Of the boom in companies seeking diversity, equity, and inclusion consultants, she says, I have built a team where there are no contradictions between the work that we do out in the world and the work that we do together . [34] She is also on the board of directors for Oakland's School of Unity and Liberation (SOUL). Previously, she has worked as an editor at Entrepreneur.com, WomansDay.com and Popular Photography magazine. googletag.pubads().collapseEmptyDivs(true); [10], On March 28, 2018, Garza announced via her Instagram page, "I wish this was a better update. Explore a billion-year-old volcanic mystery on Lake Superior, A journey of the senses through Abu Dhabi, These Lake Superior islands are no place for amateurs, One of Earth's loneliest volcanoes holds an extraordinary secret. When George Zimmerman was infamously acquitted in July 2013, in the murder case of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, activist Alicia Garza famously wrote on Facebook: "The sad part is, there's a section of America who is cheering and celebrating right now. Garza is also a principal at the Black Futures Lab and the Black to the Future Action Fund, the strategy & partnerships director for the National Domestic Workers Alliance, host of the podcast Lady Dont Take No and a cofounder of Supermajority. The cancer cells have spread all over her brain". Do you have diversity in power in your company? ! (Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for the New York Women's Foundation) I would say that's progress. var gads = document.createElement("script"); As a Black, queer woman, everything is impacted by who I am in the world, she says. I really believe that we deserve to be powerful in every aspect of our lives, and for too many of us, power is elusive. In 2008, she married Malachi and took the name Garza, settling in Oakland. Power also means having the ability to reward and punish and decide how resources are distributed." I sat down with Alicia Garza principal at the Black Futures Lab and co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement, and most recently, co-host of the Sunstorm podcast with labor activist Ai-jen . I had the opportunity to talk to Garza about what inspired her to write the book, what changes she thinks are needed to create a more equitable and just world, how she keeps herself energized and centered as she does this important work, her call to action and more. var cookies = document.cookie.split('; '); Action can look like moving resources to communities that are being impacted, lobbying action, [and] supporting organizations that are doing the critical work to change the world that we live in.. [20] The movement and Garza are credited for popularizing the use of social media for mass mobilization in the United States; a practice called "mediated mobilization". Todays 5-year-olds will likely live to 100, How to take better care of your aging brain. How do you stay grounded and positive despite the challenging times we are living through? When Alicia Garza wrote Black lives matter in a Facebook post nearly seven years ago, the activist from Oakland, California, never imagined that those words would come to define a global movement. Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza hasn't heard back from Ice Cube despite the rapper's previous desire to work together.. As reported by theGrio, Ice Cubeborn O'Shea Jackson courted controversy during the waning weeks of the election cycle by interjecting himself . Oct 17, 2022. Garza: To be honest, there is glaring inequity of Black people overall in sectors and industries, and that has everything to do with the way that racism permeates every aspect of our society and economy. I try to do things every day that bring me joy or challenge metrying new recipes, for example, or planting the garden for the third time after cabbage moths have gone bananas in it. Garza began working with Just Cause Oakland,[8] where she met her former partner Malachi Garza, a transgender man and a community activist. Alicia Garza . And once you do, keep bringing other people along with you. Things are pretty dicey over at "Law & Order," NBC's 16-year-old police series. All of this to say: I am hopeful, and I am waiting to see what Vice President-elect Harris does in this role that gives the symbolism of this moment some substance. //]]> "ObfuscatedMarketplaceId": "A1PQBFHBHS6YH1" When she was 12 years old, Alicia engaged in activism, promoting school sex education about birth control. "CacheDetection.RequestID": "H7H9FCNA7870XN0WV9HE", Garza reflects on a lifetime of activism in this 2018 interview with our editor-in-chief. Here we are seven years later, and I think what's become clear is that some of the discomfort with this statement is that it forces you to choose sides. Social vs. medical egg freezing: Whats the difference? var googletag = googletag || {}; 7:00 pm. } Black people. Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza is not one to mince words, and her June 20 interview with The Huffington Post is no exception. In 2011, she was elected board chair for Right to the City Alliance/RTTC in Oakland, which fought gentrification and police brutality. My mom used to say, "You cannot change what you refuse to see." Alicia Garza, a cofounder of the Black Lives Matter organization, came to Berkeley Thursday night "to rant for a minute" before settling into a somber talk about BLM today and the urgent need to fight threats ranging from fascism and extra-judicial racial terror to white supremacy. Join them. if (window.ue && window.ue.tag) { window.ue.tag('author:quotes:signed_out', ue.main_scope);window.ue.tag('author:quotes:signed_out:mobileWeb', ue.main_scope); } There is a longing for who we can be together. Black Lives Matter was founded by three women. And I remember that I am but one person. Garza has a tattoo emblazoned on her chest that reads: and I can't tell you who the hell set things up like this, but I can tell you that from now on my resistance, my simple and daily and nightly self-determination, These are the final lines in June Jordan's "Poem about My Rights"[9], The sentiment of #BlackLivesMatter has deep roots in African American culture. var url; Now, with the death of George Floyd, Black Lives Matter protests have erupted around the world and the words themselves are painted in massive yellow letters on the street leading up to the White House. Schnall: We just celebrated the exciting and historic milestone of Kamala Harris becoming the first woman, first Black, and first South Asian Vice President-elect. Now, BLM signs dot suburban lawns and the rallying cry she created dons billboards and entire city blocks. I continue to be surprised at how little Black lives matter. "Events.Namespace": "csa", I remember when we weren't having substantive conversations about anti-Black racism or state violence," says Alicia Garza, who helped launch the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement in 2013. Curators are realizing that returning looted artifacts isnt closing museumsits opening new doors. Today, thanks to the movement's foundersGarza . Langston Hughes. The president of this country said that Black Lives Matter was a symbol of hate. I would say that that's a big threat. Alicia Garza is behind the Black Futures Lab, which is backed by the Chinese Progressive Association (CPA), according to the website. A Love Note to Our Folks When protests erupted across the United States late last year, after grand juries failed to indict the police officers who killed Michael Brown and Eric Garner, a friend who works for a prominent media outlet wrote to me wondering "if it's all just the internet organizing itself." I do what I can to spend time with people who make me happy, at least three times a week. I love you. This is a BETA experience. Are the Black people in your company assigned roles of diversity officer? Here is a taste of what she had . In 2003 Garza returned to the Bay Area, where she began a training program in political education with the School of Unity and Liberation (SOUL) that taught young people of color how to organize, by placing them with local community based organizations in West Oakland. Online Only. var node = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; She is on the board of directors of Forward Together's Oakland California branch and is also involved with Black Organizing for Leadership and Dignity. One of the country's leading organizers, Principal at Black Futures . This is about black women, cisgender, transgender, no gender, disabled, queer, immigrant black women who time and time again keep trying to tell y'all and more than that keep showing y'all. Given the tremendous power Garza and her team inspire, it was fascinating to hear her definition of power at the Lesbians Who Tech Summit: For me, power means getting to make decisions over your own life. To address her frustration with Americas centuries-long dismissal of black peoples needs and wants, Garza is leading the Black Census Project, the largest survey of black peoples needs in America thats been done since the Reconstruction era. This election season, Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza says President Trump is "stoking fires he has no intention of controlling" and inciting far-right extremists. In that relief, will we hold the Biden-Harris administration to a new set of standards? var e = document.createElement("script"); e.src = "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41mrkPcyPwL.js"; document.head.appendChild(e); apstag.init({ throw new Error("could not load device-specific stylesheet : " + err.message); To create equity, we have to look at the rules that promote inequity in these companies and sectors, and the practices that support and enforce those rules. Every single day, we confront things that we believe . With Gavin Newsom, much of the Democratic Party establishment and Lennar opposing them, POWER lost. If I can inspire someone else to be a changemaker, I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing: growing the team so that the rate of change can be faster, and so that we can enjoy it in our lifetimes. An award-winning team of journalists, designers, and videographers who tell brand stories through Fast Company's distinctive lens, The future of innovation and technology in government for the greater good, Fast Company's annual ranking of businesses that are making an outsize impact, Leaders who are shaping the future of business in creative ways, New workplaces, new food sources, new medicine--even an entirely new economic system. Two tattoo expos, two weeks and 13 awards later, tattoo artist Daniel Garza is back in Paris and looking forward to his own expo in October. All rights