Cityline: Black Twitter: A People's History

IT HAS EVOLVED INTO ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL AND DOMINANT FORCES IN AMERICAN CULTURE. THE RISE OF BLACK TWITTER, NOW, A THREE PART DOCUSERIES FROM THE ONYX COLLECTIVE CALLED BLACK TWITTER A PEOPLE’S HISTORY, IS NOW STREAMING ON HULU. AND HERE’S A PREVIEW. WE MOVE THE CULTURE FORWARD. WE DID IT, JOE. I DO KNOW ONE THING IS THAT WHEN BLACK TWITTER SHOWED UP, COME ON, IT WAS AT THE MOST IMPORTANT TIME. WE CAN KIKI ALL WE WANT, BUT WHEN YOU’RE BLACK, YOU CAN’T AVOID THE REALITIES OF THIS WORLD. AND I MIGHT NEVER COME DOWN. IT’S WAY BIGGER THAN JUST FUN. AND JOKES ARE MATTERS. WE USED IT TO CREATE CHANGE INTENTIONS ROWLEY. AND JOINING US NOW IS PRENTICE PENNY. HE HAS WRITTEN AND PRODUCED FOR SHOWS LIKE GIRLFRIEND, SCRUBS AND BROOKLYN NINE-NINE, AND HE WAS THE SHOWRUNNER FOR THE HIT HBO SERIES INSECURE. HE’S THE PRODUCER AND DIRECTOR OF THIS DOCU SERIES. WELCOME TO CITYLINE PRENTICE. HOW ARE YOU? I’M GOOD. HAPPY TO BE HERE. GOOD TO SEE YOU. SO THE DOCU SERIES IS BASED ON JASON PARHAM’S WIRED ARTICLE. IT’S CALLED A PEOPLE’S HISTORY OF BLACK TWITTER, WHICH CHARTS THE RISE AND THE VOICES THAT MADE BLACK TWITTER A CULTURAL FORCE. SO WHAT IS BLACK TWITTER AND HOW DID IT EVOLVE? I MEAN, BLACK TWITTER, I THINK IS ANY SPACE WHERE DIGITALLY BLACK PEOPLE AND BLACK CULTURE GOT TO BE UNAPOLOGETICALLY BE THEMSELVES AND I THINK WHERE IT SORT OF STEMMED FROM WAS, YOU KNOW, BLACK CULTURE WAS SORT OF HAS ALWAYS SORT OF OBVIOUSLY BEEN ON SOCIAL MEDIA, BUT WE WERE SORT OF IN THESE SILOED COMMUNITIES WHERE THERE WAS HBCU TWITTER, THERE WERE NBA TWITTER, AND REALLY WHAT AND REALLY WHEN THE HASHTAG, YOU KNOW, YOU’RE BLACK WIN. UH, AND THEN IT SORT OF STARTED WITH CANCEL PLANS WHEN IT’S RAINING, SORT OF STARTED TRENDING ON THE PLATFORM, AND ALL OF THE CULTURE STARTED TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS. AND THAT IS SORT OF THE BIG BANG, UM, THAT WE TALK ABOUT IN THE DOC OF SORT OF THE, UH, ORGANIC SORT OF BIRTH OF BLACK TWITTER. SO TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT HOW IT BECAME SO CULTURALLY INFLUENTIAL. THERE’S LOTS OF FUN WAYS IN WHICH IT DID, OBVIOUSLY. RIGHT, WHICH IS SORT OF CREATING MEMES AND GIFS AS LANGUAGE. THERE’S WAYS IN WHICH WE CREATED SORT OF WHAT LIVE TWEETING IS NOW, AS WE DID WITH SCANDAL. RIGHT? SO THERE’S ALL THE FUN WAYS OF THAT. THERE’S FUN WAYS IN WHICH, UH, THE, THE, THE THREAD ABOUT ZOLA BECOMES A MOVIE, BUT THEN THERE’S MORE SERIOUS WAYS IN WHICH OBVIOUSLY, THINGS LIKE TRAYVON MARTIN SORT OF TAKE US INTO MORE ADULT THEMES, AS IN BLACK LIVES MATTER AND OSCARSSOWHITE THAT WAS STARTED BY APRIL RAIN. SO THERE’S ALL THESE OTHER WAYS IN WHICH BLACK TWITTER, UM, I WOULD SAY SORT OF, UH, GREW. I WOULD SAY LIKE GREW UP OR BECAME MORE MATURE AND STARTED TO REALIZE IS THAT THERE’S OTHER THINGS THAT WE CAN DO ON THE PLATFORM TO ACTIVATE OUR, OUR RESPONSIBILITY AND OUR POWER IN CERTAIN WAYS. YOU TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE BREAKING NEWS AND SOME OF THE, UH, PIVOTAL SOCIAL AND POLITICAL MOMENTS THAT HAVE BEEN A PART OF BLACK TWITTER. DOES THE PLATFORM STILL HAVE A ROLE? DO YOU THINK, IN BREAKING, UM, AND BREAKING NEWS? YEAH, I THINK SO. IN A LOT OF WAYS. I MEAN, I THINK YOU KNOW, YOU SEE WAYS IN WHICH CERTAINLY BLACK