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 (born June 20, 1983) is an American activist, artist, and writer. She is best known as one of the co-founders of the Black Lives Matter movement. In 2013, Cullors created the famous hashtag #BlackLivesMatter.
Cullors speaks and writes about many important topics. These include the Black Lives Matter movement, rights for LGBTQ people, and finding new ways to deal with crime instead of prisons. She uses ideas from social movements all over the world in her work. She has also written two books.
Contents
Early Life and School
Cullors was born in Los Angeles, California. She grew up in a poor neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. Her mother, Cherice Foley, raised her and her three siblings. Her stepfather, Alton Cullors, worked at a General Motors car factory until it closed. After that, he had to take low-paying jobs to support the family.
When Cullors was a child, she saw how police treated people in her community. She has said that seeing her brothers treated unfairly by police was a reason she became an activist. Her brother Monte was diagnosed with serious mental health conditions. Cullors said he was treated very badly while in prison. This experience made her want to fight for change.
Cullors was a good student and went to a special program for social justice at her high school. She became an activist when she was a teenager. She joined the Bus Riders Union, a group that fought for better public transportation. There, she learned about famous leaders and social movements from around the world.
After high school, she went to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She studied religion and philosophy. Later, she earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Southern California.
Career
Cullors has taught art at Otis College of Art and Design. She also taught about social justice and community organizing at Prescott College.
Founding Black Lives Matter
In 2013, a man named George Zimmerman was found not guilty in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed Black teenager. Cullors, along with her friends and fellow organizers Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi, was very upset by this.
In response, Garza wrote a Facebook post that ended with the words "Black lives matter." Cullors then created the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter to share the message online. This was the beginning of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Cullors has said that social media is a powerful tool. It helps show the world the unfair treatment that Black people often face.
The Black Lives Matter movement grew into a network of groups across the country. Cullors was a public leader for the movement for many years. In May 2021, she stepped down as the executive director of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation. She wanted to focus on writing a new book and working on TV projects.
Other Activism
Cullors has worked with other groups to fight for justice. She co-founded an organization called Dignity and Power Now. This group successfully pushed for a citizen's board to watch over the police department in Los Angeles County.
She also worked with a group called the Coalition to End Sheriff Violence in L.A. Jails. This group wanted to stop the mistreatment of people in jails.
In October 2020, she started her own production company. She made a deal with Warner Bros. Television to create shows that share the stories and viewpoints of Black people.
What Cullors Believes
Cullors believes that society should find better ways to handle crime than building more prisons and having more police. She is known as an abolitionist, which means she wants to get rid of systems that she believes harm communities.
She is inspired by many activists and thinkers who fought for justice, such as Angela Davis and Audre Lorde. She believes in using "nonviolent direct action," which means protesting in a peaceful but direct way to make change happen.
In the 2020 presidential election, she supported Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.
Creative Works
Cullors is also an artist and writer. In 2014, she created a play called POWER: From the Mouths of the Occupied. She has also written articles about the Black Lives Matter movement.
Books
Cullors has written two books.
- When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir (2018): This book tells the story of her life and how her experiences led her to co-found Black Lives Matter. It talks about the challenges faced by Black communities. The book was very popular and became a bestseller.
- An Abolitionist's Handbook: 12 Steps to Change Yourself and the World (2022): This book is a guide for activists. It gives advice on how to work together to create change in the world.
Television and Film
Cullors appeared in a 2016 documentary called Stay Woke: The Black Lives Matter Movement. She also produced a YouTube series called Resist in 2020. The series followed activists who are working to make a difference in their communities.
Personal Life
Cullors identifies as queer. In 2016, she married Janaya Khan, who is also a social activist and co-founded Black Lives Matter in Toronto, Canada.
Awards and Honors
Patrisse Cullors has received many awards for her work, including:
- An NAACP History Maker award in 2015.
- Named one of Glamour magazine's Women of the Year in 2016.
- Named one of Fortune magazine's World's Greatest Leaders in 2016.
- An honorary doctorate degree from Clarkson University.
- Named one of the "new civil rights leaders" by the Los Angeles Times in 2015.
- Included on Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2020.
- Named one of the BBC's 100 Women in 2020.
See also
In Spanish: Patrisse Cullors para niños
