Patrisse-Cullors

Update (August 15, 2019): After months of a withering protest campaign led by iconic activist Patrisse Khan-Cullors, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to support a motion canceling its $1.7-billion prison construction contract with McCarthy Building Companies.Residents and activists were horrified when Los Angeles County Board members announced in July they would pay McCarthy $30 million to begin designing the county's eighth jail.  View this post on Instagram BREAKING NEWS: Because we stood as one, LA Supervisors just cancelled the @McCarthyBuild contract to build another jail. This victory was only made possible because of the tireless & thankless work of @ReformLAJails's volunteers and supporters. The contract to build LA County’s 8th jail has been cancelled. But this fight isn’t over. We still must continue dreaming of a different world where all of our families are treated with dignity. Follow @ReformLAJails to stay involved. #CancelMcCarthyContractA post shared by Reform L.A. Jails (@reformlajails) on Aug 13, 2019 at 2:56pm PDTKhan-Cullors spearheaded a robust social media campaign using #CancelMcCarthyContract, galvanizing national support against the notorious prison builder.Since the initial announcement, the Los Angeles County Board tried to call the 3,885-bed prison a “treatment center,” but the move did little to quell massive public anger.“McCarthy has built ‘healthcare’ jails and prisons that have been complete failures — like the one in Stockton, California. People have died in these facilities,” Khan-Cullors wrote in the online petition. “We can’t afford for more families destroyed due to failed criminal justice policies. And we definitely can’t trust a company like McCarthy given their track record of making a living off of building death traps.”McCarthy is well-known for their disastrous prisons where hundreds of people continue to die due to lack of funding, poor medical care and substandard conditions. In 2005, a federal judge was forced to revoke responsibility of prison medical care from California state officials after investigators found that their negligent medical treatment was killing at least one inmate per week.Khan-Cullors and Reform L.A. Jails held a massive protest Thursday to put even more pressure on the County Board.“The goal should be to scale up effective culturally competent mental health and substance use models that are community based.”@OsopePatrisse at our rally today explaining why we are demanding @CountyofLA #CancelMccarthyContract and #ReformLAJails. Because #caringiseasy pic.twitter.com/TrstPcFLRK— Reform L.A. Jails (@ReformLAJails) August 8, 2019Beautiful sum up of our fight to #CancelMcCarthyContract https://t.co/9DHxpSVvhE— patrisse cullors (@OsopePatrisse) August 11, 2019The move was even touted by presidential candidate and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who praised the activists for their work. We should be investing in jobs and education, not more jails and incarceration. Congratulations to @reformlajails, @justicelanow and the whole coalition for their work to cancel the contract and stop the building of another jail in LA county. https://t.co/aTT6i6Skdy— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) August 14, 2019Khan-Cullors and activists involved with Reform L.A. Jails are hoping to use the momentum from the win to stop other prison construction deals across the country.Original: World-renowned activist Patrisse Khan-Cullors has turned her attention to the deadly prison system in Los Angeles County. To raise awareness, she has created a new hashtag to get people behind her. It’s time we are brave in Los Angeles County #CancelMcCarthyContract https://t.co/rW0VHaB06P— patrisse cullors (@OsopePatrisse) July 3, 2019The #CancelMcCarthyContract petition is going after McCarthy Building Companies, the corporation behind some of California’s most dangerous and deadly mental health facilities.“In response to the unconscionable use of jail in place of treatment and the lack of investment in prevention and rehabilitation services, our movement, powered by Black Lives Matter, community organizations, and grassroots people-power, collected over 246,000 signatures to put an initiative on the ballot on March 3, 2020 to Reform LA County Jails,” Khan-Cullors stated in the petition. View this post on Instagram Patrisse, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far. The organization I am focusing on is Reform LA Jails, although I’ve started/help start many organizations– Black Lives Matter, Dignity and Power Now, Justice LA, Justice Teams Network, etc. The reason why I believe in social justice organizations is that I think they are the foundation for which we are able to have the most change possible for communities that are the most marginalized. For Reform LA Jails– which is a ballot initiative– it really came out of the need to further push the county board of supervisors in la, to change the way they treat people with mental illness inside the jails and also to change the way we criminalize the mentally ill. Reform LA Jails is an important ballot initiative because it’s going to be a game changer for LA, it’s going to equip the current civilian oversight mission of subpoena power and I think that’s incredibly important. @reformlajails #ReformLAJails #caringiseasyA post shared by Patrisse Cullors-Brignac (@osopepatrisse) on Jun 18, 2019 at 10:55am PDTIn 2005, a federal judge had no choice but to remove control of prison medical care from California state officials after investigators found that their negligent medical treatment was killing at least one inmate per week.J. Clark Kelso was appointed “federal receiver” and convinced the state to pay McCarthy $820 million to build the California Health Care Facility in South Stockton. In April, a devastating report came out showing numerous instances where doctors took actions that killed patients and spread disease.One inmate pulled out her own eye and ate it, according to investigators. There was an outbreak of Legionnaires disease this year that killed an inmate.