On March 6th an epidemic was started on social media to promote the beauty of Black Lives. According to tumbler page whatwhiteswillneverknow, the movement was created “In a show of community and solidarity for those 24 hours, we are exclusively posting and re-blogging pics, gifs, videos and selfies of black people. We want to show that Black History is happening today, right now. That we are all Black History.” The Movement was started by expect-the-greatest (tumblr).
The movement received huge support. My timeline on tumblr, Facebook and instagram became flooded with selfies of beautiful black people enjoying life. Aside from the many black selfies, there were also posts from white people posting of how unfair it was they they primarily and other races were left out of the movement. They felt that the movement should show all people. The issue with that type of thinking is that since the year 2000 there has been a serious decline in black pride and black representation in media and online. Platforms such as social media sites are the only places one can find a multitude of black faces.
We often get into the habit of recognizing the same great African Americans only in February but we forget that who we are right now, today is the continuation of our history. It is important to remember our past, how we as a Black people came to this country and the efforts of brave men and women who sacrificed their all for us to live in the sense of freedom we have today. We must recognize however that the fight is not over, yes we are free from slavery but we do not truly have equality. America is still profiting from systems of institutional racism. The more we assert that this land is owed to African Americans and Black Lives Matter are steps to even the playing field in this America.
So show support every first Friday of the month by posting a selfie of Black Lives.