The “Black guy on phone” meme shows politician Martin Baker talking on his cell phone in a photo that became a 2014 Black Lives Matter joke. During the protests in Ferguson, Missouri, Baker was spotted in a rally to support Officer Darren Wilson and soon became the image of right-wing Black men who turn on their own community as snitches or people who otherwise side with the cops.
As time went on, Baker became the face of a meme about annoying or intrusive people who can’t mind their own business and will tell on you for any little thing. This eventually extended to depict anyone who is something of a nerd and might be a bit pushy about it.
What is the Black Guy on Phone meme?
The photo in question shows Baker in a blue striped collared top, glasses, and khaki slacks with something clipped to his belt, standing with one arm folded across his torso and the other holding his cell phone up to his ear as he looks into the camera. He wears a blank expression that could be interpreted as a bit pouty.
Online folks use the image as an exploitable meme, often in the “me when” format or describing the actions of another person. Sometimes the image is simply paired with a made-up statement in quotations.
Who is the Black guy on the phone?
In 2014, when the image of him on the phone first started to spread online, Baker was a Republican primary candidate for the 1st Congressional District of Missouri. He lost to fellow Republican Daniel Elder on August 5 after suffering a similar failure in 2012. He also lost as an independent candidate for the same seat in 2020.
What made him famous, however, was his attendance at the rally in support of Darren Wilson after he shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown on August 9, 2014, in Ferguson.
Meme origins
On the forum Lipstick Alley, a thread was posted titled “Meet the one black man that showed up at the rally for the cop that killed Mike Brown” with a photo of Baker holding up a t-shirt printed with Wilson’s badge and smiling.
Later in that thread, another user posted the meme’d photo of Baker with a mocking comment:
“Hello comcast? Yea Martin Baker here, just left my friends house and i dont think he is paying for cable.”
Meme spread
Just days later, Twitter users started to post this photo either to attack him specifically for what they felt was a betrayal of the Black community or as a general gag about anyone who has to place a call, typically for something embarrassing. This could include little kids having to call their moms because they forgot their field trip permission slip.
In later years, people used the meme to depict someone calling an individual or company to harass them, maybe to hurry up and release the PlayStation 5 or stop ruining their lives with bad Game of Thrones episodes.
2017 Martin Baker sighting
Twitter user @Jay_50_Williams spotted Baker in the wild, or more accurately in a soda shop, in 2017. They snapped a new photo of the failed politician examining a beverage bottle and posted it to their account on February 22.
The post went viral and the new image of Baker became its own minor meme for a bit, though it never reached near the popularity of the original.
Meme examples
Related memes:
- What is the ‘Shocked Black Guy’ meme?
- How the controversial Dr. Umar became a meme
- ‘What the hell is a Black job?’ Trump spawns new meme
- The Sweating Jordan Peele meme is for life’s nerve-wracking moments
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