Alicia Garza

Born:January 4, 1981 (age 43)
Education:B.A., University of California, San Diego

Alicia Garza is an activist, editorial writer and co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement. She is currently the special projects director for the National Domestic Workers Alliance.

Garza was born on January 4, 1981, in Los Angeles, California. She graduated with a degree in anthropology and sociology at the University of California in San Diego in 2002.

Previously, Garza served as the executive director for People Organized to Win Employment Rights (POWER) for the San Francisco Bay Area and was board chair for Right to the City Alliance in Oakland. On February 26, 2012, when Trayvon Martin was fatally shot by neighborhood security guard George Zimmerman in Sanford, Florida, Garza first used the phrase “Black Lives Matter” on Facebook. In 2013 she, Opal Tometi and Patrisse Cullors officially created the Black Lives Matter Movement, and Garza led the 2015 Freedom Ride to Ferguson that launched the building of #BlackLivesMatter chapters across the United States. Garza is an active participant in several Bay Area social movement groups. She is on the board of directors of Forward Together's Oakland California branch, is involved with Black Organizing for Leadership and Dignity, and is on the board of directors for Oakland's School of Unity and Liberation.

*#BlackLivesMatter, #BLM*

Speeches