Tag: Mary Kenny

While a graduate student in ethnic studies, Alicia Garza co-founded Black Lives Matter, an international organization that began in 2013 to fight violence and racism toward Black people. The organization began after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of teenager Trayvon Martin in Florida. It has since grown to an international network of more than 40 chapters across North America and the United Kingdom.

San Francisco State University held its 115th commencement at AT&T Park, with a crowd of 35,000 on hand to cheer for the 7,200 graduates in the class of 2016. The class was represented by two student speakers. Undergraduate speaker Richard Polote Jr. is a decorated U.S. Air Force veteran and received a bachelor’s degree in Africana studies. Like more than one-third of SF State students, he is the first member of his family to attend college.