The Black Ballot – Episode 16: BLM & The Twitter Megaphone
The murder of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman polarized race in a way Rodney King and OJ Simpson cases did in the 90’s times ten. Once again, we were divided by race (and politics) on the issue. With the rise of Twitter, people all over the world were discovering each others voice and opinions and people were picking sides. Black Americans would find a home in twitter too for grassroots organizing and reporting which was holding mainstream media accountable in a whole new way. Through this effort the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter was born after an onslaught of violence at the hands of police went viral after being caught on camera. When Obama joined twitter, racism followed the President as well. For all the good twitter provided social media was starting to become a problem as it encouraged bad actors a place to spread hate and misinformation. Donald Trump would use the tool of twitter with intentions of galvanizing what was once the tea party while planting the seeds for what is now known as the MAGA movement through his words, actions, and associations. On the positive side twitter showed Black America the people we need to pay attention to from the DA and Prosecutors to Chiefs of Police and we would hold them accountable and/or support them and most importantly recognize the importance of VOTING for these elected officials.[Features Guest Commentary from: Tess Owens, Josiah Bates, Tamika D. Mallory, Tiffany D. Cross, Brittany Packnett Cunningham, Cynthia Morrison ]
