Black Lives Matter

noun

: a movement founded in 2013 to end white supremacy and support Black communities

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 BLM

Examples of Black Lives Matter in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Former federal prosecutor Adam Deitch, who was one of the attorneys who prosecuted Black Lives Matter charity fraudster Monica Cannon-Grant, is also running for Norfolk DA. —Flint McColgan, Boston Herald, 6 Feb. 2026

That asymmetry has collapsed During the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, corporations rushed to declare their commitments to racial justice, diversity and social responsibility. —Alessandro Piazza, The Conversation, 5 Feb. 2026

During the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, corporations rushed to declare their commitments to racial justice, diversity and social responsibility. —Alessandro Piazza, Fortune, 5 Feb. 2026

In 2020, there was internal pushback within Nike by Black employees who wanted the company to acknowledge shortcomings in the company’s own workforce diversity before putting out an advertisement at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement featuring LeBron James and Megan Rapinoe. —Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 4 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

2014, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for Black Lives Matter

• antimatter
• atter
• batter
• blatter
• catarrh
• chatter
• clatter
• fatter
• flatter
• hatter
• latter
• natter