A Manifesto by Patrisse Cullors 10 rules for life from the Black Lives Matter co-founder

Design by Tré Seals
Design by Tré Seals
Published
WordsPatrisse Cullors

Artist, organizer, educator, and popular public speaker, Patrisse Cullors is a Los Angeles native and Co-Founder of the Black Lives Matter Global Network and Founder of grassroots Los Angeles based organization Dignity and Power Now.

“In this critical moment, as the world joins us in the fight to defend Black life, I remember that we come from a long legacy of resilience and solidarity. We stand on the shoulders of the many that came before us that taught us what it takes to show up for one another and to fight like hell for our freedom. We honor those before us, by showing up today.” – Patrisse Cullors

Artist, organizer, educator, and popular public speaker, Patrisse Cullors is a Los Angeles native and Co-Founder of the Black Lives Matter Global Network and Founder of grassroots Los Angeles based organization Dignity and Power Now. Cullors’ work for Black Lives Matter recently received recognition in TIME magazine’s 2020 100 Women of the Year project. Cullors is a New York Times bestselling author of When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir (2018). She is also the Faculty Director at Arizona’s Prescott College of a new Social and Environmental Arts Practice MFA program that she has developed. In 2019, Patrisse joined Freeform’s Good Trouble Season two as a staff writer and actor. She has continued writing for its third season. For the last 20 years, Cullors has been on the frontlines of criminal justice reform and led Reform LA Jails’ “Yes on R” campaign, a ballot initiative that passed by a 71% landslide victory in March 2020. Patrisse’s work to decarcerate and affirm human dignity continues as she joins The Justice Collaborative team as a Senior Advisor.

Manifesto is a series on WePresent which invites activists and creatives with something to say to write 10 rules to live by, in order to help spread their message. The artwork on this page was created by Tré Seals.