Alicia Garza

Alicia Garza
Born (1981-03-04) March 4, 1981
Los Angeles, California
Residence Oakland, California
Nationality African-American
Occupation Activist, writer
Known for Black Lives Matter, People Organized to Win Employment Rights, National Domestic Workers Alliance

Alicia Garza (born March 4, 1981) is an African-American activist and writer who lives in Oakland, California. She has organized around the issues of health, student services and rights, rights for domestic workers, ending police brutality, anti-racism, and violence against trans* and gender non-conforming people of color. Her writing has been published by The Guardian,[1] The Nation,[2] The Feminist Wire,[3] Rolling Stone, Huffington Post and truthout.org. She is the Director of Special Projects at the National Domestic Workers Alliance. She is also a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement.[4][5]

Activism

Black Lives Matter

Garza, in collaboration with Opal Tometi and Pattrisse Cullors, gave shape to the Black Lives Matters movement. Garza is credited as having inspired the slogan when after the acquittal of George Zimmerman she posted on Facebook: "Black people. I love you. I love us. Our lives matter, Black Lives Matter" which Cullors then shared with the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter. Garza's organizing of Black Lives Matter was spurred on by her witnessing the constant unchallenged or punished murder of innocent Black people by Police and the gross racial disparities within the U.S. criminal justice system, in her opinion. She was also struck by the similarities of Trayvon Martin to her younger brother, feeling that it could have been him killed instead.[6] Garza lead the 2015 Freedom Ride to Ferguson, organized by Cullors and Darnell Moore that launched the building of BlackLivesMatter chapters across the United States.[7] Garza, as a queer woman with a bi-racial Transgender spouse has been praised for her work bringing together diverse groups of people for the cause. [8]

Other Work

Previously, Garza had served as the director of People Organized to Win Employment Rights in the San Francisco Bay Area. During her time in the position won the right for youth to use public transportation for free in San Francisco and is also credited for fighting gentrification and exposing police brutality in the area.[9] Garza is on the board of directors of Forward Together's Oakland California branch and is also involved with Black Organizing for Leadership and Dignity.[10]

Acts of Protest

Garza participated in an attempt to stop a Bay Area Rapid Transit train for four and a half hours, a time chosen to reflect the time that Michael Brown's body was left in the street after he was killed. The protesters stopped the train for an hour and a half by chaining themselves both to the inside of the train and the outside, making it impossible for the door to close. The disruption lasted for an hour and a half, only ending when police removed the protestors by dismantling part of the train.[11]

Recognition and awards

Garza was recognized on the Root 100 list of African American Achievers between the ages of 25 and 45. She was also recognized on the Politico50 2015 guide to Thinkers, Doers, and Visionaries along with Cullors and Tometi.

Garza has received the Local Hero award from the San Francisco Bay Guardian. She has been twice awarded by the Harvey Milk Democratic Club the Bayard Rustin Community Activist Award for her work fighting racism and gentrification in San Francisco. She has also been awarded the Jeanne Gauna Communicate Justice Award from the Centre for Media Justice.[12]

In 2015, Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi (as "The Women of #BlackLivesMatter") were among the nine runners-up for The Advocate's Person of the Year.[13]

References

  1. ↑ "Profile Alicia Garza". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  2. ↑ "Author Alicia Garza". The Nation. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  3. ↑ Garza, Alicia. "A Herstort of the #BlackLivesMatter Movement". The Feminist Wire. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  4. ↑ Dalton, Deron. "The Three Women Behind the Black Lives Matter Movement". Madame Noire. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  5. ↑ "Meet the woman who coined #BlackLivesMatter". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2016-01-15.
  6. ↑ Day, Elizabeth. "#BlackLivesMatter: The Birth of a New Civil Rights Movement". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  7. ↑ Pleasant, Liz. "Meet the Woman Behind #BlackLivesMatter - the Hashtag that Became a Civil Rights Movement". Yes Magazine. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  8. ↑ Pleasant, Liz. "Meet the Woman Behind #BlackLivesMatter - The Hashtag that Became a Civil Rights Movement". Yes Magazine. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  9. ↑ Pleasant, Liz. "Meet the Woman Behind #BlackLives Matter - The Hashtag that Became a Civil Rights Movement". Yes Magazine. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  10. ↑ "Board About". Forward Together. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  11. ↑ Smith, Heather. "Meet the BART-stopping Woman Behind "Black Lives Matter". Grist Magazine. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  12. ↑ "Alicia Garza Selected as Communities Choice for Grand Marshal". San Francisco Pride. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  13. ↑ Advocate.com Editors. "Person of the Year: The Finalists". Advocate.com. Retrieved 2015-11-06.

External links

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