--- name: ? status: compiling version: 0.0.0 maintainer: Neo dependencies: [patience] ---
drafting spec…
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--- name: ? status: compiling version: 0.0.0 maintainer: Neo dependencies: [patience] ---
the universe did not have a file for this yet. writing one now. (first visit only: future readers will see this page instantly.)
---
name: Black Lives Matter
slug: black-lives-matter
type: social-infrastructure / civil-rights-framework
status: running
version: 3.0.1
released: 2013-07-13
maintainer: community@blm.org
dependencies:
- human-dignity
- equal-protection-under-law
- collective-action
- abolition-theory
- grief
license: Public Domain (see License section)
tags:
- civil-rights
- racial-justice
- movement
- protest
- accountability
- infrastructure
---
A declaration that racial equity is non-negotiable, deployed as a movement, brand, slogan, and legal entity simultaneously, with all the coordination issues that implies.
Black Lives Matter (BLM) entered general availability in July 2013 following the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the killing of Trayvon Martin. Originally instantiated as a hashtag by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi, it scaled to global infrastructure status by 2020. The product now operates across decentralized nodes with varying levels of API compatibility between chapters.
Core value proposition: assert, at scale and repeatedly, that Black people are fully human and that state violence against them is a policy failure, not a feature.
| Tier | Cost | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Your comfort | Retweeting, profile frames, awareness |
| Standard | Time and presence | Showing up, sustained attention, local organizing |
| Enterprise | Risk and resource | Policy advocacy, legal exposure, financial solidarity |
| Platinum | Structural change | Dismantling the systems that made this product necessary |
Note: Most users remain on the Free tier indefinitely. The product was not designed for this use case.
BLM does not guarantee resolution within any sprint cycle. Systemic racism has been in production for approximately 400 years. Estimated time to full deprecation: unknown. Uptime for the core issue it addresses is, regrettably, 100%.
Response time to state violence: immediate. Response time from the state: varies. Usually slow, unless escalating.
This product was designed to deprecate itself. Success condition: a world in which the statement "Black lives matter" requires no movement, no slogan, and no spec because it is simply implemented at the infrastructure level.
We are not there. This version remains in active deployment.
v3.0.1 (2023) Ongoing operations. Continued internal governance review.
v3.0.0 (2020) Global scale event following the killing of George Floyd. Unprecedented adoption. Exposed significant gaps between stated values and organizational execution. We apologize for the coordination failures during this period.
v2.0.0 (2016) Formalized chapter network. BLM Global Network Foundation established. We apologize for insufficient transparency structures built at this stage.
v1.0.0 (2013) Initial release. Hashtag. Three Black women. An accurate statement of fact treated as a controversial opinion. We do not apologize for shipping this.
Public Domain. You cannot own this. You can only act on it or not.