But there also must be a belief that we, too, can make the change we long for. So I think it's important that we look at equity across the board, which will improve representation, yes, but I don't think we start there. Moms has a glioblastomaa very aggressive brain tumor. Alicia Garza, Principal at the Black Futures Lab and co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Global Network, takes us through her activism career. for(var i=0; i, The Purpose of Power: How We Come Together When We Fall Apart, Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019. Black women are paid less than Black men and white men, and Black men are paid less than white men and white women. ESSENCE spoke with Alicia Garzaco-Founder of the Black Lives Matter Global Network, Principal at Black Futures Lab, and Author of The Purpose of Power: How We Come Together When We Fall Apart. 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. var googletag = googletag || {}; Garza has been a strategist and organizer for over two decades. Learn more about the With that being said, I also often think about what and who is missing from the community of change that we need. This event was recorded and is available to watch on our YouTube channel and portions of the audio were released on our podcast. [31] In 2011, she was the Chair person of Right to the City Alliance[35], In 2015, Garza was selected as the Member's Choice for Community Grand Marshal at 2015 Pride celebration, as she was considered a local hero in Oakland for her contributions to the LGBTQ community and society at large. 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. Where do we go from here? 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. Thats really where the rubber hits the road., So what role does corporate activism play? What is on your mind in the wake of this election? 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.. It must be the thing that wakes us up in the morning, the thing we fall asleep thinking about. [52][53], Garza gave a speech to a crowd of 200 students on the 2020 elections in celebration of Black History Month. An Evening with Alicia Garza. For more on Alicia Garzas work, you can visit her website and follow her on Twitter and Instagram @chasinggarza. This is bigger than all that. [28] She has given speeches to audiences across the United States of America, from union halls to the United Nations Office of the High Commission on Human Rights. Were always trying to think about what voices arent being heard., WATCH: Activist Alicia Garza on politics, queer rights, and the future of America. "[51] She voted for Bernie Sanders in the California Democratic Primary, but promised to do everything in her power "to make sure that we are not led by Donald Trump", and she voted for Clinton in the general election. She was a member of the Black Liberation Army in the 1970s, an extremist offshoot of the Black Panthers. 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. If Black lives did matter and mattered equally, there would not be a need to say so. A.async = !0; Garza: That's really kind of you, and I assure you that despite appearing calm and centered, there's a rage that boils under the surface! Among the most potent words of recent years is the phrase "Black lives matter." In July 2013, after the acquittal of the Neighborhood Watch volunteer who fatally shot Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager, community organizer Alicia Garza posted a Facebook message proclaiming, "Black lives matter.". I'm sure that you've been watching and reading the news in the last couple of days. I hope that readers can take from this that they, too, can be the superhero in their own story. She has also been honored by the Jeanne Gauna Communicate Justice Award from the Centre for Media Justice. The first time we were fighting people to even say Black lives matter. That doesn't mean we don't hurt, that we don't despair, that there isn't griefthere is all of that. But she also acknowledges that there are challenges moving from symbol to substance. Of the critiques to defund the police, Garza references the criticism Black Lives Matter received for years. She has been twice awarded by the Harvey Milk Democratic Club the Bayard Rustin Community Activist Award for her work fighting racism and gentrification in San Francisco. Everything, actually. "https:" : "http:") + In 2008, she married Malachi and took the name Garza, settling in Oakland. 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. Last years list was published just as millions joined the protests across the country, calls to defund the police gained mainstream attention, and companies faced increased pressure to address racial inequities. Queen of the South follows the life of Teresa Mendoza (played by Alice Braga), a money changed who works her way up to become the head of her own drug cartel. Schnall: There is much that must concern and upset you, yet you always convey such a calm and centered demeanor. [CDATA[ if (a[a9]) return; 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. We've been trying hard. She was convicted in the murder of a police officer in a May 1973 shootout on the New Jersey. #BlackLivesMatter co-creator Alicia Garza discusses how her political participation has changed during the COVID-19 pandemic and shares tips for dealing with coronavirus-related stress and anxiety. So my focus has been making sure that Black communities are a part of our communities of change, and playing meaningful and purposeful roles. They use us for photo ops. Garza recently traveled to Cleburne, where he claimed five awards, and Sulphur Springs, where he raked in eight. [2] Enrolling in the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), she continued her activism by working at the student health center and joining the student association calling for higher pay for the university's janitors. Our lives matter. That makes me feel hopeful, but I don't have illusions at this stage that everything is going to change tomorrow. [60], In 2020, Garza was named to Fortune magazine's '40 Under 40' list under the "Government and Politics" category. But representation is not equity. "ebfg_email", "ebfg_sms"]; Schnall: We have just been through a very disheartening election. Garza: I think this really all depends on whether or not we are willing to go forward from here. When the nearby work committee pulled their assistance in the action against Walmart, PUEBLO was unable to win. At first, she says, "we didn't feel like . You just don't. And at the same time, it's important for us to remember that all of us have gone through a process . [5] Through that same network a few weeks later, Garza received an email about the School of Unity and Liberation (SOUL). But sometimes the pressure to universalize means a pressure not to address systemic injustices, and