When you woke up this morning (or continued scrolling on Instagram into the wee hours last night), you most likely noticed that your social media feeds are full of black squares and references to Blackout Tuesday.
The #BlackoutTuesday campaign is aimed at protesting racism and police brutality, as well as honoring George Floyd, whose murder has sparked a universal outcry and demonstrations in cities around the world. Organizations, celebrities, corporations and individuals are using the hashtag and the square black image as a day of social media blackout. However, simply staying off of social media isn’t the true goal of the initiative.
Blackout Tuesday isn’t about tuning out or switching off. It’s about taking the time to educate and better ourselves. So, here are some great resources you should tap into and learn from today, no matter what your preferred medium.
- Article: "Why You Need to Stop Saying "All Lives Matter" by Rachel Elizabeth Cargle
- Writer: Nikole Hannah-Jones
- Book: Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla F. Saad
- Poetry: Citizen by Claudia Rankine
- Podcast: NPR's Code Switch
- Documentary: What Happened, Miss Simone?
- TV show: When They See Us
- Movie: Selma
- Visual Art: @blackartistspace
- Donate: The Loveland Foundation
If you do decide to participate in the campaign, you should refrain from using #blacklivesmatter to keep from flooding the hashtag and compromising the ability for important information to be spread.
It’s time for us to do better and do our part.