BLM’s Major Principles

In a document titled “What We Believe,” BLM lays out a number of major principles for which it stands. Among the most noteworthy:

• “We work vigorously for freedom and justice for Black people and, by extension, all people.”
• “We are unapologetically Black in our positioning. In affirming that Black Lives Matter, we need not qualify our position….”
• “We see ourselves as part of the global Black family …”
• “We are guided by the fact that all Black lives matter, regardless of actual or perceived sexual identity, gender identity, gender expression, economic status, ability, disability, religious beliefs or disbeliefs, immigration status, or location.”
• “We make space for transgender brothers and sisters to participate and lead.”
• “We are self-reflexive and do the work required to dismantle cisgender privilege and uplift Black trans folk, especially Black trans women who continue to be disproportionately impacted by trans-antagonistic violence.”
• “We build a space that affirms Black women and is free from sexism, misogyny, and environments in which men are centered.”
• “We dismantle the patriarchal practice that requires mothers to work ‘double shifts’ so that they can mother in private even as they participate in public justice work.”
• “We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and ‘villages’ that collectively care for one another, especially our children, to the degree that mothers, parents, and children are comfortable.” (Note: BLM quietly, and without explanation, removed this item from its website around September 21, 2020, in an effort to defuse the widespread criticism which the item had sparked.)
• “We foster a queer‐affirming network. When we gather, we do so with the intention of freeing ourselves from the tight grip of heteronormative thinking …”