Ayọ Tometi (born August 15, 1984), formerly known as Opal Tometi, is an American human rights activist, writer, strategist, and community organizer.[2] She is a co-founder of Black Lives Matter (BLM).[3] She is the former executive director of the United States' first national immigrant rights organization for people of African descent, the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), working there in various roles for over nine years.[4]
She started as an active community organizer in her hometown advocating for human rights issues. She has campaigned for advancing human rights, migrant rights, and racial justice worldwide. She also worked as a case manager for survivors of domestic violence.
Early life and education
Ayọ Tometi is the daughter of Nigerian immigrants, who hail from the city of Lagos. Her parents are of Yoruba ethnicity and they speak the Yoruba and Esan languages.[5] Her great-great-great-grandfather was born in the country of Togo, and his son, Tometi's great-grandfather was from Cameroon. Tometi's grandfather was born in Cameroon before eventually emigrating to Nigeria. The oldest of three children, Ayọ Tometi has two younger brothers and grew up mostly in the suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona with other children of immigrants. In addition to Yoruba and Esan, Tometi grew up speaking Pidgin English.[5]
Her parents moved from Nigeria to the United States as undocumented immigrants in 1983, the year before Tometi's birth.[6] During her middle school years, they faced deportation and her mother was unable to return to Nigeria for the burial of her father (Tometi's maternal grandfather) because of the ongoing case.[6] Her parents were eventually successful in defeating their deportation case and able to remain in the United States.[7] Other family and friends of Tometi, including her uncle, also battled deportation during her youth.[8] Tometi's parents later opened a church at which her father is a pastor, Phoenix Impact Center in Phoenix, Arizona, that also serves to help new immigrants adjust to life in the United States.[9][5] Tometi visited Nigeria for the first time when she was 17 years old and credits these experiences with shaping her approach to pro-immigration advocacy work.[6][8]
On May 7, 2016, she received an honorary doctor of science degree from Clarkson University.[11] Tometi is a former case manager for survivors of domestic violence and still provides community education on the issue.
Career
Early activism
After her parents won their deportation case, Tometi began demonstrating with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). She worked as a legal observer at the US-Mexico border.[7] While studying at the University of Arizona, Tometi advocated against Arizona SB 1070, one of the strictest anti-immigration bills passed in the history of the United States, with the Alto Arizona campaign.[12][6] At the Black-Brown Coalition of Arizona, she also previously held a position as the lead architect.[12] In 2010, Tometi also worked as a spokesperson for the Puente Movement, an immigrants rights group in Arizona.[13]
Black Lives Matter
Tometi, with community organizers, Patrisse Cullors and Alicia Garza, founded Black Lives Matter (BLM) in 2013.[7] Originally, Garza wrote a Facebook post in response to George Zimmerman's acquittal in the murder of Trayvon Martin. In a response to the post, Cullors used #blacklivesmatter for the first time. Then, Tometi contacted Cullors and Garza, interested in buying a website domain by the same name.[14] The three agreed, and Tometi purchased Blacklivesmatter.com, established Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter pages for the movement.[15][16] Tometi contacted numerous other activists in the Black community, alerting them of the new plans and inviting them to join by using the hashtag.[16] Tometi is also credited with selecting black and yellow as the organization's colors, in addition to forming BLM's social media platforms and strategy.[12][6]
After witnessing the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri following Michael Brown's killing, Tometi mobilized 500 community activists for a demonstration she called the "Black Lives Matter Freedom Ride." This event, fueled by social media, ignited a desire to turn Black Lives Matter into a global movement, addressing systemic racism and police brutality. The demonstration consolidated voices and actions, amplifying the movement's message and sparking conversations worldwide.[16]
From 2011 to 2020, Tometi worked as co- and communications director, prior to becoming the executive director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), the first national immigrant rights organization for people of African descent.[10][12] She was working as the executive director of BAJI when she first saw Garza's Facebook post in 2013. In this role, Tometi was responsible for directing staff within the BAJI organizing committees throughout Washington, D.C., Phoenix, Los Angeles, Oakland, New York, as well as committees within the South on various initiatives concerning racial justice and immigrant rights in the United States.[12] Her other contributions included leading organizing efforts for a rally for immigrant justice and the first Congressional briefing on black immigrants in Washington, D.C.[12] After the 2010 Haiti earthquake, many Haitians were displaced and Tometi led BAJI in securing family reunification visas for those affected by the disaster.[12] She also helped start BAJI's partnership with Race Forward's Drop the I-Word campaign.[12]
Tometi has spoken at Susquehanna University, the Facing Race Conference of 2012, the Aspen Institute's Ideas Summit, and the Grinnell College Technology and Human Rights Symposium.[19][20][21][22] She has presented at the United Nations and has participated with the United Nations Global Forum on Migration and the Commission on the Status of Women.[19] While at The University of Arizona, Tometi volunteered with the American Civil Liberties Union. She is additionally involved with Black Organizing for Leadership and Dignity[23] and is a member of Theta Nu Xi sorority. Tometi was invited by the Venezuelan government to be an electoral observer for the parliamentary elections on December 6, 2015. Tometi stated she was "in a place where there is intelligent political discourse" and that the country appears to "have a truly thriving and rigorous democratic system."[24][25]
^"The Latest: Mood dour among Venezuelan ruling party backers". The Associated Press. December 6, 2015. Archived from the original on April 7, 2024. Retrieved April 7, 2024. A co-founder of the Black Lives Matter campaign is in Caracas for Election Day at the invitation of the socialist government. Opal Tometi was swarmed by government critics on Twitter after posting about the relief she felt being "in a place where there is intelligent political discourse." Some warned her that she was being used, while others drew derisive comparisons to other high-profile Americans who have supported the socialist administration, including Sean Penn and Oliver Stone. Black Lives Matter grew out of the outrage that followed several high-profile police killings of African-Americans in the United States last year. In a statement released by Venezuela's Washington-based public relations consultant, Tometi said that Venezuela appears to "have a truly thriving and rigorous democratic system."
^Mawad, Tony Frangie (May 8, 2022). "Nicolás Maduro Tries a New PR Campaign: Going Woke". Politico. Archived from the original on April 7, 2024. Retrieved April 7, 2024. In 2015, a year after violently repressing protests against his rule, Maduro was personally honored at the People of African Descent Leadership Summit in New York City, where he received an award for "his labor in favor of the afro-descendants of the United States." He took a picture with Ayọ Tometi, one of the founders of the Black Lives Matter organization. Three months later, Tometi was in Caracas working as an electoral observer for Venezuela's parliamentary elections. "Currently in Venezuela," she tweeted. "Such a relief to be in a place where there is intelligent political discourse." When the opposition to Maduro won a supermajority, she released a statement: "In a significant blow to the progressive and most impoverished sectors of Venezuela and to global allies … the counter-revolutionaries won control of the National Assembly." (Tometi did not respond to a request for comment.)
^"Opal Tometi: Black Lives Matter". The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News. January 5, 2020. Archived from the original on April 24, 2020. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
^"Archived copy". Twitter. Archived from the original on December 5, 2021. Retrieved December 5, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
_(cropped).jpg)