“I feel very, very badly for the people of Stockton who have to deal with this behemoth of a building in their community. People with mental illness are not being treated the way they should be, not receiving the care they should be," Khan-Cullors told Newsweek in an interview on Wednesday.“The money spent on building a new jail would be better spent on priorities like public education and affordable housing.”The facility holds 2,670 inmates, and the report listed numerous instances of doctors prescribing the wrong medication, leaving wounds untreated and allowing illnesses and viruses to spread amongst a host of other terrible treatment.Khan-Cullors says the petition will make it to the ballot on March 3, 2020, and they hope people will decide to bring the decision-making power back to the people."LA County deserves the right to vote on our important initiative before lawmakers move forward with building more jails,” she said. “Thousands of Angelinos have spoken: they want care not cages. They want decentralized mental health facilities, not mental health jails. We can’t let McCarthy stand in the way of reform. We can’t afford to lose another one of our cherished loved...

Criminal justice reform is not anything new. However, since Kim Kardashian managed to persuade 45 to free Alice Marie Johnson from prison earlier this year, she's somehow started to receive credit for a fight she did not begin.  When it comes to fighting for change with our criminal justice system,  it's one that has long been led by strong Black women. It's time to put some "respeck" on the names of those bold, fierce and resilient Black women who've made it their responsibility to advocate against the system of oppression that is America's criminal justice system.Some of these women have experienced prison firsthand, some have family members who were wrongly convicted, and some just decided to jump into the fight before Kim K presented her stance on the issue in 2018. Regardless, these Black women deserve some recognition for their dedication to reform the criminal justice system. Here are five Black women who've been fighting criminal justice reform way before Kim got the credit:1. Michelle AlexanderCivil rights attorney, social justice activist, and best-selling author, Michelle Alexander's eye-opening and notable work, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, has been called the "secular Bible of the social movement." An interview subject in Ava DuVernay's 13th, Alexander's commentary in the documentary analyzes the corruption of America's criminal justice system. During her Tedx Talk conversation in 2013, the Union Theological seminary professor addressed the blunt reality of mass incarceration as a system of "millions of people, often poor people and people of color, locked in literal cages, often treated worse than animals, and then upon their release, they're stripped of the basic civil and human rights supposedly won in the civil rights movement." YouTube | TEDx Talks2.  CeCe McDonaldIn June 2011, CeCe McDonald was on her way to the store — minding her own business — when a man shouting racist and transphobic comments attacked her with a glass bottle in Minneapolis. The artist and LGBTQ rights activist retaliated by stabbing the man with scissors, and this resulted in his death. McDonald pleaded guilty on her charge of second-degree murder and was sentenced to 41 months in a men’s prison. While in prison, McDonald’s name graced social media via the hashtag #FreeCeCe, sparking a dialogue around the need for more conversations surrounding transgender rights. She was released after 19 months, due to good behavior. In 2016, actress and LGBTQ rights activist Laverne Cox co-produced the documentary Free CeCe! The film draws necessary attention to the systemic social ill of transphobia that ultimately led McDonald to prison. It also empowers others to join the movement and stand up against hate. Since her release, CeCe has not let up on her activism, not only advocating for trans rights but also to end the prison-industrial complex.3. Patrisse CullorsPatrisse Cullors rose to prominence as the co-founder of the movement that has forever changed the conversation around race in America: Black Lives Matter.In April, Cullors wrote a poignant piece for the Los Angeles Times about how her older brother's jail sentence — which occurred almost 20 years ago — has continued to impact her family even today. She credits the aftermath of the prison abuse her brother endured as one of the reasons behind her launching the now-infamous movement."Certainly it's one of the reasons I founded the advocacy group Dignity and Power Now in 2012 and co-founded the Black Lives Matter movement in 2013. It's also why, this year, I'm pushing to get a critical jail reform measure on the November ballot," the activist wrote.4. Marian Wright EdelmanMarian Wright Edelman founded the Children's Defense Fund (CDF) in 1973, an organization that improves policies by advocating on behalf of children. Nearly 35 years after starting this organization, Edelman and the CDF launched a national summit to confront “America’s cradle to prison pipeline crisis.” The summit, which took place at Howard University, addressed the "national catastrophe" of mass incarceration among communities of color. It ultimately served as a “call to action to dismantle” the racially biased system that has continuously put black and brown children at a greater disadvantage than their white counterparts.Edelman’s accolades include the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Albert Schweitzer Humanitarian Prize, a MacArthur Foundation Prize Fellowship and a Robert F. Kennedy Lifetime Achievement Award, among others. In 2011, while receiving the John Jay Justice Award, Eldelman’s speech poignantly highlighted the urgent need for juvenile justice reform.