I created a timeline of events that you can see [here].

The only reason I’m pursuing this so hard is because I truly believe in the power and awesomeness of Wikipedia and the only article on Wikipedia that is cited on crediting Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi as the founders of the movement is and article which does absolute no research and merely takes their word for it titled: Founders of #BlackLivesMatter: Getting credit for your work matters (Zarya, Valentina (July 19, 2015). “Founders of #BlackLivesMatter: Getting credit for your work matters”.Fortune Magazine. Retrieved September 15, 2015.)

GETTING CREDIT FOR YOUR WORK DOES MATTER!

From article above:

However, the female founders of #BlackLivesMatter do struggle with one issue that will resonate for many women: failing to claim credit for their impressive achievements.

“This is what we do as women. We do our work, and we don’t think twice about taking the credit,” said Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of the social justice organization, which was created in 2013 in the wake of the acquittal of George Zimmerman, the man who shot unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin.

(. . .)

“If we didn’t insert ourselves into the narrative, we would have been erased,” Cullors said, referring to instances where media outlets reported on the #BlackLivesMatter movement without asking for input from its co-founders.

Then there’s the article from Segalov, Michael (February 2, 2015). “We Spoke to the Activist Behind #BlackLivesMatter About Racism in Britain and America”. Vice. Retrieved September 15, 2015.

VICE: Tell me about the origins of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Patrisse Cullors: After George Zimmerman was acquitted of the murder of Trayvon Martin, back in July 2013, myself and two friends came up with the hashtag. My friend Alicia had written a love letter to folks, saying, “Our Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter.”

I put a hashtag in front—within days people were using it across the world. We’re talking about all black lives; we weren’t just talking about black men dying in the hands of the police. We’re talking about black women, black trans people, black queer people. We want to show that under the current system of white supremacy, anti-blackness has major consequences. Inside the US, and around the world, anti-black racism has global consequences. Black Lives Matter is a call to action—it’s a mantra, a testimony.

(. . .)

Did this movement grow out of the death of Mike Brown? That’s really when we started to hear about stuff in the UK.
Actually, I think the first set of uprisings came with the murder of Oscar Grant. That was our politicization.

(. . .)

[Patrisse Cullors:] Uprisings happened in Oakland, in LA; there were a lot of protests. And then we had Trayvon Martin’s murder, and while we don’t take to the streets, we follow the trial of George Zimmerman. When he’s acquitted, we take to the streets. This went global. And then we saw a visibilizing of the murders, of young black boys in particular. The media picks it up. Renisha McBride, shot on a doorstep when looking for help. It wasn’t just Mike Brown’s. It was multiple murders; Mike Brown was the last straw. The momentum picked up. People had always been dying, but now the world seemed to care.

Taking their word for it without research would be as silly as taking this blog post’s word without research. What makes matter worse is that they’re being EXTREMELY hypocritical with those quotes because THEY EFFECTIVELY ERASED ANOTHER AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN FROM THE NARRATIVE!  Patrisse also admits to taking to the streets AFTER the acquitted! I LOVE knowledge, accuracy of information and stories (narrative). I’ve cataloged MY WHOLE LIFE on the web for the last 13 years (8 on YouTube). I’ve [gone to great lengths] to keep a record of where knowledge and information I share comes from.

This is the first time I came across information on Wikipedia that was so factually incorrect. It moved me so much that I decided to create an account just to correct the information. It isn’t my goal to shame Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi (although I admit I was very upset at first). They should be celebrated for their work getting the tagline #BlackLivesMatter to where it is today. I only want to insert another person who I believe deserves credit for “founding” the movement. (What the hell does founding even mean in this situation?) My dictionary of preference is Merriam-Webster:

1founder
noun found·er \ˈfau̇n-dər\
Definition of FOUNDER

: one that founds or establishes

The Fortune Magazine article claims they founded the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag. THIS IS FALSE! Here is the first mention of #BlackLivesMatter:

2nd degree murder! One step closer..this man MUST be sentenced #RIPTrayvonMartin#blacklivesmatter — Notorious A.N.G. (@NeenoBrowne) April 11, 2012

Above Patrisse admits that she did not take to the streets until AFTER the acquittal of George Zimmerman. This happened on July 13, 2013 (Campo, Arian (July 14, 2013). “Jury Acquits Zimmerman of All Charges”. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved September 15, 2015.) Pay close attention to the date of the first mention of #blacklivesmatter and the acquittal. Notice that one precedes the other by over a year.

FORTUNE IS WRONG.

On to the next one!