reserved, The 'extreme cruelty' around the global trade in frog legs, What does cancer smell like? Martin was unarmed, carrying only Skittles and an ice tea. We don't live in a two-dimensional world, says Alicia Garza, the 34-year-old who cofounded Black Lives Matter with Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi. Garza advises that companies not make these calculations in a silo. Old cells hang around as we age, doing damage to the body. (function() { It's bigger than hiring Black people to do the diversity work in an organizationit's interrupting the rules and practices that promote our exclusion. }); You could have Black people concentrated in the administrative part of an organization or company and think that's enough because technically Black people are represented. The virtual program will feature two of the nation's most prolific civil rights activists: Angela Davis and Alicia Garza. And I will continue that. Time and time again we have challenged this country to live up to its values, freedom, justice, democracy for all. "What I know from this last four years is that Trump and his administration is not only not good for black people, but it's not good for our movements." googletag.pubads().enableSingleRequest(); Garza joined the National Domestic Workers Alliance in Oakland, California as its director of special projects. What unites them for me is that everyone right now is longing for something different, something better. So many of us are relieved, and rightfully soDonald Trump was and continues to be the greatest threat to humanity in a generation. She has also been awarded the Jeanne Gauna Communicate Justice Award from the Centre for Media Justice. "//securepubads.g.doubleclick.net/tag/js/gpt.js"; "[45], In 2018 Garza launched Black Futures Lab, whose goal is to engage with advocate organizations to advance policies that make black communities stronger. Cullors then put Garzas Facebook post on Twitter, with the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter. Garza, a black queer woman, is an Oakland-based organizer, writer, and public speaker who is currently the special projects director for the National Domestic Workers Alliance, the nations leading voice for dignity and fairness for the millions of domestic workers in the United States. She was convicted in the murder of a police officer in a May 1973 shootout on the New Jersey. [CDATA[ Browse the library of TED talks and speakers, 100+ collections of TED Talks, for curious minds. She is also the co-creator of #BlackLivesMatter, an international movement and organizing project focused on combatting anti-black state-sanctioned violence. googletag.pubads().setTargeting("surface", "mw"); But that means weve got to get serious about building power. It means having the courage to face that which scares us and which we are not proud of, so that we can keep it from happening again. During her time in the position, she won the right for youth to use public transportation for free in San Francisco, and campaigned against gentrification and police brutality in the area. But there also must be a belief that we, too, can make the change we long for. Creating a community of change is no differentto change the way the world functions now, we need people from all different backgrounds, experiences, skills and talents to come together to achieve a common goal. [5] When she showed up to her interview, her interviewer (Malachi) was forty minutes late. [3] She graduated in 2002 with a degree in anthropology and sociology. Garza: Figure out what you really care about. var ue_sid = "563-6386860-4805612"; degree in anthropology and sociology in 2002 from the University of California, San Diego. I ended that post by saying that our lives matter. She has been twice honored by the Harvey Milk Democratic Club with the Bayard Rustin Community Activist Award for her work fighting racism and gentrification in San Francisco. I work to amplify womens voices, leadership and action, Digital Healthcare Company Speeds Development And Delivery Of New Drugs, Meet The Female Founder Who Just Got Investment From Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund For Her Plastic Waste Solution, Women, Money, And Stress: How To Overcome Financial Anxiety, Jasmin Larians Sculptural Inspiration For Cult Gaias Newest Flagship Locations, Check How Climate Prone An Area Is Before You Move, Belly Wealth: One Founder Tackling The Most Undiagnosed & Dismissed Womens Health Issue, These Shoes Are Made For Walking: KEENs New Footwear, New Research Shows Alignment Between American Voters On Climate Change And Inflation Reduction Act. })(); Garza endorsed Elizabeth Warren in the Democratic primary. I've told myself several times this past year that we're all doing the absolute best we can, and for now, that just needs to be good enough. A year later, the shooting of Michael Brown, another unarmed Black teen, by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, galvanized Black Lives Matter to become a national organization. Youve got to start at the top and work your way down. This project was the largest survey on Black People since the Reconstruction era of the United States. if (window.Mobvious === undefined) { Its what motivates me. What is your philosophy of the components needed to create actual change? //
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