Meeting Opal Tometi at a Black Lives Matter talk
The woman behind one of the most famous hashtags in America
#BlackLivesMatter has been one of the most powerful anti-racism hashtags ever invented. The Tab went to a speech given by one of the movement’s founders, Opal Tometi at the University YMCA.
In her talk, Opal discussed the history and the founding story of #BlackLivesMatter. She said it all started with Trayvon Martin’s death.
“We want to make negotiable immigrant rights happen,” Opal said. “We are not celebrities. [We are] just normal people who want to share some more perspectives.”
“We are living in a different society right now, [watching all the deaths and mistreatments happen,] and it is not going to work if black lives do not matter.”
The hashtag started when Opal replied to one of activist Alicia Garza’s tweets about being proud of the black community and hardworking black people’s talents. And later on went bigger and officially started in 2013.
“It becomes a necessity that we not only talk about race or racism but also face all aspects of black matters. Being colored should never be a way to silence our pain,” Opal said.
“And stories like a 17-year-old being stalked and murdered on the way to his own house in his own community just kept me thinking about my younger brother, who’s 14. We need a response to this kind of assault, which says black lives do not matter.”
Opal explained the concept of dehumanization by presenting a UCLA study. The study explained how how white people, police in particular, tend to feel less empathy for black peoples’ pain than the pain of their own race. The study also outlined how white people tend to think black children are older than they actually are.
“If this type of logic or racist views get passed on all the way, we are going to continue on in the cycle,” she said. “We need to stop this before it hurts any more people.”
In a Q and A session, Opal mentioned that her Nigerian American identity has provided her with a broad perspective. Her experience as an employee at an immigrant rights office helped her carry the movement in to the highest principles she could hold.
She was also asked about the issue of Illini White Student Union.
“Oh my god, we are so sorry. I think that’s a reaction to the movement. While I was still in Arizona, I have to deal with white reaction groups in my immigration work . . . they have been around for a long time,” she said.
“For me, one way that I deny resistance is to always remember the love that’s still there, the fact is that we still have a overwhelmingly majority [out there] that’s with us.”
She wrapped up by encouraging us all, no matter what kind of movements we are in, to step up with the right side and stay with the groundwork.