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
Andrea Flores, Los Angeles Times, 4 Jan. 2026
According to previously unreported recordings obtained by ProPublica, Vought accepted an assignment from Trump to come up with a way for conservatives to counter Black Lives Matter.
—Andy Kroll, ProPublica, 30 Dec. 2025
Grant’s real-life death was one of the many instances of police brutality that precipitated the creation of the Black Lives Matter movement, and the film premiered the same year BLM was founded.
—Lia Beck, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Dec. 2025
The Black Lives Matter movement that followed the death of Floyd and other Black Americans at the hands of police grew hot and fast that summer thanks to social media and the easy recording and sharing of video footage.
—Andrew Couts, Wired News, 29 Dec. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Black Lives Matter.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Black%20Lives%20Matter. Accessed 11 Jan. 2026.
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