I don’t even know what a hashtag is. You don’t turn a hashtag into a movement–people turn things into a movement. — Alicia Garza

One of the beautiful things about a movement is that there are many strategies and many tactics contained within it. Not every participant in a movement is required to do exactly the same things. — Alicia Garza

The biggest misconception about Black Lives Matter is that BLM is just one entity; Black Lives Matter is an organization and a network. We are a part of the movement, but we are not the movement. — Alicia Garza

Sometimes you have to put a wrench in the gears to get people to listen. — Alicia Garza

Just like we don’t live in a two–dimensional world, we don’t live two–dimensional lives. — Alicia Garza

My definition of feminism is a social, political, economic system by which all genders are valued, respected, and can live dignified lives. — Alicia Garza

The demands of the Civil Rights era weren’t limited to voting rights–they strove for an end to segregation in all aspects of life, including housing, employment, and public accommodations. — Alicia Garza

I think that there are real concerns that we have around whose life is important and why. So if the official story is, for example, somebody was running from the police, does their life matter? — Alicia Garza

It’s an america where the rules around race and gender and class are fundamental, and they shape and impact people’s everyday lives. It’s also an america where we function under a particular sense of amnesia. — Alicia Garza

I have to be honest: I feel like I live in a constant state of rage, and I think a lot of black people do. — Alicia Garza

The Clintons use black people for votes but then don’t do anything for black communities after they’re elected. They use us for photo ops. — Alicia Garza

That’s really what black lives matter was for me, and That’s why i said black people, i love you. i love us. and that black lives matter matter. and that we matter. and that black lives matter. — Alicia Garza

Quite frankly, black folks have always been at the core of what it’s meant to make this nation human. — Alicia Garza

When we address the disparities facing black people, we get a lot closer to a true democracy where all lives matter. — Alicia Garza

Black Trans Lives Matter, to me, is really different. I think it speaks most directly to the marginalization and disenfranchisement of trans people within the black community. — Alicia Garza

I think that we are all deeply, deeply committed to the liberation of black people. And so, when you put people together who have and share that commitment, the sky is the limit. — Alicia Garza

There is no separation between the black community and the LGBT community. As a black, queer woman myself, I often have to assert, right, that it’s not one or the other but that I am all of these things. — Alicia Garza

It’s actually OK to be unique and have your own contributions, to celebrate what it means to be black, how we’ve survived and thrived through the worst conditions possible. — Alicia Garza

We want to see a world where black lives matter in order for us to get to a world where all of our humanity is respected. — Alicia Garza

Police violence is the tip of the iceberg when it relates to the conditions overall of black people across the globe. — Alicia Garza

Black Lives Matter is not just concerned with what happens in policing. The disregard, the disrespect, and the lack of dignity for black life transcends through the fabric of our society. — Alicia Garza

The history of black women in the economy is rooted in the legacy of slavery. Enslaved black women were forced to provide care work, unpaid, for white families. — Alicia Garza

Black Lives Matter was created as a response to state violence and anti–black racism and a call to action for those who want to fight it and build a world where black lives do, in fact, matter. — Alicia Garza