In the summer of 2013, during the aftermath of the murder of Trayvon Martin and the acquittal of his killer, George Zimmerman, three women created a call to action. They created the #BlackLivesMatter movement which has since taken the nation by storm. It has faced both extreme praise and intense scrutiny. But Alicia Garza, one of the founders of the movement, says that Black Lives Matter is an "ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise." Regardless of your opinions about the movement, I think it is important to take a few minutes to appreciate the women whose passion fuels it.

Alicia Garza:

Garza is an editorial writer who has had her work published in The Guardian, Rolling Stone, The Huffington Post, and other publications. She is an activist who has worked with the People Organized to Win Employment Rights and the National Domestic Workers Alliance. She has also been praised for her efforts to fight racism and gentrification in San Francisco.

In November of 2014, Garza was involved in a protest during which protesters chained themselves together inside and outside a Bay Area Rapid Transit train. Their goal was to stop the train for four and a half hours, to commemorate the amount of time Michael Brown's body was left in a Ferguson street after he was killed by a police officer. However, the protest only lasted an hour and a half. It ended after police dismantled part of the train and removed the protesters.

Patrisse Cullors:

Cullors is an artist and activist with a degree in religion and philosophy from UCLA. Before Black Lives Matter, she was the executive director of the Coalition to End Sheriff Violence in L.A. Jails, a group which sought reform through a civilian commission overseeing the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Unfortunately, their efforts were unsuccessful. But Cullors went on to co-found a prison activism organization which achieved this feat.

Opal Tometi:

Tometi is the daughter of Nigerian immigrants and is the Executive Director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI). During her time there, Tometi has helped organize the first rally for immigrant justice led by the Black community and the first Congressional briefing on Black immigrants. Tometi has presented at the United Nations and she participated in the UN's Global Forum on Migration and Development and the Commission on the Status of Women. She has been featured by the Los Angeles Times and was named one of Cosmopolitan's Top 100 extraordinary women. In 2016, she received an honorary doctorate from Clarkson University.