Category Archives: Black Lives Matter

Alicia Garza is not synonymous with Black Lives Matter, the movement she helped create, and thats very deliberate. The 39-year-old organiser is not interested in being the face of things; shes interested in change. We are often taught that, like a stork, some leader swoops from the sky to save us, she tells me over Zoom from her home in Oakland, California. That sort of mythologising, she says, obscures the average persons role in creating change.

Garza is also scornful of fame for fames sake and of celebrity activists. The number of people who want to be online influencers rather than do the work of offline organising knocking on doors, finding common ground, building alliances depresses her. Our aspiration should not be to have a million followers on Twitter, she says. We shouldnt be focused on building a brand but building a base, and building the kind of movement that can succeed.

That doesnt mean Garza doesnt care about her image: for our interview, she has sneakily avoided having her webcam switched on, but only because shes doing a [skincare] face mask before your shoot today, so I didnt want to scare you. While Garza is ferociously smart, laser-focused on pushing our political system to move from symbol to substance, she also has a lighter side. She laughs often, draws you in; her passion is infectious.

The origin story of Black Lives Matter is one of collective, collaborative action rather than individual glory. After George Zimmerman was acquitted of fatally shooting Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager, in 2013, Garza wrote a Facebook post she called a love letter to Black people. Her friend Patrisse Cullors shared the post with the hashtag BlackLivesMatter. Another friend, Opal Tometi, designed the blacklivesmatter.com website and social media platforms, using the signature black and yellow colour palette. Seven years later, that rallying cry has changed our lexicon and landscape. Black Lives Matter has been chanted by millions of protesters around the world. It has been painted in giant letters on a road leading to the White House, and posted on windows in primary schools in Northamptonshire.

The evolution of Black Lives Matter, Garza says, has been deeply humbling, and super weird to watch. Particularly considering she was repeatedly told, by everyone from pundits to peers, that the name sounded too threatening. People said we should call it All Lives Matter or Black Lives Matter Too, if we wanted to get more people involved. There have been so many full-circle moments.

Four years ago, nobody talked explicitly about Black Lives Matter during the Democratic National Convention, for example. But, Garza says, you couldnt get through five minutes of this years without the movement being namechecked. Whats more, its being talked about with more substance than weve seen before. In the early days, many of the solutions being discussed in relation to the movement were relatively symbolic measures, like mandating that the police wear body cameras, requiring implicit bias training and setting up police reform taskforces. Now, however, there are serious discussions about defunding the police; about whether or not policing keeps us safe. And that is a huge, huge change. Those conversations arent just happening in the US, either; theyre happening around the world.

Garza attributes the movements global spread to two catalysts: Donald Trump and his overtly racist administration; and Covid-19, which meant people were more likely to be at home and glued to their screens when George Floyd was killed on camera. Black Lives Matter is now in the muscle memory of many of us, Garza says. And it was triggered by watching a man murdered by a police officer, who stared into the camera as he did it.

Garza has distilled the lessons she has learned from Black Lives Matter, and a decade of community organising, into her first book, The Purpose Of Power: How To Build Movements For The 21st Century. While the subtitle makes it sound like a how-to manual, one of its key lessons is that there is no quick and easy way to build a movement. As she writes, you dont just add water, oil and milk to a premixed batter; after 30 minutes in the oven, a movement is baked. Building movements, she stresses, means building alliances.

Garzas book starts with a history of one of the most successful movements of recent times: rightwing conservatism in the US. One reason the right has been so powerful, she argues, is that it has been very effective at building networks and alliances and coalitions that all agree on the purpose of power which is for them to keep it. The right are very good at bringing different groups together around a shared vision, and have been building power for the last three decades, Garza says, entrenching their agenda and values in the US. You can see it in the way conservatives have strategically, often surreptitiously, used the media to advance their ideology. Take Sinclair, for example, which late-night TV host John Oliver once called maybe the most influential media company you never heard of. Owned by a fervent Trump supporter, its the largest operator of local television stations in the US and has compelled its news anchors to parrot Trump talking points.

In particular, Garza says, the right has perpetuated the idea that success is purely a matter of personal responsibility. The message to poor people has been that its their laziness holding them back; the message to black people, that systemic racism doesnt exist the problem is their life choices. Worse, the narrative of personal responsibility for systemic failures has often been used by Black leaders to secure their seat at the table, Garza writes. That includes Barack Obama who, she notes, carefully avoided criticising law enforcement when Zimmerman was acquitted after the Martin shooting: He acknowledged that there is a long history of racial disparities in our criminal justice system while making sure to state that you cant blame the system. In adopting these rightwing talking points, she says, he capitulated to the same people who had called him and Michelle Obama Muslim socialists.

Obama isnt the only liberal hero Garza takes to task. Her book also analyses the way in which Bill Clinton ushered in legislation such as the 1994 federal crime bill, which greatly exacerbated mass incarceration. And she is unsparing about the racism of Hillary Clintons presidential primary campaign against Obama in 2008, citing an occasion when a photograph of Obama in traditional Somali dress was leaked to the media. (The Clinton campaign denied responsibility, but a Clinton supporter then went on MSNBC and said Obama shouldnt be ashamed of being seen in his native clothing.)

It is unusual to see a nuanced critique of Clinton and Obama, I say. Does Garza think liberals idolise certain politicians, treating them like celebrities rather than public servants? Absolutely, she says: Our political system functions around personalities rather than policies, symbol over substance.

One example of that interplay, she says, can be seen in the case of Breonna Taylor, who was shot and killed in her home in Kentucky earlier this year. The day before our conversation, a grand jury has brought no direct charges against the police for killing Taylor, sparking widespread anger.

