy point, for example, is raising the minimum wage to $15, a move 85% of respondents to the Black Census supported. Other demands include creating more opportunity for home ownership and limiting police presence in schools, to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline.

Now that a policy platform has been developed, Garza is building support for it ahead of this years presidential election. Weve had 60,000 Black voters pledging to support the Black Agenda. What [these voters] are saying is that they will be using the agenda as they make decisions about who to vote for.

The Black Futures Lab occupies much of Garzas time now; she hasnt been involved in the day-to-day of Black Lives Matter for a few years. It might seem odd to step away from a movement just as it goes mainstream, but Garza isnt someone who wants to bask in her past achievements; it frustrates her how many times shes been asked the same questions about Black Lives Matter. Shes focused on changing the future rather than rehashing the past.

That said, she hasnt completely cut herself off. Oh my God, of course, she says when I ask if she still hangs out with her co-founders. The three were recently in Los Angeles together for the Time 100: Most Influential People of 2020 photoshoot, she says warmly, and remain very much in touch.

Garza has had her camera off throughout our conversation; she isnt still wearing that face mask, I ask? Weve been talking for an hour and Im not sure how long you can leave those things on. I slipped it off, she reassures me. Now my face is nice and soft, and Im gathering my things for the shoot. Weve got to head over there in two minutes.

Before I let her go, I ask if she is anxious about the forthcoming election. Of course, she replies. But the way she handles that is by making sure Im doing everything in my power to get the country back on track. There was a time when she was a cynic and thought the US was beyond saving, but over the last 10 years she has become profoundly hopeful. Now is the time to fight and to engage. Voting, she says, can also be a movement.

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Black Lives Matter's Alicia Garza: Leadership today doesn't look like Martin Luther King - The Guardian

Last Sunday, wearing a face shield, a protective mask and a waist-pouch full of hand sanitiser, I stood in front of the Nigerian high commission in London with hundreds of fellow Nigerians. We held up placards, raised our fists and chanted: End Sars, over and over again.

The cry had first begun in Nigeria, when a video emerged of special anti-robbery squad (Sars) police officers shooting a man on the streets of Lagos. Though the date of the video is unknown, as is the name of the victim, Nigerians are no strangers to police brutality. It has either happened to you, or to someone you know. The police are not your friends, we often joke, with our special blend of black humour.

And yet somehow, something was different this time. Musicians like Runtown and Falz tweeted about a protest. The next day, the streets were full of young people chanting End Sars. Almost everyone had a story about being assaulted by a Sars officer, of being extorted, sexually harassed, or wrongfully detained.

Soon, US celebrities such as P Diddy, Trey Songz and Viola Davis had picked up the hashtag and were tweeting their support. In the UK, actor John Boyega, who is of Nigerian descent, also used his social media page to support the protests. What these stars realised, before most of the western media did, was that this was another iteration of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Nigerian police officers are black, you may say. How can this be a BLM issue? Well, imagine New Zealand police officers shooting, maiming and killing unarmed white citizens because they were well dressed, because they had flashy phones, because they worked in the tech industry and therefore assumed they must be involved in fraud (all reasons used by Sars). Imagine if there were video footage of all these atrocities happening in leafy Christchurch. There would be global outrage. International sanctions. World leaders rushing to condemn these acts.

Yet the world seems curiously indifferent when the victims are black. Part of the reason African leaders get away with atrocities on African soil is because they know the world will turn a blind eye to them. Murderous despots will still be granted visas to Paris, London and New York. They will spend their loot on property and gaudy Rolexes, propping up foreign economies instead of building their own.

The Black Lives Matter movement began because the deaths of innocent African American men and women were ignored, in the same way the deaths of young Nigerians at the hands of Sars have been ignored.

Black lives matter everywhere that black lives are found: be it on the streets of the US, in rubber dinghies on the Mediterranean Sea, or in the towns and cities of Nigeria. Nigerians cried over the killing of George Floyd. And we hope in America, in Brazil, in Britain, in France, in China, in India, the African diaspora will also stand with us as we mourn the protester Jimoh Isiaq, who was shot last Saturday, and others killed by Sars.

When one of us hurts, we all hurt. When one of us wins, we all win. This was the Pan-African dream of Marcus Garvey, of WEB Du Bois, of Constance Agatha Cummings-John, of Edward Wilmot Blyden, of Abdias do Nascimento, of Kwame Nkrumah and of many others.

The protests continue daily in Nigeria. There will also be one in London on Sunday. The government has promised to dissolve the Sars unit and replace it with a Swat team, but many people feel its just renaming rather than resolving the problem. The mistrust is warranted. The Nigerian government has promised to disband Sars before. Protesters continue to ask for tangible steps, such as the release of all detained protesters and the setting up of an independent body to investigate police misconduct.

Already, heroes have emerged. The Feminist Coalition has raised millions of naira for protesters legal and health bills. The podcaster FK Abudu and a host of Nigerian lawyers, such as Moe Odele and Tola Onayemi, are coordinating the release of protesters who have been wrongfully detained. Young Nigerians have marched in the sun and in the rain, and have done so peacefully, picking up their litter at the end of each day.

