The idea was first introduced by Tumblr user “expect-the-greatest,” about a week prior to the actual event. You might be wondering what Blackout Day actually is. This was a day designated for the exclusive showcasing of black beauty and black-related content.
This included anything from selfies, to gifs, to videos. All you had to do to be a part of the event was to share this content online with the hashtag #BlackOutDay, as long as it highlighted black people. The response was amazing. Thousands of people were blogging, tweeting and sharing black excellence and proclaiming their pride of the melanin they were blessed with. It even spread to some celebrities such as Zendaya Coleman and Gabrielle Union who shared their own selfies with the hashtag.
So now we come to the question of why this event was necessary. It has been shown time and time again that black lives and black beauty in America are under appreciated and exploited. The reason #BlackOutDay was so important, is directly related to the reason we need the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
For over a century, anti-blackness has been rooted in this country, and other countries across the world. Here in the United States it was taught that black people were like animals, maybe even lower than animals. Obviously they don’t teach us that in school anymore, but the effects are definitely still around. Young black girls are sexualized and discriminated against for their natural hair and features while white women who pay for butt implants, lip injections and edgy new hairdos are praised for their “natural beauty.”
We have been conditioned to believe that European standards of beauty are the epitome of what a woman should strive to be. Although white feminism is attempting to eradicate the status quo, for black people it isn’t doing very much. All you have to do is go into Google images and type the words “beauty.” Watch TV or better yet go watch a movie and pay attention to what you are being told to regard as beautiful.
On Friday, March 6 as I scrolled down my dashboard, my timeline, or whatever it might have been, I wondered if this was how it felt to be white. I wondered if this was how it felt to get constant validation about your looks without even being aware that you were.
Growing up I remember coloring in my Disney princess coloring book. I would color all the princesses brown. It didn’t matter if it was Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty. I believed that I was beautiful in my brown skin, but as I grew up, the world taught me to believe the opposite.
That’s why Blackout Day was so important and necessary. Maybe one day black children won’t need a hashtag to believe they are special.
Hawa Henderson is a senior in microbiology. She can be reached at [email protected].