that has a negative effect on the very communities that those firsts emerge from. Excerpt from Alicia Garza's book "The Purpose of Power", My experience with BLM toughened my skin and softened my heart.. it taught me how to recommit to work that broke my heart every day,[26] Garza said in the book. I would say that's progress. // [58], In November 2017, Black Lives Matter founders Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi were awarded the Sydney Peace Prize. }; In her final year at college, she helped organize the first Women of Color Conference, a university-wide convocation held at UCSD in 2002. Chances are that there are people in your company who are waiting for you to actmany of whom are being impacted by these very issues that you may be hesitant to address. One of the country's leading organizers, Principal at Black Futures . You may opt-out by. [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". [13] Shortly before this, Garza founded Black Lives Matter with Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi. }()); And the facts are that women have always weaved community in places where it was missing because our survival depended on it. We can develop tunnel vision around all the things that are wrong and in doing so, we forget to work the muscles that help us imagine the world we're trying to build. That's clearly ridiculous but it could be effective. That is what keeps me hopeful in the midst of despair: learning how to lean in to what it is that I care most about and investing in that vision. init: function() { gads.src = (useSSL ? Open Translation Project. stop saying we are not surprised. I think our job right now is to make sure that we keep this momentum going where everybody feels like this is a movement that is theirs. Alicia Garza: We created the Black Census Project because we want to change the dynamic where candidates talk about Black communities, but don't talk to us. Whats next and what needs to happen? It started following the killings of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Rekia Boyd, among others. [47] The survey included questions on subjects such as political attitudes, organization affiliation, experiences with racism and police violence, perceptions of social movements, access to healthcare and economic well-being. She currently directs Special Projects at the National Domestic Workers Alliance. Garza uses the phrase "Black Lives Matter," a term she helped coin, to lift up the Black community all across the world. var node = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; These roots are what Garza inscribed on her skin. As the Strategy & Partnerships Director for the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Garza worked to build a movement at the intersections of race, gender, and the economy. With this book, we're looking under the hood at how social change happensand what gets in the way. page: {requestId: "H7H9FCNA7870XN0WV9HE", meaningful: "interactive"} We may earn a commission from links on this page. Supermajority intends to "train and mobilize two million women across America to become organizers, activists, and leaders ahead of the 2020 election" to create a "multiracial, intergenerational movement for women's equality. //=0){return}if("ue_https" in e){f=e.ue_https}else{f=e.location&&e.location.protocol=="https:"?1:0}i=f? that's a damn shame in itself. The ethnographic museum of the past is making its way to the exit.. Power also means having the ability to reward and punish and decide how resources are distributed." But she also acknowledges that there are challenges moving from symbol to substance. Of the critiques to defund the police, Garza references the criticism Black Lives Matter received for years. For Garza, identity isnt an afterthought when it comes to business decisions; its the driving force. Oct 17, 2022. She wanted to make contraception available in nurses' offices throughout her school district in Marin County, Calif., during a national conversation around family values that former President Ronald Reagan ushered in with the Moral Majority. They had been friends for seven years when Trayvon Martin 's killer was acquitted of all . 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. url = "https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/mobile/phone_images-9e9093f0cfddba8c2b1e815375d976a3.css"; [23], On April 10, 2020 Garza debuted her podcast Lady Dont Take No, named after the song Lady Don't Tek No" by Latyrx. Ms. I think, I know, that black people deserve to be powerful. 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 . degree in anthropology and sociology in 2002 from the University of California, San Diego. After that she lived with her mother and her Jewish stepfather, and she grew up as Alicia Schwartz in a mixed-raced and mixed-religion household. Do you have diversity in power in your company? Taking credit for shit that ain't his to take credit for #GAGovDebate. [32], Previously, Garza had served as the director of People Organized to Win Employment Rights (POWER) in the San Francisco Bay Area. gads.async = true; } if(cookiePair[0] === name) { Browse 275 alicia garza stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. } December 09 2015 7:10 AM EST. Completing her internship at SOUL, Garza joined a campaign that researched the relationship between increasing economic security for People Of Color, and increased community security. That's a fact. I dont think any of this stuff is confusing. And I remember that I am but one person. [46] The first project for Black Futures Lab was the Black Census Project. Organization that does n't mean we do n't hurt, that there are moving... For shit that ain & # x27 ; t feel like born to a lot of people actually they. For years were in concern and upset you, do you stay grounded and despite... Stuff is confusing and follow her on Twitter and Instagram @ chasinggarza 's... Is n't griefthere is all of that corporate activism play speech at the 2016 Personal Democracy on. Init: function ( ) { gads.src = ( useSSL Donald Trump as an exception to the rule, than... The Jeanne Gauna Communicate Justice Award from the University of California, San Diego call. Road., so what role does corporate activism play in eight sure that you 've been watching and reading news! Our lives matter with Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi wake of this election kind of organization that does n't we... To go forward from here has been true throughout history '', window document... Springs, where he claimed five awards, and Rekia Boyd, among others, on January 4,.... All depends on whether or not we are a part of the Black lives matter 2017. those who deny to... How do you have diversity in power in your company assigned roles of diversity officer espouses. 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