Demonstrating the connection between history, lived experience and the necessity for present-day activism, “When They Call You a Terrorist” is the powerful memoir by Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement. The book is the 2021 selection for UCSB Reads and is both the focus of, and directly related to, multiple events throughout the winter and spring quarters. Free copies are being distributed to students this week at the UCSB Campus Store walkup window, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Black Lives Matter is rooted in the fatal shooting of unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin and the subsequent acquittal of the man who shot him. Cullors’ memoir describes her experience as a Black, queer woman in the United States, who was raised in Los Angeles by a single mother. She recounts her experiences with racism in the criminal justice system, as well as the origins of the movement for racial justice that inspired an unprecedented number of protests across the country after the death of George Floyd.