Black Lives Matter

[ blak lahyvz mat-er ]

noun

1. a political and social movement originating among African Americans, emphasizing basic human rights and racial equality for Black people and campaigning against various forms of racism. : BLM, B.L.M.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Black Lives Matter¹

First recorded in 2013; the slogan that arose from the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter on social media after George Zimmerman was acquitted of murder in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed African American teenager

Example Sentences

At a news conference with Black Lives Matter Grassroots members last month, Boyd’s family members decried the actions of police that November night.

From Los Angeles Times

Representatives of the Long Beach chapter of Black Lives Matter Grassroots did not immediately provide comment on the footage.

From Los Angeles Times

In 2015, too, the agency sent hundreds of federal officers into Baltimore to police Black Lives Matter demonstrators and, years later, arrested and threatened to criminally charge a Texas woman who criticized the overturning of Roe v.

From Slate

Melina Abdullah, the co-founder of Black Lives Matter in Los Angeles, said Monday that she plans to lead a protest outside the new district attorney’s inauguration alongside dozens of families whose relatives were killed by police in Los Angeles County.

From Los Angeles Times

“They’ve knelt since their freshman year, when the Black Lives Matter movement was going on, and, in this program, we raise critical thinkers to make decisions for what’s important to them,” Kohan said.

From Los Angeles Times