Over the weekend and leading up to Trayvon Martin’s birthday on Monday, Twitter was trending the #BlackMenSmiling hashtag and the resulting pictures were, well, freeing and gorgeous.
https://twitter.com/papichriss__/status/960265638307606528
https://twitter.com/KabrenCyprian/status/960359819009056768
https://twitter.com/YvesmarkChery1/status/960254192177876992
The movement, which began on Friday, had the goal of celebrating Blackness and positivity during Black History Month. As mentioned in Huffington Post, the hashtag allows the humanity of Black men to shine on Twitter while highlighting their fight against hypermasculine stereotypes regarding sexuality, physical strength, and aggression.
In a study conducted on racial bias in judgments of physical size and formidability, lead author John Paul Wilson of Montclair State University found “unarmed Black men are disproportionately more likely to be shot and killed by police, and often these killings are accompanied by explanations that cite the physical size of the person shot.”
Black Twitter “rode the wave” of confronting these stereotypes into the week and continued posting selfies—some which elicited hilarious responses.
https://twitter.com/VOrnelas98/status/960775620744560640
https://twitter.com/VivaLaJasmin/status/960333418704916480
https://twitter.com/LeeSheilaa/status/960761316771291136
https://twitter.com/Ms_ZamaNdlovu/status/960130108710375425
Whether #BlackMenSmiling had the intended effect of breaking the internet or not, it certainly occupied our Twitter feeds, and maybe even our desktop backgrounds, for a few days.
Just because I can…#BlackMenSmiling pic.twitter.com/HDbSP7JozD
— Bolu Akindele | Mr Flippe (@boluakindele) February 6, 2018
It was nice to see Twitter serving as a platform for Black men to show their radiance “just because they can.” Now, let’s keep this brightness going all year-round.
