Published: Sept. 2, 2020

Patrisse Cullors, Opal Tometi and Alicia Garza, the co-founders of the Black Lives Matter Global Network, will give a virtual talk to the CU Boulder community on Wednesday, Sept. 16.

The event will center around the current political climate and the Black Lives Matter movement, from exploring its roots to what it has accomplished today. 

Cullors, Tometi and Garza are being hosted by CU Boulder’s student-run Cultural Events Board (CEB) and Distinguished Speakers Board (DSB); both student-fee funded entities of CU Student Government (CUSG). The free event will take place on Zoom from 6 to 7:15 p.m. (MDT) and is open only to CU Boulder students (undergraduate and graduate), staff and faculty. Virtual attendees will be admitted on a first-come, first-served basis and are asked to sign up for a link to the event and to submit a question. During the talk, student moderators will select questions for Garza, Cullors and Tometi. 

“DSB and CEB recognize the critical need for an informed conversation about race and racism on our campus. We hope this event will encourage active change in the CU community and beyond,” said CEB Chair Anuja Gore and DSB Chair Ally Roberts.

At the request of the featured guests, the event will not be recorded.

If you go

Who: Students, faculty and staff
What: Virtual talk by Patrisse Cullors, Opal Tometi and Alicia Garza
When: Wednesday, Sept. 16,  6–7:15 p.m. (MDT)
Where: Zoom 

Register & Submit Your Question

About the speakers

Founder of the Los Angeles-based grassroots organization Dignity and Power Now, Cullors has worked for 20 years on criminal justice reform. She was named one of Time Magazine's 2020 100 Women of the Year and is the author of The New York Times bestselling book When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir.

For more than a decade, Tometi has been executive director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), the first immigrant rights organization for people of African descent in the United States. Winner of the 2019 Coretta Scott King Center Award and Douglass 200 Award, Tometi works globally on social justice issues.

An internationally recognized organizer, writer and public speaker, Garza's work has appeared in Time, Mic, Marie Claire, The Guardian, Elle.com, Essence Magazine, and The New York Times. She currently works as the strategy and partnerships director for the National Domestic Workers Alliance.

Past speakers on campus

Past CEB speakers have included #MeToo founder Tarana Burke; actress Viola Davis; mental health advocate Kevin Hines; comedian Hasan Minhaj; former Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich; and gymnast and two-time Olympian Aly Raisman.

Past DSB speakers have included South African-born comedian and commentator Trevor Noah, who spoke to the CU Boulder community last month; journalist Soledad O’Brien; astronaut Buzz Aldrin; Titanic explorer Robert Ballard; best-selling researcher and author Brené Brown; actor George Takei; and exile and whistleblower Edward Snowden.

If you plan to watch the virtual talk with a group, please remember to practice physical distancing and do your part to Protect Our Herd.

Patrisse Cullors

Patrisse Cullors

Alicia Garza

Alicia Garza

Opal Tometi

Opal Tometi