Alicia Garza is a civil rights activist and writer who co-founded the Black Lives Matter movement in 2013 after Trayvon Martin's murderer was acquitted, transforming a Facebook post into a global rallying cry against police brutality and systemic racism.
Born on January 4, 1981, in Marin County, California (some sources cite Los Angeles), Garza grew up in an interracial family and developed an early interest in activism after witnessing her brother's arrest. She earned a sociology degree from San Francisco State University and co-founded Black Lives Matter with Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi in 2013. Garza served as director of special projects at the National Domestic Workers Alliance and as a senior advisor to the Obama Foundation. She is a contributor to The New York Times and authored 'The Purpose of Power: How We Come Together When We Fall Apart' (2020). Her work has influenced global racial justice movements and police reform efforts.
