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
Maggie Ryan, Flow Space, 10 Sep. 2025
In the interview, part of the promotion for the film After the Hunt, Polidoro asked Roberts and Garfield a question about the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements, excluding co-star Ayo Edebiri in her address.
—Megan Cartwright, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 Sep. 2025
Nonetheless, Johnson’s account of the situation turned into a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement across the country for years.
—Armon Sadler, VIBE.com, 9 Sep. 2025
Ayo Edebiri had to take the proverbial mic and answer a question about Black Lives Matter directed to her white co-stars, Andrew Garfield and Julia Roberts, at a press junket for their new film, After the Hunt.
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 8 Sep. 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 17 Sep. 2025.
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