Yet there are no leaders in the #EndSARS movement: as protesters reiterate, this is an organic, spontaneous eruption of the will of a young Nigerian population. No one knows what the movement will lead to. Some say it is a Nigerian version of the Arab spring. I say, we dont want a spring. Spring is a brief season that passes away. We want a new Nigeria that will last for generations.

What can people in the rest of the world do? If you engage with Nigerian culture, if you dance to Afrobeats stars like Wizkid and Burna Boy, if you eat jollof rice and watch Nollywood movies on Netflix, then please show your support for #EndSARS. Black lives matter everywhere that black lives are found.

Chibundu Onuzo is author of The Spider Kings Daughter and Welcome to Lagos

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Black lives matter everywhere. That's why the world should support the #EndSARS movement - The Guardian

Oregons State Board of Education took a stand in support of the Black Lives Matter movement Thursday by approving a resolution that acknowledged institutional and structural racism in Oregon and called for support for people of color, particularly Black students and their families.

It reflects sentiments expressed in a letter jointly signed by the most powerful education organizations in the state, including the unions Oregon Education Association and Oregon School Employees Association, the Oregon School Boards Association representing board members, as well as the Oregon School Activities Association, which regulates competitive athletics in the state.

The resolution pointed to the states racist history but also present-day disparities.

An undeniable series of tragic events and crises have unfolded in Oregon and around the U.S., including the COVID-19 pandemic, wildfires, and violence driven by systemic racism that have stacked harm upon harm against Black, Indigenous, Native American, people of color, tribal communities, and tribal governments, the resolution said.

The state boards action follows a series of racist statements made in virtual learning settings in recent months, as well as racist incidents in public schools over the last few years before student learning moved online during the pandemic.

The state boards move follows rules it passed last month prohibiting hate symbols such as the confederate flag, swastika and noose from public school buildings, in what it called its All Students Belong guidance.

The resolution acknowledges that the board cannot legislate away racism but contends that being silent allows racism to remain prevalent.

While the state boards resolution points to a national pattern of critical inequalities in education, and the disproportionate disciplining of Black students, in particular, the board statement doesnt point to Oregons specific shortcomings regarding Black students. The graduation rate for Black students is 11 points lower than the rate for white students, a gap that was even larger in years past.

While the resolution presses local school boards and districts to take steps as well, the points are worded as urgently requested actions, rather than mandates. Those include an affirmation that Black Lives Matter by striving to make space in classrooms and within the school community for dialogue and support for issues of race and equity.

The board also calls on districts to support staff who are making a special effort to let Black students and families know that they belong and are valued members of the school community, as well as to strengthen comprehensive networks of support for students and families who are experiencing increased harassment, violence, bullying, or hatred based on race.

Some school districts have already taken steps to promote racial justice and condemn racism, through anti-racism statements by the school board in Lake Oswego, as well as the Tigard-Tualatin and North Clackamas school districts.

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Oregon Board of Education votes to stand with 'Black Lives Matter' movement - KLCC FM Public Radio

By Cierra Parks

The Black Lives Matter movement has helped renew interest in Richmonds African American culture and history, according to community leaders.

BLK RVA is an initiative launched in August 2019 between Richmond Region Tourism and 20 community leaders to highlight historic African American tourist attractions and engage visitors in events that support Richmonds Black community. The group continues to promote Black-centered tourism in light of recent events. BLK RVA was recently awarded the Richmond Region Tourism Chairmans Award in recognition of its contributions over the past year.

Tameka Jefferson, the community relations manager for Richmond Region Tourism and BLK RVA, said the Black Lives Matter movement has generated more interest in African American tourism, which she said is long overdue. Although Black Lives Matter began in 2013, the movement gained more support this year.

Now is the time that we do need to come together as a community to support our businesses, to support our city and our region, Jefferson said.

Jefferson also said that in the months following the death of George Floyd in police custody, she has seen more people visit the area around the Robert E. Lee statue. The area has been transformed into space used by the community for art, protest and memorial and even basketball.

She said people are migrating to this area now that there has been a staple of just coming together and a staple of community and uprising.

BLK RVAs mission is to illustrate that the Richmond region has evolved and is now a multicultural hub that specializes in four pillars: arts and entertainment, food and drink, community and history. She said the state capital is often seen through its outdated historyan outlook that needs to change.

In addition to African American-centered events and fundraisers, BLK RVA promotes the patronizing of what they call rooted and rising businesses; ones that have been around a while and others that are up and coming.

One established business is the Elegba Folklore Society, which was established 30 years ago. The Society hosts the annual Down Home Family Reunion and Juneteenth Freedom celebrations in addition to guided heritage tours along the Trail of Enslaved Africans and other historic sites. The trail details the history of slave trade from Africa to Virginia, following a route through the areas former slave markets and also highlighting African American life leading up to the Civil War.