“Incarceration is becoming the new American slavery and poor children of color are the fodder. We must act now to stop the growing criminalization of children at younger and younger ages," she stated.The 79-year-old trailblazer is not new to this; she is more than true to this.5. Angela DavisAngela Davis has been advocating for criminal justice reform for decades.In 1970, the avid feminist and civil rights activist chose to support three Black inmates  — George Jackson, Fleeta Drumgoole and John Clutchette — who became known as the "Soledad brothers," after they were accused of murdering a white correctional officer.She went on to become a part of the Soledad Brothers Defense Committee, in order to help fight against the "wrongful conviction for the murder of a prison guard," according to Lifetime. In August 1970, during one of the brother's trials, there was an armed escape attempt that resulted in the deaths of several people. Because the guns used in the incident were registered in Davis' name, she faced multiple, charges including attempted murder. Then on October 13, 1970, Davis was arrested in Manhattan, and she remained in prison for 18 months before being acquitted. Decades later, Davis began actively traveling the country, giving lectures around her thoughts on prison abolition. “My question is, 'Why are people so quick to assume that locking away an increasingly large proportion of the U.S. population would help those who live in the free world feel safer and more secure?” the social justice activist and current UC Santa Cruz professor once asked during a lecture. In 2013, she published her book Are Prisons Obsolete? which argues her point that the abolishment of prisons would be more effective than prison reform, Politico reports. She refers to today's prison reform movement as the "21st-century abolitionist movement."Check out a lecture Davis delivered, in which she raises the question, "What happens if the system can't be fixed?"YouTube | AfroMarxistWhen excluded from the conversations that directly impact our community, the relevancy of those discussions are invalidated. However, we can't afford for history to be whitewashed history any further. It's not only important for us to remember the incredible work of these Black women, it’s also absolutely imperative that the fruit of their labor is uplifted, shared and applied, in order to make the potential changes we wish to see in our criminal justice system.May they be seen.Make sure you're following Blavity:Politics on Instagram and join our daily newsletter to stay engaged and informed.Also, check these out related links:Congress Passes Landmark Criminal Justice Reform Bill, Trump To Sign It Into LawAlice Marie Johnson Hopes Trump Will Remember The 'Others Who Have Been Left Behind'Black Lives Matter Co-Founder Is Launching Another Movement To Help Reform The Prison...

There is a lot of conversation happening since Trump’s recent endorsement of The FIRST STEP Act (H.R. 5682), a flawed and extremely harmful bill that’s being framed as a step forward for criminal justice reform, when in reality it’s a misguided attack on the movement to end mass incarceration. Our concerns with The FIRST STEP Act are based upon three fundamental premises:1. The belief in the humanity of every person impacted by the justice system2. The belief that the bill does not go far enough in addressing the systemic issues that are the driving factors of mass incarceration, and3. The belief that we cannot trust Trump with our lives and that he will use The FIRST STEP Act as another tool of his corrupt and vindictive administration.While we appreciate those that fought to make key changes to the bill, namely adding some sentencing reform, limiting DOJ and warden discretion, and demanding oversight for the development and implementation of failed, algorithmic based risk assessment instruments, we know that big overhauls of the federal justice system happen every 20 to 30 years and the FIRST STEP Act simply does not go far enough. While there are many reasons to oppose this harmful bill from increased privatization to the inadequate funding providing for any meaningful change, we will focus on three key alarming aspects:1. the bill’s racist use of risk assessments and lack of retroactivity2. the bill’s attack on the displaced, undocumented and refugee population, and3. the power and discretion that the bill gives to the Trump administration.The Use of Racist Risk Assessments and Lack of Retroactivity The FIRST STEP Act further invests in structural racism through the use of discriminatory risk assessments that will dramatically increase racial and socioeconomic disparities. Research proves that risk assessments do not accurately predict risk and in fact exacerbate racial biases against people of color, especially African Americans. Although proponents of the bill say that the system will be evaluated regularly to ensure that unwanted racial disparities do not continue, the latest studies conducted from Florida to Kentucky prove that risk assessments further marginalize those most impacted by mass incarceration.The FIRST STEP Act excludes the vast majority of people in federal prison by not retroactively applying to those charged before