Patrisse Cullors

Background

Cullors was born in Los Los Angeles

Career

She became an activist early in life and later earned a degree in religion and philosophy from University of California, Los Los Angeles

Foreign me, seeking spirituality had a lot to do with trying to seek understanding about my conditions—how these conditions shape me in my everyday life and how I understand them as part of a larger fight, a fight for my life. The three began the movement in response to frustration over the acquittal of George Zimmerman for the shooting of Trayvon Martin. Cullors created the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter in response to Garza"s use of the phrase in a Facebook post about the Martin case.

Cullors further described her impetus for pushing for African American rights as stemming from her 19-year-old brother being "brutalized" while Incarcerated in Los Angeles County jails.

Cullors credits social media as instrumental in revealing state violence against African-Americans, saying that "On a daily basis, every moment, black folks are being bombarded with images of our death lieutenant"s literally saying, "Black people, you might be next. You will be next."

Cullors has served as executive director of the Coalition to End Sheriff Violence in Los Angeles Jails.

The group advocated for a civilian commission to oversee the Los Angeles County Sheriff"s Department in order to curb abuses by officers. By organizing former jail inmates as a voting bloc, the group hoped to sway the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to create such a commission, as well as gather enough votes to elect a replacement for Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, who resigned in 2014 for separate reasons.

Cullors co-founded the prison activism organization Dignity and Power Now which was successful in advocating for the civilian oversight board.

Achievements

• Cullors is a Fulbright Scholarship recipient. She was named 2007 Mario Savio Young Activist of the Year. She has also received the Sidney Goldfarb award. She was named an National Association for the Advancement of Colored People History Maker in 2015. Also in 2015 Cullors, Opal Tometi, and Alicia Garza (as "The Women of #BlackLivesMatter") were listed as one of the nine runners-up for The Advocate"s Person of the Year.

Politics

She developed an interest in the Nigerian religious tradition of Ifá, incorporating its rituals into political protest events. She told an interviewer:.

Membership

Cullors is also a board member of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, and led a think tank on state and vigilante violence for the 2014 Without Borders Conference.

Connections

Friend:

Alicia Garza