What does BIPOC mean?

There is a history in the United States of minoritized groups creating new labels for themselves in order to describe their social identities and relationships to power.

In 1977, the term "Women of color" was created by non-white women to express the social, political, cultural and economic solidarity across these groups for increased collaboration and visibility. These new terms were what we call people first terms. A people first-term means that we name the humanity of groups connected to their social identity.

The intention of BIPOC is to center the experiences of black and indigenus people in the United States, and to make a distinction between these two groups and other groups of color.