the enactment of the bill. This is reason enough to say that the bill does not go far enough because if Trump and Congress were serious about transforming the federal system then they would stop tinkering at the edges and propose legislation that would seriously reduce incarceration levels. The Attack on the Displaced, Undocumented and Refugee PopulationThe FIRST STEP Act excludes the majority of undocumented immigrants from obtaining “good time credit” benefits and further criminalizes migration. As a coalition of immigrant rights organizations stated, “In 2015, half (49 percent) of all federal prosecutions were for improper entry and re-entry prosecutions. Almost a quarter of those in the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) prison population are non-citizens (23 percent).” The FIRST STEP Act will strip away even more protections for the displaced, undocumented and refugee populations and further target immigrants fleeing violence for federal prosecutions. Rather than acknowledging this growing percentage of the federal prison population, The FIRST STEP Act explicitly excludes and ignores them. This is far from a First Step, and in fact a continuation of Trump’s disastrous policy that continues to rip families apart.The Increased Power Provided to the Trump Administration  The FIRST STEP Act gives way too much discretion and power to a federal administration that has consistently attacked the most marginalized including black and brown people, queer and trans people, the disabled, and immigrants. Providing Trump with another tool to imprison and attack communities of color is not only playing with fire, it’s ensuring that we roll back all the progress that we have made and emboldens a man hostile to all of us.As the movement to end mass incarceration continues to gain victories in states all across the country, we must focus on the structural barriers (policies and practices) that drive and maintain mass incarceration. We know that the majority of people impacted by the system are governed by state and local policy and that’s why we believe that The FIRST STEP Act is derailing – and even dividing – the momentum for comprehensive sentencing and criminal justice reform.While proponents of the bill from Senator Booker to Van Jones implore us to help pass The FIRST STEP Act because the “perfect should never be the enemy of the good,” let us remind ourselves that if we want to address the crimes of the 1992 Crime Bill Act that led to 65 million people or one in three adults in the United States now having a criminal record, we must do more. We cannot and will not endorse a Trump-endorsed policy that will continue to criminalize, incarcerate and deport members of our LGBTQIA+ communities, refugees, indigenous communities, the undocumented and Black and Brown people.We have dedicated our lives to transforming the criminal justice system and are proud to stand alongside the leading civil rights organizations in America including The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, United We Dream, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, MomsRising, Just Leadership USA, Black Alliance for Just Immigration, and a host of others who are vehemently opposing The FIRST STEP Act.Blavitize your inbox! Join our daily newsletter for fresh stories and breaking...

Earlier this year, incarcerated prisoners spanning approximately 17 states went on strike, which inevitably gained nationwide attention. Using prison newspapers, union spokespeople and contraband cell phones, they attempted to get the word out about the inhumane conditions and forced slave labor. Allegedly, the strike was partially in response to the riots in Lee Correctional Institution, a maximum security prison in South Carolina, in which prisoners rebelled in order to draw attention to their horrible living and working conditions, as well as their use as low-paid laborers. However, the lack of progress toward prison reform appears to be the ultimate reason behind why prisoners felt compelled to take such action. Products made as a result of prison labor are more prevalent in the everyday lives of Americans than people realize — from license plates to lingerie. Prisoners have even been recruited to put out wildfires. However, most are paid less than $5 a day. Since a lot of prisons are privately owned or they are invested in by corporations or state governments, many of them do not fully consider the conditions that prisoners are expected to survive in. As long as they are fulfilling the demands for products, almost everything that goes on within these walls is deemed acceptable. Because the plight of prisoners is often shielded from the public-eye, society seems less compelled to help change that which they cannot see. But this does not excuse the need for reform.While organizing the strike, prisoners shared a list of 10 demands that catered to this issue — from the end of “prison slavery,”  to voting rights, to the establishment of “immediate improvement to the conditions of prisons." These demands provided clear-cut documentation of what those in prison need from their government.According to the 10th demand, “The voting rights of all confined citizens serving prison sentences, pretrial detainees, and so-called ‘ex-felons’ must be counted. Representation is demanded. All voices count.” If those currently incarcerated and formerly incarcerated aren’t allowed to vote, then how can they make sure that political candidates address issues that are key to them? With voting power, political candidates and states are more likely to work to gain their support — especially if it means accessing support from a voting bloc that includes over six million people with prior felony