Alicia Garza is an organizer and writer who co-founded Black Lives Matter alongside Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi. Her Facebook post in response to the 2013 acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting of Trayvon Martin gave rise to the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag, which became one of the most significant examples of digital political organizing.

Early Career and Organizing

Community Organizing (2000s-2013) Garza worked as an organizer in the San Francisco Bay Area, focusing on labor rights, health equity, and anti-discrimination efforts. She served as special projects director at the National Domestic Workers Alliance, where she developed campaigns addressing workers’ rights and economic policy.

Founding Black Lives Matter

The Facebook Post (2013) Following the acquittal of George Zimmerman in July 2013, Garza wrote a Facebook post titled “A Love Letter to Black People,” which included the phrase “Black Lives Matter.” Patrisse Cullors shared the post with the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter, and Opal Tometi built digital infrastructure to support the growing online conversation. The phrase spread rapidly across social media platforms.

Movement Growth (2014-2016) The hashtag gained national prominence during the 2014 Ferguson protests following the killing of Michael Brown. Garza and other organizers used social media platforms to coordinate protests, share information, and build a decentralized network of local chapters across the United States. The movement demonstrated how digital tools could enable rapid, large-scale political organizing without traditional hierarchical structures.

Post-BLM Organizational Work

Black Futures Lab (2018-Present) Garza founded the Black Futures Lab, which conducts surveys and policy research to inform civic engagement strategies. The organization conducted the Black Census Project, one of the largest surveys of Black communities in the United States, collecting responses from over 30,000 people to inform policy priorities.

Author and Public Figure (2020-Present) In 2020, Garza published “The Purpose of Power: How We Come Together When We Fall Apart,” which documented her experiences in organizing and the origins of Black Lives Matter. She continued to engage in public discourse through media appearances, speaking engagements, and digital platforms.

Digital Political Impact

Garza’s influence on digital politics includes:

• Originating the #BlackLivesMatter phrase, which became a defining example of hashtag activism
• Demonstrating how a single social media post can catalyze a national movement
• Pioneering decentralized digital organizing models adopted by subsequent movements
• Using social media to connect local organizing efforts into a national network
• Shaping public discourse on policing and racial justice through digital platforms

Organizing Approach

• Emphasis on building grassroots power through digital and in-person engagement
• Use of social media for both rapid response and sustained community organizing
• Data-driven civic engagement through large-scale surveys and research
• Cross-platform communication to reach diverse audiences

Garza’s work illustrated how digital platforms could transform individual expression into large-scale political movements, establishing new models for civic engagement and activist organizing in the social media era.