--- title: Black Lives Matter Activist: White House Meeting a Sham description: The co-founder of Black Lives Matter Chicago blasts the President's meeting with veteran civil rights leaders and young activists canonical: https://time.com/4229329/black-lives-matter-activist-snubs-white-house-invite/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-18T17:36:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:04:38.056Z article:section: Politics og:title: Black Lives Matter Activist: White House Meeting a Sham og:description: The co-founder of Black Lives Matter Chicago blasts the President's meeting with veteran civil rights leaders and young activists og:url: https://time.com/4229329/black-lives-matter-activist-snubs-white-house-invite/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5b9bea6ba39b397/69887e34a988ca53ac6b6a6d/510719838.jpg?branch=production&width=435&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 435 og:image:height: 245 og:image:alt: US-ASEAN-DIPLOMACY-OBAMA-politics og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Black Lives Matter Activist: White House Meeting a Sham twitter:description: The co-founder of Black Lives Matter Chicago blasts the President's meeting with veteran civil rights leaders and young activists twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5b9bea6ba39b397/69887e34a988ca53ac6b6a6d/510719838.jpg?branch=production&width=435&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Black Lives Matter Activist Snubs White House Invite > Sponsored content. 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Alicia Garza told the Associated Press Black Lives Matter will continue protesting and advocating for social issues rather than endorse a 2016 presidential candidate._ by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Feb 18, 2016 5:36 PM UTC  US President Barack Obama speaks during a press conference following a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at the Sunnylands estate on February 16, 2016 in Rancho Mirage, California. MANDEL NGAN—AFP/Getty Images US President Barack Obama speaks during a press conference following a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at the Sunnylands estate on February 16, 2016 in Rancho Mirage, California. MANDEL NGAN—AFP/Getty Images MANDEL NGAN—AFP/Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Feb 18, 2016 5:36 PM UTC The co-founder of Black Lives Matter Chicago has rejected an invitation from the White House to sit down for a meeting with President Barack Obama and a group of veteran Civil Rights leaders. The White House billed the meeting as a[ first-of-its kind gathering](http://time.com/4228135/president-obama-black-lives-matter-civil-rights-meeting/) of veteran leaders, young activists, and the leader of the free world. But in an op-ed for [Truth-Out.org ](http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/34889-black-struggle-is-not-a-sound-bite-why-i-refused-to-meet-with-president-obama)that was also shared with TIME via email[,](http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/34889-black-struggle-is-not-a-sound-bite-why-i-refused-to-meet-with-president-obama) invitee Aislinn Pulley calls the meeting a “sham” and says it would do a disservice to her greater goals as an activist to participate. “As a radical, Black organizer, living and working in a city that is now widely recognized as a symbol of corruption and police violence,” she writes, “I do not feel that a handshake with the president is the best way for me to honor Black History Month or the Black freedom fighters whose labor laid the groundwork for the historic moment we are living in.” Pulley is one of over a dozen people who were invited to the White House for Thursday’s meeting, including activist Deray McKesson, President of NAACP Legal Defense Fund Sherrilyn Ifill, student leader of the Concerned 1950 movement at the University of Missouri Deshaunya Ware, and Congressman John Lewis of Georgia. The meeting coincides with the White House’s Black History Month reception, which aides say is merely coincidental; both events had been planned in advance but they weren’t necessarily planned in tandem. On Thursday, the activist‚ who has led protests against police brutality and other issues through Black Lives Matter Chicago since Ferguson, suggested the meeting would be little more than a photo-opp for the president. She writes: --- > “” --- She concluded by writing that the federal government cannot be counted on to bring about the change she’s calling for in America. “We assert that true revolutionary and systemic change will ultimately only be brought forth by ordinary working people, students and youth – organizing, marching and taking power from the corrupt elites.” The White House has not yet responded to Pulley’s letter. ## Transcript The Black Lives Matter movement has a major announcement on its endorsement for the 2016 Presidential race. It won't have one. Black Lives Matter co- founder Alicia Garza told the Associated Press, instead of endorsing a candidate, the movement will focus more on protests and advocating for social issues during the election season. Garza told the AP sometimes you have to put a wrench in the gears to get people to listen. If you do not listen to her your event will be shut down right now. People are certainly listening now, especially the Candidates with varying degree of success. Besides multiple interruptions to rallies or speaking events for candidates including Bernie Sanders and Jeb Bush, Hillary Clinton spoke with protestors in August. Look I don't believe you change hearts. I believe you change laws, you change allocation of resources. You change the way systems operate. And when the Democratic National Committee issued a resolution of support for the movement Garza was outspoken on social media that it did not mean Black lives matter endorsed the DNC. Garza wrote, resolutions without concrete change are just business as usual. It's not terribly surprising any group would withhold an endorsement this early in an election, but Garza's comment means a group with the potential for enormous influence won't back any candidate in the name of its cause, and arguably in the name of that continued influence. And in the meantime, we can expect more protest moments like this one. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4229329/black-lives-matter-activist-snubs-white-house-invite/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4229329/black-lives-matter-activist-snubs-white-house-invite/"},"headline":"Black Lives Matter Activist Snubs White House Invite","datePublished":"2016-02-18T17:36:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:04:38.056Z","description":"\"What was arranged was basically a photo opportunity and a 90-second sound bite for the president.\"","url":"https://time.com/4229329/black-lives-matter-activist-snubs-white-house-invite/","keywords":["White House","Barack Obama","Obama","Black History Month","Civil Rights"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5b9bea6ba39b397/69887e34a988ca53ac6b6a6d/510719838.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5b9bea6ba39b397/69887e34a988ca53ac6b6a6d/510719838.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-ASEAN-DIPLOMACY-OBAMA-politics","caption":"US-ASEAN-DIPLOMACY-OBAMA-politics","creditText":"MANDEL NGAN—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4229329/black-lives-matter-activist-snubs-white-house-invite/","name":"Black Lives Matter Activist Snubs White House Invite"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Black Lives Matter Co-Founder: No Endorsement For 2016","description":"Alicia Garza told the Associated Press Black Lives Matter will continue protesting and advocating for social issues rather than endorse a 2016 presidential candidate.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/gsYoy8U6/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-09-19T17:05:39.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/gsYoy8U6.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4229329/black-lives-matter-activist-snubs-white-house-invite/","duration":"PT1M26S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4229329/black-lives-matter-activist-snubs-white-house-invite/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```