Melina Reimann Abdullah (born 1972) is an American academic and civic leader. She is the former chair of the department of Pan-African Studies at California State University, Los Angeles, and is a co-founder of the Los Angeles chapter of Black Lives Matter and Black Lives Matter Grassroots, for which she also serves as co-director. As an original member of the group that convened to form Black Lives Matter, she serves as a matriarch for the current movement in Los Angeles.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melina_Abdullah