By: Patrisse Cullors, Black Lives Matter Co-Founder and Executive Director

The number seven holds power.

Many of us have heard the adage that the cells of our body are renewed and replaced every seven years. The reality is a little more complex. Some of our cells are replaced rapidly, others emerge in a crisis only to disappear, while others, like those that form our DNA, endure for our lifetime. But the average age of our cells is seven.

As Black Lives Matter celebrates its seventh anniversary, I’m energized by the significance the natural world has vested in the number seven…

Now, our movement is facing threats like never before — and we must stand together in the fight against conspiracy theories, falsehoods, and disinformation. It is time to #StopHateForProfit.

Kailee Scales — Managing Director, Black Lives Matter Global Network

This time, let’s do this.

…

In a time when we are opening our minds and our hearts to the solutions that will transform our communities, we must come together to learn what #DefundPolice really means and why this is an important step in defense of Black lives.

Kailee Scales — Managing Director, Black Lives Matter Global Network

George Floyd was killed on May 25th, when a white Minneapolis police officer pinned him to the ground, knelt on his neck, and squeezed the life out of his body for nearly ten minutes.

This public lynching was sadly one in a series of state-sanctioned killings of Black…

Dé Bryant, Ph.D. — Professor and Director, Social Action Project, Indiana University South Bend. Member of Black Lives Matter-South Bend (dbryant@iusb.edu)

“I’m too busy to look up!! Have you even been paying attention to what’s happening to us out there?!” My sister in the struggle asked this in response to my wondering what type of clouds she preferred. The look on her face warned that unless I explained myself this conversation would be short because what point is there to speak with the delusional.

We had been discussing the compound, sustained traumas facing Black people in this historical moment. Deeply…

We are saddened and enraged by the death of Erica Garner yesterday morning. Her father, Eric Garner, was murdered at the hands of the New York Police Department on July 17, 2014 as he cried out over and over “I can’t breathe.” Our hearts mourn for and with the Garner/Carr family, and we celebrate Erica’s life and work. Her beautiful, powerful, loving, genuine spirit will continue to inspire us.

This movement is not about creating martyrs. We don’t believe in martyrs, and we do not believe in people becoming ancestors too soon. Erica was 27 years old, a fighter, a…

Written by chapter members of BLM — Louisville. Support their work by donating here now: http://blackliveslouisville.org/stand-up-sundays/donate/

On August 13, 2017, at 3pm, Black Lives Matter Louisville, community leaders and accomplices gathered to rally and march in solidarity with those impacted by the events that happened in Charlottesville, VA. The rally was held at the Carl Braden Memorial Center and MCed by Shalonte Brahnam of BLM Louisville. We invited speakers such as Rev. David Snardon, Rev. Geoff Ellis, Mikal Forbush, Civil Rights Lawyer Dan Canon and others from DSA, ARA, LSURJ and Books and Breakfast to speak and to offer advice…

John Sloan, Co-Lead Organizer BLMDetroit @jsloan3 @DetroitBLM

As a typical child of the Eighties, I remember growing up surrounded by “Americana”. I was regaled with stories of my grandfather and his brothers fighting valiantly in WWII. I proudly memorized the Pledge of Allegiance, and knew every verse of “America, The Beautiful.” My life was not all that dissimilar to any other kid growing up in the great state of Michigan.

The difference, however, is that the Americana I grew up with was filtered through dramatically different lenses. The powerful and stories of boot camps and dogfights were balanced with my…

John Sloan, Co-Lead Organizer BLMDetroit @jsloan3 @DetroitBLM

Drowning in the deafening drone of a continuous Trump/Russia news cycle, America faces an ever-growing threat: the Indifference of Distraction. While media attention reflexively follows the bouncing, bright and shiny ball of the only seemingly newsworthy topic, our national discourse does circles around these headlines, numbing the common consciousness to the far reaching ripples of nuanced domestic policy.

As a result, domestic policies like the recent pronouncement by Jeffery Beauregard Sessions, our nation’s embattled Attorney General, to roll back Obama/Holder-era drug policies go unchecked. In a sweeping memo, Sessions took aim at an…