Black resistance set to be theme for black history month

This year’s theme for black history month looks at how black people found ways to resist
oppression

Black history month celebrates the achievements of the black community, following the
emancipation of slavery. Black history month has been celebrated using themes since 1928.
The theme for this year's black history month is Black Resistance.
Over the years, Black history month themes have reflected the changes in how black
people in the United States have viewed themselves, the influence of social movements on
racial ideologies, and the goals of the black community.
Back in 1926, Carter G. Woodson established negro history week, he realized that a
theme would help the public focus on the most important developments of the black community.
This year's theme takes a look at how Black people have been fighting against the
unfairness and repression that has been going on since the earliest days and found ways to
protect black lives. Ever since black people first arrived in America, they have resisted
oppression and made tremendous strides throughout history. From escaping the plantations to
the rise out of poverty to the struggle for equal housing and education to the struggle for voting
rights. Even today, the black community has to fight against the injustice being thrown at them
such as police killings, racial abuse, and stereotypes.
It's because of those struggles that Black resistance is still important today. Examples of
this theme are still shown in the 21st century. For example, Barack Obama being the first black
president in 2008, the Black Lives Matter movement in 2013, the George Floyd protest in 2020,
and Kamala Harris being the first black and first female vice president in 2021.
Black resistance has been shown in many different ways over the years, some of the
more familiar ways are the sit-ins, boycotts, walk outs, protests, and marches during the civil
rights movement. Also, because of black resistance, we have seen many Black people achieve
great success.
Resistance is only caused when faced with repression. During 2020, there was an
outbreak of police killings that caught the attention of the black history movement, as well as
everywhere in the nation and In the first eight months of 2020, 164 black people were killed in
the US. In 2021, data collected by The Washington Post says that police shot and killed at least
1,055 people, which was the most since the tracking of fatal shootings by officers began in
2015.
That number jumped substantially in 2022, making it the deadliest year for police
violence, killing nearly 1,061 people, about 20% being black people. In 2020, black people
made up about 13% of the population, but they accounted for about 25% of the people killed by
police.
For years, data has shown that Black people are far more likely to be killed by police
than people of other races. Of the 594 cases in 2020 in which a person killed by police was
allegedly armed, 241 were white and 115 were Black. About 80% of the white people killed by
police were allegedly armed at the time of the incident while about 70% of the Black people
killed by police were allegedly armed. This indicates that police are more likely to kill Black
people, even when they are unarmed. This doesn't even account for the incidents that were
unclear if the person was actually armed.
After the Black Lives Matter led racial justice movement caused by George Floyd’s death
in 2020, the number of Black people killed by police has increased.
With last year setting the record, the Black Lives Matter movement has been all over the
issue. They started protesting, reaching nearly 26 million people participating in the 2020 Black
Lives Matter protests in the United States, making it one of the largest movements in the
country's history. Also helping by using the $100 million received in funding, aiming to set a
collective strategic policy agenda to create racial equity for Black people across the United
States.