In December of 2014, the national movement, Black Lives Matter (BLM), came to the Gate City.
In the summer earlier that year, a few people met at a Freedom Summer event, in which they helped train people who needed voting assistance. Together, the group began wondering how they could help locally, and soon after, Black Live Matter Greensboro was established.
“I think all of this country was founded in the same ways, so you’ll find the same things in all of the different places just manifested in different ways,” said Irving Allen, one of the initial organizers of BLM Greensboro. “We’ve had laws and amendments passed to stop things from happening, but never to reverse harm done and to set things right.”
Allen believes BLM is trying to fix that.
“I think Black Lives Matter caught attention to that fact across the board at a time when black death was being publicized so much, they put an emphasis on black livelihood - no matter where you are,” he said.
The Greensboro group has taken a step back from town hall meetings, and is now working with other organizations to focus on youth programs and direct radical initiatives. The group also works with BLM chapters in the southern region of the United States and chapters across the world.
The group works as a collective to tackle racial disparities, police and elected official accountability and focus on alternatives for marginalized communities. BLM Greensboro is also a feminist organization that places heavy emphasis on affirming and empowering women and the LGBT+ community.
A new initiative for the group is the People's Power Pantry, which is "an outdoor food pantry serving food insecure people packaged goods with information about how to get more involved in the many social justice [organizations] existing here in Greensboro so that they can empower themselves to demand better," said Cherizar Crippen, the communications director for BLM Greensboro.
Members believe the Greensboro location has made a lot of progress.
One way they did this was in conjunction with other groups trying to have the city apologize for the 1979 Massacre, which they eventually did.
Also, BLM Greensboro has worked on police accountability and the way Greensboro police handle video footage. Specific cases they protested were the Scales Brothers, Dejuan Yourse and Jose Charles Cases.
They also limited minor traffic infractions made by Greensboro police for a while.
Another recent accomplishment the group has made is winning the Greensboro Kwanzaa Collective’s award for Outstanding Commitment to the Greensboro Community during Kwanzaa 2017.
“I think the things that get sensationalized like the news - we’re able to react to it the way that we do because it feels distant,” Allen said.
However, BLM Greensboro is trying to bring more awareness to injustices made against the black community, while simultaneously raising their voices in support of each other.
To find information about upcoming events, visit the group’s Facebook page listed above.