The
raised fist, or the clenched fist, is a long-standing image of activism, often a symbol of social
revolution and political
solidarity. It is also a common symbol of
anarchism and
communism, but can also be used as a salute to express
unity, strength, or
resistance. The origin of the
raised fist as a symbol is unclear. Its use in trade
unionism,
anarchism, and the labor movement had begun by the 1910s. William "Big Bill" Haywood, a founding member of the Industrial Workers of the World, used the metaphor of a fist as something greater than the sum of its parts during a speech at the 1913 Paterson silk
strike. The
raised fist logo may represent
unity or
solidarity, generally with
… Read more oppressed peoples. The black fist is a variation of the logo generally associated with the
Black Power movement. Its most widely known usage is by the
Black Panther Party, a Black Marxist group in the 1960s.
Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement protesting against incidents of
police brutality and all racially motivated violence against black people. The movement began in July 2013 with the use of the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter on social media after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of African-
American teen Trayvon Martin 17 months earlier in February 2012. The movement became nationally recognized for street demonstrations following the 2014 deaths of two African
Americans, that of Michael Brown?resulting in protests and unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, a city near St. Louis?and Eric Garner in New York City. Since the Ferguson protests,
… Read more participants in the movement have demonstrated against the deaths of numerous other African
Americans by police actions or while in police custody. The overall
Black Lives Matter movement is a decentralized network of activists with no formal
hierarchy. The movement returned to national headlines and gained further international attention during the global
George Floyd protests in 2020 following the murder of
George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. An estimated 15 million to 26 million people participated in the 2020
Black Lives Matter protests in the
United States, making it one of the largest movements in the country's history.
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