Why #BlackOutDay matters

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The internet can be a treacherous place. But every once in a while , there are moments that make me thankful for technology and the the movements that it brings. One of the most recent developments is #BlackOutDay. Born on Tumblr via Y.R.N., this movement has spread to Instagram and Twitter, encouraging Black folks to upload selfies and other pictures of themselves in the world using the hashtag. The idea is to increase the presence of Black bodies online and it happens the first Friday of every month!

While some folks might think that this is an insignificant trend among the ranks of the ASL challenge and planking, there are important implications for a movement like Black Out that go beyond our generation’s alleged narcissism. One major connection: it’s coinciding with the national #BlackLivesMatter movement. Black Lives Matter was created in response to the murder of Trayvon Martin and  the non-indictments for the murders of Eric Garner and Mike Brown and countless other Black people who have been unjustly murdered. But more than a call for justice for particular cases, Black Lives Matter has issued a call to value the humanity of Black people across the country. We are people, deserving of dignity and basic human rights. We deserve to to be loved and celebrated. Black Out Day has created an online space that is committed to this cause.

The importance of this visibility cannot be understated. While we can thank Shondaland for its weekly dose of primetime Blackness and “Blackish” for its portrayals of “normal” Black families, the popularity of shows like “Empire” — which has been criticized for it’s stereotypical representations of Black people in dysfunctional families and a life of drugs and crime – have left people questioning what our nation’s investment in complex images of Blackness is. I’m certainly not intending to put these shows in competition with one another, nor am I subscribing to some idealized Cosby show respectability clichés. The point is that people are still talking about how much more needs to be done for Black representation in popular media, and rightly so. While all of the aforementioned shows have increased visibility, there is still a gap.

And when it comes to this kind of visibility, nothing beats self-representations. Flooding the internet with self-recorded footage is the most authentic way to add complexity to the way we see Black folks. It follows the tradition of the #carefreeBlackgirl movement that started a few years ago.

But perhaps the coolest thing about #BlackOutFriday is the digital community that it has built. Black Out has created a central online location to witness Black people existing in the ways that they think are important, necessary, and beautiful.

Check out the hashtags: #BlackOut, #BlackOutDay. or #BlackOutFriday. Buzzfeed also has a great compilation of images.