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
Tim Craig, Washington Post, 16 Apr. 2024
The Supreme Court on Monday let stand a lower court’s ruling that a Black Lives Matter protest organizer can be sued by a police officer injured by an unknown assailant, a decision affecting the First Amendment right to protest.
—USA TODAY, 15 Apr. 2024
While there are limits on how that material can be searched for and used, the F.B.I. has repeatedly violated those constraints in recent years — including improperly querying for information about Black Lives Matter protesters and people suspected of participating in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
—Charlie Savage, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2024
Smiley asked about these legal fights, and Abdullah said that as nonprofits, the various chapters that belong to Black Lives Matter Grassroots wouldn’t be endorsing anyone in the 2024 race.
—Benjamin Oreskes, Los Angeles Times, 10 Apr. 2024
The track was criticized for promoting gun violence and taking aim at the Black Lives Matter movement.
—Kimberly Nordyke, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Apr. 2024
Paige has also been vocal about advocating for Black Lives Matter as Drew is biracial.
—Rebecca Aizin, Peoplemag, 5 Apr. 2024
For example, 49% of men say that America hasn’t gone far enough in giving women equal rights with men, and the majority of White Americans (60%) support Black Lives Matter.
—Preeti Vani, Fortune, 4 Apr. 2024
Heartbeat draws from the canon but reimagines it with an avant-garde spirit and an eye toward the issues of our time: gun violence, Black Lives Matter, the #MeToo movement.
—Joshua Barone, New York Times, 4 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 27 Apr. 2024.
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