PEOPLE AND BLACK CULTURE HAS LEFT THE PLATFORM, BUT WE’RE STILL THERE IN BIG NUMBERS. AND I THINK YOU KNOW, THERE’S LOTS OF TIMES IN WHICH I THINK BLACK CULTURE AND BLACK PEOPLE HAVE HAD TO MOVE IN AMERICA PHYSICALLY. UM, IN SPACES WHEN WE FEEL WE’RE SORT OF PUSHED OUT. AND I THINK THAT WE SORT OF FEEL LIKE EVEN THOUGH WE DON’T OWN TWITTER, THAT WE FEEL LIKE WE RUN IT AND WE HELP SHAPE IT. SO THE IDEA, I THINK OF GIVING IT UP FULLY, I DON’T THINK THAT, UH, THAT BLACK CULTURE FEELS LIKE THAT’S SOMETHING THAT WE NEED TO DO. YOU KNOW, YOU MENTIONED THIS, UH, SOME OF THE HASHTAGS. SO HASHTAGS HAVE BEEN CATALYST FOR CHANGE OFFLINE. YOU KNOW, WE TALK ABOUT OSCARS. SO WHITE, ONE OF THE MOST WELL KNOWN. ME TOO. DO YOU THINK PEOPLE EVEN KNOW THAT THESE MOVEMENTS STARTED ON BLACK TWITTER? NO. AND I THINK THAT’S SOME OF THE, LIKE THE WHOLE POINT WHY WE WERE MAKING THE DOG TOO, RIGHT? LIKE MY KIDS ARE 14 AND 16. I MEAN, THEY’RE TIKTOK KIDS, SO LIKE THEY’VE NEVER BEEN ON TWITTER, BUT THEY MOVE THROUGH THE WORLD, YOU KNOW, UNDERSTANDING WHAT THESE HASHTAGS MEAN. AND SO EVEN WHEN MY KIDS SAW IT, THEY WERE LIKE, I DIDN’T KNOW THAT’S WHERE BLACK GIRL MAGIC CAME FROM. I DIDN’T KNOW THAT’S WHERE, YOU KNOW, BLACK LIVES MATTER CAME FROM, ALL THESE SORT OF THINGS THAT THEY JUST SORT OF TAKE FOR GRANTED. SO THAT’S WHY IT’S REALLY IMPORTANT THAT WE DOCUMENT THIS STUFF, UM, IN THIS SERIES. SO YOU’VE CALLED THIS SERIES A LOVE LETTER TO THE CULTURE. HOW HAS IT BEEN RECEIVED? AND WHAT’S BLACK TWITTER’S REACTION TO THE DOCUMENTARY SERIES? YEAH, I THINK AT FIRST WHEN THE TRAILER CAME OUT, I THINK, YOU KNOW, LIKE A LOT OF BLACK CULTURE, SUPER SKEPTICAL ABOUT, YOU KNOW, ARE WE SHARING OUR SECRETS? WE SHOULD BE GATEKEEPING. WHO IS THIS FOR? AYER. UM, AND SO IT’S BEEN REALLY NICE TO SEE IT. UM, YESTERDAY, YOU KNOW, TREND LIKE NUMBER ONE. AND TO SEE A LOT OF LOVE FOR IT AND TO SEE PEOPLE GO, YOU KNOW, I DON’T KNOW WHAT I THOUGHT THIS WAS GOING TO BE, BUT THIS IS LIKE I LOVE IT. AND SO THAT’S BEEN SUCH A GREAT RESPONSE IS BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, I’VE BEEN WORKING FOR 20 YEARS AND ALL OF MY ART IS ALWAYS TRYING TO ELEVATE AND SHOW LOVE TO OUR CULTURE. SO TO HAVE THEM EMBRACE SPECIFICALLY BLACK TWITTER, EMBRACE BLACK TWITTER HAS BEEN, UH, IT HAS BEEN FOR PHENOMENAL APPRENTICE. I HAVE TO ASK YOU, ELON MUSK’S PURCHASE OF THE PLATFORM HAS SENT WAVES THROUGH THE COMMUNITY, WITH MANY THREATENING TO LEAVE AND SOME LEAVING AND TRYING TO LAUNCH NEW SOCIAL SITES. DO YOU THINK BLACK TWITTER IS GOING TO MOVE TO ANOTHER PLATFORM, OR IS THE FOMO OR THE FEAR OF MISSING OUT JUST TOO STRONG? I MEAN, I THINK WE CAN OCCUPY OTHER SPACES. I THINK THERE’S NO WAY TO REPLICATE WHAT WHAT HAPPENED THERE AND WHAT HAPPENS THERE, ANY OTHER PLACE. SO I DON’T THINK IT’S AS KIND OF, UH, SIMPLE AS CUT AND PASTE US OVER HERE, BUT I THINK YOU ARE SORT OF SEEING, YOU KNOW, BLACK TWITTER AND BLACK BLACK CULTURE JUST MOVING OTHER AREAS. THERE’S WAYS I SEE THAT ON TIKTOK. THERE’S WAYS I SEE IT IN OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA APPS. SO I THINK YOU’RE SEEING IT’S IT’S FEEL AND ITS REACH IN OTHER PLACES. BUT I STILL DON’T THINK, THINK THERE’S GOING TO BE ANYTHING LIKE WHAT HAPPENED THERE SPECIFICALLY. ALL RIGHT. PRENTISS, THANK YOU FOR JOINING US TODAY. BLACK TWITTER,