When They Call You a Terrorist

Eager to help the protesters in Ferguson, Cullors reaches out to organizers on the ground there. Careful only to invite lawyers, organizers, journalists, medical support teams, and other individuals who can make contributions to the protest efforts, she helps plan a Freedom Ride to Ferguson over Labor Day weekend. Through an online crowdfunding platform, the movement raises $50,000 to pay for buses and food.

When Cullors arrives in Ferguson, the community looks like an occupied warzone in a foreign country. After setting up camp at St. John’s United Church of Christ, Cullors calls out to 600 organizers across North America, including a group of Black Transwomen in Ohio. Here, she admits that she should have done more to increase the visibility of these women and to acknowledge earlier the broader contributions of the Trans community to the Black Lives Matter movement.

As Cullors and her fellow activists participate in protests across the city, Black Lives Matter sees its first widespread national coverage in the media, much of which is negative. Cullors points out that despite the fact that its founders are women—and despite the fact that roughly 80% of the Ferguson protesters in general are women—the contributions of women, including herself, are largely erased in the national media coverage of Black Lives Matter.