For Garza, there is an irony in the announcement. The attorney general of Kentucky, Daniel Cameron, is a Black Republican, and lots of people would say its good that we have a Black person in this role, right? Thats the symbol. But in Camerons press conference, about not holding any of these officers accountable for her murder, he upheld and espoused racist ideas and policies. He announced that he was going to start a commission studying how they execute search warrants in Kentucky. So the symbol of a Black man in a position of power is not enough. Whats needed is people in power who will create substantive and systemic change for black people.

There is also a big difference between popularity and power, Garza says. DeRay Mckesson, who has amassed more than a million Twitter followers after gaining prominence as a community journalist during the 2014 Ferguson unrest, is a case in point. Mckesson is probably the leading example of the celebrity activist phenomenon Garza decries, and her book uses his 2016 failed bid to be mayor of Baltimore as a cautionary tale about the limits of online fame. Despite his celebrity friends and high profile Beyonc follows him on Twitter, and Rashida Jones donated to his campaign Mckesson won only around 2% of the vote in his home town. Garzas message is that you cant just tweet your way to political power; youve got to put in the work.

Mckessons high profile means he is often (wrongly) credited with launching Black Lives Matter, and with the work Garza and her co-founders started. Its a mistake, she notes, that he often doesnt seem overly eager to correct. She is not, I want to emphasise, being petty here. I get the impression shes far too much of a pragmatist for that. This is bigger than DeRay, she tells me. Its a question of how we see leadership and who we think deserves it. The people who we think deserve to be elevated tend to be men; meanwhile, black womens labour is often overlooked and erased.

Why, she asks, with a touch of frustration, are we holding on to a trope about leadership that is older than me? People are still looking for the Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr when, actually, leadership of movements today looks more like Lena Waithe and Laverne Cox. Cox is the first openly transgender person to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy award in an acting category, for Orange Is The New Black; Waithe, a queer black writer, actor and producer, won an Emmy for the Netflix show Master Of None. The things that make us different, those are our superpowers, Waithe said in her acceptance speech.

Garza knows a thing or two about being different. She was raised by her black mother and Jewish stepfather in Marin County, a predominantly white San Francisco suburb. She describes herself as queer. Maybe its an outdated ass word, she laughs, but adds that its a useful umbrella term for being more fluid in who Im attracted to and who I build intimate relationships with. Garza is married to a trans man and activist, whom she met in 2003.

Difference, she notes, can be a source of strength and power; it can give you a vantage point with potentially more range and insight. Yet the NGOs for which she worked after graduating from the University of California, San Diego seemed to have little room for difference: while the staff were mainly people of colour, those running the show were white. She moved into more grassroots organising, fighting for affordable housing in San Franciscos black communities by building neighbourhood coalitions. This work, she says, changed the way she thought about politics. It was where she began to understand that winning is about more than being right; its about inviting people to be part of a change they may not have known they needed.

Black Lives Matter has certainly mobilised people; but its move into the mainstream hasnt been without its issues. Garza accepts that the phrase has become a generic term that gets attached to anything related to police violence or black people. The decentralised nature of the organisation has contributed to the confusion.

Mistakes were also made as Black Lives Matter grew. Its hard to build a plane while youre flying it, Garza notes, and the organisation missed opportunities, such as developing clear demands to take on the 2016 campaign trail. Following eight years of a black president who hadnt brought as much hope and change as hed promised, many within the network were disillusioned with electoral politics and focused on direct action instead.

So Garza has taken the insight she has gained from Black Lives Matter and channelled it into a new organisation called Black Futures Lab, which she launched in 2017. Protesting can only get you so far; now Garza wants politicians to feel as accountable to black people as they do to corporations. Our work is purely focused on making sure that Black people are powerful in politics, so that we can be powerful in every aspect of our lives, she explains.

Obviously Black voters are not a monolith, Garza says, so one of the first challenges has been to create a consistent and coherent agenda for a diversity of experiences. In 2018, Black Futures Lab initiated what Garza calls the largest survey of Black people in America in 15 years; the resulting data went into developing the Black Agenda, a policy platform reflecting the most common concerns within Black communities across the political spectrum. One policy point, for example, is raising the minimum wage to $15, a move 85% of respondents to the Black Census supported. Other demands include creating more opportunity for home ownership and limiting police presence in schools, to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline.

Now that a policy platform has been developed, Garza is building support for it ahead of this years presidential election. Weve had 60,000 Black voters pledging to support the Black Agenda. What [these voters] are saying is that they will be using the agenda as they make decisions about who to vote for.

The Black Futures Lab occupies much of Garzas time now; she hasnt been involved in the day-to-day of Black Lives Matter for a few years. It might seem odd to step away from a movement just as it goes mainstream, but Garza isnt someone who wants to bask in her past achievements; it frustrates her how many times shes been asked the same questions about Black Lives Matter. Shes focused on changing the future rather than rehashing the past.

That said, she hasnt completely cut herself off. Oh my God, of course, she says when I ask if she still hangs out with her co-founders. The three were recently in Los Angeles together for the Time 100: Most Influential People of 2020 photoshoot, she says warmly, and remain very much in touch.

Garza has had her camera off throughout our conversation; she isnt still wearing that face mask, I ask? Weve been talking for an hour and Im not sure how long you can leave those things on. I slipped it off, she reassures me. Now my face is nice and soft, and Im gathering my things for the shoot. Weve got to head over there in two minutes.

Before I let her go, I ask if she is anxious about the forthcoming election. Of course, she replies. But the way she handles that is by making sure Im doing everything in my power to get the country back on track. There was a time when she was a cynic and thought the US was beyond saving, but over the last 10 years she has become profoundly hopeful. Now is the time to fight and to engage. Voting, she says, can also be a movement.

