Born and raised in Oakland, California, Alicia Garza is a queer, black civil rights activist, and editorial writer. Garza is most notable for her co-founding of the ‘Black Lives Matter Movement’ back in 2013 with Patrisse Khan-Cullors and Opal Tometi.
Ever since her co-founding, Garza has been a vocal voice in the media and has had her work recognized on network sites like The New York Times and TIME magazine. Garza has also won awards like the Glamour Woman of the Year Award, the Marie Claire New Guard Award in 2016, as well as being recognized as the Community Change Agent at BET’s 2016 Black Girl Rocks Awards. Garza and her other co founders were runner ups for The Advocate’s Person of the Year in 2015, and won the Sydney Peace Prize in 2017.
As of now, Garza directs Special Projects at the National Domestic Workers Alliance. Back in 2018, she launched her platform Black Future Labs, and has started a project called the Black Census Project. The project surveyed black americans across the country and will be using the data to help the 2020 presidential candidates hopefully find a way to support all black voters.
Garza has continuously strived to improve the well being of black people nationally. With her advocation for black lives, student rights, domestic workers rights and ending not only police brutality, but also violence against trans people, Garza keeps on trying to make a world a better and safer place.