Black Resistance is Black History - Poster of the Week
Updated: Apr 27
African American History Month 2013
California State Employees' Association, SEIU Local 1000
Offset, Circa 2013
Sacramento, CA
43818
February is Black History Month. February 1, 2023 was when the funeral for Tyre Nichols—another unarmed Black man brutally killed by police—took place in Memphis, TN, while protests continue across the nation.
February 1, 2023 was also when the College Board announced the updated AP curriculum for African American studies following criticism by reactionary Florida Governor Rick DeSantis. Purged from the new curriculum are writers and scholars who dealt with Black Feminism, the Black Queer experience, reparations, and Critical Race Theory. These included James Baldwin, bell hooks, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Barbara Ransby, Roderick Ferguson, Robin D. G. Kelley, Michelle Alexander and Kimberlé Crenshaw. Black Lives Matter wasn’t removed from the curriculum but made optional. CSPG’s Poster of the Week is ten years old. It probably wouldn’t be allowed in the AP curriculum.
This year's theme for Black History Month is Black Resistance. Black Americans have had to resist all forms of oppression, including historic and ongoing violence since their forced arrival onto stolen U.S. land. Black Americans have fought tirelessly for freedom, equal treatment, voting rights, equal opportunities in education and housing, and political representation through continuing resistance. Their fight against and resistance to oppression ended slavery, ended Jim and Jane Crow segregation, desegregated education, passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, increased representation in government and media—has brought the U.S. closer to justice for all oppressed peoples. But there is a lot more work to do.
References:
The College Board Strips Down Its A.P. Curriculum For African American Studies | NY Times
College Board Strips Down AP Curriculum for African American Studies | The Boston Globe