Black Lives Matter was born out of community organizing, advocacy, and radical activism. That’s why as we celebrate BLM day on July 13th, we’re rewinding the clock to look at our frontline organizing over the past year.
It’s really no exaggeration to say that frontline organizing is the root of our power. Since jump, we’ve been partnering with leaders and organizations working on the ground in our communities who center abolitionist principles to build radical organizing models rooted in Black power, self-determination, and the support of system-impacted families.
We know the work and leadership of true revolution rest in the hands of those most impacted by the systems we are trying to abolish.
By partnering with nonprofits to train on-the-ground organizers and uplift Black arts & culture, our foundation helps to forge healing ecosystems to nurture Black liberation and Black life.
Every day, we’re facing a petty tyrant who is using fascism to crack down on the freedom to protest and making policy decisions that straight-up harm the Black community.
To inform the way we move forward, we’re highlighting just a few of the major ways that we’ve engaged in frontline organizing this year.
This July 4th we launched our pledge to take up the baton for real freedom in partnership with Get Free.
As we approach America's 250th anniversary in 2026, a white supremacist faction across the country seeks to rewrite history, erase the struggles of Black, Indigenous, and immigrant communities, and silence the truths of our past. They promote a false narrative to justify ongoing inequality, systemic racism, and oppression, contradicting the very freedoms they claim to celebrate.
The July 4th holiday begs a crucial question: What kind of country do we want to be on our 250th anniversary next year?
Finally, make our country reckon with the ongoing harms from our past, right historic wrongs, and repair the damage done to Black and indigenous communities.
Heal our communities and honor the freedom fighters who paved the way by delivering Black, immigrant, and Indigenous dreams
Build a country that meets its ideals and where freedom and equality are for all, no matter our races, backgrounds, or genders.
The Fight to Free Mahmoud Khalil
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents kidnapped Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian graduate student at Columbia University, and detained him under the guise of student visa revocation.
Mahmoud was legally residing in the U.S. as a permanent resident with a green card, but ICE targeted him anyway. His wife, a U.S. citizen who is 8 months pregnant, was also threatened with arrest.
This was a CLEAR act of political retaliation meant to instill fear and suppress activism and our constitutional right to protest.
Together, we sent letters to representatives across the country to call for Mahmoud Khalil, all political prisoners, and all detained immigrants to be freed. Because of folks like YOU who took action with us, Mahmoud Khalil is now free!
Trump Gutting Office of Civil Rights
After signing an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education (DOE), Trump’s administration is gutting the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), the very agency responsible for investigating racial discrimination in schools.
He’s already cut more than 40% of OCR staff.
And now, their investigations? They’re stalling.
Parents are complaining that their critical civil rights complaints aren’t being investigated.
That means schools accused of violating students’ civil rights — discriminating by race, gender, disability — are slipping through the cracks with no oversight, no consequences, and no justice.
We’re watching the slow, deliberate unraveling of civil rights that generations of Black organizers fought for — and we refuse to be silent.
This is a direct attack on Black youth, Black educators, and Black futures.
The administration is betting that we won’t notice — or won’t fight back. But we see it for exactly what it is: a calculated attempt to roll back our rights under the guise of “efficiency” and “reform.”
Black students deserve safe, equitable schools where they can be supported, especially if they have disabilities. When the government abandons that responsibility, we show up stronger — and we build something even better.
Ugly Merch for Ugly Politics
The official Trump website is selling “Trump 2028” hats. We wish we were kidding. Not only are they ugly, but they’re a symbol of how Trump thinks he can bulldoze over laws that protect us from tyranny, because somehow they don’t apply to him….
You can’t run for a third term. That’s the law. The 22nd Amendment exists. But Trump treats laws like suggestions, especially when they get in his way.
We’re not waiting for the worst to happen. We’re organizing now and we need you with us.
Earlier this month, the people of LA peacefully protested brutal ICE tactics: targeting school graduations, detaining labor leaders without cause, and kidnapping people out of parking lots. ICE’s tactics are designed to tear apart Black and Brown immigrant families and communities, which is why Angelenos are coming together to protest.
In response, the Trump administration mobilized 700 Marines and seized control of the California National Guard, hoping to inflame the situation, intimidate protestors, and suppress Angelenos’ right to free speech.
This militarized response is not just deeply alarming, unconstitutional, or a waste of >$130 million. It's also a clear demonstration of the administration’s commitment to maintaining white supremacy through intimidation and brute force.
The fight against ICE is our fight.
We can’t have Black liberation without abolishing ICE. We need freedom from the policing of bodies and borders.
We will continue to organize against state-sanctioned violence, surveillance, incarceration, and displacement. Whether it’s ICE vans or police helicopters, Black and Brown communities continuously experience tactics designed to break our spirits.
Yet we refuse to be broken.
Despite burying loved ones lost to state violence, we rise daily to protect each other, nurture our communities, and build resistance. Even under severe intimidation, we continue to organize, speak out, reclaim our collective power, and imagine a future free from state violence.
Restoring Harriet Tubman on a Federal Website
They tried to erase Harriet Tubman from the National Park Service’s Underground Railroad page. We called them out—and her image is back.
This is a win. A powerful reminder that when we speak out and organize, we make change. But let’s be clear—this fight is far from over, and we’re focused on a lot more than a government web page.
Trump recently signed an executive order aimed at “restoring truth and sanity” to American history. What it really does is authorize a full-scale whitewashing of Black stories, struggle, and resistance—starting with the Smithsonian Institution.
They want to strip away anything they consider “divisive.” That means:
Confederate statues coming back
The African American History Museum and Smithsonians are under threat
Programs and exhibits about slavery, racism, and liberation wiped from public view
And the scariest part? They’re already doing it—quietly editing websites, canceling DEI programs, and scrubbing public records.
We were able to push back and get Harriet Tubman's image restored because people like you refused to stay silent. Now we need that same energy to keep fighting back.
Coalition for Reparative Justice
Black Lives Matter joined a historic coalition of justice organizations to advance HR40—crucial legislation that would establish a commission to study and develop reparation proposals.
On Tuesday, May 13, we joined Senator Cory Booker for a congressional briefing on HR40 and why reparative justice cannot wait.
Why is HR40 so important? This legislation would establish a commission to:
Examine the institution of slavery and its ongoing impact
Consider appropriate remedies and reparation proposals
Make recommendations to Congress on necessary actions
Honoring the 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma
Sunday, March 7, marked the 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. BLM team members were on the ground in Selma marching to honor this historic day.
We remember Bloody Sunday to honor every Black person who put their body on the line on that bridge, but also to make it clear that the fight for Black liberation is far from over.
We are energized, and we are ready to take on whatever comes our way next. We know that we are stronger together than apart. When this movement comes together, we can create real change and push us forward on the path to Black liberation.
Our grassroots movement is pushing for Black liberation every single day. We are striving to create a world where Black people do so much more than just survive. It’s time we thrive.
As an organization one of our biggest hurdles is consistency.
A recurring contribution of anything you can afford goes a long way as we plan for the months, years, and even decades ahead. This is the most effective way for small-dollar donors (like you) to power our Black liberation work.
Black Lives Matter imagines a world where Black people across the diaspora thrive, experience joy, and are not defined by their struggles.
In pursuing liberation, we envision a future fully divested from police, prisons, and all punishment paradigms and which invests in justice, joy, and culture. Email is the most important way we keep in touch with our supporters. But we know there's a lot going on.
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