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
E. Tammy Kim, New Yorker, 4 June 2025
In 2021, almost a year after the murder of George Floyd that sparked the Black Lives Matter movement, New York’s then-mayor Bill de Blasio appointed a special New York City Racial Justice Commission.
—Richard McGahey, Forbes.com, 3 June 2025
In March, Trump issued an executive order that aims to restore the statues and monuments that have been removed following the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement.
—Jameelah Nasheed, Essence, 29 May 2025
The Black Lives Matter protests in Hollywood were not far from my house.
—Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 28 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for Black Lives Matter
Cite this Entry
“Black Lives Matter.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Black%20Lives%20Matter. Accessed 13 Jun. 2025.
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