Garza wrote a Facebook post that included the words "Black lives matter," and Cullors turned it into a hashtag. The movement grew in 2014 after police killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in New York. Local chapters and coalitions such as the Movement for Black Lives pushed policy demands, from ending cash bail to cutting police budgets.
After a Minneapolis police officer murdered George Floyd in May 2020, protests spread to cities and towns across the country. Polls estimated that 15 million to 26 million people took part that summer. Many states and cities passed laws limiting chokeholds and no-knock warrants.
Public support has shifted. Pew Research Center found that 67 percent of US adults supported the movement in June 2020, falling to 51 percent in April 2023. The phrase also refers to the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, which has faced questions about its finances.