“When I was growing up, my family was plagued by poverty. My mother, a single parent, worked around the clock to make sure her children - me, my five brothers, and three sisters - could eat and have a safe place to sleep. We hardly saw her.”

American progressive activist, artist, and writer

Patrisse Cullors is an American progressive activist, artist, and writer. She is best known as a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement and for helping bring the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag into wider use in 2013. She has written and spoken widely about the movement and the issues around it. Her public work is closely tied to activism, art, and writing, with a focus on Black lives and racial justice.