Black History Month has been around since 1926, and except for the first two years, each year features a different theme.
Last year’s theme was Black Health and Wellness. The year before, the theme was The Black Family: Representation, Identity and Diversity.
This year’s theme: Black Resistance.
Groups celebrating Black History Month are including this year’s theme as part of their commemorations. For instance, the Library of Congress has curated a display that explores how African Americans have resisted historical and ongoing oppression from America’s earliest days until now. The curation includes photos, prints, rare books and other artifacts.
The National Museum of African American History and Culture is hosting an array of events, programs and tours honoring Black Resistance, it said.
Join our museum throughout #BlackHistoryMonth for an array of events, programs and tours honoring Black Resistance & the African American experience, including a Community Day celebrating the 25th anniversary of @TheLionKing (tickets now available)!
More: https://t.co/ywu8FsHT13 pic.twitter.com/ndMNP8QRce
— Smithsonian NMAAHC (@NMAAHC) January 30, 2023
“By resisting, African Americans continue to mobilize resources and shape social movements to create a space for Black Americans to thrive. We invite everyone to join us in exploring the histories of Black freedom movements—from slavery and abolition to other ongoing struggles for civil and human rights,” the museum said.
The Association for the Study of African American Life and History said Black Resistance has helped African Americans dismantle Jim Crow laws, end slavery and segregation and increase political representation.
“African Americans have resisted historic and ongoing oppression, in all forms, especially the racial terrorism of lynching, racial pogroms, and police killings since our arrival upon these shores,” the Association for the Study of African American Life and History said. “These efforts have been to advocate for a dignified self-determined life in a just democratic society in the United States and beyond the United States political jurisdiction.”
For more on this year’s theme and to see past themes, click here.