This article was amended on 20 October 2020 to remove some personal details.

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Black Lives Matter's Alicia Garza: Leadership today doesn't look like ...

Black Lives Matter has been called the largest civil movement in U.S. history. Since 2013, local BLM chapters have formed nationwide to demand accountability for the killings of dozens of African Americans by police and others. Since the summer of 2020, when tens of millions in the U.S. and around the world marched under the Black Lives Matter slogan to protest a Minneapolis police officers murder of George Floyd, the movement has risen to a new level of prominence, funding and scrutiny.

BLM has long been seen as a coordinated yet decentralized effort. Lately, the movement and its leading organizations have become more traditional and hierarchical in structure. Public opinion is also changing, as BLM chapters call on the movements leaders to be more accountable to its grassroots groups. We caught up with two scholars of worldwide African communities and cultures Kwasi Konadu and Bright Gyamfi to discuss BLM as both a movement and an organization.

Black Lives Matter started in 2013 as a messaging campaign. In response to the 2012 acquittal of George Zimmerman for shooting and killing Black teenager Trayvon Martin, three activists Opal Tometi, Alicia Garza and Patrisse Cullors protested the verdict on social media, along with many others. Cullors came up with the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter, which gained widespread use on social media and in street protests.

Over the next several years as Black Lives Matter flags, hashtags and signs became common features of local, national and even international protests in support of Black lives this messaging campaign became a decentralized social movement to demand accountability for police killings and other brutality against Black people.

The movement remained decentralized, although some significant, formal BLM-related organizations emerged during this time. For instance, in 2013 Cullors, Tometi and Garza formed the Black Lives Matter Network to facilitate communication, support and shared resources among the dozens of locally organized and led Black Lives Matter chapters that were springing up around the United States.

In 2014, the Movement for Black Lives, or M4BL, formed as a separate but related coalition of dozens of organizations of Black activist and others, including the Black Lives Matter Network.

In 2017, the Black Lives Matter Network transformed into the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, co-founded by Tometi and Cullors, who was the executive director until she stepped down in May 2021. This group describes itself as a global foundation supporting Black led movements.

While the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation says it is decentralized, over time it has followed a pattern similar to other social movements driven by individuals and organizations. It has become more of a conventional hierarchical organization, centralizing its operations and leadership. Its founders have won awards, book deals and notoriety.

The BLM Global Network Foundation has not developed any publicly known independent source of funding, nor was a decision ever made to rely primarily on grassroots support or small individual donations. As a result, it is dependent on corporate and foundation money to pay for its operations and programs. Amid the George Floyd uprisings in 2020, the BLM Global Network Foundation generated some US$90 million in donations or grants from corporations and foundations.

The Movement for Black Lives, which calls itself decentralized and anti-capitalist, also raised millions in 2020, including $100 million from the Ford Foundation.

All told, corporations pledged close to $2 billion to BLM-related causes in 2020, though less is known about pledges for 2021.

Meanwhile, many frontline Black Lives Matters chapters have struggled to stay afloat. Some key chapters have begun calling for financial transparency and more democratic decison-making from national leaders at the BLM Global Network Foundation, as well as a share of the funds the national groups have raised.

Others have disavowed the Black Lives Matter Network and defected from it, focusing on local community fundraising and organizing to support their work.

Though the phrase Black Lives Matter has become a common sight, the movement is losing public support. According to a new Civiqs survey of 244,622 registered voters, support for BLM fell from two-thirds of voters in June 2020 to 50% in June 2021.

Some of this shift may be due to growing public awareness of the movements internal struggles, such as competing visions and competition over scarce resources, as well as questions about whether some BLM leaders have used donations for personal benefit.

Tensions and conflicts are part of the evolution of all social movements, including BLM.

Movements for peoples of African ancestry also face a distinct challenge: They often have to appeal for both funding and action from the same white power structure and corporate interests that participate in and benefit from the suffering of Black people.

For example, although President Lyndon B. Johnson is remembered for helping pass the 1964 Civil Rights Act, he routinely referred to the 1957 version of that act as the nigger bill in conversations with his Southern white supremacist colleagues.

Another example involves the McDonalds Corp. In 1968, after the death of Martin Luther King Jr., McDonalds partnered with U.S. civil rights organizations. The company claimed its African American-owned franchises were carrying on Kings civil rights agenda to empower the Black community.

According to historian Marcia Chatelain, however, instead of enabling economic freedom, McDonalds has burdened the Black community with low wages, relatively few franchises and high rates of obesity, diabetes and heart disease. McDonalds has benefited from a devoted African American consumer base, more so because African Americans consume more fast food than any other race, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Money shaping social movements, such as the civil rights movement, is not new. The civil rights movement, including the summer of 1963s March on Washington, was funded by white liberal organizations and foundations. In the summer of 2020, BLM protests also generated millions in similar funding. Indeed, the Ford Foundation and the Borealis Philanthropy recently formed the Black-Led Movement Fund, which raises money for the Movement for Black Lives.

Malcolm X, in his analysis of the 1963 March on Washington, brought attention to the influence white philanthropy and leadership held over black social justice organizations, especially regarding funding that was controlled by the white power structure. Siding with Malcolms analysis, James Baldwin also observed, the March had already been co-opted.

Based on our research on civil rights-Black power organizations and on Black internationalism, BLM would benefit from a starfish organizational structure.

Starfishlike organizations are decentralized networks with no head. Intelligence is spread throughout an open system that easily adapts to circumstances. If a leader is removed, new ones emerge, and the network remains intact.

