"Civil-rights organizers Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi put those three words into our minds and hearts seven years ago, when they began to change the country. The sweeping calls for change we see today are not sudden, but the fruits of the labor of activists like them. Their work has given us room to demand more, because black lives donāt truly matter just because people simply say so.... Tometi recognizes the urgency and unique nature of this moment. āThinking about this moment, for me, leading up to this, it felt like we werenāt working fast enough,ā she tells me, sounding exasperated. āOur work wasnāt as effective as it needed to be. Weāve received all of the awards. Iām like, āDear God, I donāt want another award, I want this to end.ā I do not care for any more accolades! This to me is common sense. You donāt want to see people dying and being murdered like this.ā I took Tometiās tone to heart when she said it. There was more exasperation than excitement in her voice."
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Activists from the United StatesCivil rights activistsAnti-racism activistsWomen academics from the United StatesAfrican-American feminists
Original Language: English
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How the movement thatās changing America was built and where it goes next, By Jamil Smith, 'Rolling Stone (16 June 2020)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Opal_Tometi
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Opal Tometi
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