Omilade Janine Bell, president and artistic director of the Elegba Folklore Society, said the company prides itself on educating people because Black stories are often not fully told. She has noticed a renewed interest in learning about Black history in light of the recent Black Lives Matter movement. Jefferson echoes that statement.

His (George Floyds) loss-of-life story has opened the eyes of many whose eyes had been shut tightly before, Bell said. Now there is a heightened awareness among Black people and others about the lack of equity.

Jaynell Pittman-Shaw owns Maple Bourbon, a restaurant serving breakfast and lunch in Richmonds downtown area that is one of BLK RVAs rising businesses. Pittman-Shaw believes there is a new spotlight on inequity in the Black community.

That is what people are protesting about right now: systemic and institutional racism, Pittman-Shaw said. Black business owners do not have access to the same resources that should be available to any business owner, but black businesses need more support to thrive.

Jefferson said BLK RVA donated money from online merchandise sales to the Richmond Black Restaurant Experience, which hosts a week-long event in the spring promoting black-owned food businesses. Over $15,000 was raised and distributed evenly among 35 Black Restaurant Week participants affected by COVID-19. Pittman- Shaw was one of the grantees. She plans to pay it forward by using the $500 grant she received to help another black-owned restaurant that did not participate in Black Restaurant Week.

Restaurants such as Big Herms Kitchen and Soul Taco used the money to help pay employees who were affected when COVID-19 restructured business.

The Richmond Black Restaurant Experience supports black, food-focused businesses, including restaurants, food trucks and catering services. They have raised nearly $50,000, surpassing their new goal of $25,000 according to the groups GoFundMe page.

In addition to restaurants, other attractions have made adjustments since COVID-19 began. Many of them have migrated to virtual experiences. The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the Virginia Museum of History and Culture are offering virtual exhibits, including the All in Together collaborative project and Determined: The 400-Year Struggle for Black Equality. The Elegba Folklore Society broadcast its Juneteenth celebration on Facebook, YouTube and Vimeo.

The organization also recently promoted the Black is Beautiful beer initiative, a nationwide collaboration created by Marcus J. Baskerville, head brewer and co-owner at Weathered Souls Brewing Co. in San Antonio. Over 30 Virginia craft breweries participated to support people of color and raise funds for police reform and legal defense. Richmond breweries put their spin on the traditional imperial stout recipe to raise money for the Black is Beautiful cause. The Answer, Hardywood, The Veil and Lickinghole Creek were among the Richmond-area breweries that created stouts for the initiative. Each brewery will donate the proceeds to organizations that support the Black is Beautiful cause.

BLK RVA has also highlighted events such as the RVA Black Farmers Market, the Richmond Night Market and events hosted by UnlockingRVA.

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Black Lives Matter renews interest in Richmonds Black culture and history - rvahub.com

Photo by Courtesy of Jean Denis Louis

Above: Jean Denis Louis holds up the sign he held for the Black Lives Matters protest in Tijuana on June 14, 2020.

This is Port of Entry, where we tell cross-border stories that connect us. From KPBS and PRX, our debut episode launches a series on race and politics with a story about how the Black Lives Matter movement is crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. Its a story about the intersection of migrant rights and Black rights and introduces some of the people ... Read more

Aired: October 14, 2020 | Transcript

In many ways, Mexico is behind the U.S. and other parts of the world when it comes to racial justice. In fact, this year marks the first time ever that Black people in Mexico could identify as Afro-Mexican on the census. Finally, Mexico's Black population will be officially counted.

It's progress, but for many activists in Mexico, it's not nearly enough. Groups of people across the country are working hard to push discussions about race and racism to the forefront. Inspired by this year's large wave of protests for racial justice that are sweeping across the U.S. and other parts of the world, activists in Mexico have begun the work of confronting racism and police brutality in their own communities.

In Tijuana, the Black Lives Matter movement is taking root. And in a new episode of the KPBS podcast "Port of Entry," host Alan Lilienthal profiles some of the people behind the Black Lives Matter movement at the border. Many of those powering the movement are Black migrants who've been stuck at the border, unable to access the U.S. asylum system that's been nearly shut down by the Trump administration.

"Port of Entry" was formerly known as "Only Here." The change was driven, in part, by the podcast team's participation in a public media podcast accelerator program with PRX, a national creator and distributor of public media podcasts and other content.

The team honed their production skills, while also doing a deep dive into getting to know the podcast's audience of border people. The name "Port of Entry" makes it clearer that this is a show by border people, for border people. In every episode, the podcast will reflect what life is really like at the busiest border crossing in the Western Hemisphere, introducing listeners to the people who are part of the cross-border community.

Kinsee Morlan Podcast Producer & Project Coordinator

I'm the producer and host of KPBS' "Only Here" podcast and I manage the rest of the station's podcasts. Leave a question below or call in or text your question to (619) 452-0228.

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Port Of Entry Podcast: The Black Lives Matter Movement Is Crossing The Border - KPBS