Erica Garner was an activist, writer, and leader in the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. Garner was thrust into a life of activism after the untimely murder of her father Eric Garner, who was killed while held in an illegal chokehold by a New York Police Department (NYPD) officer in … Read MoreErica Gwen-Elise Snipes Garner (1990-2017)
In the early morning hours of January 7, 2018, Charles Smith, Jr. and his friends were driving to a party when they were pulled over by North Little Rock, Arkansas police officers. During the traffic stop, police reported seeing a gun on one of the passengers in … Read MoreCharles Smith, Jr. (2000-2018)
Writer, activist, and artist Patrisse Cullors, is most well-known as one of the three founders of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. Cullors was born in 1984 in Los Angeles, California and grew up in the Pacoima neighborhood of the San Fernando Valley. Her mother, Cherisse Foley, raised Cullors and her … Read MorePatrisse Cullors (1984- )
Writer, activist, and immigration rights advocate Opal Tometi is best known as one of the three founders of the Black Lives Matter movement. Tometi, born in 1984 to Nigerian parents who had illegally immigrated to the United States, grew up in Phoenix, Arizona and is the oldest of three children. Tometi … Read MoreOpal Tometi (1984- )
Alicia Garza is an activist and writer who now lives in Oakland, California. Although she has organized around issues related to health, student services, and rights for domestic workers as well as violence against trans and gender nonconforming people of color, she is best known one of three founders of … Read MoreAlicia Garza (1981- )
Early in the morning on April 21, 2012, Sharmel T. Edwards, a 49-year-old African-American woman, was fatally shot by five Las Vegas, Nevada police officers. Her death occurred while the national discussion of police brutality was gaining publicity in the wake of similar killings and about a year before … Read MoreSharmel Edwards (1962-2012)
The shooting death of Sylville Smith, a 23-year-old African American man, by Dominique Heaggan-Brown, an African-American police officer in the Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Police Department, yet again intensified the national debate over the shooting of unarmed black citizens at the hands of police and reinforced the call by Black … Read MoreSylville Smith (1993-2016)
The shooting death of Christian Taylor, a 19-year-old college student, by Arlington, Texas police officer Brad Miller at a car dealership in the city in the early morning hours of August 7, 2015 helped continue the ongoing debate promoted by Black Lives Matter and other social justice groups concerning young African … Read MoreChristian Taylor (1995-2015)
Tamon Robinson, a twenty-seven-year-old African American man was killed by a police car by two unnamed NYPD officers at the Bayview Housing Project in Canarsie, Brooklyn in 2012. His death at the hands of law enforcement continued the ongoing debate about unarmed African Americans dying at the … Read MoreTamon Robinson (1985-2012)
On January 4, 2008, Tarika Wilson, a 26-year-old African-American woman, was fatally shot by Lima, Ohio, police officer Joseph Chavalia. She was unarmed and holding her one-year-old son, who was injured by the shot that killed his mother. The shooting, and the subsequent acquittal of the officer, highlighted … Read MoreTarika Wilson (1981-2008)
