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

From his breakthrough images during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests to capturing photos of the Palestinian liberation movement, Hariman is also known for his historic achievement as the first Black man to photograph a British Vogue cover. —Alex Ritman, Variety, 11 Nov. 2025

The target was Black Lives Matter activists—that summer, a Black man named Eric Garner had died after being put in a chokehold by an N.Y.P.D. officer, leading to protests around the city. —Antonia Hitchens, New Yorker, 10 Nov. 2025

Protesters toppled the statue and set it ablaze in June 2020 during the Black Lives Matter movement. —NPR, 28 Oct. 2025

Other groups involved included the Minnesota Freedom Fund, Minneapolis NAACP and Black Lives Matter Minnesota. —Talia McWright, Twin Cities, 28 Oct. 2025

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