Patrisse Cullors facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Patrisse Cullors
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Cullors in 2015
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Patrisse Cullors
June 20, 1983 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
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| Education | University of California, Los Angeles (BA) University of Southern California (MFA) |
| Occupation | Activist, artist, writer |
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Notable work
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Black Lives Matter |
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| Children | 1 |
Patrisse Cullors is an American activist, artist, and writer. She is best known for helping to start the Black Lives Matter movement. In 2013, Cullors created the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag. This hashtag became a powerful way for people to talk about the movement online. She has written and spoken a lot about Black Lives Matter. Cullors also works to change the prison system in Los Angeles. She supports LGBTQ rights too. Her activism uses ideas from different social movements around the world. Patrisse Cullors has also published two books.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Patrisse Cullors was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1983. Her mother, Cherice Foley, is a Jehovah's Witness. Patrisse met her biological father, Gabriel Brignac, when she was eleven. She grew up in the home of Alton Cullors, her stepfather. Alton used to work at a General Motors factory. After it closed, he took jobs that paid less. Patrisse has three siblings: Paul, Monte, and Jasmine.
Cullors grew up in a poor neighborhood in Van Nuys, California. It was a place with many Mexican-American families. Her stepfather, Alton, later left the family. This meant her mother had to raise the children alone. Patrisse remembers seeing her older brothers, aged 11 and 13, treated unfairly by police when she was nine.
At 12, she attended Millikan Middle School. This was a school for gifted students in Sherman Oaks. It was mostly white and wealthy. Later, she went to Van Nuys Middle School for summer classes. This school had mostly working-class and non-white students. It was a big change for her. The school had a metal detector and police officers.
Her brother Monte faced difficulties while in prison. This deeply affected Patrisse. It became a strong reason for her activism. As a teenager, Cullors joined the Bus Riders Union. There, she learned about social justice and different movements. She also attended Grover Cleveland High School. She then went to the UCLA. She earned a degree in religion and philosophy. Later, she received a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) from the University of Southern California.
At sixteen, Patrisse left home after sharing her identity with her parents. She had been raised as a Jehovah's Witness. She later became interested in the Nigerian religious tradition of Ifá. She used its rituals in her protests. She said that seeking spirituality helped her understand her life and her fight for justice.
Career
Patrisse Cullors teaches at Otis College of Art and Design. She also teaches at Prescott College.
Black Lives Matter
Patrisse Cullors co-founded Black Lives Matter with her friends and fellow organizers, Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi. They started the movement in 2013. This was after George Zimmerman was found not guilty in the killing of Trayvon Martin. Cullors created the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter. This was to support Garza's message about the Martin case on Facebook. Cullors also felt strongly about fighting for African-American rights. This was because of her 19-year-old brother's difficult experience in Los Angeles County jails.
Cullors, Garza, and Tometi wanted Black Lives Matter to be a movement where many people could lead. In 2015, they created a network of local groups. Cullors became the most public face of the co-founders. She believes that social media has been very important. It helps show the violence that Black Americans face. She said that seeing images of harm against Black people makes them feel like they could be next.
In May 2021, Cullors stepped down from her role as executive director. She had held the position for six years. She wanted to focus on her second book and a TV deal. She said her decision was planned and not because of any criticism. Cullors believes that no movement depends on just one leader.
Other Activism
Cullors has also been the executive director of the Coalition to End Sheriff Violence in L.A. Jails. This group wanted a civilian group to watch over the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. They hoped this would stop officers from misbehaving. The group worked to get former jail inmates to vote. They wanted to influence the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. They also hoped to elect a new sheriff. However, their efforts did not fully succeed.
Cullors also helped start Dignity and Power Now. This group works for prison reform. They successfully pushed for a civilian oversight board. She is also on the board of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. In October 2020, she started a production company. She made a deal with Warner Bros. Television.
Ideas and Beliefs
Cullors believes in ending prisons and police militarization. She says her ideas come from Black-led movements against colonialism. She also supports reparations. These are ways to make up for the harm caused by European colonialism. This could include money, land, and better education.
She learned a lot from her mentor, Eric Mann, during her early activism. She also gets ideas from Black feminists like Audre Lorde and bell hooks. They helped her understand her identity. She looks up to Angela Davis for her ideas on fighting racism and war. Cullors also mentions Frantz Fanon. His work helped her understand the struggles of Black people around the world. In a 2015 interview, Cullors said she and co-founder Garza were "trained Marxists."
When asked about violence in protests, she said she believes in "direct action, but nonviolent direct action." She said this is also what the Black Lives Matter movement believes. In 2020, she supported Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders in the Democratic presidential primaries.
Works
In 2014, Cullors created a play called POWER: From the Mouths of the Occupied. She has also written articles for the LA Progressive. In a 2015 article, "The Future of Black Life," she encouraged activists to build the world they want to see.
Books
Cullors' memoir, When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir, came out in 2018. She wrote it with journalist asha bandele. Angela Davis wrote the foreword. The book has two parts. The first part, All the Bones We Could Find, tells about her teenage years. The second part, Black Lives Matter, explains how her experiences led her to co-found the movement. The book talks about the challenges faced by Black men, like her father. The book was praised and became a New York Times Best Seller in 2018.
Her second book, An Abolitionist's Handbook: 12 Steps to Change Yourself and the World, was released in 2022. Cullors describes it as a guide for activists. It teaches them how to support each other and solve problems while working for change.
Television and Film
Cullors appeared in the 2016 documentary Stay Woke: The Black Lives Matter Movement.
She also produced the YouTube Originals series Resist. It started in November 2020. The series had 12 short episodes. It followed Cullors and other activists. The series was available for free on Cullors' YouTube channel. She said people liked it and were surprised by how interesting it was.
In October 2020, Cullors signed a deal with Warner Brothers. She was to create TV shows that highlighted Black Lives Matter and Black perspectives. However, this contract was later canceled in 2022.
Personal Life
Patrisse Cullors identifies as queer. In 2016, she married Janaya Khan. Khan is also a social activist. She co-founded Black Lives Matter Toronto.
In January 2023, Cullors' cousin, Keenan Anderson, died after an incident with Los Angeles Police officers. Cullors called for the LAPD Chief to resign. Anderson's family later sued the city.
Awards
- 2007 Mario Savio Young Activist of the Year
- An NAACP History Maker, 2015
- With Opal Tometi and Alicia Garza, named one of the nine runners-up for The Advocate's Person of the Year, 2015
- A Glamour Woman of the Year, 2016
- One of Fortune's World's Greatest Leaders, 2016
- An honorary doctorate from Clarkson University
- The 2018 recipient of the José Muñoz Award from CLAGS: The Center for LGBTQ Studies
- In 2015, the Los Angeles Times named her one of "The new civil rights leaders."
- In June 2020, Queerty named her among the fifty heroes "leading the nation toward equality, acceptance, and dignity for all people."
- In 2020, she was included on Time's list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
- Cullors was on the list of the BBC's 100 Women announced on November 23, 2020.
- Along with Opal Tometi and Alicia Garza, Cullors was named the 2013 Women of the Year by Time in 2020. This was part of their 100 Women of the Year project.
Images for kids
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Cullors in 2015
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Cullors speaking in 2015
See also
In Spanish: Patrisse Cullors para niños
