Patrisse Cullors

Lore & Background

Cullors was born in Los Angeles, California. Her mother Cherice Foley is a Jehovah's Witness. Her biological father was Gabriel Brignac, whom she did not meet until she was eleven years old. She was raised in the home of Alton Cullors.

She has three siblings: two brothers named Paul and Monte, and a sister named Jasmine. Gabriel was a repeat offender who was jailed many times on drugs-related charges and died in 2009 in a homeless shelter. Cullors described him as having a constant and caring presence in her life. Her brother Monte was arrested in 1999 after stealing his mother's car; later he was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and bipolar disorder.

Cullors recalled that in a fight with prison officers, he was allegedly choked, beaten up brutally, and was forced to drink toilet water. She has cited this as one of the reasons for her activism. Cullors grew up in a Section 8 apartment in Van Nuys. Her step-father Alton eventually left his family, leaving Cherice to raise her kids on her own.

Cullors said that she witnessed her 11 and 13-year-old brothers being needlessly slammed into a wall by police when she was 9 years old. At age 12, she was arrested for smoking marijuana. At that time, she was a student at Millikan Middle School, an affluent school in Sherman Oaks.

She also attended Van Nuys Middle School as part of summer school due to poor grades. Cullors became an activist early in life, joining the Bus Riders Union under the leadership of Eric Mann as a teenager. She attended a year-long organizing program led by the Labor Community Strategy Center. Cullors enrolled at Grover Cleveland High School in Reseda and was admitted into its social justice magnet program.

She went on to acquire a degree in religion and philosophy at UCLA, as well as an MFA from the Roski School of Art and Design at the University of Southern California. Cullors recalled being forced from her home at sixteen when she revealed her queer identity to her parents. Raised as a Jehovah's Witness, she remained committed to the faith for years but later grew disillusioned. She developed an interest in the Nigerian religious tradition of Ifá, incorporating its rituals into political protest events.

Formative Years in the San Fernando Valley

Patrisse Cullors was born on June 20, 1983, in Los Angeles, and grew up in a Section 8 apartment in Van Nuys, a poor and largely Mexican-American neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. Her mother, Cherice Foley, is a Jehovah's Witness; her biological father, Gabriel Brignac, was a repeat offender jailed many times on drugs-related charges whom she did not meet until age eleven. Gabriel died in a homeless shelter in 2009. The household was anchored by Alton Cullors, who worked at a General Motors plant in Van Nuys before it shut down, forcing him into low-paying jobs; he eventually left the family.

Cullors has spoken about witnessing her 11 and 13-year-old brothers being needlessly slammed into a wall by police when she was 9. Her brother Monte was arrested in 1999 after stealing his mother's car, later diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and bipolar disorder, and in a fight with prison officers was allegedly choked, beaten up brutally, and forced to drink toilet water—an experience Cullors cites as a reason for her activism. At age 12, she was arrested for smoking marijuana while attending Van Nuys Middle School for summer school due to poor grades, a school with metal detectors and police presence that shocked her after attending affluent Millikan Middle School.

Building Black Lives Matter

Patrisse Cullors co-founded Black Lives Matter alongside community organizers Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi, a project born from frustration over George Zimmerman's acquittal in the killing of Trayvon Martin. In 2013, Cullors created the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag to corroborate Garza's use of the phrase in a Facebook post about the Martin case.

The three set out to build a decentralized movement governed by consensus of a members' collective, and by 2015 a network of chapters was formed. Cullors became the most publicly visible co-founder, especially after Garza and Tometi stepped back from regular involvement. She credits social media as instrumental in revealing violence against African Americans, saying: 'On a daily basis, every moment, black folks are being bombarded with images of our death ... It's literally saying, "Black people, you might be next."' In 2017, she said the movement would not meet with President Donald Trump, as Trump 'is literally the epitome of evil, all the evils of this country, be it racism, capitalism, sexism, homophobia.' After six years as executive director of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, Cullors resigned in May 2021 to focus on her second book and a multi-year TV deal with Warner Bros., stating the resignation had been planned for over a year.

