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
Brittney Melton, NPR, 6 Aug. 2025
Bowser, however, has dismissed any connection between the removal of the Black Lives Matter mural and Trump, instead tying the change to a city project to celebrate the country’s 250th anniversary.
—Naomi Lim, The Washington Examiner, 6 Aug. 2025
In 2020, Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis, swept the country and helped to bring the issue of Confederate monuments into even sharper focus.
—Robert Birsel, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Aug. 2025
As players advanced the Black Lives Matter movement, Sabally found herself at the forefront of the league’s approach to social justice.
—Eric Jackson, Sportico.com, 1 Aug. 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 21 Aug. 2025.
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