Profile: Patrisse Cullors
Patrisse Cullors Profile
Patrisse Cullors was born in 1984 in Los Angeles, California. She was raised in Pacoima, a poor neighborhood located in San Fernando Valley. In her own words, “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.” The harsh truth of having to raise herself and care for her other siblings at such a young age developed her passion for leadership. Through this grim back story, she continues on helping those less fortunate have a voice and educate the ignorant on the challenges of poverty brutally ignored.
She lived in her childhood home until she was 16 years old and moved out. She received a Fulbright scholarship and went to the University of California, Los Angeles. While she was there, she earned her degree in religion and philosophy. School was tough, but she was dedicated to proving she could get an education. The social norm of children raised in a neighborhood like hers was set; to see the young adults fail. There was no room for success and no hope for it either. She dedicated herself to proving all of these regulations wrong and giving people a positive example to look to when faced with doubt.
She saw many bitter acts of cruelty and punishment when it came to low-income neighborhoods and those that resided in them. Cullors grew up in Pacoima while the federal war on drugs was being strictly enforced, so her brother and father were in and out of jail all the time. Her brother was beaten and abused in the Los Angeles County Jail numerous times. When the ACLU filed a class-action lawsuit against the very same county jail her brother was tortured in, Cullors was inspired. She read the report and wrote STAINED: An Intimate Portrayal of State Violence, a performance focused on her brother’s story of his life in the jail. The play compared the abuse her brother endured in jail to the abuse minorities endure in everyday public life. Her play was shown all over Los Angeles County for a year and was very impactful to viewers. It is important to recognize those that claim the need to help and those that take action. Cullors is one of those amazing activitsts that leads her causes through dedication, history and pride. She recognized the need for change and followed it.
Probably the most impactful thing Patrisse Cullors has done so far in her life is co-founding Black Lives Matter. Cullors came up with the name for the organization after seeing her friend’s Facebook post reminding people to keep fighting for the rights of colored people. The post was made in response to the 2013 ruling that George Zimmerman was innocent of the murder of Trayvon Martin. In the post, her friend used the term “black lives matter” and it caught Patrisse’s eye. Patrisse attached a hashtag to the term, and it quickly became popular across the internet.
The hashtag led to the creation of the Black Lives Matter organization, which has grown into a highly influential international movement. Her work with Black Lives Matter has attracted a lot of attention and she has received many rewards and honors from numerous organizations. She was named a History Maker by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, a group that has been dedicated to fighting for rights and social justice for people of any color for many decades. She also received the honor of being called a Civil Rights Leader for the 21st Century buy the LA Times newspaper. When asked why she involves herself with Black Lives Matter she said this, “I’m involved in Black Lives Matter because it pushes me to think creatively and to think about what actions, what kind of strategy, what tactics can come from a call like Black Lives Matters.”
In 2014, Cullors participated in and completed a fellowship program at the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership in Kalamazoo College in order to gain skills to help lead the newly formed Black Lives Matter organization. The ACSJL fellowship program gives students the chance to create their own program by which they can fight social inequalities and injustice. With this opportunity, Cullors formed and led a group that would give advice on ways to decrease the amount of state violence against their citizens. Her group was featured at the Without Borders conference, a meeting where people present ideas on how to improve the lives of everyone in the world regardless of their nationality.
Patrisse Cullors has been very influential in many different movements and causes in her life so far. She has been active in politics since a young age and will likely continue to be active in politics for a very long time. She has received a plethora of awards from magazines, newspapers, and humanitarian organizations alike. She is a very determined and hardworking individual who has the potential to change the world through her lifetime. She is an advocate for those without a voice, in situations that seem hopeless. She also encourages others to get involved. In her own words this is her hope for the future, “I hope in ten years, I hope in five years, that we’ve been able to develop a strong enough narrative that really pushes the debate. I’m a firm believer that you have to win the battle of ideas around the world, because culture shifts that way.” We have the potential to change the world; we just need to find the power to do it.
Works Cited
Cullors, Patrisse. “Patrisse Cullors Biography.” Patrisse Cullors, patrissecullors.com/bio/.
“When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir.” Patrisse Cullors, patrissecullors.com/call-terrorist-black-lives-matter-memoir/.
“Arcus Center.” Arcus Center: With/Out - ¿Borders? Ll Conference. Kalamazoo College, reason.kzoo.edu/csjl/annual-event/withoutborders/.
“Arcus Center.” Arcus Center: Fellowships. Kalamazoo College, reason.kzoo.edu/csjl/fellowships/.
“Art.” Patrisse Cullors, patrissecullors.com/art/.
“ABOUT.” Dignity and Power Now, dignityandpowernow.org/about-us/.
Cullors, Patrisse. “A Black Lives Matter Leader Opens Up About Marrying Her Partner.”Esquire, Esquire, 6 Oct. 2017, www.esquire.com/news-politics/a45823/patrisse-cullors-black-gay/.
Farrag, Hebah H. “The Role of Spirit in the #BlackLivesMatter Movement: A Conversation with Activist and Artist Patrisse Cullors.” Religion Dispatches, 26 Oct. 2015, religiondispatches.org/the-role-of-spirit-in-the-blacklivesmatter-movement-a-conversation-with-activist-and-artist-patrisse-cullors/.
“Ella Baker Center.” Ella Baker Center, ellabakercenter.org/.
