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

More recently, the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements spread across the globe, as did the art that was created in response to each. —Phaedra Trethan, USA Today, 28 Mar. 2026

Also listed is a group perhaps best known for its work amid Black Lives Matter protests, Detroit Will Breathe, along with others. —Darcie Moran, Freep.com, 27 Mar. 2026

More recently, armed counter-protesters were a visible presence at drag performances and Black Lives Matter demonstrations; soon, armed left-wing counter-counter-protesters started showing up, too. —Rachel Monroe, New Yorker, 26 Mar. 2026

The city erased multiple Black Lives Matter crosswalks in South Dallas on Wednesday, two days after the removal of Oak Lawn’s rainbow crosswalks began. —Elissa Jorgensen, Dallas Morning News, 25 Mar. 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