#BlackoutDay

#BlackoutDay

Who: #TheBlackout

What:  #TheBlackout or Blackout Day is an ongoing social media movement that encourages posting of primarily selfies but also photos and other content created by black people.

When:  March 6, 2015 and ongoing

Where: Started on the social media platform, Tumblr, but has spread to Twitter

Why: Creator T’Von Green noticed a distinct lack of black representation of black people on social media, especially on Tumblr, a platform that has come to be a unifying point of many marginalized groups. The goal of the event was to create a 24 hour period where the majority of post on Tumblr and other social media sites, would be created by, and feature black people. The hope was the overwhelming amount of positive post featuring black people would break stereotypes and encourage self-love and empowerment in the black community. The movement comes with a set of guidelines that help underline the goals of the movement.

·         If you identify as Black, either from Africa or from within the African Diaspora, mixed (or part) Black, you can post a picture of yourself for others to admire and re-blog/re-tweet/re-post

·         You’ll tag or mention #Blackoutday or #TheBlackout for it to count

·         You’ll scroll through the tag and re-blog, re-tweet or re-post other photos within that tag to help support

·         If you are not Black/non-Black or White, you’re just re-blogging what’s in the tags to show your support

·         Look for people with low notes and show them some love as well.

·         Official hashtags used are #TheBlackout and #BlackoutDay

Identity: The identity is very specifically black and mixed race individuals who are members of the black community. The creator, T’Von, has gone as far as to say if you are mixed race, but don’t openly and proudly define yourself as a member of the black community, then this event is probably not for you. The movement could be considered a part of the larger BlackLivesMatter movement.