The Black Lives Matter movement began in 2012 after Florida neighborhood watchman volunteer George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teen holding a bag of skittles and an iced tea. 

What started as a hashtag on social media quickly transformed into a nationwide campaign of marches, rallies and political action.

Organizers seek to end police violence, promote racial justice and creatively drive systemic change. In Chicago, activists are fighting for those same principles, including the Black Youth Project 100, Assata’s Daughters and Southside Together Organizing for Power: STOP.

Morning Shift explores the Black Lives Matter movement, the work of local organizations and how it all connects to the Civil Rights era and the fight for equality in the U.S.

GUEST: Barbara Ransby, author and professor of history, African-American Studies, Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago

LEARN MORE: Making All Black Lives Matter: Reimagining Freedom in the Twenty-First Century (Barbara Ransby’s personal website)