About Black Lives Matter
Our Vision
Black Lives Matter imagines a world where Black people across the diaspora thrive, experience joy, and are not defined by their struggles. In pursuing liberation, we envision a future fully divested from police, prisons, and all punishment paradigms and which invests in justice, joy, and culture.
Our Mission
Black Lives Matter is working inside and outside of the system to heal the past, reimagine the present, and invest in the future of Black lives through policy change, investment in our communities, and a commitment to arts and culture.
Black Lives Matter Foundation is an abolition-centered foundation fighting institutional injustice and serving Black people globally. We fund organizations and individuals leading policy and abolitionist efforts and partner with organizations and individuals who offer direct services to support the needs of Black communities.
We fund organizations and individuals leading policy and abolitionist efforts and partner with organizations and individuals who offer direct services to support the needs of Black communities.
We know the work and leadership of true revolution rests in the hands of those most impacted by the systems we are trying to abolish. We acknowledge that our role as funders distances us from daily, on-the-ground organizing and that our partnerships keep our work, our language, and our commitments informed, guided by and in alignment with the most vulnerable.
As a Black foundation, we invest in research which supports Black futures by reimagining a world without punitive measures. By partnering with nonprofits to train on-the-ground organizers and uplift Black arts & culture, our foundation helps to forge healing ecosystems to nurture Black liberation and Black life.
Our Pillars
Policy
We are intervening on new and existing policies to reimagine a world without punitive measures and create a world where Black people have all that we need: food, education, housing, health care, clean water, breathable air, and everything else foundational to personal and communal safety.
Arts
We are concentrating on the nexus of art and activism in pursuit of Black liberation and the preservation and protection of Black creativity.
Healing Justice
We are building healing spaces and nurturing ecosystems that support Black communities impacted by oppressive structures and injustice.
Frontline Organizing
We are partnering with leaders and organizations working on-the-ground in our communities who center abolitionist principals and build radical organizing models rooted in Black power, self-determination, and the support of system-impacted families.
Research & Education
We are investing in forward-thinking research developing abolitionist frameworks and curriculum around Black history, identity, and Black futures.
Culture
We are uplifting Black culture that propels us to dream big and create the communities we want and need to flourish, grow, and thrive.
Our History
Our HIStory
In 2013, three radical Black organizers—Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi—created a Black-centered political-movement-building project called #BlackLivesMatter in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer, George Zimmerman.
Our Core Beliefs
These core beliefs are deeply ingrained principles that guide all of our foundation’s decisions and actions. Our commitment to these values upholds and distinguishes our service to our communities. We believe these values are an extension of the life experiences and needs of Black people globally. With that understanding, we hold to our core beliefs with both resolve and openness.
We affirm the lives of all Black people. Our network centers those who have been marginalized within Black liberation movements.
We are working for a world where Black lives are no longer systemically targeted for deliberate and indirect demise.
We affirm our humanity, our contributions to society, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression.
We affirm the abolition of any system that perpetuates violence against Black people, including prisons and police.
We affirm collective safety and community based support. We keep us safe.
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