Photo by Beth Neely

Protestors hold Black Lives Matter signs while they march around the Courthouse Square June 2.

The Black Lives Matter organization was founded in 2013 in response to the death of Trayvon Martin and the acquittal of George Zimmerman, who fatally shot him.

Black Lives Matter Foundation Inc. is a global organization in the U.S., U.K. and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes, according to the Black Lives Matter website.

By combating and countering acts of violence, creating space for Black imagination and innovation, and centering Black joy, we are winning immediate improvements in our lives.

The organization was founded by Patrisse Khan-Cullors, Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi. The organization outlines its beliefs on its website, blacklivesmatter.com .

Every day, we recommit to healing ourselves and each other, and to co-creating alongside comrades, allies and family a culture where each person feels seen, heard and supported.

We acknowledge, respect and celebrate differences and commonalities, the website states.

The beliefs state that they work for freedom and justice for Black people and, by extension, all people.

We are unapologetically Black in our positioning. In affirming that Black Lives Matter, we need not qualify our position. To love and desire freedom and justice for ourselves is a prerequisite for wanting the same for others, the website states.

Black Lives Matter says that they are part of the global Black family, and are aware of the different ways Black people are impacted depending on where they live.

We are guided by the fact that all Black lives matter, regardless of actual or perceived sexual identity, gender identity, gender expression, economic status, ability, disability, religious beliefs or disbeliefs, immigration status or location, the website states.

The Black Lives Matter organization says they accept transgender people to participate and lead. They also support Black transgender women who are impacted by trans-antagonistic violence.

The organization states they affirm Black women and are free from sexism, misogyny and environments in which men are centered. Black Lives Matter states they practice empathy and its environment is family-friendly.

We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and villages that collectively care for one another, especially our children, to the degree that mothers, parents and children are comfortable, the website states.

Christians have spoken out about the organizations belief in a non-nuclear family structure by saying it destroys the idea of a Christian family structure.

Todd Slade, pastor of First Baptist Church of Moreland, brought that statement up at the Pastors and Leaders Lunch Monday.

Slade said while he believes in and preaches that Black lives matter, he doesnt support the organization. He said they are a Marxist organization that believes in the decentralization of family structures.

They dont believe in the nuclear family; they dont have the same beliefs that I do as a pastor and whats going to cure our problem, Slade said.

Black Lives Matter states that it is queer-affirming, and they gather with the intention of freeing themselves from heteronormative thinking. The organization also says they accept people of any age.

We embody and practice justice, liberation and peace in our engagements with one another, the website states.

U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., doubled down Monday at a campaign stop in Cobb County on criticism of the Black Lives Matter protest movement, calling it a political organization promoting violence and anti-Semitism.

They are built on a Marxist foundation and the most socialist principles, Loeffler said of Black Lives Matter Monday, according to the Capitol Beat News Service.

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What is the 'Black Lives Matter' organization? - Newnan Times-Herald