Patrisse Cullors grew up in Los Angeles and became involved in community organising and prison abolition activism as a young adult, building organising experience that would prove essential to her later co-founding of a global movement.
In 2013, following George Zimmerman's acquittal in the killing of Trayvon Martin, Cullors, together with Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi, co-founded Black Lives Matter, transforming a hashtag into an organised movement addressing police violence and systemic racism.
Cullors helped build Black Lives Matter's organisational infrastructure in the years following its founding, as the movement grew from an online expression of grief and anger into a globally recognised force for racial justice organising.
Cullors has continued activism and creative work beyond Black Lives Matter, including writing, art and further organising initiatives, remaining a significant figure in contemporary American movements for racial justice and police accountability.
- Co-founded Black Lives Matter (2013), one of the most significant social justice movements of the 21st century
- Helped build the movement's organisational infrastructure from a hashtag into global activism
- Brought prior prison abolition organising experience to the movement's founding
- Authored a bestselling memoir examining her activism and personal history
- Recognised as one of the most influential contemporary American activists
- Prior organising experience strengthens movement-building capacity. Her earlier prison abolition activism informed her approach to building Black Lives Matter.
- A moment of collective grief can be organised into sustained movement. The response to Zimmerman's acquittal was channelled into lasting organisational infrastructure.
- Collaborative founding can strengthen a movement's foundation. The shared co-founding with Garza and Tometi combined complementary skills and perspectives.
- Digital platforms can launch movements that build substantial real-world infrastructure. A hashtag became the foundation for a globally organised movement.