Women who helped found Black Lives Matter address misconceptions of group
As protests over George Floyd heat up, co-founders of Black Lives Matter talk about the importance of their message
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Behind the massive Black Lives Matter movement are black women.
Patrisse Cullors, a San Fernando Valley native co-founded BLM seven years ago.
"Black Lives Matter is a slogan, it's a call and cry for urgency," Cullors said. "It's a declaration. It's a movement. It also happens to be an organization."
Melina Abdullah, a Los Angeles professor and another co-founder of BLM, says: "I think we have to recognize in the black freedom struggle, black women have always been at the center."
Thousands have joined over the years. They say some misconceptions are that it's only one group and that they only protest. It's more than a local movement, they say. It's now global.
Abdulla says their work is rooted in love, for the families of people like George Floyd.
Still, the demonstrations have garnered attention and criticism.
"There's always a question about how we show up to fight for ourselves. And I think those questions are questions that are racist questions. Questions should be why do black people continue to die in this current infrastructure," Cullors said.