Vice asks her when the movement started. She didn’t say “Oh, it started when we started #BlackLivesMatter.” Know why? Because she says it started with Oscar Grant! I feel like it’s reasonable to say the movement started back when my father was an organizer with the Black Panthers. (Jones, Meg (December 13, 2013). “Milwaukee anti-apartheid activists pay tribute to Nelson Mandela”. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved September 15, 2015.)

Kehinde Lumumba, a human rights activist from Milwaukee, attended the gathering to pay tribute to a man he greatly admires.

“We’re not just celebrating his life, we’re celebrating his struggle, which continues,” said Lumumba, who was president of Students for a Free Africa at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the 1990s. “He means a lot to me, because he was in prison for 27 years and when he came out he forgave his captors.”

That’s only article I can find mentioning my dad online. I’d probably have to hit microfilm to get earlier accounts of his antics. (Don’t make me fucking do it! I will!) I’d like to point out that I don’t think my dad would say any shit about founding a movement. I don’t know African History like he does, but I’m CERTAIN he would pass credit on to the people who proceeded him. This is also a part of the reason this IRKS me so much!

VICE IS WRONG!

Is that clear enough? Check the links. Verify it. I feel like an asshole doing edits on Wikipedia citing myself but, guess what? I fucking looked it up! It wasn’t hard. Took me less than a day. Do people not know how to use the Twitter advanced search?

Have I clearly establish that THEY ARE NOT the founders of #BlackLivesMatter and that THEY ARE NOT the founders of the Black Liberation Movement? I have? Good. Know what? That’s not even what initially upset me. This is what upset me.

There is a CLEAR trail back to the REAL founder of #BlackLivesMatter, [#BlackLifeMatters]. It was founded by a young woman named Crystal Rose. You can read her account of what happened on [her status update on Facebook]. But you can’t that believe shit right? Who in their right minds would trust the words of some random person on the internet? ESPECIALLY when the information is verifiable using this thing called… the internet. No one would do that. Right? Oh… I forgot already. VICE and Fortune would…

I’m not going to get all detailed like I did [in my original timeline] but why don’t you just go take a look at [the Black Life Matters Twitter account]. Notice how the date (2012) is a year before the acquittal of George Zimmerman? Go do a Twitter advanced search and see when the first mention of #BlackLifeMatters was (don’t worry, [I’ve done it for you].)

Now, don’t you think it’s reasonable to deduce that (since the first mention of #blacklivesmatter predates the “founders” by a year and that the mention happened about a month after #BlackLifeMatters) #BlackLivesMatter was an organic evolution of #BlackLivesMatter? If this is the case (and it certainly seems to be) doesn’t it make sense to insert Crystal Rose into the narrative? ESPECIALLY when the “founders” said… I forgot how it went… Let me scroll back up.

“This is what we do as women. We do our work, and we don’t think twice about taking the credit,”

(. . .)

“If we didn’t insert ourselves into the narrative, we would have been erased,”

In an article fucking titled “Founders of #BlackLivesMatter: Getting credit for your work matters“.

If you DON’T think inserting Crystal Rose into the narrative makes sense. Fuck you. You’re an asshole.

And just for good measure, I’m going to copy and paste, from [my timeline] the news article, by like a real journalist, who captured the event the day that it happened, as a part of “[The Million Hoodie March]”. If anyone is the founder of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, I’d say it was a combination of the original organizer of “The Million Hoodie March” (Kevin Cunningham?) and Ms. Crystal Rose. I won’t go so far as to making the edits to include Mr. Cunningham into the narrative, but I’m sure as fuck adding Ms. Rose.

Here’s the CLEAR SOURCE of the #BlackLivesMatter movement. They even added a picture of a BlackLifeMatters.org sign to the article for good measure. In this age of shoops and super trolls it’s important that internet detectives work hard to keep accurate information on Wikipedia. After I get this edit secured, you’ll find me in the martial arts, Daoist and Buddhist history areas of the site. This is why I fucking hate politics…

March 24th, 2012 – Jason Kandel and Jesse Gary (March 25th, 2012), “Hundreds March in Hollywood to Protest Trayvon Martin Shooting” NBC Los Angeles NBCUniversal Media, LLC, Sunday, (Retrieved August, 25th, 2015)

BlackLifeMatter.org is prominently displayed at a protest in Los Angeles.

Note:

1. I apologize for grammar/spelling. I’m tired, it’s late and I’m on my grandma’s old Windows 7 computer that’s running slow as hell that I need to put Mint on.
2. I fucking forgot to tell the story about how I got roped into this… this shit is long enough and… see #1.
3. Clearly getting (internet paid) for being a journalist does not make you a journalist. While I didn’t get paid for this, I did some fucking journaling.