By Lilly Workneh

Following Monday’s funeral of Freddie Gray — a 25-year-old man who died after sustaining a spinal cord injury during an arrest in Baltimore — protests broke out and swept across the streets of the Maryland city. Demonstrators have spoken out against police brutality and spread awareness about racial injustice.

They’ve also earned the support of Opal Tometi, Patrisse Cullors and Alicia Garza — the women who co-founded the Black Lives Matter movement in 2012 to raise awareness about the unjust and unfair treatment of black people and the violence committed against them by police and law enforcement. The movement was built around the outrage over Trayvon Martin’s death in 2012 and the acquittal of George Zimmerman, the man responsible for killing the unarmed black teenager.

There have been numerous killings of black men and women by police since — and before — Martin’s death, and the Black Lives Matter movement has been at the forefront of initiating change and raising awareness around these troubling issues.

Tometi, Cullors and Garza sent a statement to The Huffington Post on Wednesday to address the protests that have unfolded in Baltimore. Their words send a message of support and appreciation for the hundreds of people who have rallied to raise awareness about the death of Gray and so many others.

Here is the full statement from the co-founders of the Black Lives Matter movement:

Do not be afraid. There is an uprising happening in Black communities across the country. This moment is necessary and has been on its way for a long time now.

Today, our hearts swell with the same current of love that coursed through the veins of those who faced the billy clubs and tear gas in Selma, Alabama. The same current of love that demanded the citizens of Watts in 1965 be treated with dignity and respect. The same current that fueled our young hearts enraged as we saw police abuse go unchecked in April of 1992. This current of love has planted itself into the streets where Mike Brown was slain in Ferguson, in Chicago with the death of Rekia Boyd, and has begun to produce ripe fruit.

Read More #BlackLivesMatter Co-Founders On Baltimore Uprisings: ‘We Stand In Solidarity’.