convictions.Florida has moved to take action in restoring these voter rights, by proposing a ballot initiative that would allow these formerly incarcerated citizens the right to vote, if their felony charges don't entail convictions for murder or sexual offenses. If not passed, Florida, like many other states, will continue to hold those who were once imprisoned back from taking ownership of their lives. And until they gain the right to vote, those in prison will have to rely on civilians, community organizers and politicians to fight for them.Reform Jails L.A. Chair and Black Lives Matter Co-founder Patrisse Cullors has been fighting for those incarcerated in California by proposing the Reform Jails and Community Reinvestment Initiative. This initiative seeks to give the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission the ability to subpoena for any information and documents needed in investigations regarding misconduct in Los Angeles jails, after a growing number of deaths occurred in prison at the hands of prison guards. Giving the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission this level of power would bring a sense of accountability to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for the violence precipitated by prison guards. Though the initiative has since been pushed from this midterm to instead appear on California’s ballot in 2020, the measure would still push one of the demands from the prison strike forward, by opening a channel for those in prison to “address grievances and violations of their rights.” If passed, those who are currently incarcerated would have a space to express themselves about any harmful actions exercised toward them without fear of retaliation or a loss of privileges.Colorado is also including an initiative on its ballot, which addresses another demand from the prison strike: The abolishment of prison slavery. Amendment A proposes rewording Colorado's Constitution to not allow slavery, regardless of whether it is a punishment of a crime or not. The purpose of the amendment is to change the language in a way that sends a message statewide that prison slavery would not be tolerated. Although the wording in the Constitution would be subject to change, it wouldn't necessarily change anything about how those who are imprisoned are subjected to manual labor for little wages.This will be the second time this initiative has appeared on Colorado ballots, after its initial wording wasn’t clear. If passed, Colorado would join the other states that have already reworded their Constitutions, in terms of how prison slavery is addressed — something that still needs to be done to the 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.While some states are making the conscientious effort to include the demands of prisoners in political conversations as activist organizations continue to fight for prison reform, many candidates that are running for office in the 2018 midterms have not included concerns pertaining to prison reform within their campaign platforms. It seems as though the number of actively campaigning individuals who want to speak up on behalf of those with a history of incarceration are few and far between.One of the few candidates speaking out about prison reform is Rob Richardson, the Democratic candidate for state treasurer in Ohio. He is also the only Black candidate in the state’s race. While it is unusual to see a state treasurer — of all political positions of power — attempt to tackle prison reform, it may provide the edge in Richardson's campaign that could lead him to victory, as his plan for prison reform would be critical to the state’s financial and political structure. Richardson has boldly proclaimed that if elected as state treasurer, he would use his position to divest taxpayer money from for-profit private prisons.Ohio has one of the largest prison populations in the United States. Two of its largest for-profit private prison companies, CoreCivic and The GEO Group, are invested in by the state’s pension plans, leaving taxpayer money to be used for the prison operation and maintenance costs that are contributing to poor quality conditions in the prison system. The Office of the Ohio Treasurer not only handles the money coming from pension plans, but it is required by state law to have representation on the pension boards. Although Ohio's treasury doesn’t have the jurisdiction to directly divest the funds from the pensions, Richardson still banks on using the influence of the position to provide alternative and more secure investments other than for-profit prisons.Punishment of a crime should not include slavery or any other form of powerlessness that can strip away fundamental aspects of basic human dignity and rights. Perhaps the reason why prison reform has been such a difficult issue to tackle is because those who'd be most impacted by related legislation are often left out of the political sphere, since they are ineligible to vote. Despite often going unseen, the prison strike showed us how powerful incarcerated individuals are when they collectively raise their voices together. Imagine how much more change within the political system could occur, if they could participate as voters? It is up to us as voters to use our rights to echo their demands, bring back their power, and show them more respect as members of our society.Like this content? Check these out: Florida Is One Of Four States With A Lifetime Ban On Voting For Convicted Felons. Here's How Amendment 4 Can Change That Here's What 2019 Could Look With Three Black Governors Why The 2018 Midterms Elections Matter? Make sure you're following Blavity Politics on Instagram and join our daily newsletter to stay engaged and...

