Meet the woman behind #BlackLivesMatter, the hashtag that became a civil rights movement

Black Lives Matter, you’ve seen the hashtag surface in wake of the recent police shootings of black Americans.

There’s been many praises for the hashtag which highlights awareness on systemic issues when it concerns black and brown people in America, and well there’s been some criticism in it as well. Yes! Magazine did a feature story on the woman behind the hashtag #blacklivesmatter.

How Black Lives Matter Got Started

When George Zimmerman was acquitted of murder charges after killing Trayvon Martin, Alicia Garza of Oakland, California, turned to Facebook to express her anger and sadness.

As a longtime social activist, Garza, who is now 34 years old, had been working for years to end systemic racism.

She had led activist movements in the San Francisco Bay Area, from efforts to expose and end police violence to actions to secure free public transportation for youth.

Currently, Garza is the special project director at the National Domestic Workers Alliance, where she works to protect the rights of Black women employed in positions like housekeeping, childcare and in-home aid.

Garza says that the moment she logged onto social media after the announcement of the Zimmerman verdict was eye-opening. She was bombarded with defeatist comments like “What did you expect?” or “I knew they would never convict him.”

Overwhelmingly, these comments all pointed out the same thing: It’s treated as acceptable for unarmed black boys and men to be killed without consequence.

Read more at Yes Magazine