In the U.S., BLM organizers work through various groups, yet all are tied to centralized hubs, like the Movement for Black Lives coalition. These organizational choices conform to a spider analogy. Compared to the starfish structure, spiderlike organizations operate under the control of a central leader, and information and power are concentrated at the top.

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In the wake of the 2020 mass protests against racism after George Floyds murder, many Republican-led states proposed a new wave of draconian anti-protest laws to stifle dissent. This suggests that BLM might be more resilient if it followed the starfish approach.

In their desire to appeal to a diverse public to end white supremacy, Black Lives Matters leaders fail to consider that pervasive anti-Black violence is the very engine that powers white supremacy and makes broad coalitions ineffective.

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Black Lives Matter: How far has the movement come?

The Black Lives Matter movement started a massive wave of Americans uniting to call for defunding the police and eradicating white supremacy to make positive changes for Black Americans. But experts reflecting on the movements scorecard in 2022 say Black America hasnt benefited.

"I would argue that, on balance, these communities are worse off because by [BLM] overemphasizing the role of police, they've changed police behavior for the worse," the Manhattan Institutes Jason Riley told Fox News Digital in a phone interview. "In other words, police do become more cautious. They're less likely to get out of their cars and engage with people in the community. And to the extent that police are less proactive, the criminals have the run of the place."

A protester waves a Black Lives Matter flag during a demonstration in Los Angeles April 20, 2021. (Stanton Sharpe/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Riley noted that "police brutality still exists, bad cops exist," and he has no "problem with raising awareness about police misconduct." But he argued that BLM is "over-focused" on police and does not take into account that "97, 98% [of Black homicides] do not involve police at all."

Manhattan Institute senior fellow Jason Riley (Fox News)

Dr. Carol Swain, a retired professor of political science and law at Vanderbilt University, told Fox News Digital that "an intelligent observer would be hard-pressed to identify any area in American society where BLMs activism has benefited the Black community."

MASSIVE INCREASE IN BLACK AMERICANS MURDERED WAS RESULT OF DEFUND POLICE MOVEMENT: EXPERTS

"What BLM has done is pervert the criminal justice system by engaging in activities that have resulted in a growing trend of trials by media," Swain said. "BLM has intimidated juries and judges. Its leaders have no interest in due process or the presumption of innocence."

Black Lives Matter began with the social media hashtag #BlackLivesMatter and was officially founded in 2013 after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the fatal shooting case of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Chants of "Black Lives Matter" later rang out at protests following the police-involved killing of Michael Brown in Missouri in 2014 and continued to into the next year after the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore.

It ultimately grew to a vast movement by the summer of 2020 that swept the highest echelons of America, from corporate leaders to Hollywood icons to powerful sports figures pledging support.

BLM SILENT WHEN CONFRONTED WITH DATA SHOWING MASSIVE 2020 SPIKE IN BLACK MURDER VICTIMS

Defunding the police is a cornerstone of BLMs mission and remains on its list of seven demands on the groups website.

"We know that police dont keep us safe and as long as we continue to pump money into our corrupt criminal justice system at the expense of housing, health and education investments we will never be truly safe," BLM posted in July 2020.

But as the calls to defund rang out, violent crimes in the Black community skyrocketed. Murders in the 2010s first broke the 7,000 mark in 2015 after the highly-publicized deaths of Gray that same year and Brown in 2014, jumping by nearly a thousand in one year.

In 2020, the year George Floyd was killed during an interaction with Minneapolis police, Black murders jumped by a staggering 32% compared to 2019, according to FBI data. Overall, Black murders increased by 43% that year compared to the prior 10-year average. CDC data published Tuesday additionally showed that in 2020, Black Americans were disproportionally affected by gun-related homicides, increasing by 39.5% that year compared to 2019. Gun-related homicides rose by 35% overall that year, according to the CDC.

"Certainly, the protests and riots mid-2020 after the death of George Floyd followed a pattern of spiking violence that we've seen following past viral police incidents, such as the deaths of Michael Brown and Freddie Gray. This pattern has been termed the Ferguson Effect' police pull back while violent crime spikes precipitously," Hannah Meyers, director of the policing and public safety initiative at the Manhattan Institute, previously told Fox News Digital.

FBI DATA SHOWS LARGE INCREASE IN MURDERS IN 2020 NATIONWIDE

The Ferguson Effect unfolded again in 2020, according to experts, but polling showed the Black community wasnt on board with the calls to defund.

A Gallup poll from August 2020 found 81% of Black Americans wanted "police to spend [the] same amount of or more time in their area," compared to 19% reporting police should spend less time in their neighborhood.

Riley said that the polling shows "that these activists are not in step with the people who actually live in these violent communities."

"You have to remember the overwhelming majority of people who live in these communities are law-abiding. You're talking about a very small percentage, mostly men, and mostly young men that are causing all this havoc in these communities. Many of these people would leave these communities. They can't afford to move anywhere else, so they're forced to deal with this."

Swain added that "BLM focuses on scattered cases of police abuse," but ignores "the horrendous Black-on-Black crimes that take place daily in cities around the nation."

Carol Swain on Fox News primetime (Fox News)

"BLM does not want young Black men and women to know the importance of individual choice in determining how an encounter with police will end. Instead of modeling lawful behavior, BLM and progressive politicians in Congress seem to hold the regressive belief that Black people are always right even when they are clearly wrong," Swain said.

"Many progressives White and Black hold a dangerous belief that black people are justified in challenging and disobeying lawful police orders. This encourages a dangerous double standard that erodes the rule of law and contributes to more criminal behavior."

