The Black Lives Matter movement has announced that it will not be backing any of the presidential candidates in the 2016 race. Instead, according to Alicia Garza, the movement will be staging protests throughout the campaign.
“It’s too early in the development of the network and it’s too early in the genesis of the movement to rally around anyone in particular who hasn’t demonstrated that they feel accountable to the Black Lives Matter movement or network,” she said.
However, Garza said that individual members of the movement were free to back any candidate if they chose to do so. She also said that the movement might choose to back candidates for future elections if a deserving candidate came up.
“What we’ve seen is an attempt by mainstream politics and politicians to co-opt movements that galvanize people in order for them to move closer to their own goals and objectives,” she told AP. “We don’t think that playing a corrupt game is going to bring change and make black lives matter.”