BLM has launched a new webseries titled 'What Matters'

In just under a decade, the phrase "Black Lives Matter" has gone from rallying cry at protests around the country to a globally recognized call for racial justice and social reform. Now, less than seven years after its creation by founders Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi in the wake of the death of Trayvon Martin, the Black Lives Matter Global Network is launching a multimedia webseries designed to elevate the discourse surrounding the news.

Called What Matters, BLM's new series "combines documentary narrative with interviews to illuminate specific, timely issues, aiming to create safe dialogue to promote freedom, justice, and collective liberation," according to a press release issued by the group. Episodes will feature guests to help digest and discuss the topic at hand, including Democratic Rep. Karen Bass (Calif.), actress and activist Jane Fonda, and political strategist Donna Brazile.

The series is available on video platforms like YouTube and Vimeo, as well as podcasting outlets including Spotify, Apple, Google, and Stitcher.

"This web series is a salve and a safe place where we have agency to express ourselves and our freedom,” explained series moderator and BLM Managing Director Kailee Scales in the press release.

Episodes include explorations of the coronavirus pandemic, and how the media has changed the debate around COVID-19, as well as discussions with social justice activists about the police killing of Kentucky EMT Breonna Taylor during a botched, no-knock search that targeted a different person in another part of the city.

“In a world where we are not fully free, through conversations with experts, organizers, and people from all walks of life, we will be inspired to imagine and create the solutions to transform our global community," Scales said.

BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors has also partnered with Mic on a new Instagram series Mind/Matter, which focuses on mental health. The series launched this week.