ACTIVISTS LOOK THE OTHER WAY AS BLACK AMERICANS PAY BLOODY PRICE FOR BLM, 'WOKE AGENDA': EXPERTS

Black Lives Matter activists, however, say they built a movement that positively changed how America talks about race at a national level down to the community level.

"The conversation around race didnt exist in a vast capacity until we saw the BLM movement, this surge," T. Sheri Amour Dickerson, executive director and core organizer of BLM Oklahoma City, told NBC in 2020. "Now difficult conversations, honest conversations, and even some discourse, have become part of the daily discussion here in Oklahoma, and I think that goes nationwide in many different factions. Its also become more intergenerational."

Hawk Newsome, the co-founder of Black Lives Matter of Greater New York, argued on Fox News "Americas Newsroom" last month that the defund movement did not hurt the Black community when confronted with FBI data showing the increase in Black murders. He defined the defund movement as "taking money from the police and putting it in community centers, job opportunities and after-school programs So it wasn't like just get rid of this money for the police. It was invest in the community."

"Great things have come out of Black Lives Matter. We've had more black corporate hires than in the history of this country. We've passed progressive laws. The cops that killed George Floyd wouldn't have been prosecuted. So many of these cops, so many measures for accountability. It came as a result of that," Newsome said while denouncing controversies surrounding the co-founders of BLM.

Newsome said the "people who started the movement" must be separated "from the people who carried the movement."

The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation's press team and Black Lives Matter of Greater New York did not respond to Fox News Digital requests for comment regarding experts saying the BLM movement has not benefited the Black community.

Swain said that the Black community will see change "when enough of its leaders push for a return to the values and principles of older generations who appreciated the sanctity of human life and took pride in their communities and self-betterment through individual effort and ingenuity."

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"We need fewer chapters of BLM and more exemplary organizations like the Woodson Center, which has an outstanding record of changing lives and giving hope to the least among us," Swain said.

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BLM has left Black Americans worse off since the movement began ...

The killing of George Floyd last month while in the custody of Minneapolis police officers has set off a wave of protests and dialogue on racial injustice that has continued unabated for weeks. And many corporations, big and small, have joined the conversation, issuing statements vowing to stand with the Black Lives Matter movement. Some tech behemoths -- like Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and others -- have followed up on their supportive words with major donation pledges, too. Other companies have yet to put their money where their mouth is.

Below, we've rounded up major companies, from big box retailers to clothing stores, game publishers, fast food chains and more, that are giving substantial donations in the fight against racial injustice and systemic oppression. They're giving to organizations that include the American Civil Liberties Union, NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the Equal Justice Initiative, among others helping to create change.

In addition to joining local protests, signing petitions anddonating time and money, the ability to "vote with your wallet" -- to patronize companies that are making substantive donations -- is another way to support the cause of equal justice.

Please note, however, that this list doesn't address any accusations of discrimination by various companies that have cropped up in media reports and social media in recent days as well. CNET encourages you to spend some time researching the companies you buy from to ensure they align with your values and ethics.

Many of the large tech companies in the US have donated substantial sums to the cause. Google has committed $12 million, while both Facebook and Amazon are donating $10 million to various groups that fight against racial injustice. Apple is pledging a whopping $100 million for a new Racial Equity and Justice Initiative that will "challenge the systemic barriers to opportunity and dignity that exist for communities of color, and particularly for the black community," according to Apple CEO Tim Cook. Check out CNET's guide to learn more about how tech companies are supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.

Walmart announced that it will contribute $100 million over five years to create a new center for racial equity. In an email to Walmart employees, CEO Doug McMillan said the center "will seek to advance economic opportunity and healthier living, including issues surrounding the social determinants of health, strengthening workforce development and related educational systems, and support criminal justice reform with an emphasis on examining barriers to opportunity faced by those exiting the system."

Target announced a $10 million commitment in an effort to advance social justice through supporting partners like the National Urban League and the African American Leadership Forum. The brand also committed 10,000 hours of pro-bono consulting for small business in the Twin Cities that are black-owned or owned by people of color.

Home Depot CEO Craig Menear announced a $1 million donation to the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in a statement released on the company website. In the letter, Menear also said the company will work for change internally, "I have begun working with our associate resource groups to facilitate internal town halls to share experiences and create better understanding among us all," he said. "We are dedicated to supporting you and our communities during this time with the goal of emerging more united than ever."

EA announced a $1 million donation to improve racial equality, starting with donations to the Equal Justice Initiative and the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund. The brand says it will donate to more partners in the future.

In a tweet earlier this month, Square Enix announced a $250,000 donation in addition to matching employee donations to the Black Lives Matter organization and other charities.

Gaming companyUbisoft tweeted that the company will donate $100,000 to the NAACP and Black Lives Matter organization and encouraged others to donate.

Etsy announced a total contribution of $1 million in an Instagram post. The company is donating $500,000 to the Equal Justice Initiative and $500,000 to the Borealis Philanthropy's Black-Led Movement Fund and will be matching employee donations.

Clothing retailer H&M is pledging $500,000 across three different organizations, according to an Instagram post by the brand. The groups are the NAACP, ACLU and Color of Change.

San Francisco-based clothing company Everlane announced two $75,000 donations to the Equal Justice Initiative and the ACLU in a recent Instagram post. Everlane employees also compiled a shared document with educational resources on how to take action and support the Black Lives Matter movement.

Toms Shoes announced a pledge to donate $100,000 over the next several months to organizations that support the movement.

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(1/2) #GeorgeFloyd, #BreonnaTaylor, #AhmaudArbery, #TonyMcDade and countless others. We will not forget them, and we know that we need to be part of the change. Over the next three months, we are donating $100,000 to organizations that are working to combat racial injustice, starting with a donation to Black Lives Matter (@blklivesmatter). We will also continue to listen, learn, and act. Join us.

