The BET 100 Entertainers And Innovators Of The Year | Social Justice And LGBTQ+ Warriors

See who superseded our expectations.

BET 100 | | Social Justice And LGBTQ+ Warriors - Discrimination has been a global pandemic for millennia, but combatting a deadly virus, which disproportionately impacts Black Americans, has created an even more passionate push for justice by activists of color. Though they are from different backgrounds, cities, and generations, there is a shared goal: protect and elevate Black lives. Here we highlight the men, women, non-binary individuals, and teens who courageously fight the good fight. —Written by Demetria WambiaPlus, don't forget to check back each day this week to find out who else we've added to the BET 100 list...we're just getting started. (Photo by BET Digital Design/Getty)
Tamika Mallory - After co-chairing the history-making Women’s March in 2017, Tamika Mallory co-founded Until Freedom, which fights against racial injustice. The Harlem native has also been very active in the national elections, hosting numerous voter registration and education events. But her most profound moment of 2020 came during the George Floyd protests. “America has looted Black people! America looted the Native Americans when they first came here, so looting is what you do. We learned it from you,” she said during what has been called the speech of a generation. “We learned violence from you! So, if you want us to do better, then damn it, you do better!” (Photo by Gilbert Carrasquillo/Getty Images)
Alicia Garza - In 2013, Alicia Garza co-founded Black Lives Matter, a dynamic movement created after Trayvon Martin’s murderer was acquitted. Alicia Garza continued her work by founding Super Majority, a woman-centered activism network, and Black Futures Lab, an organization dedicated to Black political power. In 2020, she launched two major projects: the “Lady Don’t Take No” podcast, where she has spirited conversations with heavy hitters such as Joy Ann Reid and Tarana Burke, and her book, The Purpose of Power: How We Come Together When We Fall Apart. Her courageous efforts made her the target of armed White supremacists, but thankfully, the FBI thwarted the plan and Garza remains dedicated to her mission. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)Ashton Mota - Ashton Mota is proof that even people who are too young to vote can still be changemakers. The 15-year-old Lowell, Massachusetts native came out to his parents as transgender when he was a pre-teen and went on to advocate for himself and other LGBTQ+ youth by fighting to be on the boys’ basketball team and to use the bathrooms and locker rooms in which he feels most safe and can be his authentic self. Mota’s work has been so impactful that he was named a 2020 Human Rights Campaign Youth Ambassador. (Photo courtesy of Twitter)

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BET 100 | | Social Justice And LGBTQ+ Warriors - Discrimination has been a global pandemic for millennia, but combatting a deadly virus, which disproportionately impacts Black Americans, has created an even more passionate push for justice by activists of color. Though they are from different backgrounds, cities, and generations, there is a shared goal: protect and elevate Black lives. Here we highlight the men, women, non-binary individuals, and teens who courageously fight the good fight. —Written by Demetria WambiaPlus, don't forget to check back each day this week to find out who else we've added to the BET 100 list...we're just getting started. (Photo by BET Digital Design/Getty)

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