Alicia Garza reflects on her development as an activist, community organizer, and political strategist, describes her activities during the years of the Obama presidency, and provides details about her participation in movement responses to major instances of police violence, including the founding of the Black Lives Matter movement and Black Lives Matter Global Network. Garza discusses her tenant organizing work in Oakland and San Francisco, the evolution of activism for racial and economic justice over the course of the Obama years, and the Obama administration's engagement with that activism, including by the invitation of movement leaders to White House meetings, and the creation of the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing in 2014, following the murder of Michael Brown. Also discussed are Obama's approach to speaking about race and racism in America as president, the importance of stories and cultural products about national political identity, and the expectations for the Obama presidency following Obama's election in 2008
Presidents--United States; Black lives matter movement--United States; Police brutality--United States; Racial justice--United States; Garza, Alicia, 1981-; Obama, Barack; Brown, Michael, Jr., 1996-2014; Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation; United States. President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing
Format
oral histories
Genre
Interviews
Date
2022
Physical Description
41 pages
Note (Biographical)
Alicia Garza is an organizer, political strategist, co-creator of Black Lives Matter and the Black Lives Matter Global Network, and author of "The Purpose of Power: How We Come Together When We Fall Apart." She currently serves as the principal at the Black Futures Lab and the Black to the Future Action Fund, and is the director of strategy and partnerships at the National Domestic Workers Alliance. In 2016, Garza attended President Obama's final State of the Union address as a guest of Congresswoman Barbara Lee
Note
Interviewed by Terrell D. Frazier on July 28, 2022. This interview is part of the Columbia University: Obama Presidency Oral History
Note (Provenance)
Alicia Garza, Gift, transferred from Columbia Center for Oral History Research 2023