A post shared by TOMS (@toms) on Jun 1, 2020 at 6:41pm PDT

Women's lingerie brand Spanx announced a $200,000 commitment on Instagram. In the post, Spanx said, "We are donating $100,000 across national organizations focused on combating racial injustice: Black Lives Matter, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and The Minnesota Freedom Fund. In addition, we are committed to donating an additional $100,000 to organizations in our own home of Atlanta."

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"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. Desmond Tutu At Spanx, we always aim to be a source of bright light and positivity in this world. Today, we cannot ignore the injustices and darkness of our outside world. We are overwhelmed with sadness, frustration, heartbreak and anger over recent events. We want you to know that though you see us as a brand, we are made up of real people who care deeply about the justice and equality of everyone. We share your outrage and sorrow over the injustices that led to the tragic loss of the life of George Floyd, along with Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, and so many more. Its time to not only stand up for what's right and speak out against racism, but to take action. We know that its in all of our hands to create a better world. Today, were using our social platforms to reiterate that we are committed to being a better ally to fight systemic racism. We will actively practice anti-racism through awareness and education, self-introspection and action. We are calling leaders, we are signing petitions, we are spreading ways to take action but there is so much more that can still be done. We are donating $100,000 across national organizations focused on combating racial injustice: Black Lives Matter, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and The Minnesota Freedom Fund. In addition, we are committed to donating an additional $100,000 to organizations in our own home of Atlanta. To be an ally is to speak out against injustice and to be ears to listen to the POC experience. To be an ally to us means having a heart for empathy for the oppressed and a hand to make change. The time for silence is over. Its time to learn, to grow, to change. #BlackLivesMatter #JusticeforGeorgeFloyd #AntiRacism Art/Image Credit: @quotesbychristie

A post shared by SPANX by @SaraBlakely (@spanx) on May 31, 2020 at 5:00pm PDT

Levis is donating $200,000 to the movement; $100,000 to the ACLU and $100,000 in grants to Live Free USA, an organization working to end mass incarceration.

Gap brands pledged a total of $250,000 in donations to the NAACP andEmbrace Raceon behalf of the brand that includes Athleta, Old Navy and Gap.

Eyewear manufacturer Warby Parker committed $1 million to fight systemic racism, although the brand didn't disclose which organizations it will give to.

Athletic wear brand Lululemon originally announced a $100,000donation to the Minnesota Freedom Fund, but due to an abundance of donations, "we have been asked to channel our resources into other foundations standing for change. We contributed a total of $250,000 to local Minneapolis organizations Rebuild Lake Street and Friends of Hennepin County Library (East Lake Library), as well as national organizations NAACP, Black Lives Matter and Reclaim the Block."

Nike promisesto donate $40 million over the course of four years to social justice organizations that support the Black Lives Matter movement.

Fast-food giant McDonalds is committing $1 million to the NAACP and the National Urban League, according to Business Insider.

Wendy's pledged a $500,000 donation "to support social justice, the youth and education in the black community starting with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund."

Coca-Cola released a statement titled "Where we stand on social justice," and committed $2.5 million in grants from Coca Cola foundation to the NAACP, Equal Justice Initiative, and the National Center for Civil and Human Rights.

Honest Beauty, the beauty brand founded by Jessica Alba, pledged $100,000 in donations to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the Equal Justice Initiative.

Anastasia Beauty is pledging $1 million to various organizations, writing in anInstagram post, "This weekend, we began with a donation of $100,000 across the following organizations: Black Lives Matter, The Innocence Project, The NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Black Visions Collective, and The Marshall Project."

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Anastasia Beverly Hills stands in solidarity with the Black community. We are pledging 1 million dollars towards the fight against systematic racism, oppression, and injustice. This weekend, we began with a donation of $100,000 across the following organizations: Black Lives Matter, The Innocence Project, The NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Black Visions Collective, and The Marshall Project. We are taking the time internally to discuss new initiatives that will financially support Black owned businesses and artists in the beauty industry. When the details have been finalized, we will announce the process for submission or nomination, and we will update you monthly on recipients. We vow to remain constant and vocal supporters of equality. We vow to use our platform and our privilege to amplify the voices of marginalized groups that deserve to be heard. Thank you to our community for being a continued source of inspiration and accountability. #BlackLivesMatter

A post shared by Anastasia Beverly Hills (@anastasiabeverlyhills) on Jun 1, 2020 at 12:45pm PDT

Beauty brand Glossier plans to donate $500,000 to organizations that are "focused on combating racial injustice," and will donate an additional $500,000 in grants to black-owned beauty brands.

Health care giant, UnitedHealth Group announced a $10 million commitment to support George Floyd's children, and Minnesota businesses impacted by civil unrest. UnitedHealth is giving $5 million to the YMCA Equity Innovation Center of Excellence. UnitedHealth employs 20,000 people in Minnesota and is headquartered outside of Minneapolis, where Floyd was killed.

Whoop announced a $20,000 donation to the Equal Justice Initiative in an announcement by CEO Will Ahmed on Instagram that outlined other ways the fitness tracker company will work to improve diversity and promote racial justice.

Peloton announced a $500,000 donation to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in a social media post that encouraged others to donate and contribute to the Black Lives Matter cause.

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"Although I won the tournament, it was the message that made me feel proud" - Naomi Osaka on bringing the Black Lives Matter protest to the US Open  Sportskeeda

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Color Of Change | We help you do something real about injustice.

