John,

September flew by so fast, we didn’t get a chance to get our newsletter out until today! Read on for all the ways we celebrated Black joy, our community, and fought for liberation in September below.

City Militarization & ICE Operation Blitz

Chicago is a sanctuary city, but Trump is sending federal forces to override local protections, threaten families, and kidnap people off the streets.

Black and Brown futures are intertwined. We know what it means to be targeted, surveilled, and criminalized. From ICE raids to police brutality, the message is the same: our communities are disposable. We reject that lie.

Our communities do not need soldiers in our streets. We need housing, healthcare, jobs, and schools that actually serve us. Militarization is not about safety — it’s about control. We protect us, we always have.

California shows us one model of resistance. When Trump federalized the California National Guard against the state’s wishes, Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta fought back in court. They argued this was an unlawful abuse of presidential power. The courts have not yet sided with us, but that fight matters. We need leaders who are willing to fight back against Trump in any and all ways that they can. Local leadership is absolutely critical in times like these.

Your governor, your mayor, your attorney general, and your city council are the frontlines of defense when federal power comes for our communities. That is why engaging in local politics is not optional. It’s survival, and there’s no power like the power of the people. These officials exist to execute OUR will and what’s best for their constituents.

So what can we do?

• Stay informed: Understand what powers your local officials have to resist unlawful deployments.
• Stay organized: Join local coalitions, legal observers, and community groups preparing for potential crackdowns.
• Stay active: Hold your local leaders accountable — demand that they use every tool available to keep federal forces out of our neighborhoods.
• Stay assertive: Show up at elections and cast your vote. Trump is actively trying to disenfranchise Black and Brown voters because he knows just how powerful our vote is.

Trey Reed

On September 15, a Delta State University student, Trey Reed, was found hanging from a tree on campus.

Trey was 21 years old. Trey was sweet, well-mannered, and would give you the world if he could.

Trey did not deserve this.

This nation carries the weight of generations of lynchings and acts of racial terror meant to silence, intimidate, and destroy Black life. In the year 2025, we cannot accept silence or half-truths.

Join us by contacting Delta State University, reminding them how important it is that they cooperate with Trey’s family and do a thorough, independent, accountable, and transparent investigation and an independent autopsy.

Intrusion by hatemongers at Tennessee State University

Tennessee State University, an HBCU that has nurtured Black brilliance for more than a century, was invaded by a group calling itself “Fearless Debates”. They weren’t there for dialogue. They showed up uninvited, wearing MAGA hats and waving signs that read “DEI should be illegal” and “Deport all illegals now.”

What happened at TSU is not an isolated incident. It fits a broader pattern: gutting DEI programs, banning Black history curricula, and now direct intrusions into our campuses. There is a coordinated effort to roll back progress and silence Black voices.

That is why Black Lives Matter is demanding that:

• University administrators, lawmakers, and community leaders strengthen security protocols at HBCUs
• Investigate whether this intrusion is part of coordinated targeting of Black institutions
• Provide immediate support to students who experienced harassment
• Reaffirm their commitment to protecting Black spaces and Black futures

Labor Day

We honored the generations of Black workers and leaders who forged the path toward dignity, fair wages, and safe conditions. Their legacy reminds us that unionizing is one of the strongest tools we have to challenge racial inequities, demand better pay and health care, and protect workers’ rights.

Yet the struggle continues. Black workers remain on the frontlines, facing discrimination, an ever-widening wealth gap, and right-wing attempts to weaken unions. Our history makes it clear: the labor movement and the fight for racial justice are inseparable.

It’s beyond time to secure and expand the rights of Black workers in the United States.

Black Excellence at the US Open

From Althea Gibson breaking barriers in the 1950s, to Arthur Ashe’s grace and power on and off the court, to Serena and Venus Williams redefining the game, Black players have not only transformed tennis, they’ve redefined what the sport can be.

That legacy is alive right now in Taylor Townsend, Naomi Osaka, Coco Gauff, Frances Tiafoe, and so many others. But even as they push the game forward, they are forced to endure attacks that echo centuries of racist stereotypes.

At BLM we’re focused on celebrating, defending, and investing in the power of play. In the face of challenges, we find strength, determination, and revolutionary joy in all forms of play: music, creativity, connection, dance, storytelling, and sports. This joy, rooted in community, is exactly what we're celebrating and uplifting.

Every time a Black athlete takes the court, they bring with them centuries of survival, resistance, and joy. No insult, no stereotype, no racist attack can take that away. But it’s on us to make sure they don’t have to fight these battles alone.

Charlie Kirk Shooting

Political violence is contagious. It spreads. It does not stay confined to one side of the aisle or one belief system. It should terrify us all.

We will not honor violence by excusing it, nor will we dishonor ourselves by calling for it or celebrating it. Our refusal to celebrate political violence in any form is not an endorsement of anyone’s politics. Charlie Kirk was not a friend to us, but he is a human being. We rise above hate in all forms as a commitment to life, to accountability, to compassion, and to the belief that no one should face a death sentence for their ideals.

Read our full statement here.

Little Rock Nine’s 68th Anniversary

We give our thanks to Ernest Green, Elizabeth Eckford, Jefferson Thomas, Terrence Roberts, Carlotta Walls LaNier, Minnijean Brown, Gloria Ray Karlmark, Thelma Mothershed, and Melba Pattillo Beals for their bravery, courage, and boundary breaking when they walked into Central High School to take classes, integrating the school for the first time, and changing history forever.

This didn’t happen overnight. Brown v. Board promised integration in 1954. But three years later, Black students still faced mobs, violence, and hate simply for entering a classroom.

Their story is not just history. It’s a reminder that the right to learn, to play, to imagine, and to build a future is never given freely to Black children, it is fought for. Today, our communities still face underfunded schools, the banning of Black history, book bans, over-policing, and the same racism that tried to stop the Little Rock Nine at the schoolhouse door. We’re continuing this fight to protect our history and Black education everywhere.

NOBEL Endorsement

Exciting news: The National Organization of Black Elected Legislative Women (NOBEL) officially supported our Black Play Matters initiative, declaring that joy, imagination, and play are not luxuries, but fundamental human rights.

For generations, Black communities have turned to play — through athletics, art, music, dance, storytelling, and imagination — as radical acts of survival, resilience, and joy in the face of systemic oppression.

Support Black Play Matters today by signing our thank you card to NOBEL and affirm that Black joy, Black creativity, and Black play are fundamental to liberation.

In September we shared, I look at the world by Langston Hughes, with our community to help our fam find comfort in the fact that we are not alone in this fight, and that our ancestors have overcome more trying moments than these. The reason that authoritarians try to control our arts, books, and culture is because of how revolutionary it can truly be.

When we participate in the fight for Black liberation, we stand on the shoulders of giants like Langston Hughes. We walk on a path forward that has been laid out for us by our ancestors.  

Tramell Tillman’s Emmy Win

Tramell Tillman won Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series — the first Black actor to ever take home that trophy.

Tramell was incredible in Severance’s second season.

But let’s be clear: The fact that it took until *2025* for a Black actor to win this award shows yet again that these award shows are way too late to celebrate Black talent.

We have to take the space to celebrate our community because the systems at work in the entertainment industry are built on white supremacy, plain and simple.

Thank you for reading and we hope we can continue to count on your support as we continue fighting for Black play, joy, and liberation!

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Black Lives Matter

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. If you’d like to receive fewer emails, you can do so by clicking here.

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