Black Lives Matter

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Joshua Glover Plaque
Some Exhibits to Come – Three Centuries Of Enslavement
Harriet Tubman, "The Conductor," with fugitive slaves in Underground Railroad station
Bibliography – Three Centuries of Enslavement
Slave Auction Poster
A 1859 Slave Auction in Savannah, as Reported by the New York Tribune
slaves in cotton field
How Slavery Became the Law of the Land “For Blacks Only”
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Frederick Douglass: “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro”
The Scourged Back: This slave named Gordon ran for 80 miles to join the Union Forces in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in March 1863. This famous photo of the welts on his badly "scourged back" was taken while he was being fitted for a uniform.
The Scourged Back: How Runaway Slave and Soldier Private Gordon Changed History
"Contrabands": During the Civil War, thousands of slaves escaped their owners in the South by getting to Union Army camps. Thus freed, many continued on to settle in the North.
The Freedmen of Wisconsin
This woodcut, published in 1831 with a story about the Southampton Rebellion, was titled "Horrific Massacre in Virginia."
Nat Turner’s Rebellion: Horrific or Heroic?
Map of the world showing which countries that traffic in humans to the U.S.; map shows how individual countries comply with anti-trafficking laws. The Kansas City Star 2009<p>

With BC-TRAFFICKING:KC, Kansas City Star by Mark Morris<p>

02000000; 08000000; 09000000; CLJ; HUM; krtcrime crime; krtfeatures features; krthumaninterest human interest; krtlabor labor; krtnational national; krtworld world; LAB; krt; mctgraphic; 02001000; 02001007; 02011000; CRI; international law; kidnapping kidnaping kidnap; krtlaw law; 04018000; FIN; ODD; african american african-american black; hispanic; krtdiversity diversity; woman women; youth; eames; human; map; morris; prostitution; slave; slavery; smuggle; smuggled; smuggling; trafficking; victim; kc contributed; 2009; krt2009
Traces of the Trade: The North’s Complicity in Slavery
A man stands in front of the Djingareyber mosque on February 4, 2016 in Timbuktu, central Mali. 
Mali's fabled city of Timbuktu on February 4 celebrated the recovery of its historic mausoleums, destroyed during an Islamist takeover of northern Mali in 2012 and rebuilt thanks to UN cultural agency UNESCO.
TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY SEBASTIEN RIEUSSEC / AFP / SÉBASTIEN RIEUSSEC
African Peoples Before Captivity
Shackles from Slave Ship Henrietta Marie
Kidnapped: The Middle Passage

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Black Lives Matter, sometimes shortened to “BLM,” is an anti-racist movement that highlights racism and the disparities that evolve from racism, including police brutality and other anti-Black violence. Black Lives Matter gained popularity online after the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer was recorded and shared by a bystander. In response to the video, which shows officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, protests erupted around the world. These protests were often met with police violence, some of which has been declared illegal while protestors have been falsely arrested.

The momentum continued to draw attention to police violence, both as more Black lives were taken and as previous stories came to light. Trayvon MartinMichael BrownEric Garner, and Breonna Taylor are also victims who the movement has recognized. Thanks to the attention given to these cases, some of the perpetrators have finally faced justice, including Derek Chauvin, who has been convicted with murder.

BLM also encouraged police reform and greater investigations into policing, with some activists calling for reparations  or to defund the police and reroute funds to other social programs that may be more effective. The movement has further brought attention to international conflict and raised funds during the COVID-19 pandemic. In some ways, the movement reflects the previous Civil Rights Movement, which lasted through the 1960s to 1980s including the Black Panther Party, which provided community assistance. Because of this, the movement has been recognized for its historical significance. 

However, the movement has come under fire for protests that turned violent, for focusing too much on Black men, and for mismanaging funds raised.

A nonprofit organization, The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, also exists. Some people may refer to it as simply “Black Lives Matter.”

See all of our Black Lives Matter content below, starting with the most recent.

As COVID Precautions Drop, Black Americans Remain More Affected — and More Concerned

March 7, 2022

Surveys show that Black people have more lingering concerns about COVID-19 than white people, despite more relaxed guidelines for prevention.

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Author Alice Sebold apologizes to Anthony Broadwater, wrongfully convicted of raping her

December 1, 2021

Broadwater’s 1982 conviction was overturned last week after authorities determined there were serious flaws in his prosecution.

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LeBron James Enters NBA’s COVID-19 Protocols, Could Miss Multiple Games

December 1, 2021

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James will be sidelined indefinitely after entering the NBA’s coronavirus health and safety protocols.

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Opioid crisis hitting Black communities at alarming rates amid pandemic

November 23, 2021

In the thick of the COVID pandemic, deaths among Black Americans soar due to the opioid addiction crisis.

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Black Girls and Women Killed At Rate of 4 Per Day In 2020 As Homicides Increased

October 7, 2021

The FBI and CDC found that Black girls and women were the most often killed among female demographics last year.

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Hate crimes rise to highest level in 12 years amid increasing attacks on Black and Asian people, FBI says

August 30, 2021

The number of hate crimes in the United States rose in 2020 to the highest level in 12 years, propelled by increasing assaults targeting Black and Asian people, the FBI reported Monday.

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‘Bring More Black Farmer Voices Together’: How the Black Farmers Collective Is Growing a Black-Led Food System Rooted in Black Liberation

June 29, 2021

Black farmers make up less than 2 percent of the overall farming population in the US and have been stripped of millions of acres of land in the last century. Even the USDA itself played a major role in financially bankrupting Black farm families. The US Dept. of Agriculture was to offer a multibillion dollar loan forgiveness program for farmers of color as part of COVID relief, but is on hold now due to white farmers’ claim of “reverse discrimination.”

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The Racial Gap in U.S. Vaccinations Is Shrinking, but Work Remains

May 14, 2021

This article looks at differences in access to the Covid- 19 vaccine, based on race. There has been progress in accessibility to the vaccine, but there are still people in need.

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Milwaukee helping shape a national conversation on racism as a public health crisis

April 16, 2021

Inequality can be deadly.

Milwaukee was among the first counties to reveal how deadly when the coronavirus pandemic struck just over a year ago. By tracking and publicly sharing demographic data, officials here quickly recognized what soon became a troubling national trend: COVID-19 was devastating Black and Latino communities. Milwaukee County was one of the very first in the country to explicitly track this data based on race.The data has helped determine where resources would be directed, including when it came to testing and vaccinations.

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Special News Series: Rising Up For Justice! – CDC Director Declares Racism A ‘Serious Public Health Threat’

April 8, 2021

“Racism is a serious public health threat that directly affects the well-being of millions of Americans,” declared the head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “As a result, it affects the health of our entire nation. Racism is not just the discrimination against one group based on the color of their skin or their race or ethnicity, but the structural barriers that impact racial and ethnic groups differently to influence where a person lives, where they work, where their children play, and where they worship and gather in community. These social determinants of health have life-long negative effects on the mental and physical health of individuals in communities of color.

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