Activism

Black Lives Matter, Stacey Abrams Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

“We hold the largest social movement in global history,”

Published

4 years ago

February 4, 2021

Kiki

Patrisse Cullors

Stacey Abrams

Patrisse Cullors

The Black Girl Magic just keeps on keeping on.

Black Lives Matter, founded by Patrisse Cullors, Opal Tometi and Oakland’s own Alicia Garza, won Sweden’s Olof Palme human rights prize for 2020 on Saturday and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize along with voting rights activist and lawyer Stacey Abrams.

BLM was founded in 2013 after the acquittal of the man who killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin who was attacked on his way home from a walk to the local store in Sanford, Fla., in February of 2012.

Seven years later, after the high-profile killing of George Floyd and others, about 20 million people took to the streets in protest in the U.S. and around the world using the name of the loosely structured organization.

“This illustrates that racism and racist violence is not just a problem in American society, but a global problem,” Palme prize organizers said.

In awarding the $100,000 prize last weekend, organizers said the foundation had “in a unique way exposed the hardship, pain, and wrath of the African-American minority at not being valued equal to people of a different colour.”

Around the same time, BLM was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize by Norwegian lawmaker Petter Eide. In his nomination papers, Eide said BLM deserved the award “for their struggle against racism and racially motivated violence… BLM’s call for systemic change have spread around the world, forcing other countries to grapple with racism within their own societies.”

“We hold the largest social movement in global history,” Black Lives Matter tweeted in response on January 29. “Today, we have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. People are waking up to our global call: for racial justice and an end to economic injustice, environmental racism, and white supremacy. We’re only getting started.”

Eide has since taken some heat from critics who believe BLM is a violent organization. But he reminded them that similar criticism arose when Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was nominated and later received the Nobel prize in 1964.

BLM, to Eide, follows in King’s footsteps as well as in those of anti-apartheid freedom fighter Nelson Mandela in 1993.

Eide’s sentiments paralleled those of Lars Haltbrekken, a Norwegian legislator who nominated Stacey Abrams for the Nobel Peace prize on Saturday.

Abrams, the powerhouse who fought the voter suppression tactics that are believed to have led to her defeat in Georgia’s gubernatorial race in 2018, was nominated for the prize for helping to boost voter turnout in 2020 through nonviolent activism.

In a statement released to Reuters, Haltbrekken said, “Abrams’ work follows in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s footsteps in the fight for equality before the law and for civil rights.”

Abrams launched Fair Fight, a voting rights movement encouraging voter registration, after she lost the gubernatorial race by 55,000 votes as her opponent, the Georgia Secretary of State at the time, purged thousands from the voter rolls.

“In the wake of the election, my mission was to figure out what work could I do, even if I didn’t have the title of governor,”Abrams said at the time. “What work could I do to enhance or protect our democracy? Because voting rights is the pinnacle of power in our country.”

Fair Fight was her answer to that question.

“Abrams’ efforts to complete King’s work are crucial if the United States of America shall succeed in its effort to create fraternity between all its peoples and a peaceful and just society,” Haltbrekken said.

If she wins, Abrams would join fellow Georgians King and former president Jimmy Carter, who won in 2002, as Nobel Peace prize winners.

Abrams’ declined to comment on the nomination.

Nominating someone is relatively easy, though not taken lightly. Members of national legislatures, universities, international courts of law and former Nobel winners are among those who can put a name to the Nobel committee. Last year, there were 210 individuals nominated and 107 organizations were nominees for the peace prize, which comes with a cash award of$1,145,000.

The Nobel committee will announce the short list of nominees in March.

Reuters, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, BBC News and CBS news are the sources for this report.

Kiki

Posts by Kiki | Website

Up Next

Gameheads Equips Youth to Get Ahead of the Games of Life

Don't Miss

Focus on Health: Dr. Kim Rhoads Keeps Up the Good Fight for Black People in COVID-19 Battle

Kiki

Click to comment

Activism

LIVE! — TOWN HALL ON RACISM AND ITS IMPACT — THURS. 11.14.24 5PM PST

Join us for a LIVE Virtual Town Hall on the Impact of Racism hosted by Post News Group Journalist Carla Thomas and featuring Oakland, CA NAACP President Cynthia Adams & other Special Guests.
Thursday, November 14, 2024, 5 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. PST

Published

5 days ago

November 12, 2024

Oakland Post

Discussion Topics:
• Since the pandemic, what battles have the NAACP fought nationally, and how have they impacted us locally?
• What trends are you seeing concerning Racism? Is it more covert or overt?
• What are the top 5 issues resulting from racism in our communities?
• How do racial and other types of discrimination impact local communities?
• What are the most effective ways our community can combat racism and hate?

