Tuesday evening, co-creator of the Black Lives Matter movement Alicia Garza told LSU students, “hashtags don’t start movements, people do.”
The speech was the third event of the Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Celebration Week organized by the MLK and Black History Month Committees.
Garza became known three years ago when she helped create the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter, which soared in popularity during protests over the death of Trayvon Martin and other black youth.
This hashtag sparked a social movement for racial equality that is still growing.
Garza said it began with a love letter she wrote to others who were angry and afraid about the trial. She wanted to let people know that she saw the wrong in the criminal justice system stemming from systemic racism.
She told the crowd with a laugh that she didn’t know what a hashtag was before she posted her letter to Facebook, but “apparently it’s a way to continue the conversation, and that’s a good thing.”
Pyschology freshman Abrielle Gilbert said she considers herself to be a member of the movement.
“It was so real,” she said, “It’s definitely what I came to hear, what I’ve been dying to hear. It was what we needed to hear, everybody together, not just one set of people.”
Garza urged people to continue the conversation in person, not just on social media. She said while social media is important, people should connect with others offline because “that’s how change happens.”
She challenged the crowd to have the courage to bring their activism face-to-face with others to lead the movement.
Kinesiology graduate student Jerrica Steward does not consider herself as part of the Black Lives Matter movement, but said she was inspired by what she heard.
“It was intriguing to see how someone of a young age can have such a great impact with technology and social media and getting a movement started within this day and age,” she said.
Garza also addressed the countermovement, All Lives Matter.
“At best, All Lives Matter is a utopia, but at worst it’s a way to distract us from this elephant in the room,” she said. “For all lives to matter, you have to fight for black lives.”
Strategic communications graduate student Kamila Zaidieh liked that she got to hear about the controversial movement from the creator herself.
“[Garza] addressed the situation from the most untainted perspective of what the movement is about,” she said.
Garza also highlighted Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy and his importance in the modern Civil Rights movement. She said Black Lives Matter is striving for the same transformative peace that Martin Luther King Jr. fought for.
While Garza acknowledged that King helped blaze the path for the modern movement today, she said, “we still have a lot more to do.”