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Color Of Change helps people respond effectively to injustice in the world around us. As a national online force driven by 7 million members, we move decision makers in corporations and government to create a more human and less hostile world for Black people, and all people. Until justice is real.

People across the country are reeling at the Supreme Courts 6-3 decision to overturn Roe and what it will mean for womens rights, privacy, and access to healthcare, especially in conservative states. Color Of Change President Rashad Robinson is quoted, The court has no right to coerce Black people into parenting, especially given Americas long history of criminalizing Black bodies and communities. Black people, already profoundly impacted by abortion bans and disproportionately criminalized by the legal system, are sure to face the harshest levels of prosecution following todays decision. He continued, Black peoples lives are at stake. Nothing will stop us from fighting for our freedom and continuing to build power for ourselves and our families.

Civil rights groups including Color Of Change, Black Voters Matter, and Human Rights Watch are pressing President Biden to use his executive authority to form a federal commission to study and develop reparations proposals for African Americans. Legislation calling for similar action has been stalled in Congress for a year. Republicans stranglehold on the Senate and looming midterms make it almost impossible Democrats will pass legislation this session. The coalition wrote to Biden, Juneteenth is an important opportunity to commemorate the end of enslavement while recognizing much more needs to be done to create equity. The racial wealth gap remains vast, with white households having a median of $188,200 and Black households $24,100, a vestige of the legacy of enslavementand the failure to address the exploitation, segregation, and violence unleashed on Black people that followed.

Video shows Patrick Lyoya disobeyed an officer during an April 4 traffic stop, tried to run, then wrestled with the officer over his Taser before the officer fatally shot him in Grand Rapids, Michigan. For a number of Black men and women, actions perceived as resisting arrest during minor traffic stops lead to their deaths. Color Of Changes Sr. Director of Criminal Justice Scott Roberts is quoted. Looking at police culture, there is pushback on the notion that policing is rooted in white supremacy and has been a tool of white supremacy. And so there is a kind of denial of why Black people would have that fear. Youve already criminalized the person when youre making a pre-textual stop. Your assumption is going to be that this is only a confirmation of their guilt, that fear. Roberts added that these dynamics have increasingly led cities, prosecutors, and police to enact policies to end stops for minor infractions.

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Color Of Change | We help you do something real about injustice.

A protester at a demonstration in Los Angeles on April 20, 2021, hours after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty in the murder of George Floyd. (Stanton Sharpe/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Note: For the latest data on this topic, read our 2022 blog post.

Support for the Black Lives Matter movement, which declined between June and September 2020, has remained stable. Currently, 55% of U.S. adults express at least some support for the movement, unchanged from a year ago, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. In June 2020, amid nationwide demonstrations following the murder of George Floyd, two-thirds of Americans said they strongly or somewhat supported the Black Lives Matter movement.

Support for the Black Lives Matter movement remains particularly widespread among Black Americans: 83% currently express at least some support, with 58% saying they strongly support the movement. Smaller majorities of Asian (68%) and Hispanic (60%) adults also express support, compared with 47% of White adults. About three-in-ten or fewer Asian, Hispanic and White Americans say they strongly support the Black Lives Matter movement.

As was the case a year ago, there is also a large partisan divide in views of the Black Lives Matter movement. More than eight-in-ten Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents (85%) express at least some support, including 48% who strongly support the movement. In contrast, most Republicans and those who lean to the GOP (78%) say they oppose the Black Lives Matter movement, with 58% saying they strongly oppose it.

Pew Research Center conducted this study to understand Americans attitudes toward the Black Lives Matter movement and how they might have changed in the past year. The data was collected as part of a larger survey conducted September 13-19 among 10,371 U.S. adults. Everyone who took part is a member of the Centers American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more about the ATPs methodology.

Here are the questions used for this analysis, along with responses, and its methodology.

Similar shares of Black (90%) and White (87%) Democrats say they support the Black Lives Matter movement at least somewhat, while smaller but still large majorities of Hispanic (77%) and Asian (80%) Democrats say the same. Black Democrats are far more likely than their White, Hispanic or Asian counterparts to express strong support for the movement.

Among Republicans, there is more support for the movement among those who are Hispanic (29% express at least some support) than among those who are White (16%), but majorities of White (82%) and Hispanic (68%) Republicans say they oppose it. There are not enough Black or Asian Republicans in the sample to analyze these groups separately.

Younger adults and those with higher levels of educational attainment are more likely than those who are older and those with less education to say they support the Black Lives Matter movement. These patterns are consistent with past findings on this question.

Two-thirds of adults younger than 30 express at least some support, as does a narrower majority of those ages 30 to 49 (58%). About half of adults ages 50 to 64 (49%) and 46% of those 65 and older say they support the movement.

Among those with a postgraduate degree, 64% say they support the Black Lives Matter movement, as do 58% of those with a bachelors degree. Some 53% of those with some college and 50% of those with a high school diploma or less education say the same.

A 2017 survey conducted on the phone, before Pew Research Centers polling was moved to its online American Trends Panel, found that 55% of U.S. adults said they supported the Black Lives Matter movement. While these findings may not be comparable due to differences in how these surveys were conducted, the patterns are largely similar when it comes to views across demographic and partisan groups.

Note: Here are the questions used for this analysis, along with responses, and its methodology.

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Support for Black Lives Matter is unchanged since September 2020 | Pew ...

Protesters have filled streets across the country in the last two weeks to speak out against two outrageous failures of justice. First, in Ferguson, Missouri, a grand jury declined to indictthe police officer who shot unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown to death this summer and left his body in the street for four hours. Then, adding insult to injury, another grand jury in Staten Island, New York, chose to look the other way and return no indictment of the police officer who choked unarmed father of six Eric Garner to death, on camera, using an illegal chokehold as Garner pleaded, I cant breathe!