Education, Intellectual Formation, and Teaching

Patrisse Cullors became an activist early in life, joining the Bus Riders Union under the leadership of Eric Mann as a teenager, during which she attended a year-long organizing program led by the Labor Community Strategy Center. There she learned about revolutionaries, critical theory, and social movements from around the world. She enrolled at Grover Cleveland High School (now Cleveland Humanities Magnet) in Reseda and was admitted into its social justice magnet program. She went on to acquire a degree in religion and philosophy at UCLA, as well as an MFA from the Roski School of Art and Design at the University of Southern California.

Cullors has taught at Otis College of Art and Design in the Public Practice Program and in the Master's Arts in Social Justice and Community Organizing at Prescott College. Her intellectual practice draws on black feminists such as Audre Lorde and bell hooks, Angela Davis, Frantz Fanon, and Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, and Mao Zedong. In a 2015 interview that resurfaced in 2020, Cullors stated that she and co-founder Garza were 'trained Marxists.' She also developed an interest in the Nigerian religious tradition of Ifá, incorporating its rituals into political protest events, telling an interviewer in 2015 that 'seeking spirituality had a lot to do with trying to seek understanding about my conditions.'

Queer Identity, Faith, and Advocacy Beyond BLM

Patrisse Cullors was forced from her home at sixteen when she revealed her queer identity to her parents. Raised as a Jehovah's Witness, her immediate family was shunned by both the church and extended family members due to her mother's teenage pregnancy; Cullors remained committed to the faith for years even in exile, but later grew disillusioned. Her queer experience informed her advocacy for LGBTQ rights, which she has pursued alongside her work on prison abolition in Los Angeles. She served as executive director of the Coalition to End Sheriff Violence in L.A. Jails, which advocated for a civilian commission to oversee the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, though the group did not succeed in its efforts.

She co-founded the prison activist organization Dignity and Power Now, which succeeded in advocating for a civilian oversight board. She is also a board member of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. Cullors has faced public scrutiny, including criticism directed at her personal spending and handling of Black Lives Matter funding. Despite controversies, she has maintained that her activism—rooted in critical theory, spiritual practice, and lived experience of state violence—remains a coherent, lifelong commitment.

Reader's Guide

Cullors has taught in the Master's Arts in Social Justice and Community Organizing at Prescott College. Along with community organizers and friends Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi, Cullors founded Black Lives Matter. The three started the movement out of frustration over George Zimmerman's acquittal in the killing of Trayvon Martin.

Cullors created the hashtag in 2013 to corroborate Garza's use of the phrase in a Facebook post. Cullors further described her impetus for pushing for African-American rights stemming from her 19-year-old brother's brutalization during imprisonment in Los Angeles County jails. Cullors and her BLM co-founders set out to build a decentralized movement governed by consensus of a members' collective, and in 2015 a network of chapters was formed. Cullors has been the most publicly visible of the co-founders.

In May 2021, after holding the position for six years, Cullors resigned from her formal role as executive director of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation to focus on her second book and a multi-year TV deal with Warner Bros. She said that her resignation had nothing to do with alleged attempts to discredit her and that it had been planned for over a year. She has served as executive director of the Coalition to End Sheriff Violence in L.A. Jails.

Other activism

Cullors co-founded the prison activist organization Dignity and Power Now, which succeeded in advocating for a civilian oversight board. She is also a board member of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. In October 2020, she launched a production company with a deal with Warner Bros. Television. Cullors defines herself as a prison, police and 'militarization' abolitionist.

Ideology and policy positions

She also favors reparations. She cites Eric Mann as her mentor. She draws on black feminists such as Audre Lorde and bell hooks, as well as Angela Davis, Frantz Fanon, Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, and Mao Zedong.