Black Lives Matter started in 2012 after Florida so-called neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman shot and killed black teen Trayvon Martin.

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

BLM seeks to end police violence, promote racial justice and creatively drive systemic change.

Here in Chicago, additional groups fighting for the same principles sprouted in recent years as well, including the Black Youth Project 100, Assata’s Daughters, and Let Us Breathe Collective.

Morning Shift explores the Black Lives Matter movement, the work of local organizations, and how all of it connects to the Civil Rights era and other pushes for equality for marginalized groups in the United States.

GUEST: Barbara Ransby, professor of History, African-American Studies, and Gender and Women’s Studies at University of Illinois at Chicago and author of Making Black Lives Matter: Reimagining Freedom In The 21st Century

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