Your questions and comments will be shared LIVE with the moderators and viewers during the broadcast.

STREAMED LIVE!
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/PostNewsGroup
YOUTUBE: youtube.com/blackpressusatv
X: twitter.com/blackpressusa

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of November 6 – 12, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 6 – 12, 2024

Published

1 week ago

November 9, 2024

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

Stop-the-Hate Message Shared with Tens of Thousands at Calif’s Largest Black-Themed Street Festival

Hundreds of thousands gathered at the 19th annual Taste of Soul Festival in Crenshaw — an event dubbed “California’s largest block party” — on Oct. 19. At the event, California Black Media (CBM) partnered with the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) to spread the word about the California Vs. Hate, a statewide hate crime online resource and telephone hotline, launched in 2023.

Published

2 weeks ago

November 4, 2024

Oakland Post

Office of the Civil Rights Staff and CBM Representative. Courtesy Photo.

By Tanu Henry, California Black Media

Hundreds of thousands gathered at the 19^th annual Taste of Soul Festival in Crenshaw — an event dubbed “California’s largest block party” — on Oct. 19.

At the event, California Black Media (CBM) partnered with the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) to spread the word about the California Vs. Hate, a statewide hate crime online resource and telephone hotline, launched in 2023.

“Held in the heart of south Los Angeles on Crenshaw Blvd, over half a million people attend the one-day event that brings out the best our community has to offer,” said Brandon Brooks, Stop the Hate project director at California Black Media.

“The festival promotes local businesses as well as it brings out local and statewide resources to assist community members, Brooks continued. “The day has proven to be a great opportunity to speak to people directly and provide information to combat hate crimes and incidents.”

During the event, Brooks said he, James Williams, Community Based Organization Manger for California Vs. Hate and Leah Brown-Goodloe from CBM informed and shared literature with tens of thousands of festivalgoers about the state’s Stop the Hate resources.

CBM’s Stop the Hate outreach was held at the beginning of United Against Hate Week (UAHW), a commemoration held annually across the country to recognize the fight against all forms of hate.

UAHW was first launched in 2018 by elected leaders, staff, and community groups from 13 cities in the Bay Area who organized a “United Against Hate” poster campaign responding to White supremacists marching in Northern California streets in the aftermath of Charlottesville riots.

In 2018, Los Angeles County, LAvsHate, a campaign that provided anti-hate crime information and resources to report hate incidents and hate crimes.

According to CRD director Kevin Kish, the L.A. initiative provided a model for the state’s program.

Today, UAHW has grown into a national movement with events organized across the country to mark the day.

In June, California Attorney General Rob Bonta released the 2023 Hate Crime in California Report. According to the report, hate crimes in California decreased by 7.1% from 2,120 in 2022 to 1,970 in 2023.

However, incidents and crimes against Black Californians remained higher than average with 518 reported cases in 2023.

When it comes to reported hate crimes, we know that Black Californians are the most targeted group for hate and discrimination in our state,” said Williams. “The California Civil Rights Department wants people to know that we are committed to reaching the Black community through outreach events and campaigns, including our first-ever billboard campaign, forging new partnerships, or increasing awareness about the hotline and available resources to historically hard-to-reach and underserved Californians.”

Williams said he wants to remind all Californians that there is “support when you report!”

“No matter your background or where you come from, if you’ve been targeted for hate, you can get help accessing legal, financial, mental health, and other services by calling 833-8-NO-HATE or by going to CAvsHate.org,” Williams added.

How To Report A Hate Crime:

CA vs Hate is a non-emergency, multilingual hate crime and incident reporting hotline and online portal. Reports can be made anonymously by calling (833) 866-4283, or 833-8-NO-HATE, Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT or online at any time.

For more information on CA vs Hate, please visit CAvsHate.org.