–By Emmanuel Pierre–
With just 140 characters, all sorts of conversations can take place on Twitter. Adding a hashtag can make following a particular topic even easier, and many groups are doing this to build a sense of community online.
Black Twitter is a community within Twitter that focuses primarily on the interests of the black people in America. Black Twitter doesn’t represent every African-American person on Twitter, of course, and not all who contribute to the Black Twitter conversations are black.
Recently, Black Twitter lit up in response to the Michael Dunn case. Dunn was found guilty of attempted second-degree murder after shooting into a car full of teenagers in 2012. Jordan Davis, one of the teens, was 17 at the time and he died after being hit by three of the 10 shots Dunn fired.
Davis and his friends were parked in front of a convenience store, playing loud music when a confrontation happened with Dunn. Dunn told his fiancée the teens were playing “thug music,” which resulted in an argument over the volume of the music. Dunn was charged with attempted second-degree murder, but not murder – a verdict many have questioned.
In response to the Dunn verdict, the #DangerousBlackKids hashtag was born. Users posted photos of innocent black children with sarcastic messages about how they might be perceived as “dangerous.”
The phenomenon of Black Twitter became noticed in the mainstream media after the death of Trayvon Martin. Black Twitter users voiced outrage and flooded the Twitter-verse with race-related hashtags, such as #RIPTRAYVON.
Together, Black Twitter hashtags show support for members of the African-American community and allow people to speak out against injustices and share information and experiences.
Black Twitter is a platform where African-American voices can broadcast their views. Join the conversation.