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Rising Up, 2012-2016
After death In Trayvon Martin, Black Twitter launched an online campaign in support of Martin and his family. As the cry erupted, George Zimmerman, a volunteer neighborhood watchman who shot and killed Martin, was arrested, laying the groundwork for what would become the largest social justice movement of our time.
André Brock, author Distributed blackness: African American cybercultures: Many early adopters of black technology were skeptical of what Twitter could do. Black folks were like that too, this is not a serious place.
Tracy Clayton, podcast presenter Black Legends: Once the novelty of the platform disappeared, I think it was more, okay, what do we do with our voices when we find them? The murder of Trayvon Martin happened when I first saw the potential of Black Twitter and the potential of Twitter to create offline change.
Wesley Lowery, 60 Minutes + correspondent: The first tweet I made about Trayvon Martin was, “We can’t stop talking about race until a 17-year-old black boy goes into any American store to buy Skittles without being shot.” It was one of those habits to get used to the idea of being able to say things and those messages were bigger than myself so I could find people who could participate in that dialog box.
Jamilah Lemieux, blackboard columnist: If it weren’t for Black Twitter, George Zimmerman wouldn’t be arrested.
Clayton: I remember watching the trial on Twitter. I remember seeing Rachel Jeantel testify and my heart breaking because of the situation. It was not only for social change, but also for healing, that he was able to bring sadness, sorrow, and process with people. That changed my opinion on what Twitter was for. I guess for me it was entertainment before.
Naima Cochrane, music and culture journalist: That was probably the beginning of what we consider hashtag activism, if you want to call it that.
One year later, on August 9, 2014, 18-year-old Michael Brown, who had completed high school the week before, was killed in Ferguson, Missouri. He was shot six times.
Sarah J. Jackson, co-author #Hashtag Activism: Racial and Gender Justice Networks: One of the first tweets to use “Ferguson” – people weren’t even starting to use the hashtag #Ferguson, they were just using the word – it was about a young woman who was one of Michael Brown’s neighbors. He went out on his doorstep, took a picture, and basically described what he had seen. He didn’t have a lot of followers. He was not an influencer. He was not an entrepreneur. He was just a member of the community.
Johnetta Elzie, St. Louis Entrepreneur: I was making requests, and I remember I was making jokes on Twitter. Then a woman gives me DM. He said, “Netta, I saw this picture floating in my timeline. I think you should see it.”
April Reign, advocate for diversity and inclusion: I saw someone post something like that, Damn, I think they shot someone out of my window. And he put a picture of Mike Brown’s lifeless body on the ground. The photo, he said, was taken from inside his apartment.
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