STOCKHOLM — The Black Lives Matter movement has been nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
A member of the Norwegian parliament, Peter Eide, nominated the movement fighting against racial injustice for its work in spreading the call for systemic change around the world, according to multiple reports.
In the official nomination papers obtained by CNN and The Guardian, Eide wrote that BLM’s work has forced the United States and other countries to grapple with racism in their societies.
Eide continued, lauding BLM for being able to mobilize people from all groups of society, creating a movement broader than any of its predecessors.
Founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the killing of Trayvon Martin, BLM says its mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes.
The movement has been around for years now, but it picked up steam last year following the high-profile killings of Black Americans, like George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery. People from all walks of life joined BLM protesters in demanding justice for their deaths.
BLM acknowledged its nomination in a tweet on Friday, saying it holds the largest social movement in global history.
“People are waking up to our global call: for racial justice and an end to economic injustice, environmental racism, and white supremacy. We're only getting started,” wrote BLM.
Eide told USA Today that he’s already received a lot of criticism from people claiming BLM is not a peaceful organization. He said he was prepared for the critiques and argued that they’re the same arguments people made against Dr. Martin Luther King and leaders in South Africa.
According to the Nobel Prize website, nominations for its peace prize are accepted from any member of national assemblies and national governments of sovereign states, as well as current heads of states. Monday is the deadline for submissions. After that, a committee is expected to draft a short list in March.
