What: Black Lives Matter: A Dialogue with Alicia Garza
When: Friday 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Where: Malcolm X Library at 5148 Market St.
Cost: Free
We heard the slogan "Black Lives Matter" during last year's demonstrations in Missouri and New York after the killings of unarmed black suspects by police officers.
But the slogan, which has grown into an international movement, started as a hashtag on social media in 2013 after George Zimmerman was acquitted in the death of Trayvon Martin. The hashtag was created by three black women, including UC San Diego graduate Alicia Garza.
Garza is in San Diego this week to discuss the history and goals of the movement and the role of community activism.
The movement is calling for a number of reforms, including the "demilitarization of local law enforcement, a comprehensive review of systemic abuses by local police departments and the repurposing of law enforcement funds to support community based alternatives to incarceration."
Garza is also the special projects director for the National Domestic Workers Alliance.