Brown and Garner were two people living a thousand miles apart, at very different points in their lives. But they share one tragic fact in common: They were both black men executed in broad daylight by cops. And unless the U.S. Justice Department nails their killers on federal civil rights charges, neither of their families will get even the cold comfort of a day in court.

Sadly, theres nothing new about this pattern of lethal racial profiling. For far too long, African-Americans in this country have had to worry about whether police will kill their loved ones on the slightest pretext without facing any meaningful punishment. Racist violence is a deep-rooted part of this countrys history, and its going to take substantial nationwide reform of the policing and court systems to change this awful reality. Here are 11 of the most heartbreaking examples of black men, women and children killed by police in the last 15 years. Their stories are different in many ways, but none of them deserved to die the way they did and we could fill many more pages with others like them.

1. Amadou Diallo (1999)Four NYPD officers notoriously rained 41 bullets down onto Diallo in the Bronx, killing the unarmed Guinean immigrant as he tried to enter his apartment building. They later claimed to have seen Diallo reaching for something that looked like a weapon; in fact, all he had in his hand was a wallet. The incident sparked national headlines and civil rights marches, as well as Bruce Springsteens protest song American Skin (41 Shots) but all four police officers were acquitted of all charges in the case. One of the killer cops, Kenneth Boss, remained on the force and was allowed to carry an NYPD gun again in 2012.

2. Patrick Dorismond (2000)Dorismond was hanging out in Manhattan with a friend when an undercover cop approached and asked where he could score some weed blatant profiling based on Dorismonds appearance. A confrontation ensued, and another officer shot him fatally in the chest. Then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani released the 26-year-old security guards sealed juvenile legal records in an effort to smear his police forces latest victim, infamously saying that the dead man was no altar boy; it was later revealed that Dorismond had attended the same Catholic school as the mayor, and served as an altar boy in his youth. A grand jury chose not to indict the officer who shot Dorismond to death.

3. Ousmane Zongo (2003)The NYPD crossed paths with Zongo at a storage facility in Manhattan during a raid on a counterfeit CD ring. Zongo, an unarmed 43-year-old immigrant from Burkina Faso who repaired art, had nothing to do with the raid, but police shot him four times when they saw him in a corridor. The officer who killed Zongo was convicted of criminally negligent homicide but a judge sentenced him to no more than five years of probation and 500 hours of community service for taking an innocent mans life.

4. Timothy Stansbury (2004)NYPD Officer Richard Neri fatally shot Stansbury, an unarmed 19-year-old, during a late-night patrol of a Bedford-Stuyvesant housing project. Neri said it was an accident, and a grand jury believed him, declining to return an indictment. The only punishment he faced was a 30-day suspension from the force. Neri was later elected to a prestigious position in a New York police union.

5. Sean Bell (2006)The night before his wedding, Bell and some friends went to a strip club in Queens for his bachelor party. When they left the club around 4:15 a.m. the next morning Bells wedding day they ran afoul of a group of undercover and plainclothes NYPD cops, who fired an astonishing 50 bullets into the 23-year-olds car, killing him instantly. The case led to major protests, but all three police officers charged in the case were acquitted.

6. Oscar Grant (2009)On New Years Day, 2009, Bay Area transit officer Johannes Mehserle detained Grant on a subway platform after reports of a fight. The unarmed 22-year-old was lying face-down on the ground when Mehserle shot and killed him, as captured on video by many bystanders. Mehserle was charged with murder, but the jury convicted him of a lesser crime, and he ended up serving less than a year for killing Grant.

7. Aiyana Stanley-Jones (2010)Aiyana Stanley-Jones was just seven years old when a Detroit SWAT team took her life. Late at night, searching for a suspect in her neighborhood, the police threw a flash grenade through her familys window, stormed the house and shot the little girl in her sleep. The raid occurred while the SWAT team was accompanied by a camera crew from the reality show The First 48. There have been two trials so far, both ending in mistrials.

8. Ramarley Graham (2012)Plainclothes narcotics cops chased 18-year-old Graham into his familys home in the Bronx for unclear reasons. They shot and killed him at the door of his familys bathroom. A tiny quantity of marijuana was later found in the toilet hardly enough to justify an instant death sentence for a teenager. The cop who killed Graham was not indicted, but a federal investigation is ongoing.

9. Tamon Robinson (2012)An NYPD patrol car collided with Robinson at a Brooklyn housing project, killing him, after responding to a report that Robinson was digging up paving stones to sell them for some extra cash. He was unarmed. A police report claimed that Robinson caused his own fatal injuries by running into a stationary patrol car, but eyewitnesses said the cops rammed their vehicle into the 27-year-old; a few months later, the department had the gall to try and bill Robinsons grieving family for $710 for damage to the car. Two years later, the case has yet to go before a grand jury.

10. Rekia Boyd (2012)Off-duty Chicago cop Dante Servin opened fire from his car into a group of people on the street, claiming he perceived a threat to his life. 22-year-old Rekia Boyd was among the people on the scene; she died after taking a bullet to the head. Servin has been indicted (making him the first Chicago police officer in many years to face trial for a fatal shooting), but his case was recently delayed to 2015.

11. Kimani Gray (2013)Plainclothes NYPD officers confronted the 16-year-old Gray in Brooklyn. Police claimed that he pulled a gun before they shot him to death on the street, but Grays family disputed this allegation. Prosecutors announced this summer that they are not pursuing charges against the officers who killed the teenager.

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Black Lives Matter: 11 Police Killings With No Justice