It’s Already June?! Top Black Twitter Moments Of 2016 So Far
Spelling Bee Moderator:Your word is "respect"
Birdman:R-E-S-P-E-C-K respeck pic.twitter.com/Rz17SY1apg— Queens Child Project Project Manager (@SoloChills) April 22, 2016
We’re halfway into the year 2016 and we’ve already experienced countless great moments on Black Twitter. From poignant, inventive hashtags to those that are Black Lives Matter and activism-based. Hashtags that are comical in nature, meant to give folks respite from the daily stresses we face in our personal lives. Hashtags that dismantle cultural appropriation and point out straight up inappropriateness. The latest in entertainment to breaking news and everything in between, even memes that make you burst out into laughter or simply shake your head. We’ve laughed and learned a lot in 2016. There’s been no shortage of viral goodness thanks to Black Twitter and its respective hashtag creators.
And you’ll find these shareable, headline-making moments on your Twitter timeline, of course, but also in print and online magazines, as well as on the news. Simply put, Black Twitter is everywhere. Its influence is wide and very important. Kind of makes you wonder what the rest of 2016 will bring. Here are 20 of the top Twitter moments so far this year.
https://twitter.com/LoyalLamb85/status/735685361662189573
#BlackSalonProblems
Every Black girl who’s been to a salon can relate to this uproarious hashtag. What are some of your #BlackSalonProblems?
#BeingABlackGirlIsLit when you been 30 years old for 30 years straight cuz your melanin is poppin 😍😍😍 pic.twitter.com/QvDy3cKFw1
— Brown Skin Girl With Skin Like Pearls (@AnimeOtaku1723) February 9, 2016
#BeingABlackGirlIsLit
Like #BlackGirlMagic, #BeingABlackGirlIsLit reminds Black women and people everywhere just how beautiful and amazing we are.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BEzYE5xDxif/
#LemonadeSyllabus
L.A. Rebellion filmmaker Julie Dash’s seminal work, Daughters of the Dust, is being reissued thanks to Beyoncé’s visual album, Lemonade. Another great thing to come from Queen Bey’s latest effort? The #LemonadeSyllabus hashtag, which encouraged the sharing of reading lists of books and other works penned by Black women and that celebrate Black womanhood.
Camp's Closer To Freedom: Enslaved Women & Everyday Resistance provides important look at ways women challeged enslavement #RootsSyllabus
— Tennille N. Allen (@TennilleNAllen) May 31, 2016
#RootsSyllabus
Iconic mini-series Roots was remade thanks to producer Will Packer. And just like Lemonade, a Roots syllabus was trending on Twitter when the mini-series aired.
Hair tattoo? The minds at @Cosmopolitan are "re-inventing" styles Black folks been wearing since forever(again)? pic.twitter.com/XaIaA2F62y
— Lemon-Flavored Typos🍋 (@LemonClarkMedia) February 11, 2016
#CosmoHeadlines
When Cosmopolitan magazine tweeted that “hair tattoos” are a necessity, Black Twitter was quick to remind them what was what.
It's 2016 & college students are being starved & manhandled by police for simply fighting for their personhood #reclaimOSU #BlackonCampus
— 💞👑 (@DaughtaOfAssata) April 6, 2016
#BlackOnCampus
This hashtag first appeared in 2015 to shine a light on the racism and discrimination Black students face at predominantly White institutions, as well as other issues like lack of diversity and White privilege. The hashtag is just as relevant today and continues to make waves in the Twittersphere and beyond.
Hello – Adele (#TrapCover) ft. @TheePharoah pic.twitter.com/ProIAVJ5mS
— Bruhman (@monstta) February 26, 2016
#TrapCover
Black Twitter had the sense and the wisdom to upgrade a bunch of pop songs in the key of trap after some, shall we say, bland covers of Beyoncé’s “Formation” and Rihanna’s “Work” started appearing online.
"If you spend so much time in the club, with a bottle full of bub, how will you pay your mortgage?"#BuzzfeedVideoQuestions
— Clint Smith (@ClintSmithIII) April 13, 2016
#RealBlackPeopleQuestions
Black Twitter was not happy when Buzzfeed dropped their 27 Questions Black People Have For Black People video. The response was overwhelming and spawned not one, but two hashtags: #RealBlackPeopleQuestions and #BuzzfeedVideoQuestions.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BFdNGdUH3Ti/
#GradCaps
Black graduates paid homage to their respective journeys by posting their decorative and hilarious #GradCaps on Twitter, Instagram, and other forms of social media.
#Birdman on #TheBreakfastClub @breakfastclubam 😩😩😩😩 the internet play too much pic.twitter.com/hi2KNGLJBX
— Baekwon The Chef (@Zarinah) April 22, 2016
#Respeck
During an interview with The Breakfast Club, rap mogul Birdman went off on the show’s hosts, demanding that they put some “respeck” on his name. Twitterverse did the exact opposite.
The Hound helping rebuild communities for his summer abroad. #DemThrones
— Ol’ QWERTY Bastard (@TheDillonOne) June 6, 2016
#DemThrones
Black Twitter users who are Game of Thrones fans have been using the hashtag #DemThrones for years, though its use and origination has sparked much debate.
"Ayyyy, there!"
"Hey, now!"
"What's happenin'?!"
"Shiiiiiiiiid, you got it!"
"Aight now!"#BlackMenGreetings pic.twitter.com/2iA7HDbdET— Delancey (@dullantsy) May 14, 2016
#BlackMenGreetings
So varied, so intense, so beautiful.
#ObamaAndKids @MichaelSkolnik pic.twitter.com/d5gPGO5ixU
— StereoCultureSociety (@CultureInStereo) February 20, 2016
#ObamaAndKids
President Obama photographed with adorable kids. Need we say more?
https://twitter.com/VictoryInLove/status/729090337730400256
#BlackDerbyHorseNames
Never mind the horse and jockey. Black Twitter won the Kentucky Derby this year with #BlackDerbyHorseNames.
https://twitter.com/ASHA7777/status/716370762349682688
#NotAnArmrest
This hashtag circulated after a young Black girl in a Gap ad meant to empower girls was basically treated as an armrest.