The Black Lives Matter Movement Has Been Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize

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The Black Lives Matter movement has been nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize for advancing a global push toward racial justice.

Norwegian member of parliament Petter Eide nominated Black Lives Matter for the prize, saying that it carries on the civil rights movements of previous winners like Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. Eide said his nomination was in recognition of the international conversations about racism and inequality that go beyond the movement’s impact in America.

“There is actually a tradition for doing this, it’s a strong linkage between antiracism movements and peace, and a recognition that without this kind of justice, there will be no peace and stability in the society.” Eide said in his nomination announcement. “Black Lives Matter has become a very important worldwide movement to fight racial injustice. They have had a tremendous achievement in raising global awareness and consciousness about racial injustice.”

The deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor sparked new marches against police brutality and racial injustice this past year, and Edie said he was impressed that the Black Lives Matter movement was able to “mobilize people from all groups of society, not just African-Americans, not just oppressed people.”

“It has been a broad movement in a way which has been different from their predecessors,” he said.

USA Today notes that Edie is a member of Norway’s Socialist Left Party who previously nominated human rights activists from Russia and China for the prize. By the rules of the Nobel Peace Prize, any nominee can be submitted for the award by a politician currently serving the Norwegian government at the national level.