Black Lives Matter
noun
Note: Black Lives Matter was founded by Black community organizers Patrisse Khan-Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi after George Zimmerman was acquitted of charges relating to his fatal shooting of Black teenager Trayvon Martin in 2012; the movement expanded as people reacted to police killings of unarmed Black people in years following. The name Black Lives Matter functions as a declaration that Black people's lives have as much value as white people's lives, and as a call to end systems and practices that challenge this fact.
—abbreviation BLMExamples of Black Lives Matter in a Sentence
CBS News, 11 May 2024
And then hashtags became a thing for Black Girl Magic, Black Lives Matter.
—Michael Calore Lauren Goode, WIRED, 9 May 2024
Three years later during the height of the Black Lives Matter protests over the killing of George Floyd and racial injustice, the photos were shared and went viral.
—Summer Lin, Los Angeles Times, 8 May 2024
In ways reminiscent of the genesis of the Black Lives Matter movement, Palestinians have captured scenes of unimaginable brutality and narrated their experiences.
—Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, The New Yorker, 8 May 2024
Civil rights, immigration and other issues The only other issue that more than 5% of survey respondents said would motivate them to protest were issues surrounding civil rights, police brutality and Black Lives Matter.
—Sudiksha Kochi, USA TODAY, 8 May 2024
In the summer of 2020, the-President Donald Trump and Republicans made a similar attempt to capitalize on — and exaggerate — sporadic violence at largely peaceful Black Lives Matter protests.
—Michael Smolens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 May 2024
The second charts the evolution of Black Twitter into a tool for real-world change, via movements like Black Lives Matter and #OscarsSoWhite.
—Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
In some of the 2020 protests, even in San Diego, there were places where there were Black Lives Matter protesters and media reports said counter protesters showed up and started smashing windows.
—Lisa Deaderick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'Black Lives Matter.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Black Lives Matter.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Black%20Lives%20Matter. Accessed 16 May. 2024.
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