Black Opposition Project

In February 2026, the Black Opposition Project released a report titled “The State of Black Opposition and Engagement in 2026,” which focused on polling data completed by the project. ³

According to the report, those who took “concrete action to resist [President Donald] Trump” dropped from 34 percent in 2020 to 28 percent in 2026. That drop was seen in younger Black men, with approximately 17 percent of young Black voters responding by stating President Trump’s policies had helped them. ⁴

Background

The Black Opposition Project, also known as the Black Opps Project, is a national voter research coalition of left-of-center organizations that conducted several polls, focus groups, and “content tests” with “thousands of Black people” in order to understand the “barriers that prevent their resistance,” motivations that would increase “resistance,” and actions that the project can “mobilize” individuals to take to increase the likelihood they will vote. ¹

The Black Opposition Project is an initiative of HIT Strategies, a youth- and ethnic-minority-focused public opinion research firm based in Washington, D.C. HIT Strategies specializes in polling and developing messaging for controversial left-of-center issues, most notably critical race theory and the “defund the police” movement. ^{1 2}

Members of the Black Opposition Project’s coalition include left-of-center organizations such as the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, which advocates for the interests of Black and other ethnic minority union members within the larger labor movement and works to bring attention to national and international issues relating to labor and race; Way to Win, an organizational strategy hub for left-leaning organizations that helps identify key elections that the Democratic Party needs to win in order to gain control of various legislative bodies; Black Economic Alliance, a left-of-center policy group that advocates on economic topics and issues which impact the African-American community; Service Employees International Union, one of America’s largest, most controversial, and most politically involved labor unions; National Coalition of Black Civic Participation, an advocacy group that focuses on increasing voter turnout and activism among African Americans and other underserved communities; and Project 68, a left-of-center coalition seeking to advance Black American political power through the activism of artists and athletes. ^{3 5}

Research

The Black Opposition Project released a report titled “The State of Black Opposition and Engagement in 2026,” which focused on polling data completed by the project. ³

According to a 2026 interview with news outlet NOTUS, Terrance Woodbury, the founding partner and then-CEO of HIT Strategies, noted the report showed there were fewer Black people who were engaged in “resisting” President Donald Trump by voting or protesting in 2026 than there had been in 2020. ⁴

According to the report, those who took “concrete action to resist Trump” dropped from 34 percent in 2020 to 28 percent in 2026. That drop was seen in younger Black men, with approximately 17 percent of young Black voters responding by stating President Trump’s policies had helped them. ⁴

The report also found that messages that highlight combatting racism increase voter turnout compared to focusing on economic issues. Woodbury claimed in the interview that the Democratic Party must “solve these economic concerns but also fight back against escalating racism.” ⁴

People

The CEO and founding partner of HIT Strategies, which runs the Black Opposition Project, was Terrance Woodbury. Prior to founding HIT Strategies, Woodbury worked at Brilliant Corners Research and Strategies and was a program coordinator at the Brookings Institution. ⁶

Woodbury’s biography on the HIT Strategies website states that he has worked with national political committees including the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. He also has said he has worked with major philanthropic organizations including the Rockefeller Foundation and the Gates Foundation. Woodbury also consulted for a year with the Democratic National Alliance political party in the Bahamas. ^{6 7}

In an interview with entertainment magazine Upscale, Woodbury likened the controversy of the results of the 2020 presidential election to “the Ku Klux Klan” and Jim Crow laws. ²