As part of our ongoing Sole Searchseries, our Editor-at-Large Melissa Harris-Perry talks with Alicia Garza, co-founder of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, about politics, race, gender―and shoes.

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I always see you introduced as Alicia Garza, one of the co-founders of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, tell me the story of the first time you used the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter.

Well, I actually wrote a love letter to black people in 2013 when the George Zimmerman was acquitted for the murder of Trayvon Martin. And I wrote it as a response to a lot of things I was seeing on Facebook, which were people's responses and reactions to the acquittal. And it was two lines of thought, right? One was that of all my social justice homies who were like: "We know the criminal justice system is corrupt and rotten, so if you expected any other outcome, too bad for you." Well, I wouldn't say that to Trayvon's mother, right? And then the other thread was how this was such a tragedy, but then what we needed to do was be more respectable for White America. Even though George Zimmerman wasn't white. So, that's why we need to vote, that's why we need to pull our pants up, that's why we need to give our kids better educations, that's why our kids should not be wearing hoodies. All of these things, you know, blaming black people for systems and social dynamics that we did not create. So that love letter was like: We good. But what's not good? These systems that we are being held accountable to. With that letter, I said: Black people, I love you. I love us. Our lives matter, Black lives matter. And then my sister Patrice put a hashtag in front of it, and then my sister Opal reached out and said: We need to build this. This is resonating with me, and this is resonating with a lot of people.

One of the most memorable movements that you led was after the death of Michael Brown. Can you talk a little bit about that night?

We decided to do an action in solidarity after Darren Wilson was not indicted in the murder of Michael Brown. Together with 13 other people, we shut down a major transit system. We did so by chaining ourselves to each other and the train for four hours, in commemoration of how long Mike Brown's body was lying in front of his mother's home.

Do you remember which shoes you were wearing the night you shut down the train after the death of Michael Brown?

I was wearing sneaker wedges.

See, this is what I mean! There is no contradiction with fabulous shoes and serious social justice work!

Yup.

I heard you publicly say that you voted for Bernie Sanders in the California Primary. Now that he's out of the race, it is going to be Trump or Clinton. Will you support Clinton?

Publicly? Absolutely not. You know, I think one of the things that I have been struggling with in this electoral cycle is that our choices are not great. And I don't mean idyllic great, but like, really not great. In my state, demographics are changing rapidly. In my state, we do have to have honest conversations about inequality, about race, and neither candidate is doing that. ... I lived through the Clinton years. Incarceration through the roof, the demonization of poor black women, the unraveling of the social safety [net]. ... Even though white women actually took advantage of government assistance and whatnot, so then black women were deemed the Cadillac drivin', hair in rollers, bon-bon eatin' women with eight kids. And I know sometimes people give a lot of criticism like, well, that was Hillary's husband's policies and I am like no, no it's not like she was sipping tea! She was also campaigning on those policies.

If Donald Trump is elected, what do you think is going to happens to the movement for black lives then?

Hopefully what happens is that it gets stronger, and it starts to get more strategic.

Here's my last question. If Donald Trump wins the American presidency, what shoes are you going to wear for the inauguration?

Running shoes! Our job is to keep our communities engaged, and keep our communities mobilized. And the running shoes would really be for: We got to get moving, we have a lot of work to do. What are we going to do to make sure our democracy changes? How are we going to be fighting back under a Trump presidency? And then, who are we going to be running to take power?

Melissa Harris-Perry As editor-at-large, Melissa Harris-Perry acts as a guide to the stories, experiences, challenges, policies, and defining pop culture moments of women and girls of color.

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