I have a very real love/hate relationship with social media. As hypocritical as it may be to say while on my own social media platform, I still must concede that when it comes to posting, tweeting or following, I can honestly do without it. The reasons for this disdain are numerous. Articles from years ago that are posted as if they happened yesterday…passive posts that either share more information than what I desire to know or that say something that the person posting would never say to the person it was meant for (I, less than affectionately, refer to these people as “Facebook gangsters”)…and the posts that lose their potency & power all because of one’s deficiency in spelling and syntax. It is unnerving at best & unbearable at worst. I pray for social media to go the way of the dinosaur, sooner than later.
On my “reasons I don’t fool with social media” list, there is another qualm of mine that is up for induction into my ever-growing register: the posting of pictures and commentary that minimize people of significance that have come from our community. Doing this (and promoting it when it is done) not only empowers those who do not see the value in the contributions that people of African descent have made to the American social landscape but also fuels the false narratives about our people that are already abounding. With every shared picture of President Barack Obama with a cigarette in his mouth and a du-rag on his head, with every retweeted picture of Harriet Tubman wearing a gold chain and a Rolex, we reinforce stereotypical images of Black ignorance at the expense of Black excellence.
Even as we think on the recondite ramifications that are at the center of this denigrating dilemma, I believe there is something deeper at play that we do good to consider. It is not the images themselves that are the root issue, nor is it the promotion of this problematic propaganda. As we consider this issue, what ought to be of capital concern is not what transpired, but how silent our people are about it.
In the past few years, there has been this progressive intellectual migration away from the importance of African American history that has occurred. Another Black History has come and gone and it would seem that every year, persons of color move further and further away from our rich history and heritage. Our recognitions seem to center around a chosen few (without me mentioning them, you know the few I am talking about) and stop the moment March gets here. The way this occurs, it would seem that the once high and fevered regard for our Black culture, heritage & history has diminished. It looks as though many Black people have stopped caring about Black history as much. To the point where many of our celebrations come across as people that are not affected by the sacrifices and successes of those who came before us. Present-day, there are many Black people who celebrate Black history the way non-Black persons do; mildly mentioning it and treating it as scarcely significant.
Has our prolonged experience in this country, our seemingly neverending pursuit for equality and acceptance in this country, come while having forsaken our dignity under the guise of equity? Or perhaps it is our continued existence in a culture that profits more from appropriating our culture than appreciating it that causes us to devalue our heritage. With each passing year, passing decade & passing generation, we appear to get further and further away from our heritage (and the benefits that come with being connected to it). If we are not careful, we will lose ourselves and fade into obscurity.
Our history should never be made to appear insignificant or inconsequential. February (and all of the other months where Black people are still black) ought be treated with the highest levels of unapologetic pride. We must do the work of retelling our stories so that our children can know the legacy they stand upon. We must not start and conclude our stories in slavery. Deeper, we must correct those brothers and sisters who do. Twitter must not be more meaningful to us than our traditions; Instagram shouldn’t be used to damage the integrity of our identity. Might our efforts toward liberation incorporate a demand that our role in the building of this nation be not only recognized but also respected & revered by everyone (Black and otherwise). Our traditions and culture will never be regarded by others until our conduct requires them to.
Passing on this partial, perverse type of self-pride to our progeny creates a generation of children that not only devalue our culture but also demonize it (I shudder at the thought that we may have already done this). The undoing of this can only happen we become unapologetic about who we are & unafraid about displaying it. When we make Black pride, Black excellence, Black culture, Black heritage, Black intellectualism, Black artistry, Black religious tradition & Black power constants in our circumstances & not things that are only honored on a holiday, we release our tradition from the shackles of other stereotypes. When we do this, we call our other brothers & sisters out of mediocrity and invite them into the greatness that is locked inside of them. When we do this, when we display our deep pride in our culture, we remind ourselves (and reinforce to others) that our culture, that Black culture is worth holding on to.
