Patrisse Cullors - Interview Magazine "Patrisse Cullors Shares Her Objects of Self-Preservation"

Interview Magazine | October 19, 2020

“In 2013, shortly after George Zimmerman was acquitted of the murder of Trayvon Martin, Patrisse Cullors left a comment on her friend Alicia Garza’s Facebook page: ‘declaration: black bodies will no longer be sacrificed for the rest of the world’s enlightenment. i am done. i am so done. trayvon, you are loved infinitely #blacklivesmatter.’ Soon after, Cullors, along with Garza and Opal Tometi, co-founded Black Lives Matter, a network that put a name to all the organizing and advocacy she had done throughout her life. After George Floyd’s murder last May, Black Lives Matter grew from a national organization into a global rallying cry. The hashtag Cullors created seven years ago can now be found painted in the windows of local businesses, on NBA basketball courts, and on a street leading directly to the White House. As Black Lives Matter has evolved into the central nervous system in the fight against police brutality and racial injustice, Cullors has become one of the most visible and respected activists of her generation, equally effective when speaking at protests in her hometown of Los Angeles as she is on Good Morning America. Cullors is one of the leaders in the campaign to defund police departments, and, in the run-up to this year’s presidential election, a fierce advocate for voting rights. Here, she offers us an important lesson in resistance: rest.”

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