Richard Edmond Vargas, also known as "Richie Reseda" is a convicted felon who has been serving time in an all-male prison in Soledad, California, for armed robbery since he was a teen. "The Feminist on Cellblock Y," a documentary produced by filmmaker Contessa Gayles, follows the now 25-year-old Reseda and his fellow prison mates as they participate in an inmate rehabilitation program centered around feminist literature. It's said in the documentary, "a lot of them come out even worse than they were before," referring to the inmates. In order to counter that particular manifestation, these men spend their days learning about the patriarchy, discovering the power of vulnerability, and personally combating toxic masculinity. Additionally, the program encourages the men to confront all of the areas where these toxic ideals of masculinity have prevailed in their lives. "We cannot challenge our harmful behavior without challenging patriarchy," Reseda says in the film.Reseda is the mentee of Black Live Matter co-founder and activist Patrisse Cullors. The two crossed paths during his high school years when Cullors was his school counselor. She has continued to support him and his program since he's been incarcerated. She also mentioned him in her book, "When they Call You A Terrorist". "This documentary is about a human being who wasn’t given up on. This is what transformative justice looks like," Cullors recently wrote in a poignant Facebook post about the documentary. "This is why I believe not just in the politics of abolition, but the practice. The hard messy sometimes disappointing but always rewarding work of abolition."Watch the trailer here. The documentary is available to stream on...

Patrisse Cullors is a radical queer black woman, the co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement and the author of her new memoir, “When They Call You A Terrorist.”Cullors has a lot write about, because people have a lot to say -- both about her as an activist and Black Lives Matter as a whole.In her book, Cullors discusses her tumultuous childhood growing up in Los Angeles where she saw daily injustices against people of color. She was raised during the era of the war on drugs, where family members and friends were impacted by unjust laws and incarcerated at unfair rates.“I explore the conditions that poor black people experience,” Cullors told Blavity in a video interview about her memoir. “Criminalization was normal and it wasn’t until I got older that I realized this was not acceptable.”Cullors’ life journey is a tumultuous one, but her experiences helped to make her the fearless organizer she is today and led her into an inspiring life mission. She, along with Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi, helped to build the Black Lives Matter movement, transforming it into a phrase with power and a movement with a mission. She recalls on these early days in the book.“When we built out Black Lives Matter, it was organic but very purposeful,” Cullors said. “This memoir is really about trying to tell how one becomes an activist, what type of conditions make someone want to fight back, make someone want to create something like Black Lives Matter.”After responding to the painful police killing of Trayvon Martin in 2012, the three women came together with a commitment to transform the ways black people were treated, both in America and beyond. Now, with more than 40 chapters around the globe, Cullors said Black Lives Matter is ready to tackle pressing issues in 2018 with a new agenda and a new strategy.However, what Cullors said she found most meaningful about her life’s work so far is that she has witnessed so many black people creating a new lane to give back.“There’s no way that there could be something like a Women’s March or something like a #TimesUp if it wasn’t for Black Lives Matter building that foundation around how we fight back,” she said. “Black Lives Matter, we exist. We’re here and we’re...

The Black Lives Matter movement is getting its well-deserved accolades!The Guardian reports that the founders of Black Lives Matter movement will be awarded this year’s Sydney Peace Prize. They will receive the award at a Sydney Peace Foundation dinner in November. They’ll also be delivering a special lecture on peace at a public ceremony.Syndey University in Australia has offered the award since 1998; similar to the Nobel Peace Prize, the Australian prize is awarded to those who promote human rights using nonviolence as a means of combating injustice. Until now, the prize has only gone to an individual peacemaker; the movement's trio will be the first group to receive the award.Black Lives Matter was founded by Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi following the death of Trayvon Martin and the acquittal of his killer, George Zimmerman. Ever since then, the organization has evolved into an entire movement, becoming a global crusader against injustice.The election of Donald Trump as president has further escalated their mission, and recently, the group helped bailout thirty black mothers from jail for Mother’s Day, as we reported.  “This movement resonates around the globe and here in Australia, where we have become inured to the high incarceration rates and deaths in custody of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples,” Pat Dodson, the West Australian Laborer senator and the 2008 recipient of the Sydney Peace Prize, told The Guardian. “It’s as if their lives do not matter.”“We’re not just about hitting the streets or direct action … it’s a humanizing project,” said co-founder Cullors. “We’re trying to re-imagine humanity and bring us to a place where we can decide how we want to be in relation to each other versus criminalizing our neighbors or being punitive towards them.”Congrats to the BLM...