Patrisse Cullors, the co-founder of Black Lives Matter, has had an extremely busy 2020.
She has a lot on her plate between organizing protests around the country and inking a multi-year, multi-platform deal with Warner Bros. Television Group.
While Stacey Abrams has been credited for helping the Democrats win the November election by flipping the staunchly Republican state of Georgia blue, Cullors and the Black Lives Matter movement contributed heavily to the shift in the general public rallying for social justice for people of color across the country and the globe.
Cullors is elated over the election results.
“This election was historic for so many reasons, but one of the primary reasons was because Black folks came out en masse to vote out white supremacy,” she told ESSENCE.
“We witnessed millions of Black people show up even before Election Day to get out the vote, either through early voting, mail in voting. And we witnessed young Black people in particular ensure that Joe Biden/Kamala Harris was the ticket that we got. So I’m just really proud of the work that we’ve done as Black people. And I’m so proud of our movement that made it our duty and priority to get out the vote this election cycle. It just showed the power of our work.”
Cullors’ deal with Warner Bros encompasses scripted and unscripted series, longform series, animated and kids programming, as well as digital content, according to Variety. Cullors’ endeavors will amplify the work of Black Lives Matter and create more opportunities for prominent Black storytelling.
But the work is far from over.
“The work we’ve done for seven years inside of Black Lives Matter, but the work we’ve done for hundreds of years as Black people to keep trying to steer this ship in the right direction—the ship being America. While 73 million people did vote for a white supremacist, a bunch of us did not. And we’re gonna have to work to heal the pain of racism. But I believe we can. We’ve done so much. I just feel so proud of us,” she explained to the publication.
