When I get home from the long, skressful (yes, skressful) days of work at Towson Town Center, I kick my shoes off and plop myself into my bed and log onto the internet. I used to spend my time on Reddit, but after the recent controversies surrounding its racist population and ultra-libertarian policies towards "freeze peach", I now go to my Blackfellas and Blackladies subs before logging out. I used to spend my time with Tumblr, but pictures and fantasies, and aesthetics, didn't inspire me the way they used to. But now, I'm at a point in my life where I'm back to the old game of Twitter, and it feels so good.
Black Twitter refers to the large group of Black Twitter users who make up hashtags and tweet for several causes, moments, and movements. One of my favorite writers, Ebony Senior Editor, Jamilah Lemiuex, said Black Twitter was what happens when Black folk get together during any occasion. After she said that, it all made sense. Between the jokes, the mischief, the discussion, and the activism, Black Twitter makes itself a force to be reckoned with.
On the outside looking in, it's an interesting phenomenon to look at. But on the inside – living, loving, and learning within #BlackTwitter – the feeling is one similar to finding yourself. Meeting a cousin at a family reunion that you may not have seen in a long time.
Other hashtags, like #AskRachel and #WhoIsBurningBlackChurches, have brought attention to the new phenomenon. And it is on Twitter where we do what we do best. Instagram relies too much on pictures. Tumblr can be a mess to find things and really have discussions. Reddit is, well, Reddit. But Twitter is as brief as it needs to be. In fact, Black Twitter is such a phenomenon, that there's a subreddit dedicated to it. I refuse to name the wretched thing, but it's definitely popular if you Google (or Bing) it.
And I do say this, a lot of people's experience within Black Twitter won't be the same. Black people are not monolothic, so why expect someone's experience as a Black Twitter user to be monolithic. Your experiences will definitely be different depending on who you follow. I'm more interested in social justice and radical politics, and my Blackness, and thus, the people I follow mirror that. I also tweet about Florence Welch daily, so my following includes some of her as well. Twitter is an individual experience, but that's what makes Black Twitter so profound. Like supporting Black-owned businesses, to HBCUs, finding our own space to celebrate ourselves is a revolutionary thing, mostly because it's not supposed to happen. Black people are either supposed to assimilate or dissolve. But nope! Here we are, doing what we do.
On the same day #GrowingUpBlack came out, I had this extreme rush of emotion as I realized everyone's else experiences were my own experience. I've been legal for two years, but the memories that the tweet brought back, made me feel like it was decades ago. I felt a strange belonging as if these people lived in my same household. From the slick-mouthed parents, to the cousins who might not be your real cousins, to the cleaning on Sundays, there was a sense of commonality. Cherry Koolaid didn't exist; it was simply red. Yes my mom and her friends had that same classic picture in their household. Every person at the grill has those same sandals, and you know the food's going to be good. If there's furniture wrapped in plastic, it's best you leave it alone. These are truths in the Black community. This is our culture. And it feels amazing.
PS: If you like what I have to say, follow me on Twitter @jer_collins